Cassandra:

I woke up the next morning with a huge headache and a feeling in my gut that I didn't like. As I struggled to recall the events of the precious day, it all came flooding back when I saw the new apartment key on my dresser: Jenkins. I had to go back to the annex and apologize for snapping at him last night, I had to fix it. I had actually just left him standing there in his room after he confessed that he had feelings for me too. How could I be so cruel? I hadn't even given him a response, just fled. It was Saturday, so the others would all be out. I put my clothes on and walked to the bus station. When I arrived at the annex, I stood outside for a few minutes and thought about what I would say. The reason I had left last night was that I truly didn't expect him having feelings for me and I didn't know what to say. I still had feelings for him, of course, but the idea of our dynamic changing suddenly scared me and I didn't know if we should act on them or not. Today, I'm going to pose an experiment and I'm hoping he thinks it's a good idea, because if not, this could be an awkward situation permanently.

Jenkins:

I sat in my lab with a freshly made cup of tea trying to concentrate on the experiment at hand, but again my mind wandered to my conversation with Cassandra last night. She just left. I mean, what does that mean? As I continued to think about it, I didn't notice the slight knock on the door. "Jenkins?" I jumped and almost dropped a beaker as I turned to see her standing in the doorway. "Miss Cillian, what are you—" "Can we talk?" she cut me off and I nodded to her, putting down the beaker and removing my lab coat quickly to walk with her down the hallway to the kitchen. We walked in silence and I felt like I could hear the nervousness I felt. I sat at the bar across from her as she spoke. "I'm sorry I left last night," she said in a small voice after a second or two, "I just didn't know what to say. It was easy to deal with my unrequited feelings, but when I found out that they were no longer unrequited, well… I just wasn't sure I wanted to mess up our friendship or jeopardize the team if something happened between us." I knew where this was going. I looked down and began to fumble through a response, trying and failing to hide my disappointment. "Ah, I see. I understand Miss Cillian, I—"

She cut me off, "But—" I looked up then and saw a mischievous glimmer in her eyes and she began to get up from her seat and move towards me. I sat frozen in my chair. She got even closer and just when I thought she was going to sit down beside me, she passed the seat and straddled my lap. I gulped and my breathing went shallow. "I propose an experiment," she said, her voice low and her face very close to mine. "We try this out and see what "this" even is, but keep it a secret from the others unless we know for sure it's a serious thing. What do you think?" It was all I could do to concentrate on what she was saying. She smelled so good, like watermelon shampoo. "I think that sounds like the most logical course of action, yes," I ground out in the calmest voice I could muster. She smiled, "Good." Then she leaned down and kissed me slowly, sensually, hungrily. I wrapped my arms around her waist and her hands went to work playing with my hair. We kissed like that for a few seconds and then I felt her tongue glide across my bottom lip and I opened instantly to receive it. As we deepened the kiss, I could feel a tightness in my trousers and I'm sure she could too. I reluctantly broke the kiss after a few minutes and said, "Cassandra… maybe we should take this slow…" She nodded and we both got up from the chair.

"I have an idea," I told her. She looked at me expectantly. "Let's go out tonight, away from the annex, we can take the door anywhere and do anything. A date. Isn't that what people call it now? A 'date'?" She laughed quietly as she responded, "Yes, that is what people call it now. And I think that's a great idea. What did you have in mind?" I thought about it for a minute and it suddenly occurred to me that I didn't really know what a modern 'date' was. "Can I tell you something personal?" I moved toward her and grabbed her hands. She nodded, "Anything." "Well, if I'm honest, I haven't been on a 'date' in a while, so I don't really know what the protocol is…" She raised an eyebrow, "So? I haven't been on one in a few months either—" I cut her off, "We don't have the same definition of a while my dear… I haven't been on a date in several centuries." Her mouth dropped. "Centuries?!" I nodded. She looked dumbfounded for a few moments and then looked back up at me, "Maybe I should plan the first date then." Relief flooded my face and I squeezed her hands, "Thank you, and I promise after that, I'll have a better idea of what this whole 'dating' thing means and I can plan something for you." She smiled brightly at me and leaned up to kiss my cheek. "I better go, I have a date to plan. I'll meet you back here at 8 and expect a text with what to wear."

Cassandra:

Centuries?! I mean I know how old he is, but I just assumed he still went on dates. I mean, everybody dates occasionally, right? Well, apparently not everybody. I won't lie though, I found it attractive that he didn't need confirmation from the opposite sex to feel secure in himself, there's something oddly sexy about that. Anyways, here I am at home on my laptop trying to plan the PERFECT first date in only 4 hours. How do you plan a date for a man who hasn't been on a date in that long? It's damn near impossible. Ugh. Just as I was about to give up and decide on something simple like a movie, I saw it and it was perfect.

Jenkins:

I had been in my room for hours trying to pick out outfits for every possible scenario when my phone dinged. Ah, finally. I moved toward it and opened the message from Cassandra. It read- 'Your traditional suit will be perfect' As I looked through my options, I realized I didn't know what she was wearing and I certainly didn't want to clash. I typed quickly- 'What will you be wearing?' In an instant her response came through- 'That's for me to know and you to find out!' I smiled in spite of myself, wicked woman. 'Do I at least get to know what color suit to wear Miss Cillian?' As soon as I sent the message, she responded- 'Black suit, white accents. Pick you up at 8 ;)' I stared at the last two symbols for a while until I realized that when I turned my cellular phone sideways they made a winking face. How clever. I pulled a black suit from the closet and began to dress.

