A/N: struggling with The Dawning Hour, so decided to share this little snippet to tide you over
Tiger Lilies
She can't help the smile that blossoms on her face when she walks into her office on Monday morning. She's tired and doesn't want to be there, but the flowers on her desk make her forget all of that. No one had ever bought her tiger lilies before, even though she loves them so much she might even consider them her favourite flower. She has a row growing in her back garden, where she can see them from her kitchen window. But, people never expect that of her. They think her tastes must be as sophisticated as her clothing, but that's simply not the case. And she's ecstatic to see that someone knows different.
She moves closer to check for a card, dropping her work bag onto the floor by the side of her desk. She pulls white cardstock from between green stems and painted orange petals, her smile widening over her face as she realises who they're from.
'For the child in you. Hope they make you smile,' the card reads.
"Do you like them?" he asks from behind her as he walks into her office unannounced. "I was going to get you white lilies, but these seemed to have more whimsy."
"I love them," she says honestly as she turns to face him, exposing the smile that she can't wipe from her face. "Thank you."
He jitters a bit, moving from foot to foot and sticking his hands into the pockets of his jeans. He nods at her in acknowledgement, tamping down his own smile.
"Saw some in your garden the last time I came by. How they made you happy," he offers in explanation.
"What's the occasion?" she asks, stepping nearer to his nervousness.
"Just wanted to do something nice for you, appreciate you, that's all," he says, stilling his shuffling as he voices the words.
Gillian gives a knowing smile, releasing a sound of disbelief.
"Well thanks again. I really do love them," she offers kindly, moving to sit behind her desk.
"No problem, darling," he responds, turning to leave her to whatever work she was planning to do and pulling the door closed behind him.
She watches him from lowered eyes as he turns back to take a glance over her and shakes his head gently. She sees his mouth move as if releasing a sigh and can almost hear his longing. But, he doesn't change course. He never does.
The tiger lilies seem to be the topic of interest when anyone walks into her office. First, it's Anna, acknowledging them with a wink. Then Torres comes in, with a comment about never taking her for a tiger lily kind of girl. Then there are all the interns that come to her with questions, no one seeming able to ignore their presence. She's pretty tired of talking about them by the time Loker walks in, his eyes dropping straight to the glass vase and taking a minute to evaluate the flowers.
"Nice flowers, Foster. New admirer?"
"Nope," Gillian shares with a small smile. "Long time admirer and occasional pain in the ass."
"Lightman," he says in amused recognition.
She raises her eyebrows at him, not quite in answer, but without denial.
"Did you need something, Eli?"
"Ooh," he teases. "Doctor Foster's got a crush."
"I don't," she argues, but she blushes insanely fast at the accusation.
"Wow," he says. "You really are a terrible liar."
"Are you finished?"
"Okay, okay," he surrenders, not really wanting her embarrassment to turn to annoyance. "I came to tell you we need more SD cards for the handheld cameras, batteries too."
Gillian grimaces.
"Didn't we just get new ones?" she sighs.
"The Wilson case was a big one. We recorded a lot of footage."
"Okay," she concedes. "I'll see what I can do."
He nods, turning to make his way out of the room. About halfway across the space, he pauses, turning back to say "And Foster? Hope you know he's got a crush on you, too."
"So, did you have a good day?" Cal asks as he pokes his head into her office much too late after the time the Group typically closes.
"Good enough," she smiles. "Flowers were a hit with the staff."
"Really?" he grins. "Didn't figure."
Her amusement twinkling in her eyes serves as a temporary response.
"So, were you ever going to ask me?" she questions, her chin tipping down towards her chest.
"Ask you what?" he feigns ignorance, his hands once again slipping into his pockets.
"C'mon, Cal," she says in disbelief, shaking her head.
"I..."
She lets out a small breath of a sigh, eyes breaking from his and lowering to the paperwork in front of her. She piles them in a neat stack, moving them back to the side of her desk where she keeps unfinished work. She stands up, smoothing her palms over the fabric of her skirt.
"Okay," she says, so quickly accepting the idea that he wasn't going to ask, or couldn't, whatever it was. "I should head out. It's late."
He stops her with his speech before she can reach for her bag, causing her to straighten up and turn a look over his features.
"Gillian," he says, swallowing around the nerves. "I'd really like to take you to dinner."
"Would you?" she asks in all seriousness, her eyebrows scrunching up in worry that she had pushed him into choosing something he didn't really want.
"Of course," he offers words more strong and sure.
She lets her smile come up on her face, crinkling her eyes slimmer.
"Then, I'd love to go with you."
"Friday, then. Eight o'clock. I'll pick you up, might even bring you some more tiger lilies."
"Okay," she agrees easily.
He nods, starting to walk out of the room. She rolls her eyes. When he turns back to face her, she's already waiting with an expectant look on her face. He walks towards her purposefully, getting right into her personal space. When her smile turns to a smirk, he returns it, then cradles her chin in his hand and presses a warm kiss against her mouth in goodbye.