Author's note: I read somewhere that, when S3 was in development, Andy Bobrow pitched to Dan Harmon the idea that Jeff and Annie hooked up over the summer after S2 ended and that this idea actually got quite far before Dan nixed it. This is my take on it.
Chapter 1 - New Beginnings
"We're like an old married couple," Britta said.
Jeff paused in the act of raising his Scotch to his lips. "And how exactly do you work that out?"
"Think about it," Britta said, waving her vodka for emphasis. "We go out, we fight, we gossip about our friends and the thought of sex bores us."
"The thought of sex with each other bores us," Jeff said.
"Exactly!" Britta replied, pointing her glass at him for emphasis. Jeff frowned – he thought he'd refuted her point, but after thinking for a moment he shrugged and nodded. It had been three weeks since they had decided to stop sleeping together and a week since the end of their sophomore year and with barely a pause they had resumed their usual lifestyle of meeting up once or twice a week to drink too much and snark, as though neither of them missed the sex.
Jeff grinned suddenly. "So does this mean you're going to go all 'Mrs Robinson' on us and set out to seduce some barely legal Dustin Hoffman type to prove how hot you still are?"
Britta scowled at him. "No more than you're going to go all Kevin Spacey on us and set out to seduce some barely legal American Beauty to prove you've still got the moves."
Jeff's good humour vanished. "We had this out the same week we stopped sleeping together – I'm not interested in Annie that way." He scowled at Britta.
Britta suddenly sat bolt upright with a broad grin on her face. "Woah! Freudian slip, much? Nobody even mentioned Annie, mister!"
Where the hell did that come from? Jeff thought to himself, scowling at his glass as if that was the answer to his question. "Bite me Britta," he said instead. "There's no-one else we know who fits that description and you know it." Even to himself, the answer sounded weak.
Surprisingly, Britta didn't pursue it. "Talking about Annie -" the segue was so abrupt that Jeff, in his Scotch fuelled befuddlement, found himself wondering if she had steered the conversation this way somehow. "I met her at the Mall yesterday."
"I thought you guys weren't doing that anymore."
"We-we-" Britta hiccuped. "We aren't, so I was surprised when she called me and asked me if I was free. Anyway -" Britta paused to take another sip of her drink "-she really wanted to talk. To a female friend."
"And she chose you?"
"Jag," Britta replied bluntly. "It's not like she has much of a choice - Shirley's busy with her baby and there's nobody else she knows anything like as well." She paused for a moment. "She's feeling pretty low, Jeff."
"Annie? Why? She's always sickeningly happy and positive!"
"Oh, let's see-" Britta's tone turned sarcastic as her memory flashed back to the day before.
("What's wrong with men at Greendale, Britta?" Annie had said.
"We've only got eight hours until the Mall closes, Annie -"
Annie didn't let Britta finish. "I mean - look at me!" She waved her hands past her face, down her torso and back again to emphasise her point. "I'm cute, right? Some might even say I'm adorable!" She looked more crazy than anything else at the moment, but Britta wasn't going to say that.
Annie was on a roll. "And yet the sum total of my romantic history here is Vaughn, who went to Delaware to get away from me, and Rich - who chuckled when I asked him out, patted me on the head and said I would be happier with someone my own age! And that's it - zip, zilch, nada! Not even a Valentine's day card from anyone else, forget about an actual date!"
"What about Jeff?" Britta said, somewhat nervously.
Annie looked defensive. "I didn't want to mention him because - well, you know…" She smiled apologetically at her blonde friend.
"Trust me - you don't have to worry about my feelings where Jeff Winger is concerned!" Britta said firmly.
Annie bounced slightly as she nodded and worked up a head of steam. "He was so traumatised by kissing me he wouldn't even talk to me for three months! And then he spends most of the year all googly eyes and going crazy when I even looked at another guy, and then when I called him on it..." Annie had gone from defiant to slightly sad.
