Thank you again for reading and reviewing the previous chapters of this short story! I guess another chapter and I'll be done :)
Emily stopped in front of Derek's door with a bit of anxiety for this.. dinner? Date? Sorting things out night? He had simply told her they needed to do some serious talking and that they would have had dinner together, definitely better than some hurried whispering in the office, but the expectation, the curiosity and Garcia's conjectures, managed to rise a certain level of concern about the agenda of the night.
Emily Prentiss had a degree in psychology, her job was to read people, understand and profile them, and she was really good at that, she usually managed to successfully extend her ability to the private side of her life as well and this had sometimes worked against her costing her relationships, but when it came to decipher Morgan's intentions toward her she became a shy, outcast fifteen year old girl oblivious to how to fit in, easy to fool and deadly scared.
Derek opened the door with a smile, not one of his lady killer smiles, he was relaxed but she could tell something was up in his mind. He walked Emily toward the kitchen where a warm and cozy atmosphere was filled by the aroma of spices coming out of two stewing pans.
"You cook..." she observed half surprised, half doubtful.
"I cook" he replied with an amused expression, while handing her a glass of red wine.
"So" he decided to break the ice and dove right into the core of the matter "I guess I owe you an apology. My reaction was excessive and a bit aggressive and I'm afraid that in all my surprise and alarm I forgot to stress how much I appreciate what you have done for me and for the people who rely on the youth centre."
Emily widened her eyes in surprise and frustration. There was this smoothness constantly permeating from Morgan's words -no matter if he was speaking about the ultimate meaning of life or the football game he watched the night before- that made particularly difficult if not impossible to drag one's attention from him. If there was a situation in which he found himself uncomfortable, then he would surely knew how to deceive it.
"I should be the one apologizing, Derek" she answered "I threw you a curve ball without warning you, I… everything went so fast and once I resolved on what to do you were gone with Amanda and there was no time… I knew I could do something to help, and I figured that in this case the result was the most important thing" and why the hell was she stuttering now?
"I know, Emily. That's why I decided to accept your generous gift. To one condition"
Ouch.
"I took the liberty to talk to your lawyer and asked him to make a few changes to the terms of the agreement." He explained.
"What changes?"
"The centre will be mine and yours, I want you to be able to understand what a precious gift you actually made to this people."
Emily tried to voice the many contrasting thoughts crowding her mind all at once like in a train station during the rush hour, but her mouth opened and closed a few times, without any sound.
"It's not a negotiable option" he pointed.
"So, is this the reason why you invited me?" She asked and immediately regretted giving voice to her thoughts and hoped Morgan didn't notice the disappointment in her tone. She felt so stupid and mad at herself for having completely misunderstood the situation and misread the signals. It was genuinely flustering and embarrassing to be a kick-ass FBI agent and still proving totally unable to distinguish the difference between a caring friendship and a romantic interest. She made a mental memo never to rely on Penelope's advice on men anymore.
"..To make you sign the papers and tell you about the lives that you saved, and offer you a dinner to apologize for my behavior"
"I should be offering you a dinner for blowing your date and ambushing you" one thing at least she could count on was her resilience, she would get smacked and she would never see it coming, but then she would get up instantly without showing how much it hurt.
"Amanda is not a date, neither a friend and honestly I don't think I'll miss her" he distantly said checking the food "What about your dates?" he carried on.
Emily almost chocked on her sip of wine "What about them?" Was this an apology dinner or a systematic attempt to make her feel even more miserable about her personal life? If that was the case she really didn't need a reminder, she was fully aware of it already…
"Met anyone interesting? Or are you still searching the perfect cereal bowl" he teased her remembering the conversation they had at his birthday party.
"I told you, I don't like when someone else is shopping for me, to be entirely honest I don't like shopping at all, that's more your thing. I believe that when I feel that electricity then I'll be wise enough not to let it go..." Now, was she quoting Rossi? Really? The only thing that man knew how to do better than profiling was destroying his marriages…
Morgan arched an eyebrow "Ok, as you prefer. Electricity, cereal bowls, pink elephants, you pick the metaphor agent Prentiss. But still you haven't answered my question"
Emily considered seriously whether he was teasing her or if he was really interested about her love life, in both cases it was not funny, "Actually there was a guy." She answered serious, almost blunt "I thought he was a decent man, for a change, but he turned out to be the worst. Superficial, mean, a despicable player" she decided to test whether there was any malice in his words.
