Zen Gifts….
"Zen is to have the heart and soul of a child."
Slinky
Charlie decided to spread a little Zen to Reese without being obvious, so he began by leaving her small anonymous gifts to restore the wonder and joy he was positive she felt as a child, but lost - somewhere along her journey. He always left them on the seat of her chair, which Dani neatly pushed under her desk, religiously, each and every night. He always used a small plain box and he always watched as she discovered them - waiting for the expression on her face, which varied over time.
The first gift was a Slinky, because who doesn't like Slinky right? She pulled out her chair and skeptically examined the small plain box like it might be a hidden explosive charge. Scowling, she finally removed the top and peered inside, while Charlie stood at the coffee maker pouring for everyone who came by, even people who didn't really want coffee.
Dani cocked her head to the side and examined the box from all sides to find a clue to its origin, but there was none. She sat down and looked around for some clue to the identity of her anonymous benefactor. She stood and walked to Tidwell's office, hanging in the doorframe, she started to ask him, then thought better of it and returned to her desk perplexed.
Charlie put down the coffee pot and made his way to his desk mirroring hers.
"Hey Reese. Good morning". She narrowed her eyes as he removed his jacket and deposited a file and an orange on his own desk.
"Are you just getting in?" she asked.
"Yeah" he fibbed, "what'd I miss?" he asked, rolling his own chair out and sitting down.
"Reese?" he explored. "What's in the box?" he inquired.
"Uh, nothing" she said replacing the box lid and putting it in a drawer quickly.
Charlie did not miss the shy smile that graced her face throughout the day when she opened that drawer and the Slinky smiled up at her. Step one complete – he thought.
Pinwheel
A week later, it was a Monday, when he left the second gift, which would not fit in a box no matter how he tried. Any box big enough to hold it was too big to fit under the desk, so he settled for just leaving it on the seat of her chair.
He watched as she stomped in from the elevators, juggling coffee and case files, in a dark morning mood.
"Here Reese, let me help you with that" and she did, demonstrating how far they'd come. When they first began working together, Dani Reese wouldn't let him or anyone else (but definitely not Charlie) help her with anything. This was progress he realized as she relinquished the largest file under her arm. Baby steps he thought.
She set the Styrofoam coffee cup on her desk, laid down the rest of the files, removed her jacket, hung it over the back of her chair, which was ritual for Reese and pulled the chair out. She stood staring at the chair, which Charlie couldn't see from his seated position behind his own desk. What he could see was Dani's face; it registered shock, softened to simple surprise and then a tiny measure of happiness with a wry little grin, twisting her lips slightly.
She looked up at him and Charlie quickly looked down and loudly broke open the orange he brought for breakfast, releasing the sunshiny smell of citrus in a spray of little orange juices molecules. "Crews? Did you….?"
He looked up and kept his best "who me?" face on. "Did I what Reese?" he deadpanned.
"Nothing" she shook her head ruefully, her hair obscuring all but her lower face, but Charlie watched a smile creep across her countenance as she gently picked up the pinwheel and laid it with care, in a lower desk drawer.
Charlie chose the pinwheel carefully; it was colorful without being ostentatious and had just a tiny hint of silver in the petals, which made it sparkle in the sun. It was beautiful and she loved it, Charlie knew.
Yo-Yo….
The third gift Charlie left his young partner was a bright blue Power Brain Yo-Yo.
He'd, of course, tried it out first and found it was smooth and easy to use. He spun it, flicked it from his wrist, amazed at how concentrating on performing the simplest tricks made all other thoughts flee his mind. He could only concentrate on the task, nothing else intruded. It was a perfect Zen gift and it fit in the box nicely.
It was a Thursday, the week following the pinwheel and Dani had taken to pulling out her chair more gingerly each morning never knowing what her anonymous friend may have left. Some mornings when nothing was there she seemed a tiny bit disappointed, but Charlie did not want to become predictable, lest he be caught.