"The man's a pig, Annie - he doesn't deserve to have a girl like you upset over him." Weirdly, Britta was feeling sympathetic. Annie's sadness was contagious.
"What about you Britta?" Annie suddenly said.
Britta snorted. "Oh, trust me - I never let *feelings* get anywhere near me where he was concerned! I was using him for sex, that's all!" She raised her chin defiantly.
"You're so strong, Britta." Annie said with a sad smile. "And yet when things weren't weird he was a really good friend, you know? Is it wrong to still want that?")
"She has been asked out on precisely zero dates since Vaughn left, the one time she asked a guy out he said she was too immature and walked away, the guy she's been crushing hard on for most of the past two years shot her down in a pretty damn public and brutal way-" Britta recounted her recollection of events with the invincible confidence of the more-than-slightly drunk.
"Hey - I didn't have a great day either! And she challenged me in public, she can't complain if the answer was in public!"
Britta glared at him. "There are ways of letting a girl down gently Jeff, and then there's what you did." Jeff looked as though he wanted to interrupt, Britta wouldn't let him. "And then to cap it all, she got burned by two guys on the same day during paintball."
"Who?" Jeff was sitting upright and paying very close attention indeed by this point.
"First she thought she had made a real connection with that sexy Black Rider-"
"He really wasn't very good looking," Jeff grumbled. Britta ignored him.
"Only for him to turn his back on her and walk out as soon as he was shot without so much as a 'here's my number, call me'."
"She dodged a bullet there," Jeff grumbled. "He was probably gay, as well as ugly. Who was the other guy?"
"Abed."
"Abed? What the hell did he do?"Jeff could feel his anger rising. I'm not jealous! It's just -
"The same thing you did last year," Britta was glaring at him. "He kissed her - it was a really good kiss apparently - and turned around and said it didn't mean anything. It was Han Solo kissing Princess Leia or something, not Abed kissing Annie. It didn't mean anything, and he has not the slightest interest in seeing if it could go anywhere."
"I'm not surprised, he's already got a girlfriend." Jeff muttered, still trying to process the news. Abed kissed Annie!
Britta rolled her eyes - she knew perfectly well Jeff was talking about Troy and refused to be deflected. Aaah, vodka…
(Annie sat upright in her seat with a defiant expression on her face. "I've made a decision Britta - I'm not going to have anything more to do with Greendale men! I'll get a summer job and meet a nice, normal guy who will know how lucky he is to date me and come back to school in the Fall a grown woman in control of her life and with a mature, healthy relationship!" She nodded decisively. "Yeah!")
"Annie's feeling pretty rejected Jeff. It's not nice to see her so sad." Britta was fairly sure she was remembering - damn this glass is empty!
"That sucks, Britta - but what do you expect me to do about it?"
She sighed, put her glass on the counter and signalled the bartender. "Just talk to her dumbass. Tell her she's valued or something. I don't know why but she still seems to care what you think about her."
Jeff went thoughtful for a moment. "I'll see what I can do," he mumbled.
XXXXXX
(Greendale office of Workplace Solutions Ltd, earlier that day)
Annie was feeling desperate. She had signed up to the temp agency in the last week of the Spring Semester, thinking some casual work would keep her occupied during the holiday and bring in some money to top up her rapidly dwindling savings, but the need had become desperate in the aftermath of the paintball disaster. It wasn't just the rejection by two guys on the same day (one of whom was yet another friend who had kissed her on the last day of school and walked away without a backward glance – seriously, am I THAT bad a kisser?) but the fact that her costume was completely ruined, meaning she didn't just lose the security deposit she'd placed with the hire shop but had to find another hundred and fifty dollars to replace it. Finding a job quickly had therefore moved from a means to stay active and build up her savings to a means of avoiding having to choose between eating and paying rent (her landlord had started hinting there were other ways of paying rent than with cash, but another reason to find a job was to avoid finding out just what he had in mind).