"I am sorry to hear that. He really doesn't know what he has lost, but definitely you deserve better" he answered, seemingly truly sorry for her.
"What about you?" she turned the question, hoping to get to understand what game he was playing.
"Me? I would be glad to find the twin soul, but frankly with all the horror that we see daily I'm not sure anymore if it exists and if there is someone who can put up with this level of insanity without breaking. Look around and tell me how many successful relationships you can see in our working environment. So, to answer your question, shopping is my thing. No strings, no big deal, a mutually agreed collaboration. If you don't have expectations you can't be disappointed" he said, realizing his tone was bitter than he imagined. For the first occasion in a long time the smooth Derek Morgan, usually flawless and charming with ladies, was feeling nervous and awkward while talking to a woman he'd known for years.
"Wow. Sounds romantic…" she commented with a skeptical grin.
"Overly.." he corresponded the sarcasm.
"And gratifying.." she carried on with a grin, starting to catch the almost comical side of the story.
He chuckled "Ok, now you're being cruel"
"No sincerely. I am curious; I am trying to weigh the pros and cons. I guess Amanda doesn't entertain you with her stories about alien abductions and you don't have to put up with her OCD…"
Morgan frowned amused, this was a story he wanted to hear, "yes but I promise you that being able to have a real conversation with both parties involved, as weird as it can get, is something you start missing after a while."
"Seriously Derek you really don't have an idea of how weird it can get" she carried on.
"Maybe not, but I know how draining it is to put up with an hour long monologue on how difficult it is to choose the right moisturizer for your body, and spending every minute of it regretting the casual comment you dropped on how soft her skin is" he explained refilling both their glasses.
"Morgan, is this a competition on who among us had the worst date? Because if so we seriously need more wine" she warned him raising her glass.
"Emily Prentiss, you don't know who you're dealing with. I would wait before throwing such a challenge" he got closer with a playful expression and his charming smile.
"I am so going to kick your ass…" she playfully held his gaze, maliciously biting her lip.
They didn't know what they were doing, if this was a dinner between friends or if they were dangerously heading down the road of flirting between co-workers, but they were for sure aware that they hadn't enjoyed someone else's company so much in a long time and they weren't going to stop the fun.
After two and a half bottles of wine, a lovely dinner and an embarrassingly long list of dates gone awry, they both realized that it was only Tuesday, and the second bottle hadn't been such a good idea. When they started working on the third bottle, they had moved the conversation to the sofa and any residual of their professional demeanor had been thrown to the wind to be replaced by genuine uncontrollable laughs and a relaxed friendly atmosphere.
Emily gave a look at the clock "Ok, I think I might need to call a cab" she giggled, then she turned her gaze to Derek who was staring at the void, his mind lost behind some uncanny thread of thoughts. She swallowed and finally let her question out "Derek, why did you invite me here? I mean, you could have made me sign the documents anytime at work…"
He turned his gaze to her and got up from the sofa taking a thick envelope from his bag, then returned to sit beside her "After digesting the fact that you bought the centre and gave it to me, I contacted my friends who work there and let them know how they've been saved. I suggested them to write a few lines to thank you and to make you understand how precious your help had been" his voice now deep and husky, his tone rid of the alcohol and the euphoria of the previous hours "This morning I checked my email and I found it full of letters that each one of the volunteers and the kids attending the centre sent for you. In some way all of them wanted to let you know what their life was before and after finding the youth centre and how, by saving it from destruction, you saved their lives and their future. You gave them a shot Emily, a chance that everybody else was denying them"
"Derek, the centre is just a building. You and the people working for it make the real difference, without you the it's just four walls and a roof. Those kids don't have to thank me" she reassured, her voice though trembling with gratitude for all those letters that perfect strangers took the time to write.
Derek shook his head "Emily, those kids don't even know your face, but still were able to see the gracious and beautiful person you are. You have crossed path with them for one minute and you meant for them salvation. That's how much you mean for a perfect stranger, imagine how much you can mean for someone who has you in his life everyday…" he went on holding her gaze after he finished talking and the silence filled the room.
In that moment Emily felt it, that electricity, that one feeling she promised she would have been wise enough not to let slip away. She looked at him for a long second and disclosed her lips
"I'd better go now" she whispered before rushing out of the apartment.
...And that's it for now. Thank you for reading!