It was lunchtime before her cellphone buzzed. Pulling it out, she saw that Erin was returning her message. "Hello, Erin," she said softly as she answered the call.
"Penelope, whatever is going on over there? I expected you to contact me once a week, not daily. Are things not going well?"
Penelope took a deep breath, closing the door to the computer room to give herself some privacy. "Emily is not being nice. She's jealous of me, I think. It's not my fault that Derek wants nothing to do with her, but she's practically shoving me out of the way to get to him."
"And how is he reacting?"
"He keeps trying to brush her off. But Clyde is into me. I think he wants to stir up some drama between the three of us. And I kind of want that, too. Bring everything out in the open, you know? Does that make me a bad person?"
She heard Erin take a deep breath and murmur something to Dave. "No, it does not. You love Derek, and you want him to see that. If flirting with Clyde Easter gets Derek to open his eyes to what is right beneath his nose, then so be it. Are you okay with that?"
"A little, yeah." Someone knocked on the door, interrupting their conversation. "That's probably my partner with lunch. I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"Anytime you need to call, do so. Unless it's the middle of the night, then just text me, like you did, okay?"
"Okay. I miss you."
"That's sweet, Penelope. Even if it has only been a day. Have a wonderful time getting under Derek's skin."
"I will. Have a great day." They hung up and Penelope sighed, smiling at the young woman who came in holding out two bags. "What did you get us?"
"Chinese. There is a great place right around the corner that I always head out to. The lunch special today was broccoli and chicken."
Penelope opened her bag and breathed in the delicious scent. They began to eat, and Penelope found herself liking the woman more and more. "So, what is your favorite shojo anime, Moira?"
"That's easy, Sailor Moon. It was the first anime I ever saw, and will always hold a special place in my heart."
Penelope grinned. "That was my first anime, too! Though, my favorite shojo anime is, hands down, Revolutionary Girl Utena." Their conversation flowed easily as the lunch hour passed and soon they were back to work.
At five, both Clyde and Derek came in to see her. "Penelope, are you ready to head out to supper?" Clyde asked, coming up to her side. Looking at Derek, she saw his jaw tighten almost imperceptibly, and a pleased smile crossed over her face.
"Just about, Clyde. Let me start running this diagnostic on your systems, since it will take all evening for it to finish." She tapped out a few lines of code, instructing the program to do what she wanted it to do. "All right, I'm ready." She settled her hand in the crook of his arm and they walked out the door. "See you later tonight, Derek!"
He nodded, trying to look happy for her. "I'll wait up for you, Baby Girl."
She giggled as Clyde led her over to the elevators. "I really shouldn't do that to him, you know. It could backfire on me."
"I really don't think you have to worry about that, my dear. He is completely smitten with you and looked ready to tear my head off." He smiled at her and rubbed her shoulder lightly. "I must admit that I rather like antagonizing Emily."
"Why?"
"She deserves it. Trust me, I've known her far longer than you have, and sometimes her 'woe is me' act gets a little grating. Her mother is far nicer than she will ever let others know. And it bothers me that she is still mooning over Derek Morgan. He loved her, yes, but that changed when she 'died'. Believe me, I've heard all about it ever since she came back. My life has been a living hell because of her whinging about the one who got away."
Penelope giggled a little. "You make her sound like an angsty teenager, Clyde."
"That's who I feel like I've been working with for the last few months." The doors opened and he guided her out to his car. She was unsurprised to find out he drove a green Jaguar, since the car seemed to suit his personality. "So, how long have you been in love with Derek?"
She fastened her belt and thought about how she would answer his question. "From the moment I met him. But it wasn't always a passionate love, you know? Have you ever loved someone so completely as a friend and then woken up to find yourself wanting to just fuck them senseless?"
Clyde grinned at her. "No, I can't say that I have found myself in that position. Usually, I'm more of a one-night stand sort of person. Though there is someone I've had my eye on…"
"Ooh, do tell." She turned a little in her seat to watch him as he drove, wanting to know more about his love life.
"Well, she's quiet and smart, and someone who is completely opposite from who I'm normally attracted to."
She smiled. "Well, then maybe we can help each other out. There's no reason we can't both end up happy at the end of these few weeks."