She had been going to the agency every day as soon as they opened to see if they had anything for her, but she'd had no luck until today.
"Miss Edison?" The stern faced lady behind the desk said. "We have something for you." Annie yelped happily and bounced out of her seat, almost running over to the other woman. Her sudden optimism vanished however when she read the notice that was handed to her.
"Oh no – I can't work for them! Do you have anything else?"
The other woman's face went from stern to actively disapproving. "Hamish, Hamish and Hamlin are one of our best clients. Unless you have a compelling reason to refuse the offer you will go to the end of the waiting list. A second refusal and we will remove you from our books. Do you have a compelling reason?" Her voice acquired a sarcastic note.
I chloroformed one of their janitors and helped hack their IT system! They'll probably have me arrested if I set foot in the building again! "Erm, they fired a friend of mine?" she nervously said instead.
The other woman wasn't impressed. "Do you want the job or not?" Annie sighed and took the note.
XXXXXX
(Monday morning)
Annie paused as she crossed the small plaza in front of the law firm's building and sat down on a bench. She eased off the tennis shoes she was wearing and replaced them with the heels in her bag – she only had one pair, and she was not prepared to risk them out on city streets more than necessary – then rose, straightened her jacket and walked through the door, painfully feeling the contrast between the thrift store suit she'd spent fifty dollars she couldn't afford on and the designer gear everybody else was wearing.
The receptionist took one look at her, scanned the letter from the temp agency and sent Annie up to Human Resources on the third floor, where she was issued with a temporary pass and told to report to Simon O'Mara in Archives, in the basement.
XXXXXX
Annie took one last look at the door in front of her -
Hamish Hamish & Hamlin
ARCHIVES
- and knocked.
"Come in!" A cheery sounding voice called from the other side. Annie took a deep breath and stepped through.
"Hi, I'm Annie Edison. I'm-"
"You must be the temp I was promised!" The speaker was a young man, maybe six or seven years older than Annie, with ridiculously good hair - almost as good as Jeff's - and a brilliant white smile which caused his cheeks to dimple in a very interesting way and which he turned on Annie as he grabbed her hand and shook it. She couldn't help noticing how strong he was.
"Simon O'Mara, and I'm really glad to see you!" he said, still smiling as he ushered her deeper into the room with his spare hand hovering over the small of her back.
Annie found herself returning his smile. It looks like my luck is changing, she thought to herself.
XXXXXX
(Wednesday)
"Tango, heeeeeyyyyy!" Alan strolled up to Jeff's desk with a cheesy grin on his face.
"Good morning Alan." Jeff bared his teeth at him. "What can I do for you?"
Alan parked himself on the corner of Jeff's desk so as to look down on him - ever since Jeff had taken up Ted's offer to do consultancy work to keep his skills and contacts current Alan had rarely missed an opportunity to rub in the difference between his and Jeff's status by inflicting a series of petty humiliations in the form of jobs well below Jeff's skill and experience level while pretending to be the best of friends. No good deed goes unpunished Jeff thought, remembering that Alan owed his partnership to Jeff persuading Ted. What's he going to get me to do now?
Alan looked around as though preparing to share a vitally important secret. "A hot new temp has started working in Archives. I need you to go down and soften her up for me," he whispered.
"She shot you down in flames, huh?" Jeff said at a normal speaking volume, with a hint of a genuine smile on his face.
"Shh!" Alan looked around with a panicked expression on his face. "Let's just say we didn't get off to the best start. I need you to go down there, work your Winger magic and get her panting with eagerness to see me again." Alan's fake smile slipped. "Unless you're not feeling like a team player, that is."
Jeff sighed inwardly. "She's already met you so I can't promise miracles-" Jeff couldn't resist the dig "-but I'll see what I can do."
"Thanks Tango," Alan's fake smile was back. "And don't think of claiming her for yourself - remember I saw her first!" He got up, slapped Jeff's shoulder in a way that could have been mistaken for friendly, and walked off. He doesn't even care if I succeed or not, Jeff thought to himself. He just likes knowing he can order me around and there's nothing I can do about it.
