CHAPTER TWO / Later that day ...

Holly's phone pings. A message from Gail.

Where are you?! &^$# %&*

Holly texts back: In the lab, where are you?

Gail lets out a groan and kicks her foot against Holly's front door.

STAY PUT

Holly replies: OK …. why?

Gail storms back down to her police cruiser and seriously considers using lights and sirens as she speeds off back in the direction from which she just came.

Holly watches her phone for a moment, waiting for Gail's reply but it never comes so she continues with the task at hand. Sometimes it just doesn't pay to try to second guess Gail Peck. Holly checks her reflection in a mirror and sighs. The 4 hours of sleep she got last night did not make for a good look today. She pulls her hair loose then decides to put it back into a ponytail. Gail has seen her looking much worse and it's not like Gail is going to be in any better shape than Holly, all things considered.

Holly sits down at her laptop and starts making notes for the next staff meeting. Her boss has asked everyone to make a list of things they want to add to next year's budget. She stares off into space, seriously distracted by thoughts of the morning she's had. She shakes it off and forces herself to think about what she wants. She begins typing:

1) More Interns
2) Software upgrades
3) New coffee maker in break room
4) Gail's lips.

Wait, what? She drops her head in her hands. What is she going to do about Gail? Holly feels her throat constrict. Everything about Gail over the past 24 hours has made her feel like she's been turned inside out, upside down, flipped, tripped, bagged, tagged and dumped out on a garbage heap of every insecure feeling she'd ever had in her entire life. When she conjured a totally bogus excuse to go check on Gail yesterday she knew she was being weird. She knew she was letting irrational emotions get the best of her, but she did it anyway. She may be a well trained scientist who is known for being thorough in her work, methodical in her procedures, logical in making her conclusions and unflappable in her demeanor. But never in the years and years of advanced university study did anything prepare her for Gail Peck.

"Why are you here?" Gail asks in a frankly accusatory tone as she appears in the doorway of the lab.

"What?" Holly's head snaps up at the sound of Gail's voice. She gives Gail the side eye and asks just as snarkily, "So sorry. Where I am I supposed to be?"

"Home. You should be home. You're off today!" Gail approaches Holly with her typical swagger and drops a large white paper bag on her desk.

"Well, since I was away from the lab most of yesterday, and didn't accomplish much, I thought I would come in today and finish things up. Should I have checked with you first?"

Gail tilts her head and looks at Holly for a long moment. "Yah, that would have been nice. Would have saved me driving all the way to your apartment for nothing."

"What's in the bag, officer? Please tell me you weren't delivering a severed head or disfigured appendage to my home in the hopes of a personal consultation."

"No, nerd. I brought you lunch." Gail shifts her feet and sighs. "I mean, you were nice enough to make me pancakes and … stuff. So … y'know."

Holly bites her lower lip and adjusts her glasses. "As I recall, you didn't actually eat any pancakes."

"No, but not because I didn't want to. I wanted to. So … yah."

"What did you bring me?" Holly asks.

"Pad Thai. There's this awesome Cambodian place Oliver takes me to sometimes in an incredibly shitty part of town. We happened to have a call down near there so …"

Holly smiles. "Thank you. That's very sweet. Are you going to stay and eat with me?"

"Well, that was the plan, but since you weren't at your apartment like you should have been I now don't have time to eat with you." Gail thrusts her hands deep into her pants pockets.

"Sorry."

"It's ok. You can make it up to me later." Gail gives Holly a mischievous grin.

"Is that right?" Holly tries to sound as playful as Gail but doesn't quite pull it off. "What is that going to cost me?"

"I don't know yet." Gail walks around the desk and leans towards Holly who pushes herself as far back in her chair as she possibly can without making it tip over. "But I'll make sure it's good." Gail notices Holly's hand reaching out towards her laptop trying awkwardly to delete something.

Gail takes a quick look at the screen and stifles a laugh. "What's that?" She asks.

Holly word vomits: "Nothing. A thing for work. A wish list thing. Stuff for a staff meeting. Just budgeting stuff."

Then Gail whispers in her ear, "Why are you still freaked out?" The warmth of Gail's breath, the scent of her hair and the warmth of her skin sends shivers down Holly's spine.

"I, I, - oh please, you wish!" she stutters as she pushes Gail away playfully. "I'm not freaked, at all. I don't know why you ..." Holly swallows hard as Gail giggles. She gently puts her hand on Holly's cheek and smiles.

"Gotta go." Gail says and she turns and walks out without another word. Holly doesn't even dare exhale for fear of doing exactly what she told Gail she wasn't doing. Freaking out.

Holly's phone pings.

You have no idea how much #4 on your wish list is going to cost you!

to be continued ...