Hey guys! Sorry for the long period of absence but things like summer holidays and rowing got in the way. Now that I'm back at uni and rowing is finished for a few months I should have more time to get some writing done. I'm bravely (or stupidly, depending on how you look at it) starting a new multi-chapter story. Updates will probably be weekly(ish). This one is a lil different to Office Entertainment but hopefully a new take on an old idea. Hope you enjoy it.
"We need to talk," she had said.
The words had a ring of finality to them, and as he snapped his cell phone shut, they brought on a sense of déjà vu that turned his stomach into a seething pit of nerves. They reconvened in her office at four that afternoon. He sat down without being asked, knowing that there would be no formalities during this particular meeting.
"I want a divorce." She got straight to the point.
He was momentarily stunned then recovered to reply coolly, "well you have been neglecting your marital vows for the past 14 years anyway."
"So this won't make much of a change then, will it? She asked angrily. She grabbed a file from her desk and thrust it at him. "I've had my lawyer draw the papers up. Since we have no children and own no property together, all you have to do is sign." She offered him a pen which he ignored.
"Why?" His simple question caused her to falter.
"Because…" she trailed off, and then recovered. "I might want to marry someone else some day."
"Like that's ever gonna happen," he scoffed. "You've made your thoughts on marriage perfectly." "No," he continued, "you can't have a divorce. Not until you have a real reason for wanting one."
"Well how about this for a reason," she shot back, eyes blazing, cheeks flushed, "I don't love you. I never loved you."
He swallowed. "Now that's a crock of shit."
The flicker in her eye betrayed her.
"You're a bastard Seeley."
"Right back at'cha, Temperance."
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Outside the door, Angela, Hodgins and Zach gapped at each other, totally speechless.
"Well, I wonder what other secrets those two are hiding." Jack broke the silence.
Zach just shook his head and wandered back to the platform, muttering something about the enigma of the human condition. Like Bones, he would immerse himself in work while he wondered how his boss and role model had managed to keep them all in the dark. Angela was still thunderstruck; her mouth opening and closing in shock in such a way that she had turned herself into a Nemo look alike.
"C'mon babe," Hodgins voice broke into her convoluted thoughts. "Let's disappear before they catch us with our ears pressed to the door."
Angela could only nod.
A moment later, she had collapsed at her desk, forehead resting on her arms as she sobbed her heart out. Hodgins, kneeing beside her, could only place his arms around her and hold her close. He knew that she was deeply hurt that her best friend had kept such an important part of herself hidden for all these years. Plus, he reflected a little wryly, there was the fact that her role as matchmaker on the BB project was effectively terminated.
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"You are totally unbelievable Booth! You sleep with other women, hell you even had a child with one of them, and now you won't give me a divorce?!" Brennan was yelling now, face red, right up in Booth's personal space, trying to intimidate him. Even in the grip of blind anger she knew it was futile. He had never been intimidated by her.
Booth raised his voice to match hers. "Like you haven't been unfaithful? At least I'm honest about who I'm sleeping with, unlike some people."
"Don't be a hypocrite. You didn't tell me you were fucking Camille."
"I had no obligation to tell anyone about that," he replied coolly.
"Oh really? Have you forgotten your marriage vows already? 'You will love, comfort, honour and protect your partner and be faithful to them as long as you both shall live'."
"Don't be cynical Temperance," he replied a little wearily. "You're the one who didn't want anyone know our little secret."
"So? It would have been unprofessional," she said.
He sighed. "Work. That's what it always comes down to with you. Even at college you couldn't let up for a second."
Brennan was back on the defensive. "I wanted to get my degree."
Booth just shook his head. "No, Temperance, you just didn't want to remember the past."
He visibly saw her stiffen and regretted his comment. On autopilot he crossed the room and wrapped his arms around her midriff. Brennan softened for a moment and then yanked herself away from him, walls back in place.
"I will get this divorce, even if I have to go to court for it." She marched to the door and wrenched it open. "Now go. I've got work to do."
Booth sighed, but made his way to the door, knowing that there was no point in arguing with her. "Bring the papers over to my apartment tonight. We can talk about it then without the rest of the Jeffersonian listening in."
She nodded, and then inhaled sharply as he ran the pad of his thumb across her cheek, wiping away a tear that she didn't even remember shedding. She sank down against the wall, knees drawn up to her chest, her throat constricted with unshed tears. Why does it have to be this hard? She asked herself. Then placing her head on her knees, she silently cried the tears she had been withholding for almost half her life.
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Booth sat in his black truck, gripping the steering wheel, tears leaking from his eyes. This was fucking unbelievable, completely out of the blue. He hadn't even wanted to separate in the first place, and now here they were 14 years down the track and Temperance wanted a divorce. He could see the logic; they hadn't even lived together for the past 12. Blindly, he watched a car almost identical to his sweep into the car park. The driver's door opened and Sully hopped out. Booth growled and swiped the tears angrily from his face as Sully strode towards the entrance of the lab. There was no way Bones was getting a divorce; she didn't belong to anyone but him.
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As Camille and Sully chatted together over the examination table, they were unaware of the fact that five of their colleagues were attempting to work out the afternoon in a state of mental exhaustion. Their state of blissful ignorance wasn't going to last long; whether they liked it or not, the pair were about to be drawn into the already convoluted state of affairs.