XXXXXX
"Take five, Annie."
"Thanks Simon," Annie smiled up at him and stretched herself artfully as she turned away from the keyboard and took the coffee her colleague - Annie had difficulty thinking of the good looking and stylishly dressed young man as her boss - was holding out for her. His smile didn't change and nor did his eyes move from her face. Am I being too subtle? Annie wondered. She wasn't sure exactly when she decided that Simon had the potential to be the guy she'd talked to Britta about, but it was probably by the end of the first day. She took a sip of her drink.
"Ooh! This is nice - what is it?"
Simon raised his own cup in a toast as he parked his feet - designer loafers, Annie noted - on the corner of her desk. "Skinny macchiato with hazelnut and toffee syrup. A sweet drink for a sweet girl, or something corny like that," he said with a wink. Annie blushed slightly and lowered her eyes.
"So, how's it going?" he asked.
"I'm halfway through the C's..." Annie was computerising the vast heaps of barely organised files. It was a tedious job that consisted of taking a file out a cabinet, sticking a barcode label on the cover, scanning the barcode into her computer then typing in a handful of details - file number, case name, name of lead attorney, cabinet it was stored in - then returning it the cabinet. Wash, rinse, repeat ad nauseam. Simon seemed fascinated by her progress however.
XXXXXX
Jeff paused for a second, adjusted his trademark cocky grin and turned the handle on the door to the Archives. Right - let's make sure this girl never wants to talk to Alan again…
He stepped through, walked up to the reception desk, and -
Whoa! Jeff's breath was momentarily taken away as he found himself staring at a pert ass clad in a tight grey skirt that had ridden halfway up a pair of trim thighs as the owner of the ass bent over to fetch something out of the bottom drawer of a filing cabinet. Jeff allowed his eyes a leisurely scan downwards past a pair of finely turned, lightly tanned calves to a pair of cute heels, then back up again. That must be the new temp Alan was talking about -
"Can I help you?" Jeff turned to the stylishly dressed young man - that's Tommy Hilfiger, or I'm a blind man - who had walked up to the reception desk and greeted him with a professional smile on his face.
Jeff smiled back, equally professionally. "Can I have the casefile for Cavendish vs. Abramowitz, please?" he said, naming an old case at random. I'll just get rid of this jerk and -
"Eep!"
Jeff recognised the soft gasp and pivoted on a heel, his smooth smile wiped out by open-mouthed shock. "Annie?" The owner of the pert ass had stood up and turned to face him, with an equally shocked expression on her face. I was eyeing up Annie! She looks - wow...
"Jeff?"
"What are you doing here?" he forced out. If I'd kept the promise I'd made to Britta last week, this wouldn't have been a surprise! Damn, look at her… Don't look at her!
"I've got a summer temp job helping with the filing," she replied. "Why are you here?"
Jeff's mouth went on autopilot as, unable to take his eyes away, he frankly stared at his friend, who looked completely different with no cardigan or ballet flats anywhere to be seen. "I've been consulting here since the party," he said. "I've been working pretty much full time since the summer break started…" Annie flushed slightly under the sudden intensity of Jeff's regard, but didn't back down, or smile at him.
"Do you two know each other?" The third person in the room said.
"We-we go to college together," Annie stammered.
"We took a few classes together," Jeff added, equally shakily. "Do you mind giving us a moment?" He asked, facing Simon.
"I'll go and get your file," Simon said. As he turned away, he mouthed something at Annie, she nodded slightly.
Jeff turned back to face the petite brunette. "You're looking really good Annie," he said, with a soft smile on his face.
Annie's face was closed, defensive, giving away nothing of what she felt. "Thanks Jeff, you too," she said in a tone of voice she might have used to ask if it was raining outside. "Did you really come down here to ask for the file on a case that was closed four years ago?"
