Annie stopped in front of the janitor's closet before going in. She hated how memories of her and Jeff flooded her brain whenever she passed by. 'Suck it up' she thought. She took a deep breath and she barreled in ready to comb through years of files looking for the paperwork the Dean claimed to have not lost.
"Oh...What are you doing in here?!" Annie kicked herself for sounding so flustered.
Jeff smirked at her, "Hey, Nice to see you too."
Annie rolled her eyes and continued into the closet, which was obscenely large for a janitor's closet if you really think about it. She than realized it was her turn to say something witty. That is how their banter worked, right? But she reminded herself, no more banter. Even though Jeff and Britta didn't take their faux engagement very seriously, it still hurt her. If he had feelings for Annie at all, how could he think of running off with Britta? Even in a moment of desperation. This train of thought proved that Annie still had a lot to learn about Jeff Winger.
"Sorry, you scared me. " She wanted to keep it cool, no hint of flirtation.
Jeff stared at her with an intense look that he only reserved for Annie. Some would call it smoldering, Annie called it dangerous. She kept talking to avoid the lure.
"I am actually looking for something. Have you seen a file cabinet marked double D while you were hiding out in here?"
Jeff raised his eyebrow at the obvious double entendre.
Annie blushed and scurried to the dusty cabinets. "It stands for 'Don't Discard' you perv. The Dean says he always put all his important documents there."
"Of course he does. What important life altering document did he lose this time?"
Annie didn't look back at him while she continued to rummage around. "The school's accreditation is up for renewal and we need to provide documentation that we were accredited in the past…you know so that our degrees aren't null and void."
"Ah, the work of the Greendale Preservation Committee is literally never done."
Annie smiled at this but kept her head turned so he could not see.
"By the way, I am not hiding." Jeff added. "I am actually trying to work for once." Nothing was grabbing her attention. He continued "Hickey is working on those duck drawings of his and he does a lot of screaming during his 'creative process'. Makes grading papers a little tough."
"Damn it!" Annie screamed.
"Yeah just like that." Jeff got up from the desk that was stored in the closet and walked over to Annie. "Do you need help?"
"No." She said in her sad disappointed princess voice. "I found the Double…cabinet and it doesn't have the accreditation paperwork. The Dean swore it had to be in here. Now I have to spend all day tearing this place apart looking for it."
Jeff looked in the drawer, "These are all pictures of Dalmatians."
"Well the Dean's mind works in mysterious ways. This is not how I planned on spending my day." Annie was so annoyed with the Dean that she forgot she was annoyed with Jeff.
Jeff seized the opportunity. "Well if you are going to be searching all day and I am going to be grading all day, why don't we take a little break now as a pre-reward for our hard work." He ended with the Winger sparkle smile he knew she couldn't resist. Jeff was right. With her defenses down she agreed.