Title: In Words
Author: Greer
Rating: K
Pairing: Sam Seaborn/Ainsley Hayes
Spoilers: AU post Season 2, spoilers for 'In This Whitehouse'
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Quotes belong to John Donne and William Shakespeare.
'Sir, more than kisses, letters mingle souls.'
(John Donne)
He didn't write the first note. It had been written in haste and with venomous intentions, left unsigned and unmarked amidst the pathetic corpses of decaying flowers. It had greeted its recipient with stark hostility and conveyed more than adequately the childish and unprovoked aggression of its composers.
'Bitch'
This first note had been met with disheartened sighs and a heavy heart from its startled victim and anger from the one who would seek to protect her. It would be torn in two and remain undisturbed in the trash can, buried beneath a mountain of waste paper and discarded coffee cups, never to be discussed again.
The second note was written with a mixture of both hope and trepidation, positioned bravely on the top of a stack of files to catch the attention of its surprised recipient. Its simple, questioning invitation had been greeted with a beatific smile and daydreams of something more than a casual office romance.
'Would you like to have dinner with me?'
After brushing her fingertips over the name signed in that now familiar cursive, the note had been pressed into the pages of her diary and would remain there until the ink began to fade and the blossoming of a new love rendered this first souvenir forgotten.
Similarly to the first note so many months before, the third sat perched amidst a display of long stemmed blooms. Yet it was now brightly colored buds and fragrant petals that proudly framed the carefully penned message, conveyed in borrowed words that the lovelorn composer had taken to heart.
'My love as deep; the more I give to thee,
The more I have, both are infinite.'
This Valentine's message would remain in the heart of its grateful recipient long after the final petal fell from the accompanying flowers. It would be placed safely in a desk drawer were even on the most difficult of days, it would remind her once again that she was loved.
The fourth note arrived as a peace offering, guiltily accompanying a freshly baked, blueberry muffin that the composer hoped conveyed his true repentance. A long, troublesome day had led to hasty words and thoughtless accusations and an uneasy silence had now descended upon them.
'I'm sorry. Please forgive me?'
The ill-conceived and misdirected anger that had earlier colored their furious exchange now gave way to mutual contemplation and sincere regret. As crumbs were brushed delicately from her lips and the note crumpled firmly in her hand, forgiveness was happily granted.
The fifth and final note was different from its literary predecessors in the fact that this time, the author remained in residence, both anxious and eager for his offering to be read. A faint gasp of surprise had drifted from her lips at the discovery of the small, blue, velvet box that had sat concealed beneath the paper. With a shaking hand, the note was lifted to eager eyes as she heard the words simultaneously spoken aloud from across the room.
'Marry me?'
Drifting unceremoniously to the floor, the note became quickly forgotten as tender embraces and kisses filled with promise were eagerly exchanged and words, for once became superfluous.