The box stared up at her and this time Dani full on grinned. Charlie echoed her smile watching her from the conference room discreetly. Again she looked around covertly, but when she felt she wasn't being watched, she palmed the yo-yo and walked to the stairwell to try it out. She returned in the best mood of the week and Charlie knew he was getting somewhere.
Daisy…..
A week later on a Wednesday afternoon, he left a bright white daisy on her chair after lunch. Dani's reaction was more than he'd hoped for as she raised the happy little flower with it's yellow center to her face and inhaled its soft bouquet. She'd stopped looking for the source of her gifts and just enjoyed the surprise and simplicity. Definite progress Charlie thought.
When Charlie arrived back from the bathroom, she had the daisy in a Dasani water bottle on her desk.
"That's a pretty flower Reese" he remarked.
Her reply was simply "Yeah it is" and a smile.
Later that day they were interviewing a very shy child who bordered on tears the entire time. None of Charlie's usually disarming tricks were working on the boy and he was out of ideas, when Reese opened her desk and pulled out the box containing the Slinky.
"Do you know what this is?" she asked and the child shook his head "no".
"It's called a Slinky and it can climb stairs… " The boy looked thoroughly unconvinced.
"Do you wanna see?" she offered. He nodded "yes" but was still mute and fearful.
She took the boy's hand and led him to the stairwell and demonstrated the Slinky for him and as the simple toy descended the flight of stairs, they both watched mesmerized. Dani sat on the top stair and encouraged the boy to retrieve the toy and try it himself. Charlie watched from the rectangular window in the stairwell door as he did so. This repeated twice more and he watched as the boy relaxed and began to talk with Dani freely.
About twenty minutes later, they returned from vending with sodas laughing and Charlie's heart soared. "Did you get it?" he whispered conspiratorially to his partner. She turned to him and winked. Charlie thought he'd fall out of his chair but settled for just smiling broadly.
When the boy was ready to leave with his parents, Charlie watched as Dani handed the boy the Slinky and told him to keep it. The young boy, shyly walked to Dani and hugged her tightly; causing her to duck her head, hug the boy back and smile. The look on her face as she rose was beatific, peaceful and supremely happy.
He'd succeeded by doing nothing - she'd done it herself – he realized.
"That was nice" he remarked as she returned to their desks.
"Yeah" she admitted shyly.
"Too bad you lost your Slinky" he chanced.
"Everything that you can't let go of possesses you" she remarked and Charlie's head inclined to the side like a dog hearing a funny noise. She could still surprise him. After a beat Dani added "besides….you'll buy me another one" finally letting him in on her secret, she knew.
Charlie tried to look shocked, but failed. "How long have you known?" he asked.
"I didn't. You just told me." Dani grinned. Rats, she got him with the oldest trick in the book he thought and had the good sense to at least look chagrinned.
"Why Charlie? Why the toys? Why the gifts?" she asked him plainly - her expression, affect and heart open.
"Wonder" he stated flatly. "Life is about wonder, joy and happiness. I thought maybe you'd forgotten that." He told her honestly.
"I did….I had, but…." she said smiling.
"But?" he prompted her to finish.
"Then I got a gift" she said, collecting her jacket and heading toward the elevator.
"Come on Crews. We got a bad guy to arrest" she beckoned.
Charlie grabbed his suit coat and chased her to the elevator. As the doors closed, he asked her "which one did you like best?" She put on her shades and tried her best not to smile at him.
"Reese? You gotta tell me. Which gift did you like the most? Which made you the happiest?" he pointedly inquired. The elevator bounced to a stop on the ground floor, while Dani Reese studiously ignored him.
She stared straight ahead as the doors opened and answered simply "You Charlie."
She stepped off the elevator quickly and leaving a stunned Crews in her wake.
Wonder. There it was again - always unexpected, always joyous, always fleeting, but still wonderful and priceless. He watched as his partner strode away from him. The favorite of all the gifts he'd given her was none at all – it was him - and that made Charlie happy beyond words.