Chapter One
Jen was sitting at her desk reviewing paperwork when Cynthia walked in holding a beautiful arrangement of orchids.
"Third week in a row, ma'am." Cynthia commented, setting the arrangement on the corner of the Director's desk.
Jen just nodded, waiting until Cynthia was once again on the other side of the door before slipping the card out of the envelope. A slow smile spread across her face as she read the message. She held the card close to her chest, looking for the moment like a schoolgirl staring at her flowers.
Flashback Jen
almost panicked when she walked into her office to find Tony holding
the card for her flowers. It wasn't signed and the florist had
written the message, but Tony was a skilled investigator. When she
called him on it though, he had acted like he was admiring the
flowers and the card fell out. Without drawing attention to her
previous panic, she had offered Tony his own team in another country.
He told her he had to think about it and left her office. Sitting
back, she was thinking of all the changes Tony had gone through since
Jethro had left. Her gaze was drawn back to her flowers and that led
her mind back to her recent albeit too brief vacation. --- It
had surprised her. They both worked in D.C. but she had to go all the
way to South Africa to really see him. In their line of work, they
saw each other regularly, but that trip had removed her blinders. He
was there for business, she for a much needed break. Chance had it
that they were staying in the same hotel. She returned one night from
a day of sightseeing at the Lone Creek Falls. As she entered the
dining room, she spotted him talking with colleagues. He looked up
and smiled. But the time she was seated, he had excused himself from
his group. "May I join you?" he asked and she
assented. Dinner passed quickly, yet they lingered, sharing
stories of their travels and the places they'd seen. Chance stepped
in again as his conference ended earlier than expected. She invited
him to share the next day with her on the Forest Falls Nature Walk to
view Forest Falls and he agreed. End Flashback
Jen was still holding the card when her phone rang reminding her of the videoconference she had in MTAC. Getting back into business mode, she put the card away and went to her meeting.