Holly sat in the break room listening as Gail finally cleared the air about the events that transpired after she left the shop yesterday. Okay, maybe listening was not the word to use. But she was really trying to pay attention to the words coming out of Gail's mouth. After all she had asked about Gail's conversation with her mother. When Gail kept the answer quick, Holly had pushed her for more details. She really wanted to know. But here she was getting lost in her own thoughts. What made it a bit crazy, she was ignoring Gail to think about Gail.

As she watched the beautiful cadet talk Holly focused in on the parts that made up the whole of Gail Peck. It seemed Holly's scientific mind needed to analyze why this woman was quickly rising on her personal list of importance. It was funny really. Usually Holly could pick out a unique trait in the women she liked that caught her attention, something that stood out to her more than anything else. But with Gail, there was not just one. The more she looked the more she liked.

Holly always began at those piercing blue eyes. This time she did not let herself linger on them. She did not want to freak out Gail by staring at her while she was surprisingly still talking. Her mother must have really riled her up. Gail was not never this much of a talker. Holly reminded herself that she should be listening to her.

But her gaze fell on those eyes. Over time Holly had noticed small details about them that still made her smile. Liked Gail's eyes sometimes were more gray than blue. At this moment, they reminded Holly of the fog over the lake her dad would take her to during their fishing trips. She was terrible at fishing so she would just sit there and let the serene environment take her away.

She usually felt the same calmness take over her when she looked into Gail's eyes. They really were magnificent. To be fair, she could use the word to describe much of Gail. Her arching eyebrows framed her eyes perfectly. They were slim and thin without bordering the fine line of nonexistence. Her lone sleek nose was so perfectly shaped the doctor in Holly wanted to run her finger down the bridge just to see if it was as smooth as it appeared. Of course, her finger would continue the trail until it reached the curve of Gail's lips.

Gail's lips. Holly sighed just thinking about them. She was not a writer but she felt she could pen a sonnet on those particular appendages alone. Holly looked at how perfectly shaped they were as they moved while Gail continued her rant. The top lip was just plump enough to make its presence known. It was not there to steal the show, just play its part. The bottom lip refused to play the refrain game though. It was there to shine. It was just as elegant as its counter part but fuller, allowing it to take prominence. But it did not protruding like a bumbling fool.

Holly wondered if they were soft like the pillows of a bed, changing their shape to bring you in. Or were they were bold and firm, ready to willfully push back and claim their own space when confronted by the lips of another. The urge to find out hit her suddenly. So suddenly it threw her with how strong it was. She did not know why she was surprised. Of course she wanted to find out. Everything about Gail intrigued Holly. Even those small ears of hers that kind of stuck out but she hid artfully with her long luxurious light blond hair.

If only it was just her looks that drew Holly. She was sure if Gail had been only outer beauty she would have lost interest by now. No one would argue Gail Peck was not beautiful. She was attractive in the most conventional sense. And rarely was Holly a woman with the taste for the conventional. But here she was with Gail and growing more attached by the minute. Gail's enormous attitude pulled at her more than her enormous beauty.

Holly has always had a soft spot for straight shooters. People who did not waste time with social graces. Gail was the queen of those type of people. She had the look of a siren but her song was not sultry to lure sailors. It was biting, filled with sharp witted barbs that dared even the bravest of souls. And while it was meant to cut, for some reason Holly never felt the sting.

It meant she was able to bypass the harshest tests of Gail's bite and see the treasures within her that her barbs protected from others. Her reluctance shielded her concern for others. Her empathetic nature lay hidden under her false ambivalence. Her thirst for righteousness had little to do with religion, but more to do with moral responsibility—

"Holly?" Gail called her name, breaking through Holly's thoughts. She focused back on the woman before, taking in her frown. Holly wondered how long Gail had been sitting there silently watching her watch her. Gail did not give any hints. She just continued to frown.

"Lost in thought?"

Holly shrugged and let go of a shy smile.

"More like lost in you."

Gail sat up a little straighter in her seat, startled at the admission. A small smile crept up on her face. Holly could see color stain her cheeks. Neither of them said anything. They just watched each other in a strange, yet comfortable kind of silence. Then Gail nodded.

"I can relate."

