A coffee shop encounter.
This chapter seemed to take forever, but finally it's done! I really hope you enjoy it.
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Enjoy!
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Jayney got off the bus, thanking the driver before looking to her right at the massive building that was the FBI building in Quantico.
Before she moved towards the entrance, she text Aaron, saying she was here and within seconds he replied saying he would meet her at the main gate.
From where she was, she could never picture herself doing what they did, what Aaron did, the thought of carrying a gun, and talking people down scared her enough to put her off watching the films, let alone doing it for real.
Looking from the building, down at herself she wondered if she looked alright, but then again this wasn't exactly a date. She had her favourite blue waterproof coat on, wearing a long sleeved black and white top with black skinny jeans, she was right, she would never pass for an agent, or even a stranger trying to sign up.
Getting to the gate she smiled a little at the guard on duty.
"Are you okay, miss?"
"Yeah, I'm waiting for someone, he's on his way down." She gave her answer in the most confident voice she could muster.
"Did you want me to check your bags now?" He asked and it took a minute for Jayney to register what he was saying before she handed him her two bags. One containing course work, the other containing salad bowls.
"Jayney!" She looked round to see Aaron walking over.
"Hey, just getting my bags checked. Feels vaguely like an airport." Aaron laughed a little before taking one of her bags off the guard, while Jayney took the other one.
"I brought dinner." She said with a grin.
"Again, pretty sure that's my job," He replied, looking to agent on the gate.
"Thank you Dan."
"Have a good night, Hotch." Jayney thanked the man, before walking through the gates, up towards the building.
"Hotch?" She questioned at the nickname.
"Yeah, nickname, short for Hotchner. Everyone calls me it." Jayney nodded.
"Can I be the exception, I quite like calling you Mr FBI." Aaron had to hold back a laugh as they got inside.
After another 5 minutes of having her bags check and herself scanned and all the rest of it, she and Hotch made it to the lift.
"How big is this building?" She asked, getting into the lift, watching him press the button before leaning against the side.
"9 floors, over 10 departments, we have a gym, a firing range…" Jayney nodded before shaking her head slightly.
"This is the academy, so it's not the official FBI building?"
"No, this is where people come to sign up and train, it's just also where the BAU is based." Again she nodded.
Aaron gave her a smile before taking her hand, she looked nervous, but he only hoped that as the evening went on she would be a little more like herself.
"I asked one of our agents to go out and buy teabags, the coffee at the shop may be bearable for you, but the coffee here…" He paused, happy to see the smile on her face.
"Put it this way, I don't actually think it's coffee…" Jayney laughed a little as the doors opened.
Stopping she looked at the glass door which was obviously the BAU office, but then she saw all the agents sat inside.
"I promise you won't see anything remotely linked to the job, just think of it as a normal office…" Aaron attempted, squeezing her hand, as a promise not to let go.
"Really, a normal office. In what world?" Aaron pushed open the door and suddenly Jayney had her head down.
"In my world, but I mean it's not really bad, we don't plaster our cases all over the walls."
"Your world, okay, well your world is strange and slightly dangerous."
"Slightly?" Aaron questioned, jogging up the three steps to his office.
"Well, just plain dangerous."
"See, that sounds much more like the job description." He said opening the door, letting her walk first, before walking in and closing it, not paying any attention to half the bullpen who'd stopped to look at his guest.
In his office Jayney looked around smiling a little at the photos of Jack.
"I pictured something a little more, I don't know, organised?" She said, tuning to face him, before motioning to the papers on his desk.
"Normally it is, but we had a few weeks where the cases were constant, so now the week after, I have a mountain of paperwork." Jayney nodded before talking a seat in one of the chairs.
"You didn't have to bring dinner." Aaron smiled, putting the bag he'd carried on his desk.
"You don't have to eat it, but if you don't mind, I am very crabby when I haven't eaten…" He laughed, trying to picture her in a bad mood.
"You, crabby? I can't believe that!"
"Well, I try not to be. All of those mindfulness books advise against it." She shot back, as she got comfortable in the chair. Aaron sat in his own chair, moving some papers so he could see her properly.
