BLACK MAGIC
CHAPTER 3
Paige trudged up to the loft, frustration dogging her steps. She knew she and Walter needed to clear the air, but she absolutely refused to let herself get sucked into hoping things would change…again. Her heart lifted momentarily when Toby blurted out that nonsense about Walter following her and then she almost fainted at what the shrink implied next. The euphoria lasted long enough for her to blow off Tim for good. But then she remembered all the times she thought things would move forward with Walter. So many times she had let herself believe the stars would somehow finally align just right, then…nothing. Paige had thrown Walter so many hints in the past two years, some not so subtle, and he would act like things might progress, but eventually he would push her away every time. That's why she went with Tim in the first place. She was determined to move on. She was just so tired of the back and forth. At least Tim was straight forward. It was a pity her heart wouldn't listen to reason.
Paige passed through the second floor lab and walked toward the doorway of Walter's living space, telling herself sternly she would not get her foolish hopes up this time. If an overture was made it would have to be all Walter's. Otherwise, this was just going to be yet another 'friends/colleagues for the good of the team' discussion.
Leaning a shoulder against the doorjamb, Paige spotted Walter sitting on the couch. That's when she noticed him staring off into space and muttering to himself like he did at Christmas when he was suppressing his grief over his sister. Instantly whatever irritation she was feeling drained away and she was filled with compassion and more than a little concern. She knew he had been distressed all day. Usually she was so in tune with the emotions of the team, particularly Walter's, but she must have missed something. Then again, she had been wrong when he gave her the tickets to the jazz festival too. She thought he was nervous because he wanted her to go with him.
"…it's not definitive…no way to quantify…incalculable…no basis in scientific fact…"
Paige could understand a few of the words he was saying, but the rest was just unintelligible mumbling. She tapped on the doorframe with one knuckle. When that failed to get his attention, she had to say his name several times before he finally looked up at her.
Walter blinked and said, "Oh, um, Paige. I'm really tired. I don't want to talk to anyone right now, if you wouldn't mind."
She smiled, "Well, that's kinda too bad. I do mind. Sorry. Because I need to talk to you. We have a few things to work out before I can leave you in peace."
He sighed looking defeated and every bit as tired as he claimed.
"How long has it been since you've had a decent night's rest?" she asked walking toward him and perching on the coffee table facing him. She had to fold her arms to keep herself from reaching up and stroking his face.
Walter rubbed his eyes. "Thursday, I think."
"Why? What happened?"
Shaking his head, he said, "Just a lot on my mind. I'd rather not elaborate."
"You're going to have to do better than that, Walter. You know the more evasive you are, the more I'll press."
His smile was sad as he remembered that long ago conversation. "I know that about you." He looked down and Paige thought he wasn't going to answer her, but after a minute he said, "It really doesn't matter now. It's too late."
"What's too late? And what exactly did Toby mean when he said you came after me on Friday night?"
"He shouldn't have said anything, but when has that ever stopped him? None of it matters anyway now that you're with Tim."
"I'm not with Tim."
Walter looked baffled and said, "I'm confused. Didn't the two of you just spend an entire weekend together?"
Paige's lips twitched, "He left after one day."
"What?! What do you mean?"
"Are you asking for a play by play of my little adventure with Tim?"
"I may not want all of the details," Walter said sitting up a bit straighter and leaning forward, "but it might help to determine if certain facts are still relevant."
"Hmmm. Where do I start? Okay, I left here on Friday evening worried about Happy and Toby and upset about…um, other things. But in spite of those 'things' or maybe because of some of them, I was determined to have a great time and forget… everything here. That lasted for about the first fifteen minutes. Tim noticed I was distracted, so I tried harder to be more attentive. That worked for a little while longer. Until you started calling."
"Wait. Why didn't you answer my calls?" He asked sharply, "I thought your phone was off."
"A mom never turns her phone off when she's away from her child. I didn't answer because…well, because I was annoyed."
"Annoyed? With, uh…with me?"
"Yes, Walter. Annoyed with you. You practically shoved me out the door. I didn't want to talk to you."
Looking scandalized he said, "It could have been an emergency. Or something else equally important!"
"If it was an emergency, Sly would have called me. Or Cabe."
Getting more agitated, Walter snapped, "Oh, so you were only ignoring my calls?"
"Yes. That about sums it up. Do you want to hear the rest or not?"
Frowning, he gestured for her to continue.
"We took Tim's car, not mine. It doesn't have onboard wifi and we hit a place with no cell reception, so we had no GPS for a while. We made a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in Fresno."
"Fresno? You didn't take 395N? That's the most direct route and the most scenic. That's the way I…nevermind," Walter interrupted.
"I wasn't really paying attention. Plus, it was dark. What was there to see? Anyway, we got turned around and ended up in Fresno. It was getting late and Tim suggested we just stay there and make an early start the next day. We went to dinner, then back to our hotel…"
Walter stood up and began pacing. "I, uh, would rather you didn't go into detail…"
Paige laughed, enjoying his discomfort for just a minute. "Walter, I insisted on separate rooms. Nothing to be squeamish about. It was all totally 'G' rated."
"Oh, okay," he said and sank back down on the sofa, his relief obvious.
"…well, he tried for 'PG-13' but I, uh, had a headache."
Walter grimaced.
She covered her mouth for a minute until she could keep a straight face then continued, "To make a long story short, I didn't sleep at all that night. The next day I was tired and more distracted than ever. Tim noticed I wasn't feeling well. And I may have played that up a little. He asked if I'd rather go home instead. He brought me back home. And that was it."
"So…so you, uh, didn't…you didn't..?"
"No. I didn't."
Walter sagged visibly and covered his face with his hands. Through his fingers, she heard him say, "I'm such a moron!"
Starting to get impatient again, Paige pulled his hands down and said, "Okay. Your turn. What did Toby mean when he said you followed me?"
Walter swallowed hard and couldn't look at Paige. She still held his hands and he didn't want her to let go, so he gripped her fingers and focused his gaze on their entwined hands.
"W-well, uh. Toby helped me, uh, realize something. S-something significant. And I felt I should try to stop you if I could."
"What did Toby help you realize?"
"That, well, I…am actually in, um… See, I couldn't stand thinking about you and, uh, Tim, but I told myself it was necessary and best for everyone and Toby told me nothing is, in fact, more important than, uh, than…"
"What?" Paige shook her head looking confused.
"I drove all the way to Tahoe, Paige. I hacked into all the registries of all the local hotels until my phone died. Then I drove around looking in parking lots for your cars. I even bought a ticket and looked around the festival grounds for a while. When I couldn't find you, I-I assumed the two of you had just s-stayed…uh, in your room. I thought I lost my opportunity to tell you."
"To tell me? Tell me what exactly?" she prompted.
"That…," he said, seeming almost frantic now, "I wanted you to, uh, go with me, but I was… There's risk involved. You are important to me…and the, uh, team."
"I see." Against all reason, Paige had begun to hope again. But here they were, back to 'for the good of the team' all over again. She disengaged her hands from his grasp and stood to leave, her heart heavy.
She was walking away, so she barely heard his whisper, "But, I realized I l-love you."
Paige froze. Her back was still to Walter and she said, "What did you just say?"
Standing up, he cleared his throat and said a bit louder, "I love you, Paige."
AN: Well, I lied. There will be one more chapter. Hang in there with me! And review, pretty please.
