Authors Note: So I've decide to do this in five parts, one for each person on the team. Thanks to Ebony10 for being my beta.
Disclaimer: If I owned them I would get paid for writing this :)
He was people watching. He loved to do it, to look at people as they went by, trying to figure out their life stories from the thirty second glances he got of them while he sat on this bench. He used to come to this mall with his wife and daughter. They would go off shopping and he would sit here, watching the people as they went by. It had been an interesting day so far.
He had seen both Van Pelt and Rigsby go into the same department store. It was obvious to him that they liked each other, but they seemed oblivious to it. Rigsby, of course, had admitted to it, but not to her as far as he knew and he was pretty sure that Van Pelt was clueless to the fact that she liked Rigsby.
Rigsby had been with his little sister. Jane knew that he didn't live at home anymore so the fact that he was spending the day at the mall with a sister who was at least ten years younger probably meant that he had lost some sort of bet.
Van Pelt had been alone, which didn't surprise him. He had first seen her looking in the window of the shoe store that was across from the food court. If he had to guess he would say that she loved to buy the expensive shoes, but her salary didn't support that habit so she settled for looking instead.
Right now he was waiting for two things. One was for Rigsby and Van Pelt to come out of the department store together. It looked like he wasn't going to have to wait long for that one as they were walking out of the department store and towards the food court. They were closer together than they probably had to be, but neither seemed to notice.
The second thing he was waiting for was for Lisbon. That was why he had chosen this particular bench. It was close to the food court so he would be able to see Van Pelt and Rigsby making fools out of themselves by pretending not to be attracted to each other and it was close to the store that he knew Lisbon was going to be visiting today.
He had planned it this way. He had wanted an excuse to run into her on a day off and he had finally found one. He had waited until it looked like they were going to have the weekend off and had used the last of the lotion that she kept in her desk. He knew she was going to have to come to the mall to replace it. In all these years of working with her, she always bought the same type of lotion. Victoria's Secret lotion. It had surprised him the first time he had smelled it on her, but he supposed she was a woman and, as such, would shop at the store. She just didn't seem the Victoria's Secret type.
And here she came. She was listing to an I-pod the same as Van Pelt had when she had come into the mall. It seemed to be their way of shutting out the world, of saying it was their day off so just leave them alone. As he expected, the first store he saw her go into was Victoria's Secret. He waited a few minutes, not sure if she would be coming out quickly or if she would take her time and do other shopping as well. When she hadn't come out a few minutes later, Jane decided to go into the store and see her.
Many guys have no desire to go into a woman's lingerie store; there were in fact a small group of men waiting outside the store, pretending not to be looking in the windows. As Jane walked by one of them, he leaned over and whispered to him "Your girls friend probably wouldn't mind if you helped her pick it out, but don't let her know that you would rather wear it instead of seeing it on her." The man looked like he was going to attack Jane who just laughed and walked into the store, confidant that the man wouldn't be following him.
It took him a few minutes to find Lisbon once he got into the store. She was shorter than most of the people there so it was harder to see her through the sea of women. When he spotted her he smiled slightly. She was indeed looking at the lingerie that was on display.
He walked up behind her slowly and spoke to her just loud enough to be heard over her music. "Are you planning on wearing that to work? Because I would pay to see it."
She spun around quickly and saw Jane standing there laughing at her. Her face was a bright shade of red. "I was just looking for your information. I had to come in and by more lotion. Someone used all of mine." Although she was still clearly embarrassed at being found in this particular store by Jane, she still managed to glare at him.
"Hey, if you don't want people to use your lotion, don't leave it sitting on your desk." He was trying to put on an innocent act, but she wasn't buying it.
"It wasn't on my desk. It was in a locked drawer."
"So I had dry hands. I knew you wouldn't mind." He grinned at her and knew she wouldn't stay mad for long.
"What are you doing in a woman's lingerie store anyway? Not hiding anything from the rest of the team are you?"
Now it was Jane's turn to be embarrassed. "No, I came into see if there was anything I could help you with. Any special occasions coming up that you are buying for?"
"No and if you don't mind, I'm trying to relax on my day off." She turned back to the rack, hoping he would get the hint and leave, but this was Jane. He did what he wanted, not what you wanted him to do.
"I like the blue one," he said into her ear again. This time she turned off her music and took her ear buds out.
"Will you leave me alone?" She was starting to get mad. She looked up and noticed a saleswoman coming towards them.
"Is everything alright, ma'am?" the saleswoman asked Lisbon. "If he's bothering you we can get security to remove him." She gestured towards the mean-looking man in the entry way of the store.
"My wife and I were just having a difference of opinion." Said Jane before Lisbon could answer. "Tell me," he said turning to the saleswoman and putting on his most charming smile, "Do you think she would look better in the blue or the red?"
"Well," the saleswoman said, now in her element, "The red is always popular, but it's not quite the right shade for her skin tone. I think the dark blue would do better."
"Thank you very much." Said Jane to the saleswoman, who smiled and walked away. He turned back to Lisbon with a triumphant look on his face. "What did I tell you? The blue would definitely be better."
Lisbon growled at him and stomped up to the cash register with her lotion. Jane decided not to push his luck at that point and went to wait outside for her to exit. She almost snuck by him by walking on the other side of a rather large couple, but Jane spotted her and ran to catch up with her.
"Come have lunch with me?" He asked, noticing that she hadn't put her ear buds back in yet.
"I've already eaten lunch." She was trying to walk quickly, but the mall was crowded today and it was difficult.
"You're lying," he said without hesitation. "It's just lunch. It won't kill you."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that." She mumbled under her breath. If Jane heard her, he chose to ignore her comment.
"Rigsby and Van Pelt are eating lunch together." He said as if that would help her decide.
"How do you know they're eating lunch together?" She had stopped by the bench that he had been sitting on earlier. It was now occupied by a man reading a newspaper.
"I saw them coming out of that," he pointed "department store together. She had been here shopping by herself, much like you actually. And he had been here shopping with his younger sister."
"Poor Rigsby. I wonder what bet he lost to have to do that." Lisbon chuckled slightly. Jane started walking toward the food court and Lisbon followed. It seemed like she didn't even realize she was doing it until they had arrived at the Hot Dog on a Stick counter. Lisbon looked up, perplexed. "How do you know this is where I eat when I come here?"
Jane looked at her with a slight smile. "I didn't. This is where I always go. They have the best lemonade."
They both looked at each other and laughed. Jane was glad he had made sure to run into her today. He really was having a good time.