"How could you possibly-" Jeff gaped in surprise.
Annie rolled her eyes at him. "I'm computerising the filing system. I did that one earlier this morning. Is that really what you came down for?" She repeated her question.
Jeff shook his head and forced himself to concentrate. "Have you run into Alan Connor?"
Annie scowled. "He came down yesterday afternoon, and tried to hit on me. He was really sleazy about it. Do you know what the really offensive thing was?" Her voice went up in pitch as she got agitated.
Jeff shook his head, and fought down the urge to smile - angry, passionate Annie was an Annie he knew and... cared for. Not like the cold, defensive girl that had greeted his arrival.
"He didn't even recognise me! We were in the same NA group for months and then there was the party last fall, and he still looked at me like a complete stranger!"
"He's probably never spent that much time looking at your face," Jeff said wryly.
Despite herself, Annie cracked a small smile at that. No Jeff - I'm not going to let you inside my defences again, she thought as she wiped it from her face. "Why are you asking about him?"
Jeff couldn't quite meet her eyes. "He asked me to come down and charm you into giving him a second chance."
"And you agreed?" Annie sounded shocked.
"I didn't know it was you, Annie! Of course I'm not going to help Alan get his greasy little hands on you!" Jeff's expression went grim. "I was coming down here to warn whoever it was to stay clear of him - I'm done doing favours for that guy."
"So what are you going to do Jeff?"
Jeff smirked at her. "I'll tell him I was charming and eloquent, but you wouldn't budge. If he does come down here anyway…"
Annie rolled her eyes. "I'll give him the same message - don't worry Jeff, I won't jeopardise your reputation for smooth talking."
"I've got your file," Simon had come back. Neither of them had any idea how much he'd heard.
"Oh, thanks." Jeff took the file and signed the register.
His mind was a logjam of things to say. All he could manage was "it was good to see you again Annie, I hope I'll see you around."
"Me too, Jeff." Closed, defensive Annie was back.
Jeff got halfway towards the lift when he stopped, closed his eyes, took a deep breath and cursed softly. Once again remembering the promise he'd made to Britta, he turned back.
"Hey, An-" he stopped suddenly as he looked into the room. Annie's face was glowing as she talked to the too-smartly dressed douchebag. He watched her flick her hair, giggle and turn her Disney eyes on full as he said something with a too perfect smile on his face. Jeff couldn't hear anything that was said over the sound of blood pumping through his veins. He closed the door as he fought to prevent the red mist descending over him and walked away unnoticed. In his rage, he kicked a fire extinguisher and gasped in pain as the metal resisted his blow.
XXXXXX
"That guy's got if for you bad," Simon said as the door closed the first time.
Annie shook her head firmly. "Not Jeff. He's made it very clear he doesn't look at me that way - as far as he's concerned, I'm still the crazy teenage girl he first met two years ago."
Simon gave her a wry smile. "You didn't see him Annie - I did. He was staring at your ass like a man who had been wandering in the desert for a week and had just been offered an ice-cold beer."
"Simon!" Annie gasped as a blush spread across her face. Though she knew they were alone, she quickly looked around to make sure nobody was listening.
Then, with a sigh, she came back to earth. "Anyway, he wouldn't have recognised me from that angle."
Simon raised one eyebrow. "Maybe. But he didn't stop looking after you turned around..."
Annie couldn't stop the corners of her mouth from turning up slightly before she took control of her expression again. It was nice to imagine but that was all, and she'd already wasted enough time and energy on fantasies. "No - he's made it clear that he doesn't want to start anything with me. And I don't want to start anything with a guy who's so conflicted about liking me."
"I think you're misreading him, Annie. Simon cocked his head and looked at her a moment, considering. "But he's going to have to make his mind up soon; a girl like you won't be single for long." He smiled his flawless smile at her.