It was Holly's turn to blush. She wished Gail's hands were on the table at that moment. She wanted to hold them so very badly. She just wanted to touch Gail, connect with her physically as much as she connected with her emotionally. Gail must have felt the same, because she immediately sat her hands on the table. Holly wasted no time. She wrapped her own hands around them bringing all four of them together.

"I'm sorry I was not listening." Holly played with the fingers in her grasp a bit, loving their feel. "What did your mother say?"

Gail sighed. Holly could tell she did not want to repeat it all.

"Long story short?" Gail asked. Holly nodded. Gail continued. "She likes you."

For a millisecond Holly lost all train of thought. She had not expected that to be the answer. Gail had explained how her mother's ridiculous high standards drove her insane at times. Holly could not see how her mother thought she fit in.

"Really?" She asked, still a bit blown away.

"To be fair, when I say she likes you it means she has found your background check sufficient enough to hang out with a Peck child."

"I can live with that." Holly grinned. She could see no problems with that at all.

"Wait until I tell Nicholas." Gail gave a evil little smile. "She hated him."

Gail laughed. Holly did not. She had not spent any time thinking of Gail's ex and did not want to think about him now. It was strange to her that Gail brought him up at the moment. Who cared what he thought. Unfortunately Gail did not seem to notice Holly's change in moods.

"You have the Elaine Peck seal of approval. Meanwhile he is not even allowed to come into the house when he picks me up next week." Gail's chuckling did nothing to blunt the sting of her words for Holly. She slowly pulled her hands away from Gail.

"Picks you up?"

"Yeah. After our annual inspection, we prepare for our military ball. I get to wear a shiny dress." Gail snarked with a roll of her eyes.

Holly took a deep breath. She knew she probably should not be jealous. And she wasn't. The pain she felt in her chest was obviously indigestion.

"So you are going to a ball with Nicholas?"

"It's a tradition. Plus my mom thinks I could get some stupid award." Gail lingered on the last word, and Holly noticed the tell. She did it when she thought she could throw people off her true feelings. Whatever the award was, Gail did not think it was stupid. The way she looked away hiding her face confirmed it. The indigestion in Holy's chest made itself known once again.

So a Gail had an important event coming up, and she immediately chose Nick as her escort. It was not like Holly felt Gail should have asked her. They were still so new into whatever they were doing that she could not expect to be Gail's automatic companion of choice. She did not care gail had picked Nick. But it hurt that she was not her first choice. Or any choice at all, if she went by how Gail talked about the ball.

Questions began to form in her mind. Questions Holly did not have any answers to. Questions like how would Gail classify their relationship? Did it need a classification? Was she reading too much in Gail's 'I like you.'

Holly stood suddenly from her seat and pushed it back. Her jerky movements threw Gail, who forehead creased with concern.

"I have to get back to work." Holly explained. The words came out short though she did not mean them to sound that way. She was not angry. Her voice simply made it appear that she was. She did not have just one feeling when it came to Gail.

Getting back to work may have sounded like an excuse, but it was really the one thing she could explain. The torrent of emotions currently hitting her confused her too much to offer explanations for them. She headed the door, but stopped when she heard Gail say her name questioningly. Holly slowly turned back to witness the chagrin on Gail's face.

"What did I say?" Her voice was full of uncertainty with hints of apprehension. Holly wanted to offer her comfort, but she did not know how. The new feelings of hers made it harder for her. She had to process them before she could give any proper response. An unsteady smile was the best she could do.

"Nothing. I just have to get back to work." She tried to steady her smile and failed miserably. Gail nodded but her eyes still revealed her confusion. Holly really wanted to wipe the pained expression away. But how could she get rid of Gail's uncertainty when she was grappling with her own.

"We will talk later Gail, okay? I will text you."

Gail nodded again. Her movements were similar to a small child being told to eat something she just did not want. But she was resigned to do it. Holly looked back at the woman in front of her, the one she had so easily become lost in. The one she could again easily lose all care of time and space in. What was going on between them? Was she feeling something deeper that was not there? Holly thought she had a clue. But did she really? As she left the room, she felt unsure of what Gail Peck was going to be to her, even though she knew without a doubt she would never be nothing to her.