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The Perfect Girl?
JJ shut the door to the dishwasher and grabbed a towel to dry her hands. Will and Henry were shut up in Will's study or the 'man cave' as Will liked to call it. As Will had cooked, it was JJ's turn to clean up the mess. She began stacking pans that needed to be hand washed next to the big double sink. The kitchen was the reason she and Will had decided to move into this house. All the appliances were new and stainless steel. The countertops were dark grey granite with matching tile backsplashes. The first thing that had taken her completely by surprise when she'd first got to know Will was how well he could cook. The kitchen was perfect for him.
She was on the point of filling one of the sinks to wash up the pans, when her phone rang. "JJ," she answered briskly.
"You sound so official."
"Garcia, what's up? I assume you didn't call to complain about my phone skills."
"I just received a very interesting phone call."
"We all get interesting phone calls, its part of the job." JJ turned on the hot water, and reached for the sink plug.
"I know that… This call came from Reid. He's not happy with us right now."
"How is that different from the last couple of months?" JJ snapped while adding dish soap to the sink.
"Jaje!"
"I'm just tired of his constant irritation with me. I know what Hotch and I did was extreme, but I refuse to apologize. We were trying to keep Emily alive. Hotch said we have to be patient with him and I'm really trying, but every time I think everything is okay, he says something or gives me some kind of look that says we'll never be friends again. I don't want to lose him forever Garcia."
"I don't want to rehash this JJ. All I can say is that you have to give him time. Besides, after his call I think I have a way to give him something he's wanted for a long time."
JJ's ears perked up and her hands stilled in their course of wiping up some spills on the counter tops. "What are you talking about?"
"You were the one that pointed out the obvious to me. I still can't believe I didn't see it."
JJ grinned at the huff in her friend's voice. "I didn't see it either and I had him crying on my shoulder for weeks after Emily. I was too wrapped up in keeping my secret that I didn't see that he loves her desperately. So tell me about your conversation," JJ insisted feeling excitement for the first time in a long time.
"He said he was done going out with our friends. He came right out and told me that he loves Emily but he doesn't think she feels the same. He's really depressed."
JJ clamped the phone between her chin and her shoulder so she could wash dishes. "Don't worry Garcia; I'm sure you and I can come up with something to help them."
"I don't think we should meddle. You know Reid's not happy with you and if Emily doesn't feel the same way, he'll never forgive you. Is that what you want?"
"I don't think we have to worry."
"I hope you're right."
"I told you there's only one reason why she's been so reluctant to fix him up with anyone. She wants him for herself, but she's in total denial."
There was a very long pause.
"Garcia, are you still there?"
"Yes… I was just thinking that if this backfires, you and I will be pariahs for the rest of our lives as far as Reid is concerned."
"Since when are you the pessimistic one?"
"I just think we need to be careful and think long and hard about this."
"I don't think now is the time to think about the next step. We just go for it and let the chips fall where they may. Spence is mad at me and I don't think this is going to make it that much worse than it is now. I just want him to be happy and Emily too. If they can be happy together, so much the better."
"I hope you know what you're doing."
"It'll be okay. Don't worry about it."
After Garcia had let her go, JJ went back to her dishes and her thoughts. Garcia had a point, interfering with Spence and Emily could backfire. She looked at the window above the sink and stared at her face reflected with the black night framing her. She didn't look as confident as she'd tried to sound when talking with her friend.
"Is she here yet?"
Garcia spun around in her chair to confront her friend. "Thank you for knocking," she snapped.
"Why are you so jumpy?"
Garcia took in JJ's perky tone and bright smile. "Why are you so annoyingly cheerful this morning?"
JJ took the only other chair in the room. "I'm happy because we're finally doing something for two friends that make sense."
"No, we're about to meddle some more in Reid and Emily's lives, possibly alienating them for life if it all goes bad."
"I can't believe you're so down."