"Mindfulness? You really are trying to be happy?" He questioned, knowing it was true, he'd worked that out the first time he met her.
"Yeah. The bright colours, working out, studying, notes in coloured pen, wearing nice clothes, all of that. I wouldn't say I suffered from depression, but there was a time where I wasn't all that happy, so when I moved, I thought it was the beginning of an adventure and a new me, if you will." Aaron nodded, completely lost in her mannerism as she spoke.
"I think it's good. I also think it's working, because you are probably second on my positive person list." She laughed out loud.
"Positive person list?"
"Well, I need something happy."
"I can always change your ring tone to Frozen."
"No. No you will not. I have a reputation to up hold, Jayney…" It was the first time he had said her name, and admittedly he actually like it.
"I am sure you do." Jayney reached over to grab the bag that contain the food, handing him a salad bowl she laughed a little at his reaction.
"I put chicken in yours, don't worry, it's not just leaves."
"Okay, well, thank you for bringing food, which again, I thought was a guy's job on the first date."
"This is a first date?" She questioned, mocking seriousness.
"We're dry and warm, this building has drinkable coffee, you have tea, what more could a girl want?"
"You have a point, but seriously, it was a slow day. So I thought I would make some salads to bring." Aaron smiled at the food, before looking up at her to find her looking back at him. It was strange to be eating with someone who wasn't his team or his son, and someone who didn't seem intimidated by him in anyway.
"What was it like, growing up in the UK? I mean, I guess it must be different from here."
"You know, it's not all that different. The US and UK use different words for certain things and that took me a while to grasp, but you have busier streets here and the rest of the states, well, there's more countryside, a few more mountains. I grew up in a village, and so, this was kind of a culture shock."
"I have never been, but it sounds nice in a way."
"It has some nice places. Wales in the winter always looks nice, then you have the major cities, down south is nice with the sea and the sand." Aaron thought for a moment before digging his plastic fork into the salad, there was a moment of silence before he spoke up again.
"Do you go home much?"
"Not really. My sister comes over here." Jayney replied, before digging into her own food.
"Can I ask…" There was another beat of silence.
"How many ties' do you own?" Aaron, again, laughed out loud, smiling as he looked down at his tie.
"It's what I get every Christmas and every birthday. I am about the only one on my team who wears a suit and tie, so it's an easy gift."
"I went to an academy and everyone wore a tie, the girls wore skirts and the lads wore trousers, I liked it, it felt posh and formal, and we all looked the same, so all of us had a sense of belonging…" Jayney remembered the feeling of putting on a uniform, the way it made her feel part of something.
"I was a lawyer before doing this and before that it was boarding school, so formal wear, suit and tie, always seemed like the normal thing for people working with the government."
"I guess in a court of law you can't wear humorous ties?"
"No, it's pretty much frowned upon, here, I can kind of get away with it, but I try and maintain a serious persona."
"Yes, I can see." Aaron looked at her seriously.
"Am I that easy to read?" Jayney shook her head.
"No, but when we were talking, you were smiling and I saw some people out there do a double take, so I take it you don't smile a lot. Which, is understandable, I guess."
Again, silence settled around them as Aaron wasn't really sure how to respond. Jayney was right, he didn't smile a lot with the job he did.
"How's Jack getting on?" Jayney had soon finished her salad and was pulling study books out of her bag.
"Well, he told me he came in a few times last week, but you were really busy."
"Yeah, when I'm not I always make time to ask him how he is."
"He tells me. I think he is really starting to like you." Aaron admitted, wondering how she would take it.
"He seems like a very sweet kid; I can see him breaking a few hearts when he grows up." Aaron let out a small laugh, but agreeing with her.
"Yes, I can see that too."
"Obviously, he must get that from his mother…" Jayney shot back, laughing to herself. Looking up she realised he wasn't.
"Did I say something wrong, I…"
"No, no. Jack's mum, Hayley, she died."
"Oh, Aaron, I am so sorry, I had no idea." Jayney seemed to freeze and Aaron had to smile a little, she was obviously uncomfortable.
