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I translated this story scene and Afterglow04 corrected it.
Happy reading !
02. Lipstick
Lisbon was in her office, reading the latest case report she had just finished. She'd been staring at the computer screen for over two hours now and her eyes were beginning to skip lines.
"Interrogation of Mr Lucas Treyis by agent Grace Van Pelt." She read the first part again. "Oh, of course not, it was Cho," she mumbled.
"Do you often talk to yourself?"
She recognized Jane's voice immediately as he stepped into her office, but she didn't take her eyes off the screen, too focused on her work.
"Interrogation of Mr Lucas Treyis by agent Kimball Cho. That's better," she said. "Sorry Jane, I was concentrating. What were you saying?"
She briefly looked at him before turning her gaze back to the case report.
"You've been working on that for the last two hours. Do you need some help?" Jane asked kindly.
"No, I can manage. I'm a little tired and I seem to have made some mistakes when I typed this, so I need to correct them," Lisbon explained. "What are you still doing here at this hour, though? Are you going to sleep here? Oh God, I referred to Lucas Treyis as "she" in this entire paragraph…"
"Grace is still here as well," Jane answered.
Lisbon looked away from her computer to find Van Pelt still at her desk, apparently doing some kind of research. Strange. She turned back to the report in front of her and let out a frustrated sigh upon discovering more silly little mistakes.
"You have got to be kidding me…"
"Lisbon, go home, you can finish that tomorrow. You didn't get much sleep last night, did you?"
"No…" Lisbon answered, turning off her computer.
"Nightmares?"
Lisbon had in fact slept very little the previous night, but she didn't really intend to share that with anyone, least of all Jane. She racked her brain for a somewhat believable lie as she walked around her desk, coming to a halt in front of him.
"I'm fine, I just…"
She suddenly stopped, staring intently at Jane's lips.
"What?" he asked.
"Is that lipstick?" she exclaimed, half-smiling, half-curious.
"No," Jane said, wiping the corner of his mouth, slightly embarrassed.
"Yes it is!" Lisbon countered, smiling. "I recognize lipstick when I see it. Who did you kiss?"
"No one…"
Lisbon gave him a piercing look, hoping it would make him crack and offer up a name. But he merely avoided her gaze.
"Come on, tell me who she is, I won't tell anyone.'
Jane started laughing when he detected the pleading note in her voice.
"Why do you want to know?"
"Because," Lisbon shrugged.
"Tell you what. I'll give you the name of the woman whose lipstick this is, if you…"
Lisbon waited, suddenly apprehensive as Jane appeared to be deep in thought.
"… if you tell me what kept you awake last night," he finished his sentence.
"Well, I was going to explain it to you. I just stayed up late watching a horror movie and then I couldn't sleep," Lisbon answered casually.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I should've specified," Jane apologized, raising one hand with a smile. "I want the name of the man who was in your bed last night, preventing you from sleeping."
Surprised, Lisbon half-opened her mouth as her cheeks flushed. How did he know?
"No one… no one was in my bed… it was the movie…" she stammered.
"Come on, fair play, Lisbon!" Jane laughed. "I know there's a man involved. Yesterday, you wore a men's leather jacket all day and you thought I wouldn't notice? I'm a mentalist for crying out loud. So, who is he?"
He leaned in to look in her eyes, making sure she wouldn't lie to him.
"He was… somebody."
"A name for a name, Lisbon."
Lisbon looked down at her shoes and said in a murmur, "His name is Esteban. He's a college friend."
"Oh…" Jane smiled, happy to have received the answer he'd been looking for. "Are you in love?"
"Hey!" Lisbon became annoyed, blushing again. "A name for a name! I told you he was a friend, which is already sharing too much. It's your turn!"
"Okay. This lipstick belongs to Grace. She lent it to me so I could squeeze this information out of you," he grinned.
"What? Please tell me you're kidding."
"It's true!" Jane laughed at her. "But rest assured, I won't tell anyone."
"You tricked me!"
Jane nodded, an apologetic smile crossing his face.
"Anyway, he's just passing through," Lisbon explained. "He lives in London, he's going back tomorrow morning."
Jane nodded, pleased he'd been able to get an answer and obviously much more amused than Lisbon, who was starting to feel slightly uncomfortable. You have to take control of the situation, she told herself, and make him just as uncomfortable. She reached out and gently wiped her thumb across Jane's bottom lip.
"There's still some lipstick here…"
Jane let her wipe away the rest of it before he stepped back.
"Thank you."
A look passed between them that only they could understand. A few seconds of quiet contemplation and understanding. Then Jane spoke up.
"I'll go give Grace her lipstick back."
He turned around, opening the door.
"Good night, Jane," Lisbon said.
He turned around to face her, a meaningful look in his eyes, all traces of a smile gone.
"Yes, thank you. Sleep well, Lisbon. Don't tire yourself too much; you still have work to do tomorrow."
He stepped back into the bullpen, leaving her to ponder the meaning behind his words. He could have just said 'don't see him again', it would've been much clearer.
"Jane!" Lisbon called, while he was almost next to Van Pelt's desk.
He turned around to see her motioning him back into her office.
"To answer your question, I'm not in love."
Lisbon felt a shiver run along her spine when Jane leaned in, his face right in front of hers, blue eyes staring intently into her green ones. He held her gaze for a few seconds, causing Lisbon to unconsciously hold her breath, afraid to move.
"I believe you," he finally said. "Why did you want to tell me that?"
"Why did you want to know?"
He sent a grin her way, which she matched with one of her own, revealing one of the adorable dimples at the corner of her mouth. Then he left her office a second time, joining Van Pelt who'd been surreptitiously watching the two of them from the corner of her eye.
"So?" she asked when Jane gave her lipstick back.
"It worked."
"And?"
"An old school friend who'll be back in Europe tomorrow." Jane explained, self-assured.
"Good." Van Pelt nodded.
Jane gave a small smile.
"Yea, it's good."
