Jenkins:
Cassandra and I had a nice long talk last night about... well everything really. We decided that we weren't going to… pass the point of no return as it were until we both knew it was time. We also talked about the others. I don't mind having secrets usually, but these Librarians and especially Colonel Baird were the closest thing I had had to a family in a long time and it did seem like a rather large secret to keep from them. However, Cassandra and I agreed that we didn't need the others swaying our judgement for or against this working out. We needed to do this alone. We also agreed that we would go on as we had been at the Library, she would still assist me in experiments and kiss me on the cheek when she got there every morning. I would continue to call her Miss Cillian in front of the others and show an unromantic favoritism toward her. And outside of the Library, we will continue to 'date' in secret and take it super slow. We talked for so long that I didn't leave her place until around 2 in the morning and my lack of sleep showed in my appearance and attitude this morning. I walked into the workroom just in time to hear Ezekiel blast some sort of noise (or what I assume is music nowadays) through his cellular phone and I shouted at him, "Mr. Jones, would you mind?!" He tapped his phone immediately to turn it off and backed away from me, "Woah Jenkins, who peed in your cheerios?"
"I'm sorry, I just didn't get a lot of sleep last night and I'm a bit cranky." He smirked at me, "You're always a bit cranky mate, this morning you're bordering on feral." I shot him a glare and went to my desk. I looked around and saw Colonel Baird and Mr. Carsen but not Mr. Stone or Cassandra. I checked the clock- 8:20. Hmm, they should be here by now. Just as I was contemplating asking where they were, Jacob walked out of the stacks, talking to Ezekiel about something. Still no Cassandra, but if I asked, would that be suspicious? Maybe? "Colonel?" I asked and she looked up at me. The very same moment I heard the familiar sound of Cassandra's heeled feet down the hallway. "Um, have you seen my glasses?" I recovered as Cassandra walked into the workroom. "They're on your desk Jenkins," Baird responded with a look of concern on her face and I feigned frustration. "Ah, there they are, right under my nose, thank you Colonel." The others said good morning to Cassandra and I said, "Miss Cillian" in acknowledgement as she kissed me on the cheek as we had done a thousand mornings. We went about our days as normal and everything seemed to be falling into place.
Cassandra came into my lab and closed the door around 4. I shot an eyebrow up as she walked toward me. "I came to talk about our plans for the night," she said. I wrapped my arms around her waist when she got close enough and she put her hands on my chest. "I was thinking a movie. Is there anything you've been wanting to see?" she began. I shook my head, "I prefer the classics, but if there's something you want to see we can see that." She shook her head, "I prefer the classics too, but those don't play in movie theatres and the idea of being in a dark theatre with you is what made me pick this date…" As her voice trailed off, she ran her hands up into my hair. "Mmmm," I moaned at her touch against my bare neck, "Well, it's a good thing I know a place my dear, leave it to me." I kissed her forehead and as I came up to look into her eyes, there was a knock at the door. "Jenkins?" It was Mr. Carsen. We quickly let go of each other and I busied myself with the microscope while she grabbed the lab notebook and began to flip through as though checking my formulas. I have to admit that I did quite enjoy this secret romance we had going on.
"Come in sir," I responded in a cool voice and he opened the door. "Why was the door closed?" Oh god, lie Jenkins lie! "Oh, I was dealing with some particularly strong chemicals this morning and have been keeping it closed as a precaution all day." It was the best I could do, and I added a small smile at the end hoping that he wouldn't question it. He didn't. Whatever he needed my help with must have been more interesting, thank god, because all he said was, "Oh okay, well you see I have this problem—" Cassandra excused herself while he was giving me a rundown of what he needed. As she slipped out the door, I caught her eyes and she winked. She held up her hands and showed me seven fingers. 7 o'clock. I gave an imperceptible nod and she caught it. She smiled and left the room. As soon as I helped Mr. Carsen, I called and got tickets for our movie night and made one other arrangement with a friend who owed me a favor. I found myself zoning out the rest of the day thinking about tonight. I hope she likes it.
Cassandra:
Almost as soon as I left Jenkins' lab, Eve found me. She started talking before I even had the chance to say hello. "So, I have a proposition for you- I have a friend from the military in town and he was looking for a good time while he's here. I was wondering if you would go with him on a double date with me and Flynn. His name is Steven, he's handsome and sweet and I thought you two might hit it off. I mean I know you're not seeing anyone—" I cut her off without thinking, "Actually I am." Her eyebrows went up, "Really? You haven't mentioned anything about having a boyfriend." Oh crap, what have I done? "Um, well, I just… didn't know if we were really supposed to talk about that kind of thing at work," I fumbled. "Are you kidding? Who is it? Would I know him? How did you meet? What's he look like?" She started babbling off questions. "You don't know him!" I said quickly, "Uh, he's a… doctor! At the hospital where I got my tumor removed. Yeah. We met at one of my check in visits a few weeks ago, he works in one of the testing labs. It's a pretty new thing, I just didn't want to move too fast by telling people we were in a relationship."
"Ooh a doctor," Eve smirked at me, "You have good taste Red." I laughed a little, "That I do." "Well, I'll just tell Steven that I don't know anyone then, but I do expect to meet this doctor someday soon. What's his name anyway?" "Je- John! It's John." She didn't seem to notice my fumble, because all she said was, "John, I like it" and walked away. I let out a sigh of relief. I would have to explain what happened to Jenkins tonight so he wouldn't be blindsided by it later, but at least she bought it. I really hate lying to Eve though, she was the only real female friend I had ever had. I hope we don't have to keep this up long.