"No, like you said, you had no idea…" He reached over and took her hand.
"Really, Jayney. You had no idea and well, no reason to think of anything like that, but I will give you that, he looks a lot like his mum, which, I am, very grateful for."
Jayney tried to come up with something else to say but Aaron beat her too it.
"I told Jack about our dinner plans, and he now wants you to be our next guest." Aaron felt bad, he knew he shouldn't but he did. He still loved Hayley and he knew that she would want him to be happy, but he still didn't like the way it made people feel, all he could do was hope that Jayney would understand that he was okay, and Jack was doing okay and that she was more than welcome to become a part of their family, because deep down, Aaron was beginning to realise he wanted her to become part of the family.
"Well, it would be nice. I have been here for nearly four years and outside my bosses, I have a gym buddy and two friends at Uni, so it would be nice to add you two to the list."
"You like to keep to yourself?"
"I guess, I find it easier that way, I mean, I talk to loads of people at Uni, sit with different people, there's a few my age, so we all get on, but not to share my deep dark secrets with. I don't know, my mum always said I was quite happy on my own." Aaron nodded slightly, looking at how she was dressed, wondering if that's how she felt comfortable, picturing her in work out gear getting ready for the gym, wondering if he'd be able to keep up with her.
"Well, I hope I can be the exception.
"I'm here, aren't I?" She shot back with a grin before finally opening her book. Aaron smiled to himself, she was here. Moving the empty salad bowl to the bin he took a minute before pulling a file of the top of the file that had formed on his desk, he knew they wouldn't do much talking in the next couple of hour, but she was here and seeing her sat there was enough motivation for him.
Around four hours later, the clock showed the two of them it was getting closer to eight, but neither of them said anything. In the four hours they'd shared little facts about whatever they were doing and had some conversation, but mainly they were both working.
"How time flies when you're having fun." The sarcastic comment Jayney made, caused Aaron to laugh as he looked up at the clock.
"It certainly does. I'm going to get some more coffee, would you like another cup of tea. I think I can do it, this time." Jayney nodded.
"Please, and I have no doubt that you, Mr FBI, can make a cup of tea." He wanted to ask her if she was tired, if she wanted to go home, but went against it, feeling slightly like a father than the friend he was.
Friend? Were they friends? Of course, they were nothing more at this point. Jayney was his friend, she was just a friend he hoped he could have more of a relationship with than late night conversations over paperwork.
Walking back into the office a few minutes later, he saw Jayney looking out of the window.
"Kind of reminds me of a college campus. I have a love for lights, street lights, fairground lights, anything outdoors in dark. We had a cathedral in the town, and I used to go up there and just look down on the town at all the car lights and street lights and shop lights, some of the bars had lights out side, it looked so beautiful when it rained…" She turned to face him.
"Sorry, I'm going on…"
"No, no please do. I know I said I wouldn't talk about work, but I guess the good thing about my job, apart from catching the bad guys is some of the places I see. Yes, it's in the worst circumstance, but some of the small town and large cities…"
"Well, you need some good to outweigh the bad." Aaron nodded in agreement.
He moved to stand behind her almost, looking over her shoulder at the view, it was just the car park and a few outbuildings, but the lights made it look somewhat like a holiday resort, small lights guiding people's way down paths and others to show direction.
Jayney looked up at him and gave a shy smile before speak up, although her voice was barely above a whisper.
"Is it wrong to think now would be a good time to kiss you?" Her question went unanswered for a minute before he looked at her with as much love as he could.
"Not at all."
The kiss was something Jayney hadn't expected to happen, but it was. It wasn't anything serious, but it was something, she was kissing him, Aaron, Mr FBI, and she was enjoying it.
When Aaron pulled away from her, she sucked in a deep breath, before feeling her cheeks burn bright red.
"Are you okay?" Aaron asked, his fingers slowly interlocking with hers.
"Yeah, very okay."
"Good." Aaron smiled properly, and was thankful she was there.
Maybe this could be something. Maybe this could be something really good.
Thank you so much for reading! I hope you can leave a review and let me know what you think!
Until next time,
Bethanyy.