Wow, thanks for all the awesome reviews and alerts. I was so happy when I opened my email and saw all those reviews.
I went to the burger place last night and when I went to pick up my tray of food some guy grabbed my arm. I shot him a glare that said 'let go if you wanna live', the man quickly released my arm and sat back down on his chair. What a weirdo. I may not be able to break a nose or snap someone's wrist like Bones, but I sure as hell can slam my tray of food on them:)
Disclaimer: Bones belongs to Fox.
Early the next morning Natalie went to her mother's room. When she tried to turn the handle she found it was locked. That's weird; she never locks it. Natalie went back to her room and took a key out of her drawer.
Natalie was about to slip under the covers and was amazed to find her mother staring right at her. How did she know? I was super quiet. "Good morning, mom." Natalie settled on the bed with her back to her mother and Brennan hugged her close. It was a Sunday morning, so there was no hurry to get up.
"Why did she grab your arm?" Natalie knew she couldn't pretend that she didn't know what her mother was asking about.
"Oh, it was nothing." But the 'Nat' that her mom said told her she had to fess up.
"She just wanted to say 'Happy Birthday'." Before Brennan could say something, Natalie continued. "I dissed her and she didn't like it. That's all."
"Has she ever laid a hand on you other than last night?" Brennan asked.
"No, I think she had too much to drink." Natalie turned around to look at her mother. Brennan knew she was telling the truth and she ran a soothing hand on the arm the woman had grabbed forcefully.
Natalie loved her mother so much. She resented her dad for all the pain he's caused her mother, but Brennan has always told her that her marital problems with Sully have nothing to do with her. That she should love both of her parents and remember that her relationship with her father should not be affected by what goes on between the two adults. It hasn't been easy for Natalie to do that, but she tries and she's always been grateful for the wonderful mother she was given.
"So, what are you making me for breakfast?" Brennan asked her daughter.
"Cereal?" Brennan scrunched her nose and thought about it before nodding her head.
-----
Brennan had an early morning meeting on Monday with the other board members and investors. Caroline flew in just to attend the meeting and voiced that she liked what she saw and approved Brennan's decisions on the projects to take up.
Booth talked with Caroline as Brennan and Angela walked to Brennan's office. The office was filled with flowers; maybe twenty or so baskets with flowers. Angela took the card of one of the flower arrangements that read: With love, from Sully.
Brennan felt nauseous when she saw who the flowers were from. Brennan removed the cards from the other flower arrangements and without reading them, tossed them in the trash. "Get them out of here. Toss them, give them away…I don't care what you do with them, but I don't want them here." Brennan exited her office.
Sully clenched his teeth in anger when he saw the flowers he had sent Brennan on the desk of several Jeffersonian employees (women employees for the most part). His objective was going to be harder to achieve than he thought.
Booth ate another piece of his apple pie. "You sure you don't want some?" He asked Brennan for the second time. They had gone for lunch at the diner.
"I don't like my fruit cooked." Brennan told him with a smile.
"Hey, I was wondering if you could help me find an apartment. I'm still staying for several months and staying at a hotel is not as comfortable as having a place to stay at."
"I have an apartment that's close to the Jeffersonian. You can use it; that way you won't have to arrange a lease."
"Sure, but I'll still pay you rent." He shot her his charm smile; she loved that smile.
----
"What do you think?" Brennan asked after she showed him the apartment after their day at the office ended. It was on the third floor with a living room, kitchen, small dining room, her bedroom (Booth could tell by the picture on the nightstand of Brennan and her daughter), a guest room and a bathroom in the hall between both rooms.
"It's really nice." Booth answered. There were lots of artifacts from different parts of the world; probably from her business trips. There was a wall full of books, and Booth noticed there wasn't a TV. "There's no TV." He said with a tease.
"I had one, but it broke." Brennan remembered her how she had dropped the TV when she had first bought it and didn't bother to buy another one. "I mostly just read or listen to music when I'm here."
"This is really nice." He repeated. "Are you sure this is okay? I wouldn't want to invade your personal space by living here." Invade personal space? They saw each other almost everyday and probably talked to each other more than with anyone else.
"It's okay, really. This is my escape place for when Natalie goes away on vacation. That way I don't have to stay over there." So, she lives there only when her daughter's there. Booth thought.
----
Booth moved in the apartment the following day and since he didn't have much stuff it was a quick move. It was awesome; the building even had a pool. He made the note to buy a TV when he got the chance.
