Notes: Written for challenge #66 (rain) at fanfic100 on LiveJournal. It takes place immediately before a major scene in Season 5's "In the Wee Small Hours." But not that scene.
The cold water seeps through her sock just as the realization of the puddle hits. Had she not been so intent on protecting the oversized bag in her arms, she would've seen it. And then maybe the presents would've gotten wet instead of her shoe.
She curses as she steps up onto the curb, shaking off the soaked leather. For good measure she curses again, this time for the weather. Nobody said anything about a rain storm today - she'd meant for this to be an easy outing, skipping out to finish off her Christmas shopping over a lunch break. Had she known she was going to get soaked, she would've saved it for another day. The weekend maybe, surrendering herself to battling the crowds she'd hoped to avoid.
Hunched over like this, the cardboard packaging on her nephew's light saber pokes her in the stomach through the plastic covering the top of her bag. She rushes the last few steps into the building, managing a smile for the uniform watching the rain from just inside the door. Her shoe squelches unpleasantly all the way to the elevator. She tries to work the tangles out of her hair on the long ride up, grateful to finally be able to stand up straight. She wonders if she should check on Goren's present down there at the bottom of the bag, but she remembers that she had the salesgirl wrap the box for her.
For as much as her partner likes to dig around in other people's personal things, she doesn't really think he'd go rummaging around her stuff without permission. Especially since she doesn't plan on telling him there's anything in here for him in the first place. Still, better safe than sorry.
The smile that creeps across her face now is the same one she had when she'd seen the hat in the store. For all her everyday practicality, Alex much prefers to give gifts that are fun. When she's shopping for someone who can pretty much buy themselves all the functional items they might need, she's always thrilled to find something they wouldn't think to purchase on their own. And this Sherlock Holmes houndstooth hat wrapped in its silver paper certainly fits the bill.
She can't wait to see him in it.
She exits the elevator, the usual ambient noise level drowning out both the suctioning sound of her shoe and the rustling of the bag in her hand. Goren's not at his desk when she gets there, giving her time to stow the packages safely in the hollow under her own. She glances around the room as she's taking off her coat, but she doesn't see him. She hopes he's gone to get himself some food, something he'll bring back to eat here. Something she can pick at, to make up for her own missed meal.
She decides this might be too much to hope for. She'd better hit the vending machines down the hall on her way back from hanging up her dripping coat.
She's debating between a Snickers and a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos when Chalmers comes up beside her. She gives him a distracted hello, too busy wriggling cold toes inside a damp sock to offer anything in the way of actual polite conversation. She's trying to recall if she might've left a dry pair anywhere around here, deciding that she hopes for this even more than she hopes for stolen lunch. She'll happily eat snack food if it means getting rid of this uncomfortable feeling in her right shoe. Compulsively, she moves her toes around again, intensifying the sensation.
She doesn't even look over at him when he starts to speak, but her head snaps up when his unexpected words sink in to suddenly claim her complete attention. "Hey, listen," he says, his tone deceptively casual, "you might want to head over to Interview Two. Goren's freaking out about something on the phone in there."
She doesn't even bother to refund her change before she's on her way there at a run.
end.