"Simon!" Annie gasped again, as her eyes doubled in size. She smiled back, more than a little nervous - she couldn't remember the last time she'd been complimented like that.
At some point the door opened and closed again. Annie didn't notice.
XXXXXX
"Heeeeyyy, Tango!"
Back in his office upstairs, Jeff had just read the first page of the same document five times and still hadn't absorbed it because he couldn't stop thinking about the look on Annie's face when she was talking to the douchebag with a liking for overpriced and mainstream fashion. He had no patience for this particular interruption.
"I'm busy, Alan," he said, waving the document.
"Psssh!" Alan waved a hand disdainfully. "How did you do down in Archives?"
When Jeff looked up at Alan, his smile was positively vicious. "You're right," he said carefully, "she is hot."
"Yeahh!" Alan was sweating with eagerness.
Jeff adopted an expression of concern. "What did you say to her, Alan? I think I managed to talk her down from filing a sexual harassment suit..." Alan went pale as the cheesy grin was wiped off his face. "But it might be a good idea for you to steer clear of her for a while."
"She's got to be kidding-" Alan's expression had turned into a snarl.
Jeff twisted the knife. "In fact, Sundance, it might be a good idea for you to stay away from all our female coworkers for a while - we can't risk them talking in the ladies' room and launching a class action suit."
Alan snarled wordlessly, turned and walked out. Jeff pointed finger guns at his back and made a shooting motion as he left.
XXXXXX
(Thursday)
"So, is Annie around?" Jeff asked nonchalantly as he signed back in the file he'd borrowed the day previously. He glanced around, looked everywhere he could see from the front desk, with an intensity that belied his casual tone.
"I'm sorry," Simon said. "She's cataloguing the store room, she'll be gone for most of the day."
Jeff sighed. "Can you tell her I asked after her and would like to talk to her when she has a minute?"
Simon's expression was guarded. "I'll pass the message on. Is there anything else I can do for you?"
"Yeah…" Jeff nodded thoughtfully. "Can I take out the Harvard Law Review for June of 2009?" He named the first date that came into this head: the month he was disbarred.
"That'll be Volume 122," Simon said, with a sceptical note to his voice. "Wait here, please."
Jeff tried to look around while he was gone, But Simon was back before he could investigate.
"Here you are," he said as he handed over the leather bound volume. Jeff signed the register slowly and took one last look around before he left. No sign of her, he thought as he walked down the short corridor to the elevator. As he waited for it to arrive he shifted the reference book to under his right arm, took out his phone and started typing a text.
To: Annie
Tried to talk to you but you were busy. Can I get you lunch? I have good news. J.
XXXXXX
Simon waited until he heard the elevator doors close, then - "You can come out now."
Annie stood up from behind the filing cabinet where she'd been hiding.
"You do realise he'll be down here every day until you talk to him, don't you?"
Annie looked desolate. "I know, and there's a part of me that really wants to. It's just, just -" she sniffled suddenly. "One of the reasons for taking this job was to get away from all the Greendale craziness you know, and meet normal decent people?" She sniffled again. "But if I talk to him I'll be letting the crazy back in and that's what I want to get away from!"
Yesterday you thought he wasn't interested in you, and today you're pushing him away? You don't know what you want, do you? But you don't look like somebody who thinks she's doing the right thing, Simon thought to himself as he saw the misery on Annie's face. He looked at the clock - 11:50 - and came to a decision.
"Come with me," he said. "We'll go to the cafeteria and you'll tell me everything over lunch."
Annie brightened at the suggestion, before her face fell again. "I brought my own..." she pointed at her bag. "And I don't have any change."
Simon rolled his eyes. "Bring it with you - it's the talking that's important."
Annie smiled and nodded and went over to where she'd left her bag, taking a plastic box out of it. She walked over to the door where Simon was waiting.
"My lady," he said as he opened it with a smile and a small bow.