At ten till 8 I waited patiently in the workroom for Cassandra to arrive. I had a bouquet of peonies in my hand and was more nervous than I think I have ever been in my life. It had been quite a long time since I had done this and even then, I had never gone out with a colleague, much less a colleague who looks half my age or less. Suddenly I heard heeled feet tapping across the floor getting louder by the second and I thought I might pass out. When she stepped into the workroom, my fear of fainting grew exponentially. She was dressed in a strapless black dress that came to about the middle of her thigh, it hugged her waist and then cascaded out from there like it was going to be a ballgown but stopped halfway. She had on large white earrings and white strappy heels. Her long red hair was down and curled even more than usual and she had on a little more makeup than I'm used to seeing her wear, but not so much as to look scandalous. She was a vision. "You look beautiful," was the first response that came to my mind. She looked down, blushing madly. "Thanks, you look pretty handsome yourself." I was far from handsome, but if the gorgeous woman in front of me said the sky was green I wouldn't argue with her. "Are those for me?" she interrupted my thought and looked to the flowers in my hands as she spoke. I nodded and held them out to her. "Oh, Jenkins, they're beautiful! I love peonies!" I smiled, proud that I had remembered how much she loved them from when we had discussed our favorite things some time ago.

She took the flowers from my hands and rushed to the kitchen to put them in a vase then came back into the workroom. "May I ask where we're going?" She pursed her lips and then started grinning, "Oh fine! I was going to wait until we got there to tell you but we're going on a dinner cruise!" I could feel her excitement from several feet away. "Why, that sounds like a wonderful date," I told her sincerely pleased that she had decided on something that wasn't overdone, but also classic. This 'date' thing may be new but I think I now understand the parameters of what I'm working with here. "Where is our cruise embarking from?" I asked her and moved to set the door. "Maui," she said with a smile. I gaped at her. She really had gone all out, hadn't she? She moved to help me pinpoint the coordinates of the door she had memorized for us to take and as we got ready to step through, I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to me. She put her arms around my neck. "Thank you, Cassandra," I said quietly, and she looked puzzled. Before she could ask what for, I finished, "for being patient with me." She smiled and leaned her head against my chest as she hugged me. We stepped through the door and embarked on our dinner cruise.

Cassandra:

The dinner cruise was AMAZING. The food, the band, the company… it was the best date I had ever been on. Jenkins seemed to be enjoying himself too, he even told a few jokes! I was slowly beginning to realize that the 'crotchety caretaker' thing was just an act. I was dragged out of my thoughts when I heard what the band was playing. They had only played a few notes, but I knew that song anywhere. I jumped up and reached out my hands to Jenkins, "This is my favorite! Let's go dance!" Surprisingly, he offered me his hand and I seized it immediately. In a moment, we were on the dance floor and I put my arms around his neck as we swayed to the music. "What song is this, Cassandra?" he asked as he put his hands on my hips. I loved the way my name rolled off his tongue, I was still getting used to him using it. "You don't know this?!" I asked when I realized what he had said. He looked blankly at me as the song got going a little more. "She Will Be Loved? It's a classic!" I tried again. His eyebrow went up, clearly still confused. I laughed a little and then the chorus came and I sang softly with it while we swayed. "I don't mind spending everyday/ out on your corner in the pouring rain/ look for the girl with the broken smile/ ask her if she wants to stay a while/ and she will be loved/ and she will be lo-o-o-oved"

When I looked up at him again, he was smiling. Like a full blown, not holding anything back, genuine smile. Those were rare, let me tell you. "What is it?" I asked him, now smiling as well. "You," he said. I didn't really know what he meant but I didn't question it. As the song played, we got closer and closer together and by the last note our faces were about 2 inches from each other. The song that started playing then was fast and lively so we left the dance floor and decided to head home. It was getting late. Jenkins paid for the meal and we left through a door to a storage closet on the boat. When we were back in the annex, we found ourselves in the kitchen making tea. We chatted about the evening and about nothing for a while until he said, "I have to ask- do I get a second date?" Could he really not read me at all? I searched his face to find he was completely serious. I couldn't help but laugh a little and then he looked panicked so I hurried to say, "Oh my goodness, yes! You really are new at this aren't you?" I saw relief flood his face as he nodded. I took his hands and held them tightly. I really wanted to just ask if I could stay but decided better of it. He wasn't ready for that.

"Walk me to the door?" I asked him. "Of course," he said and we walked hand in hand to the door. He set it for my apartment and then looked up, "I almost forgot- when are you moving to the new apartment?" "They want me to come Monday and I haven't packed up a thing, I think I'll be packing all day tomorrow." "Well," he moved towards me as he spoke, "would you like some help?" I smiled at him as he stopped a foot or so in front of me, "I would like that very much, but since they know you, you would have to pretend to be my husband again, are you okay with that?" He grinned at me as he put his arms around my waist, "I was counting on it." "Oh, you were?" I played along, "Well then, we better practice our 'acting'…" I stepped into his embrace and slipped my hands in his soft silver hair. He leaned down and kissed me, a long deep kiss that left me weak in the knees.