YOU'VE GOT MAIL

Karen Hayes was a natural born go-getter. Whatever she had set her sights on she achieved. She wanted to go to Princeton, she received early admission. She wanted to graduate with honours, she graduated Summa Cum Laude. She wanted to enter the FBI, she did and for two years was the only woman in her program. There was something about Karen's ambition that was unstoppable, she had definitely proven that.

This determination of course had only been tested on the professional battlefield. When it came to Karen's personal life, she couldn't have more indifferent. She didn't invest the same energy into relationships as she did her career. She'd never married, didn't care for it. Sure, she had lovers over the years but she never chased after men. Instead letting them approach her and making them do all the legwork.

It was different with Bill Buchanan. She was absolutely enamoured with him, a first in her memory. And yet he made no move towards her-he hadn't even kissed her, not even on the cheek! Upon her return to CTU in the days following Jack's disappearance, she took him up on breakfast. One breakfast led to a couple lunches, which was followed by several dinners and endless flirting.

She wasn't sure if it was intentional or not. Whether he was playing hard to get or if he was just shy. Either way, his actions, or lack thereof, were intriguing to Karen. She was enthralled, excited, and at the same time downright frustrated. Deciding to break her own rules she set about taking matters into her own hands.

Slipping the DVD into the player, she dimmed down the lights and took her place next to Bill or rather on him. She hoped that the close physical contact mixed with the romantic tone of the movie would make Bill more inclined to move things along. Karen Hayes was anything but patient and the six week routine they were in, which very much resembled the foundations of a dating relationship, was beginning to drive her crazy. While she was hesitant to label it as love she knew she wanted him more than anything else she had ever wanted and thus refused to give up.

Things looked promising at the end of the movie with Karen leaning into Bill, his arm around her shoulders and his head rested upon hers. However, the mood was spoiled when as the credits rolled Bill moved off the couch and away from Karen and the warmth of their embrace.

"Its late, I should go," he stated quietly and moved towards her front hall. Confused, Karen followed suite and watched as Bill pulled his jacket on and began fiddling with the buttons. Moving towards him she buttoned up his coat and gently placed her hands on his chest. Looking up at him she hoped he could sense what she wanted. He didn't.

"I'll call you tomorrow," he said before squeezing her hands and heading and down the driveway to his truck. Shutting the door behind him, Karen leaned against the wall and let out a breath of air. She couldn't help but feel disappointed and unsure, emotions that she wasn't quite used to feeling. Moving into her home office, she sat down behind her desk. It was her favourite room in the house; it made her feel powerful and successful. Looking up at the wall where her degrees and diplomas hung she couldn't 

help but feel motivated and decided that this thing with Bill, whatever it may be, wasn't even close to being finished. In fact, she thought, it was just the beginning.

Flipping on her laptop and logging into her email, she clicked on 'New Message' and entered the address for Bill's blackberry. Gathering up all her courage she typed her small but direct email

She pressed 'Send' before she could second guess her actions, but a small part of her did wonder if she would ever hear from him again.

Bill was driving in complete silence thinking over the evening's events when his phone beeped. He thought the night had gone well. Then again, it was hard to go wrong with dinner and a movie. He liked Karen, he more than just liked her. But women like Karen scared him and he wasn't entirely sure why. He liked her intellect, he was attracted to her drive, and was mesmerized by her every move. Whenever they were together he was always so caught up in her actions, her words, and her essence that before he realized it the night was over.

He had been so entrenched in his thoughts that he barely heard the tiny noise that his phone emitted alerting him to a new message. Picking up his blackberry his screen lit up and flashed "You've Got Mail". Wondering who could be emailing him at 1:15 in the morning, Bill navigated to his inbox. He was surprised to see that it was from Karen, and was even more surprised by the actual message:

Thanks for the great evening. But just so you know, next time I'm not letting you leave until you kiss me.

He was speechless. He couldn't stop looking at his phone and fearing that he may cause an accident, Bill pulled over to the side of the road and put the truck in park. Sitting there he continued to reread the email. He could tell she wasn't angry or disappointed and he could practically see the flirtatious smile on her face as she typed this. The problem was; what was he supposed to type back? He contemplated not doing anything, but then he figured him not doing anything is what warranted this message in the first place. Besides, he so wanted to respond, to at the very least let her know that the interest was not one sided but very much mutual.

He began to type his response:

I look forward to it.

Was that lame? He couldn't be sure, its been years since he had to seriously play this game. Glancing at the clock he realized that he had managed to spend 15 minutes at the side of the road mulling over the significance of an email; he had to make a decision. Turning on the ignition, Bill pulled back out onto the road all the while deleting his response.



The faint knocking on her front door at 2:00 in the morning pulled Karen from her bed and dragged her downstairs. She had spent the past hour lying in bed chiding herself for her forwardness. This is why I never was the one to initiate, she grumbled as she swung the front door open ready to release her wrath on her late night visitor. Her mood, however, did a complete 180 the instant she came face to face with Bill.

She barely had time to smile when he had her pressed up against the doorway, his hand cupping her face, and his lips on hers. She snaked her arm around his neck and melted against him when he breathed her name. Breaking the kiss, he placed his forehead against hers with their noses touching. The silence lasted only for a second before they both broke out into laughter at the silliness of it all.

And as Bill gathered her into his arms and kissed her again, Karen buried her face into his neck breathing him in. No, she thought, this definitely isn't over. Not by a long shot.