Clyde nodded. "Twenty one days to get everything perfect. That should be more than enough time." He drove them to a posh restaurant and managed to get them a private table in minutes, despite the line of people waiting. Penelope picked up the menu and looked over her options. Thanks to Rossi helping her expand her taste horizons, she knew most of the dishes and quickly decided on the sea bass.
Setting the menu aside, she looked around the room. "Clyde, is that Maggie Smith?" she hissed lowly, trying not to stare at the woman.
He glanced over at the table she was indicating and nodded slowly. "Would you like to meet her?"
"Um, no. I would make a fool of myself. At least I can say that I had supper in the same room as her. God, her McGonagall kicked so much ass!" Penelope knew she was being a typical fangirl, but in that moment, she didn't really care. "I can't wait to tell Derek!"
Clyde chuckled at her enthusiasm and signaled their waiter over. "We're ready to order. I'll take the rack of lamb, please."
"And I'd like the sea bass." She smiled up at the waiter, who nodded at them.
"Very good. And would either of you like the wines that are paired with those dishes?" They both nodded and he wrote it down on his pad before moving off. Penelope couldn't help but steal glances at the famous woman she admired so. At one point, the woman caught her eye and smiled at her, waggling her fingers a little.
Nervously, Penelope waggled back before turning back to Clyde. "OMG, did that just happen? I think I will be floating on air for the rest of the week!" He just laughed a little at her, shaking his head.
"Really, Penelope, our actors are a lot more personable than some of your Hollywood starlets. If you want, I can introduce you. I've worked on her security detail before."
"We'll have to see how the evening goes." She took the glass of wine from their waiter's hand and sipped at it, needing to calm her nerves. "So, how should I react to Emily? I want to retain her friendship, but she's making it so difficult."
"She's a difficult person. She holds people at arm's length so that they don't get under her skin and into her heart. The Doyle fiasco led to that."
"Which one?"
"The first one. I saw how close she was getting to him. I knew that it would end in heartbreak. But there had to be someone on the inside, giving us the information we needed. Do you know how many people would have died had we pulled her out and tried to insert someone else in her place? She lost her objectivity and when we finally took him down, she vowed to never let anyone get close to her like that."
"And then she went and fell in love with my Boo." He nodded. "If she had told him the truth, about her time with Doyle, he might have understood. As he sees it now, she just couldn't trust him enough. I suppose her loss is my gain, but at the moment, it doesn't feel like much of a gain."
Clyde reached across the table for her hand. "If Emily is really your friend, she'll understand about your relationship with Derek. After all, she'll have three weeks to watch the two of you interact. If I can tell from ten minutes of time spent with you and Derek together that you are meant to be a couple, then it has to be pretty obvious to her as well."
She nodded. "That does reassure me, Clyde. Thank you." He squeezed her hand before nodding to someone behind her.
"Good evening, Mr. Easter. How are things at Interpol?" Penelope felt the air being sucked from her lungs as she recognized the cultured voice. Daring to look out the corner of her eye, she saw Maggie Smith standing right there, so close she could touch her.
"Things are going well, Ma'am. At the moment, we have a special team from the FBI setting up a new inter-agency task force and updating our computer systems. This is our on loan technical analyst, Penelope Garcia."
The woman smiled kindly at her, and Penelope tried to remember to breathe as she smiled back. "A pleasure to meet you, Ma'am."
"And you as well. Are you enjoying your time in London?"
"So far, yes, thank you. It is a very lovely city. Would you mind terribly if I asked for a picture of the two of us together? I mean, this is just too amazing."
Her smile grew as she nodded, and Penelope hurriedly thrust her iPhone at Clyde. "You freaking rock, Clyde. If I weren't in love with Derek, you would so be up there!" Everyone laughed as she stood close to the actress and Clyde took a few pictures of them together. "Thank you so much! I think I've been an admirer of your work since…"
"Harry Potter?" she asked wryly.
"You would think that, but no. I saw The Prime of Miss Jean Brody when I was in eighth grade and fell in love with your performance. You're one of the reasons I dabble in amateur stage work. But you were the perfect embodiment of McGonagall."
Her smile widened. "Thank you. Well, I really must be off. Nice meeting you, Ms. Garcia."
"And you, Ma'am." The woman headed towards the door and disappeared into the night. "I could so kiss you right now, you know that, right?"
He nodded. "She is a lovely woman, isn't she?" All Penelope could do was nod in response and try to focus on eating her meal.