JJ took in Garcia's blond curls, her rather conservative navy suit coat that covered a bright yellow blouse with ruffles around the collar, and a chunky red necklace with matching earrings. Her skirt and shoes matched her jacket, but the tops of her shoes featured gold butterflies in flight. For the first time in JJ's memory, her clothes didn't match her sunny mood.
"I'm not down, I'm just nervous."
"I promise everything is going to work out fine."
Someone knocked on JJ's door. "See, someone knows how to knock."
JJ rolled her eyes and went to the door. "I hope its Emily."
It was Emily, but she didn't look happy to be there. "I told you guys that I don't have time for any more devious plotting."
"We understand," Garcia said. "We were just talking amongst ourselves about the kind of woman Reid might like."
"Why don't you guys give it up? So far, you've set him up with a woman that's still hung up on her ex-husband, and you," she jabbed a finger at JJ, "you set him up with a friend, she seemed nice, but apparently that didn't work out for reasons unknown. I'd say you're batting a thousand."
"There's no need for sarcasm." JJ interrupted. "You're right about your lack of good choices when it comes to women for him.
"Actually, I found something we could use to help." Garcia said, as her fingers flew over the keyboard.
"That looks like an online catalog." Emily pointed out, "How is that going to help?"
"Well, I thought we could look at the girls and figure out a composite of what Reid would like."
She tapped some keys as Emily began to protest. "You can't just build a woman for Reid."
"I'm not suggesting that, we're just getting some ideas."
Emily crossed her arms over her chest. "I think you two are crazy."
"I like that one right there." JJ said pointing over Emily's shoulder at the screen.
The woman in the catalog wore a grey pin stripe suit with a light pink blouse and matching shoes. She dangled a matching purse from one finger and smiled at the camera as though flirting with the local handyman. She had long blond hair bundled up on her head with little ringlets around her neck. Her deep blue eyes seemed to look right through the camera and her pink lips pouted prettily.
"What's so great about her?" Emily wanted to know. "She's just some vapid model that probably has an IQ of 60."
"I wasn't thinking about her mind." JJ said. "I was thinking about her eyes."
"Why do you think he likes blue eyes? He never talks about girls like Morgan, but maybe he likes dark eyes."
Garcia looked back over her shoulder at JJ, who was smirking at the back of Emily's head. "I think JJ's right. The eyes are something we have to consider."
"What about that one?" Garcia had faced her computer screen again. She indicated a girl in a short red skirt, high heels and a gold spaghetti strap top. Her hair was red and her eyes green; she had a complexion like peaches and cream.
"I like her hair and she's got a great little nose."
"She's got a heart shaped face too. She's very beautiful."
Emily had taken the only other chair in the office and was so close to screen, she edged Garcia out of the way. "She's not that great. Your friend has red hair and I don't think Reid liked it." She didn't sound sure though and it burned in her gut to say it to her friends.
"Alright, what about this girl?" JJ pointed to a group picture after Garcia changed to the wedding section. They were all in evening gowns in jewel tones of emerald, ruby and sapphire. The girl Garcia had picked out had dark hair and eyes. She was taller than the rest with a penetrating stare that looked right through the camera and she wasn't smiling, but she had the look of confidence that meant she didn't need to smile brightly at the camera.
"I like her." Garcia agreed. "She sort of reminds me of someone, but I can't think of who it might be."
"I don't think so," Emily disagreed.
"Why not, she's got dark eyes like you said, she has confidence, if we could put the nose and complexion on her from the last picture, we'd be in business."
"You do realize that a girl like that doesn't exist in real life. These models are all dressed up and have professional hair and makeup." Emily argued.
"You're taking all of this too seriously." JJ said patting her friend on the shoulder. "You're the only one of the three of us that hasn't offered to fix up Reid with a friend and now you're shooting down our attempts to figure out what kind of woman Reid might be attracted to. Either help us or go away."
Emily shoved out of her chair and stalked out the door without another word, leaving JJ and Garcia grinning at each other.
"I told you." JJ said smugly.
"I think you're right, so what do we do now."
"I'll have to think about it."
