Authors note: Apologies for delay in getting another chapter up – work very busy this week! Thank you to all the lovely people who have added this story to their favourites / alerts and to those who have commented – very much appreciated!
That night had been a very peculiar one for both Nell and Callen. Both suffering from something they had never contemplated being a reality for either and now they were left confused and frustrated. Their thoughts that night mirrored each other's but neither one said anything. The sexual chemistry between the two could be felt like an electrical shock. Needless to say, both hardly slept that night. Yes, both had fantasized about the other but both knew their relationship was one based on a working one that could even be described as a friendship of sorts but they also knew the other did not reciprocate any emotional feelings and so had never thought anything else of it, until now.
Days had passed and since that first night, things between the two had become strange. A tension was felt. Although when in character, no one could tell anything was going on between the two, when in the confines of their 'house' the two were left to contemplate the awkwardness. However, as if there had been a silent conversation between them, the subject was never approached. They went on about their day as if nothing had been felt that first night and found they were limiting any activities / chores that meant they spent time together, so that neither one had the opportunity to discuss the issue. Callen had decided to wait it out and Nell felt like she was going to combust.
Patrick had had to go out of town on a business deal (Kensi and Deeks on surveilence duty), which meant both had some free time to do whatever they wished, with the exception of having to stay in the role of husband and wife. Nell had taken the opportunity to get to know Sarah a little better and they had arranged to go shopping for dresses for the upcoming charity ball that Sarah and Patrick had kindly invited them along to. Nell had full use of the 'black card' and was very much looking forward to a girly afternoon of shopping.
"Hi Claire" said Sarah as Nell opened the front door.
Nell replied with a "Hi" then turned towards Callen who was in the living room, blew him a kiss and they exchanged their 'goodbyes'.
Once at the mall, the two women were in heaven. They were in and out of every shop, trying on glamorous dresses and gossiping about the latest celebrity scandals. Nell had to admit that she was having a good time and was enjoying Sarah's company. She didn't get to socialise with her friends much outside of work due to the delicate nature of her job, she felt bad that she had to lie to them about what she actually did for a living and so would sometimes decline invitations. She could not recall the last time she had spent time with her friends like this just being herself and doing the girly things and she was instantly saddened when she couldn't remember.
"Claire, are you ok?" asked Sarah
Nell, having been lost in her own world of thoughts, decided to seek out help with her troubles with Callen and get some advice. After all, she could get some 'marriage advice' she thought. "well there is something" replied Nell.
Sarah waited patiently for Claire to continue. She could tell something was the matter but didn't want to frighten her off with lots of questions.
"Things are a bit strange between me and Matt and I don't know what to do about it" started Nell.
"How do you mean strange?"
"It's difficult to say. We just don't seem to be talking much to each other. We haven't had an argument or anything, but things seem to be weird now" continued Nell.
"When was the last time you guys had sex" asked Sarah.
Nell had to think of an answer pretty quick, she couldn't exactly say never, could she, so she advised it had been a few weeks.
"Sexual frustration" Sarah responded with a confident smile.
"What do you mean?" enquired Nell. "As it's been a few weeks and things have been going on with you both, moving house, etc, it's probably just down to sexual frustration" Sarah responded. "you need to put the spark back, start of slow, make him realise what he's missing out on".
On the drive home, Nell began to think back to their earlier conversation. How could she 'put the spark back' into a fake marriage? She definitely didn't want to talk anything over because if he didnt feel the same, well that would be very awkward! But she then thought back to that night and the subsequent nights, if she were honest herself - The way his eyes popped out and his face flushed when she caught him staring at her breasts, she couldn't mistake those signs, could she? After more deliberation she came to the conclusion that she did not mistake those signs, there was definitely chemistry between the two. So she decided to take Sarah's advice – show him what he's missing out on. For the first time since that night, she remembered what she had said to herself and she smiled at her thoughts. Well if her and Callen weren't going to talk about their feelings then she sure as hell would enjoy watching him squirm. This was going to be fun...