Jenkins:
After everyone left for the day, I began to gather my things for my evening with Cassandra. I hated lying to them as much as she did, but we both know it's for the best. Maybe we'll know soon whether or not this is going to work and we won't have to lie for very long. As I thought about this new relationship with Cassandra, I couldn't help but smile. When these Librarians showed up, I just wanted them to leave, but now I quite enjoy them. Especially Cassandra. Who would have thought I would fall for one of them? Wait, did I just say 'fall'? I think I did. Have I fallen for Cassandra? The thought scared me but excited me at the same time. I hadn't fallen for anyone in a long, long time. As I was lost in my thoughts, the back door spurred to life and I walked to it, assuming Cassandra was a bit early. To my surprise, Ezekiel came through the door. "Mr. Jones? What are you—" He opened his mouth to respond and then noticed the flowers in my hand and the movie snacks in a large popcorn bucket off to the side. "I left my laptop, more importantly, what are you up to mate?" "Oh, I… uh… I'm… well—" There was no way to lie my way out of it. He gasped and put his hands over his mouth. "No way! You're going on a date!" "What? No, I—" I fumbled but he knew.
"Who's the lucky girl mate?" he asked after he watched me struggle to lie for a moment. "You don't know her!" I said defensively. "I didn't think I would mate, geez, I was just asking." He walked over to his desk area and grabbed his laptop, "Well I'll leave you to it then. Don't stay out too late young man!" he chided me and I glared at him. He turned quickly and made for the door. Thank god he didn't come a second later, Cassandra should be here any minute. As if on cue, the door glowed to life and Cassandra popped through, not seeing Ezekiel off to the side. "Jenkins are you—" she began. "Going on a date, yes I am!" I cut her off, "Mr. Jones has already given me a hard-enough time, I assure you Miss Cillian." I looked pointedly in Ezekiel's direction. She looked confused then turned to see him standing there and played along immediately. "Good for you, Mr. Jenkins, Ezekiel shouldn't have given you a hard time. I just came because I couldn't find my coat and I needed it to go somewhere tonight. I think I left it here, I'll just go look for it." She walked off towards the stacks and Ezekiel reset the door for his place. "Good luck with your date Jenkins!" he screamed on his way out.
"He's gone," I called and Cassandra popped out from the stacks. "That was close," she said as she walked toward me. "Good save by the way," she said as she slipped her hands around me. "Mmm," I purred at her touch. "I had one of those myself today," she said against my chest. I looked down at her and raised one eyebrow. She proceeded to tell me about Colonel Baird trying to set her up with a friend and her lie stating she was seeing some doctor who works in a lab at the hospital named John. I laughed at the story and couldn't resist saying, "Hmm, I think I've figured out your type." She looked confused and I continued, "A man in a lab coat." We laughed for a while at that one. After we were done exchanging awkward situations of the day, I gave her the flowers and she made for the door. I set it to her apartment so she could drop off the flowers and after she returned I turned off the globe. "We're not taking the door?" I shook my head, "The car is out front my dear."
We walked hand in hand to the front door and I opened it for her. She looked around for a minute and finally turned to me, "I don't see it." I pointed to the classic 1964 silver Aston Martin across the street, "That's because you didn't know what to look for." "Oh my god Jenkins! That's the coolest car I've ever seen! We're really taking that?" I nodded and led her to the car. I walked around to the passenger's side and opened her door. I put the snacks in the console and got in. "You seriously have to tell me where we're going, I can't take it anymore." I shook my head, "We'll be there in just a few minutes, surely you can hold on that long." She fake pouted at me and I couldn't help but laugh.
Cassandra:
We drove through downtown Portland and turned down a back road. We rode it for a good while and just as I was about to ask why we were going away from town, I saw it: a huge movie screen and rows of cars parked in front of it. "A drive in!" I squealed and he smiled beside me, "What do you think my dear? Did I get this 'date' thing right?" "Jenkins! This is amazing! I've always wanted to go to a drive-in movie theatre!" I leaned over and kissed his cheek as he drove up the drive, "It's perfect." I saw his face flush in the dark and smiled to myself. He parked the car with a perfect view of the screen and started getting out the snacks as the previews played. "So what movie are we seeing?" I asked him as I scooted closer to the left side of my seat. "They play a double feature, but they're always classics. Tonight, it's Casablanca and Singin' in the Rain." He looked over at me to see my mouth agape. "Those are two of the best movies ever made," I was still gaping at him. He grinned and nodded. "Popcorn?" He held the bucket out to me and I took it, but I put it in the backseat so I could lean over the console and kiss him. He was surprised, but soon his hands came up to cup my face as we kissed. We kissed for what only felt like a few seconds, but turned out to be long enough to miss the previews.
When we parted, I laid my hands on top of his on my cheeks and whispered, "Thank you, I love it." He flipped his hands on my cheeks and took mine in his. "I'm so glad, my dear." He kissed the tops of my hands and then my forehead. It was tender and innocent but something about it made me dizzy. I don't really know much about love, but I think that's what I'm feeling. I think I'm falling in love with him. Before I got the chance to do something stupid like tell him I thought I was falling in love with him, the movie started and the moment had passed. As the second movie ended and we pulled away to go back to the annex, I thought about the date. It was one of the most amazing things I had ever experienced. I had seen drive-in dates on sappy tv shows and rom-coms for years, but I always assumed it was only that romantic in movies. This actually felt like something out of a movie: sitting in a classic car, watching a timeless movie on a drive-in screen, with the man of my dreams. Wow, how did this happen to me? I mean, it was just a few years ago that I was a janitor and now I was here in this moment. I reached over and took Jenkins hand again and he squeezed it affectionately. For a man who hasn't dated in centuries, he sure knew how to make me weak in the knees.