"My -" Annie's face fell again as she stammered to a halt, feeling a brief stab of pain as she recognised an intimacy she had lost. Or deliberately thrown away? She shook the feeling off and forced a smile back onto her face. "Thanks Simon," she said. He furrowed his brow slightly in puzzlement but said nothing as they walked towards the elevator. Unnoticed at the bottom of Annie's bag her phone was flashing to announce an unread message.
XXXXXX
"- And then he said I was reading into things and we haven't really talked about anything personal since." Annie finally wound up with a sigh.
It hadn't taken much to get Annie talking, and for almost half an hour she had been practically monologuing as Simon listened and ate his chicken salad. He'd been largely silent while she talked, only observing with a slight note of concern that her lunch seemed to be just an apple and leftover pasta, and asking the occasional question about her and Jeff.
"You're going to be in the same building all summer, Annie," he said. "You can't keep avoiding him - you should at least try to clear the air."
Annie shook her head. "Believe me, if there's one thing I've learned from Jeff Winger it's that avoiding people is always an option." Annie had meant to sound defiant, but the words came out wistful instead. "And anyway," she added, "I don't want to give him the opportunity to say I'm making it up again."
Simon looked her straight in the eye. "He's trying to talk to you. Letting him won't make you look like you're imagining things."
"Maybe… after I've settled in and had a chance to broaden my horizons." She flashed a smile which she hoped was coquettish.
Simon changed the subject. "So, your first week at H-cubed is almost over, how has it been?"
"Well, the people have been really nice," Annie began, still smiling. "But I'm starting to develop calluses from turning over all those files." She held out her hand to show what she meant.
Simon took hold of her fingertips to bring it closer. "Pshaw - that's nothing. Wait until you've been-"
There was a sudden crashing noise and a shout - "Hey Buddy! Watch what you're doing!" Both of them turned in the same direction at once. While Simon's gaze went to a man on his knees attempting to clear up a spilled meal, Annie saw Jeff standing over him with a stunned expression, his eyes locked on her hand where Simon was holding it.
Annie glared at him until he met her eyes. Yes, Jeff - I've met a cute guy who likes me! You've got no right to be jealous - you told me it was all in my mind, so live with it!
Jeff nodded slightly as though reading her mind, turned and walked out of the cafeteria.
Watching him leave, Annie felt a prickling at the corner of her eyes as though they were trying to betray her. She didn't notice she was still holding Simon's hand until he slipped it out of her grasp.
"Shall we go back to work?" he asked softly.
Annie nodded, eyes still fixed on the door Jeff had left through.
XXXXXX
That afternoon, she was grateful for the tedious and repetitive nature of her work. Annie wouldn't have been able to concentrate on anything more complicated, as thoughts and memories chased each other around her mind. She liked Simon (she could really like him…). But the expression on Jeff's face had been heartbreaking. But it was his own fault for disavowing any feelings for her. She really didn't want to hurt him, but she was entitled to get on with her own life, wasn't she? Simon was sympathetic and complementary and he seemed to like her, even if he was taking his time about asking her out - maybe she should try a shorter skirt or that red lipstick Britta had recommended to her after the Freshman Year Valentine's dance? But when Jeff wasn't being weird he was a really good friend, and she missed that friendship. Maybe she should talk to him after all and make sure they were both on the same page? But would Simon ask her out if she was talking with Jeff again? Did she want Simon to ask her out, if she was going to be friends with Jeff again? Jeff looked really nice in his suit and he seemed to really like the way she'd looked in hers…
It wasn't until she was riding the bus home that she checked her phone and saw the message from Jeff that she'd missed earlier. She tried to draft a reply, read it and discarded it. She tried again, but discarded that too. It wasn't until after she got home and had her dinner (a packet of ramen and time-expired broccoli - she'd worked out she could spend perhaps three dollars a day on food and just have enough to pay her rent at the end of the month, before her first paycheque came in) that she managed to compose a reply she was prepared to send off.
