Chapter 2
Five years.
It's been five years since we've made that promise. The deal that has always been in the back of my mind every time that I'm alone with him. The promise reminds me that if we go through with it, we'll go halves on a kid.
"With your looks and my brains, he'll be perfect."
"And what if SHE has your looks and my brains?"
"That could work too."
For the past five years I have replayed that conversation dozens of times. At the time, it was so lighthearted and when he said that he hadn't made a promise that he couldn't keep, I had laughed it off. The deal was if neither of us was in a serious relationship. Who would've thought that we'd be like this now? I'm a good-looking woman who has no problem meeting guys. And he... well, what woman in her right mind can't resist dress whites and gold wings? It's certainly taken some self-control on my part. And that smile of his can melt most female hearts into little puddles of goo. Who would've thought that we'd BOTH be single at this point? And neither of us are close to being in a serious relationship. After Mic, I couldn't get deeply involved with anyone. I still can't. And Harm's relationships? I don't know what his problem is, but it seems like he stopped trying a lot once Renee left.
I kind of hope that he will show up here. Maybe he'd be really romantic about it, bring flowers or something to make it like a real date. But that would probably become really awkward. But part of me doesn't want him to show up. Then things won't become weird and we can continue to work closely just like the past years.
Who am I kidding? Every bit of my body wants him to show up at the front door. Wants him to come inside, whisk me off my feet, and carry me off into the bedroom. Ok, so maybe I've been hearing too many of those fairy tales with happy endings. I did have to watch Snow White about a thousand times last weekend when I babysat little AJ. Apparently he has some odd fascination with the dwarves and wants to be one when he grows up. I told him that he might want to explore other career paths. Mining dwarves are not really in high demand these days.
Will he (Harm, not little AJ or the dwarves, duh) show up? Oh my god! What of he does? What the hell am I going to say? Something along the lines of `Alright Squid, time to jump in the sack!' just doesn't seem right to me.
Damnit! What time is it? God, I'm so stressed out over this even my internal clock has been screwed up. Well, from the looks of the sky, it looks like it's getting kind of late. And he's still not here. Looks like I've been getting riled up over nothing. Wait a minute! What if he expects me to come over to his place? Harm has always been a chicken when it comes to showing emotions. Why should he change now? Should I go over to his place? If this opportunity passes by and I don't try my damnedest to take advantage of it, I know that I'm going to be beating myself up about it later. And if I get over there and it turns out that he doesn't remember and I'm just an obsessed, emotion-driven, lonely idiot then I'll just tell him that I hadn't stopped by for any actual reason. Just to see him. Now where are my shoes?
What was that sound? Did someone just knock on my door? I can't breathe. If it's him, I swear that I'm going to pass. But he might just here to talk about something else. Yea, that must be it. We're working on about four cases together right now. That's got to be why he's here. He'll show up with his briefcase full of files and we'll order pizza and joke around as usual. All right, here goes. Breathe in... breathe out... and open the door.
Oh shit.
He doesn't have a briefcase.
Five years.
It's been five years since we've made that promise. The deal that has always been in the back of my mind every time that I'm alone with him. The promise reminds me that if we go through with it, we'll go halves on a kid.
"With your looks and my brains, he'll be perfect."
"And what if SHE has your looks and my brains?"
"That could work too."
For the past five years I have replayed that conversation dozens of times. At the time, it was so lighthearted and when he said that he hadn't made a promise that he couldn't keep, I had laughed it off. The deal was if neither of us was in a serious relationship. Who would've thought that we'd be like this now? I'm a good-looking woman who has no problem meeting guys. And he... well, what woman in her right mind can't resist dress whites and gold wings? It's certainly taken some self-control on my part. And that smile of his can melt most female hearts into little puddles of goo. Who would've thought that we'd BOTH be single at this point? And neither of us are close to being in a serious relationship. After Mic, I couldn't get deeply involved with anyone. I still can't. And Harm's relationships? I don't know what his problem is, but it seems like he stopped trying a lot once Renee left.
I kind of hope that he will show up here. Maybe he'd be really romantic about it, bring flowers or something to make it like a real date. But that would probably become really awkward. But part of me doesn't want him to show up. Then things won't become weird and we can continue to work closely just like the past years.
Who am I kidding? Every bit of my body wants him to show up at the front door. Wants him to come inside, whisk me off my feet, and carry me off into the bedroom. Ok, so maybe I've been hearing too many of those fairy tales with happy endings. I did have to watch Snow White about a thousand times last weekend when I babysat little AJ. Apparently he has some odd fascination with the dwarves and wants to be one when he grows up. I told him that he might want to explore other career paths. Mining dwarves are not really in high demand these days.
Will he (Harm, not little AJ or the dwarves, duh) show up? Oh my god! What of he does? What the hell am I going to say? Something along the lines of `Alright Squid, time to jump in the sack!' just doesn't seem right to me.
Damnit! What time is it? God, I'm so stressed out over this even my internal clock has been screwed up. Well, from the looks of the sky, it looks like it's getting kind of late. And he's still not here. Looks like I've been getting riled up over nothing. Wait a minute! What if he expects me to come over to his place? Harm has always been a chicken when it comes to showing emotions. Why should he change now? Should I go over to his place? If this opportunity passes by and I don't try my damnedest to take advantage of it, I know that I'm going to be beating myself up about it later. And if I get over there and it turns out that he doesn't remember and I'm just an obsessed, emotion-driven, lonely idiot then I'll just tell him that I hadn't stopped by for any actual reason. Just to see him. Now where are my shoes?
What was that sound? Did someone just knock on my door? I can't breathe. If it's him, I swear that I'm going to pass. But he might just here to talk about something else. Yea, that must be it. We're working on about four cases together right now. That's got to be why he's here. He'll show up with his briefcase full of files and we'll order pizza and joke around as usual. All right, here goes. Breathe in... breathe out... and open the door.
Oh shit.
He doesn't have a briefcase.
