Valentine's Day …
- "What can I do for you Cassie?"
She started. She was not expecting him to notice her so fast and had walked softly towards his office. But of course he had noticed her. You could not sneak out or in anywhere without him noticing you. She was in awe, though, that he would know it was her without even looking up from his screen.
She brushed her hair away from her forehead and spoke:
" I came to see if you had anything for me to do here. I sort of had to leave the house..."
- "And why is that?"
- Uh, Well … It is Valentine's Day... And I was politely asked to clear the way..." She had not been expecting the question. Surely he knew what day it was...
He finally raised his eyes from his computer to look at her; he had completely forgotten it was Valentine's Day. In his defence, he had not celebrated it for a while. He also realized why his help had suddenly been requested that very night. " Of Course. And shouldn't you be out enjoying that night instead of here asking for extra work?"
To his surprise, she blushed a little and he realized he had embarrassed her. He was going to correct his previous sentence into a classier one when she said: " To go out on Valentine's Day, you do need a date. It is not a day when you go to the restaurant on your own."
She went on trying to justify her presence in the office: " I usually stay home these kinds of nights and drown my sorrow in ice cream and silly movies but tonight it didn't seem like an option. Then I realized I did not have one single friend to go to and talk bad about all these cheesy couples that flourish on lover's night so I resorted to coming back to work. Sad enough..."
A smile rose on her lips as she locked her gaze to his: " So, anything you need help with now i'm here?"
He did not have time to answer or apologize: as he opened his mouth to speak, he was cut short by cries. Cassie tilted her head to the right and looked at him interrogatively. He raised a finger to ask her to wait and leaned behind his desk. When he reappeared, he was holding a few months old baby who had evidently been awoken from his dreams by their little talk. Cassie's eyes widened: "Uh, did I miss something?"
He smirked and filled her in: "This is Louis, one of my friend's baby. She asked me if I could babysit while she went out with her husband... for Valentine's day." He found the baby's pacifier and put it in his mouth, stopping the cries instantly: "he is usually a very calm baby but he apparently does not like to be awoken this way." He shook his head. Cassie sighed. She was evidently not getting any more information; Cross had always been cheap on those. Instead of praying for more, she looked at the baby. Since he had recovered his pacifier, he had tilted his head, just as she had done moments before and was now staring at her, obviously trying to decide wether he liked her or not.
She looked back at her boss: "So since you are busy, is there anything I can do? Fill in papers?... Classify files?"
He sighed: "I am afraid it is all classified, Cassie. You can't get a look at any of the papers I am working on... But you are welcome to stay here if you have nowhere else to go...
I could use the company", he added after some time, trying to make up for his earlier insensitive question.
- "Is he classified too?", she grinned, pointing at the baby. "I am pretty good with babies and that would keep me busy tonight...", she added quickly, when she saw him hesitate.
- " It is not that I don't trust you with a baby, but I feel bad devolving that to you", he explained to avoid any misunderstanding.
- "This is the kind of work I like to do", she reassured him. "Way better than classifying stuff and filling boring papers..." She winked at him.
"Well, then", he agreed. " I 'll be done pretty soon anyway. If you get bored with him, bring him back. Oh, and Valentine left a few books and toys in his pram if he doesn't want to sleep. It is in Duncan's office."
- " Your friend's name is Valentine? Well, that's circumstancial!", she smirked. He had a soft smile and handed her the newborn.
She took the baby from his arms and walked happily in the direction he had pointed. He watched her leave through the glass for a moment, then forced his gaze back to the screen. He rubbed his tired eyes and returned to his work.
On the other side of the glass, in Duncan's office, blue eyes looked in. She had always found watching him work rather soothing. She sat on her colleague's chair and started playing with the baby who giggled at her faces.
This Valentine's Day might not be as bas as she foresaw it.
She looked back at the other lit up office and wondered if she might lure him out to dinner. Probably not tonight, she thought. Dommage...
Next episode to come...