Booth couldn't stop thinking about the conversation he had with Caroline the previous day.
You're falling for her. She had said.
He needed to think about something else. It was too early for bed and Booth wasn't in the mood to listen to music, so he walked over to the wall of books to see if he found something interesting to read.
"Lets see." He looked at the titles; they were mostly science, engineering or business titles. He was about to stop looking, when he saw a title that interested him. Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett. "Hmm, let's see how interesting you are." Booth sat down and began to read.
By the time he saw the time it was a few minutes 'til midnight. He folded the corned of the page he was on and went to bed.
---
"Hello." They met at the dinner early the next morning and bought a coffee. They drank it on the way to the Jeffersonian.
"You look sleepy." Brennan commented.
"Yeah, I was bored and it was too early for bed so I grabbed a book to read. I started Red Harvest and before I knew it, it was midnight. I have to admit it's a pretty good detective story." They were in front of the Jeffersonian by now.
"I love that novel; it has really good reasoning." Brennan finished her coffee as they entered the elevator. Booth just liked the story, but now he understood all the 'if (letter), then (letter)' notes and symbols written on the margins.
-----
A month passed and the partners' relationship as friends grew more. Brennan and Booth had late night phone conversation in which she spoke low and slow. Booth loved how she sounded late at night or early in the morning.
Brennan and Booth were going to travel to Alaska to close the deal to rebuild a bridge there. Booth was tagging along to: 1) protect her (although if he told her, she might kick his ass), 2) because Caroline wanted detailed reports on the ongoing and new projects, and 3) because he wanted to be close to her.
Sully wasn't happy when he heard his wife was going on a trip to Alaska with her 'partner'. All his attempts to get into her bed had failed. The night before the trip he approached her as she exited her room. "Why are you going on that trip with him?" His voice was full of anger and jealousy.
"That's none of your business." She answered and left him there standing alone. Brennan had a huge smile on her face. It's been some time since she stopped caring who he did or didn't sleep with. She missed her freedom and she was ready for someone who did love her.
------
Brennan sat in her office finishing up instructions before she left to Alaska. Angela entered her friend's office.
"You're going to be in Alaska with the stud muffin!" Angela said with a squeal. "Remember, what happens in Alaska, stays in Alaska." Brennan rolled her eyes and Angela inspected her friend closely. "Oh my god! You're falling for him. That's why you haven't taken him to bed."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Brennan tried to concentrate on the work in front of her, but she could feel Angela's gaze on her.
Booth exited the elevator on the fifth floor and started to walk to Brennan's office to see if she was ready to go. They had a flight to catch in a few hours. Sully stopped him before he reached Brennan's office.
"Don't get your hopes up. She's still married to me. You're just a fling." Sully's words were venomous and they angered Booth. Booth punched the piece of shit to make him eat his words. No one was going to talk about Brennan like that. Sully fell on the floor and his face was covered with blood from his nose. Angry, Sully got up and tried to launch himself at Booth only to be help back by Hacker. Hodgins put an arm on Booth and pulled him away.
"He's not worth it, man." The dirt man told him.
--
"Ready?" Booth asked with a smile. His anger totally gone once he saw her. Brennan rose from her chair to leave. Angela hugged her friend before she left and whispered, "Don't be a fool. He's a great guy." Brennan knew that Angela was talking about Booth.
Sully entered his office and grabbed a tissue to wipe some of the blood away from his nose. "What happened out there?" Cullen asked, entering the office after Sully. Sully didn't speak, but his father knew him well. "You just want her because you see someone else wants her."
"I love her." Sully responded.
"That's not love. If you really loved her, you would tell her the truth."
"I can't." Sully stared at his father.
"You can't hide the truth forever. She will find out and it would be better if she found out from you instead of someone else."
"The only other person that knows is you. Are you going to tell her?" Sully challenged.
"That's something you have to tell her." Cullen placed a hand on Sully's shoulder. "The truth shall set you free. I want my son back." Cullen moved to exit the room. "And change your shirt." He called as he closed the door.
Dun, dun. There's a secret Sully keeps from Brennan. Any guesses? Please review and let me know what you think.
(Red Harvest is a great detective novel. I had to analyze the arguments in that story for my Philosophy class last semester and the reasoning in that book is great. If you have the chance to read that novel, do so. I highly recommend it.)
