Just another day at the Lightman Group. That's just what it was to Gillian as she walked down the hall to go see her partner and friend, Cal. Then again, it's not like it being just another day was a bad thing; on the contrary, it was a great thing. Gillian loved her job. She loved catching the bad guy. She loved helping. She loved...
"Cal?" asked Gillian as she walked into his office.
"Hey" Cal replied, no energy in his greeting at all.
"What's wrong?" she saw through him immediately, and she didn't like what she was seeing: sadness, frustration, disgust, but as if it was at himself.
Cal didn't reply. Instead all she got was him glancing to his side downwards; shame. Now she was scared. She didn't know what was wrong and it looked pretty bad. Cal looked up at Gillian and saw her fear. He felt horrible, he didn't want to scare her.
"Gillian, don't look at me like that. I-" he stopped before saying anything else and sighed deeply, closing his eyes.
"Cal, just tell me what's wrong. I'm your friend." She was worried and scared. It wasn't like him to act like this. She saw as Cal took in a big breath and exhaled a few seconds later.
"I was just sitting here... with nothing to do and then I started remembering things... about my past. It was my fault. I didn't see him. I was new and I got startled and I just... I just fired. He shouldn't have died. He shouldn't have died..." Cal told her, tears forming but not being allowed to spill. Gillian held his hand.
"It's not your fault, Cal." She understood and he really needed that at the moment; her understanding. Her mere presence was a relief.
"Thanks Gillian." he squeezed her hand slightly and couldn't help but smile when she did.
"Get some sleep. You need it." she smiled as she got up and walked away. "Oh and Cal..."
"Yeah?" he asked as he tried to read her face.
"If you need me..." she said before walking out. Cal smiled to himself as he watched her walk away. The woman was very good at her job. That psychobabble actually comforted him, although he couldn't quite tell if it was the psychology or Gillian herself. He didn't even know why thoughts of his past had come flooding back to him. It was involuntary and Gillian had just happened to come in at that time. Cal was glad she had though. He was more scarred than he led others to believe and those emotions had begun to pile up. He needed happiness. He needed comfort. He needed to know someone other than his daughter truly cared. He needed...
"Gillian, it's Cal. Just wondering, wanna go out for some Thai?" he grinned at her response, "I'll see you there in 10 minutes." he told her as he hung up, got his jacket and keys, and walked out his office. Thai was always the way to go.