XXXXXX
Annie wasn't the only one to be grateful for mindless work to keep them occupied while they stewed. When Jeff returned to his desk he found an email from Alan asking him to update the slide deck Alan would be presenting to the management board meeting which Ted chaired every Monday morning - and I need them by lunchtime tomorrow, Tango. It was a job that should have been delegated to a PA or a paralegal at most, but Jeff was happy to fiddle with fonts and fantasize about how he might insert small mistakes that Alan would miss but Ted would catch, in between moments worrying about why Annie was so stand-offish and trying to find out what he could about the superficial, fashion-obsessed jerk who was crawling all over her -
Simon Donal O'Mara, family residing in the Denver suburbs, Liberal Arts degree from Colorado State, Masters in Library and Information Science from Denver U - That's what he's doing here, Jeff thought. We're probably paying him three times as much to manage our archives as a public library would to run an entire branch. He was badly tempted to go down to HR and charm the ladies there for a glimpse at Simon's personnel file, but the last moment he remembered how badly Annie had reacted to him stalking Rich, and stayed his hand. Instead he consoled himself by arranging the four bullet points on Alan's third-from-last slide so that the initial - highlighted - letters spelled out an obscene word when read vertically.
Halfway through the afternoon, increasingly frustrated by the lack of a response from Annie, he turned his phone off in disgust. He didn't switch it on again until much later that evening while he was out for drinks with some guys in Trusts and Estates he'd done a small favour for. He'd charmed a redhead with long legs and a short dress into parting with her phone number, in return for a promise to call her over the weekend, and he needed to enter it into his contacts list. He saw the message from Annie -
Sorry, I was busy. Call me?
Too late now, maybe tomorrow. Jeff thought as he turned back to the redhead and pretended to be interested as she talked about the trials and tribulations of retail management. It wasn't until he was walking home - alone - later that evening that he realised he hadn't even tried to persuade the redhead - Carmilla? Carlotta? C-something-A anyway - to come back with him. He pulled out his phone and read Annie's message for what felt like the tenth time, trying once again to extract more meaning than was in the bare words.
XXXXXX
(Friday)
As Jeff put the final touches on the slides, he debated going down to Archives to return the Law Review volume he'd borrowed. Not much hope of seeing Annie - Tommy Hilfiger will probably shut me out, again... He noticed the running order for the meeting the slides were for, specifically the second-to-last entry: Archives & Library Services. The douchebag's going to be at the meeting. He can't stop me talking to Annie while he's out of office! Jeff grinned in anticipation as he hit 'send' to forward the slides to Alan.
XXXXXX
That afternoon Simon surprised Annie when he placed a cupcake with a candle in it on her desk.
"What's this for?" she asked.
"It's to celebrate surviving your first week at Hamish, Hamish and Hamlin. Trust me, not everybody does," he said with a sparkle in his eyes as he pulled out a cigarette lighter and lit the candle. "Make a wish."
I wish – but Annie stopped herself from looking at her friend (just a friend, if something was going to happen it would happen and if it didn't then it didn't) and instead blew out the candle. She picked up the knife on the side of the plate, solemnly divided the cake into exact halves, took one and slid the plate over to Simon.
"Eeeww. Carbs," he said with a grin, but picked up the piece and took a bite anyway.
Annie picked up the other piece and took a bite too, trying not to grin stupidly.
"Are you doing anything tonight, Annie?", he asked as he decorously wiped his mouth clean after swallowing his last bite.
Annie's heart suddenly expanded to three times its usual size and leapt into her throat. "Erm, no. No! Why do you ask?" she squeaked past the sudden obstruction.
"I'm going to the Multiplex tonight to catch a movie. You're welcome to come along if you want."
"That would be really nice…"
If Simon noticed Annie's sudden attack of nerves he gave no sign. "Great! I'll meet you in the Multiplex lobby at seven-thirty." He smiled one last time and got up and walked away. Annie was so excited that she didn't notice that Jeff had not shown his face once that day.