They had been talking about this for a few days already. Penelope could npt understand how Morgan could remain so cool about it. There was this little task on her list that read 'Kiss a stranger' and it apparently was something Morgan didn't understand what the big deal was. But then again, someone like Morgan, who probably could have anyone he wanted of course wouldn't understand the issues Penelope had with her own task. Morgan probably kissed quite a number of strangers in his life. Penelope had kissed...so far none. Not even when she met a new guy and she got drunk. She somehow never had an evening ending like that.
Morgan explained it like it was oh so simple. "You just sit by the bar, get a drink and the first guy that sits down near you who you like you kiss. After that you leave the bar and that's it. You never have to see that guy again. It is like … two minutes of your life very well invested." He threw her a sheepish grin and gave her a look that that said it was remembering how own past exploits.
"What do I do if he doesn't respond? Or slaps me?" Penelope asked concerned. Why again did she have that idea to kiss a random stranger?
"Okay, first off guys don't slap women if they get kissed. No matter who is doing the kissing it boosts our egos. And why wouldn't he get into it anyway? I wouldn't worry about that part, baby girl. You're a gorgeous woman- smart, witty, cute. There are n't enough women out there who take the initiative. You never know, maybe you two would end up becoming a couple or something like that." Morgan smiled encouragingly at Penelope.
She was amazed at how helpful and into her list he still was- even after all these months.
He went on "Just do it. And remember that, if you don't want to, you never have to see that guy again. A minute, two max. Then you can get out of there and never see him again."
Penelope looked doubtful at Morgan. She really wasn't sure about this. She had never done something like that before and wasn't sure why she had wanted to do it in the first place.
XXXXX
They picked the bar, something far away from where Penelope usually would hang out, just to minimize the risk of kissing someone she could see again. And Morgan really had to laugh about how this had all been planned by his best friend. Like a military operation. He was needed as the driver for the getaway car, or the helper in case this just went completely wrong.
He knew that Penelope wasn't the most confidant person, and he never understood why, since she looked good, was smart and witty and probably beating most of the brainless sticks on heels running through DC. And yes, Morgan probably had dated- or even bedded- quite a high number of these sticks, but they were easy, never asked too many uncomfortable questions and never really called you anyway. It was the easiest one night stand you could have. Like they themselves weren't able to have anything more serious and deeper going on.
Any guy should be happy to have his Baby Girl in his life. The lucky bastard who would get that kiss tonight from her had something rarely anyone could call having: Morgan's envy. He never really envied anyone for anything in his life, always lived by the principle that if you worked hard enough you could get everything you wanted in life.
But Penelope? She probably was the only one that would never be his.
Even that kiss would never be something Morgan could get. They just weren't like that. They were great friends, who shared a lot of things and were extremely close, but not close enough to justify a kiss or anything more. Unfortunately.
So now they were sitting in Morgan's SUV outside a bar in the outskirts of Washington, with Penelope seeming more nervous than Morgan had ever seen her.
"You know, you don't have to do this," he smiled softly at her, wondering why she was forcing herself to do something like that if she did not seem to really want this in the first place.
"It's on my list, so I am going to do this," was her swift reply, at which Morgan grew slightly concerned.
"But just because you wrote this thing on your list seven months ago, doesn't mean you have to do this now. If you don't want to, let's go, I will buy you dinner and we just forget about this," Morgan tried to persuade his best friend, but she seemed determined to go through with this. Moments later she opened the passenger door and left the car, walking towards the bar. Morgan let out a resigned sigh and followed his best friend inside.
They had decided to sit at separate ends of the bar. The moment he sat down and ordered himself a tonic he noticed several sets of eyes on him, and just a few minutes later the first girl approached him. Studying his surroundings Morgan wondered how many of these girls in this bar had done what his best friend was about to do.
It took just a few more minutes and that one girl turned into three, into five and soon he had a whole party going on around him. Yes, sometimes it was so easy to be Derek Morgan. But he had only eyes for the girl sitting at the opposite end of the bar, who seemed to have ordered her second beer by now. The drinks didn't seem to loosen up her nervousness any though.
The way she fidgeted on the bar stool somehow made her even more beautiful in Morgan's eyes. She would check her reflection every ten seconds and looked like she either would pass out any moment or run off. At this moment Morgan hoped she would run. Not that he didn't want her to succeed but he didn't know how he felt about witnessing it.
The girls around him were pretty busy fighting for his attention, but none of them seemed to realize it was a lost battle. The only one who would have his attention tonight was Penelope, who was counting on him having his head in the game fully. He smiled at the group of women around him every now and then, but didn't pay further attention, hoping that maybe they would get it.
And suddenly a guy sat down next to Penelope. Tall, blonde, tanned. Morgan didn't know why he knew, or how, but he knew she would go for him. Most definitely. And just a few seconds later they were talking. It was strange thing to see his Baby Girl flirting with someone else. He had seen it a few times before but never with the background knowledge of what her ulterior motives were. With every smile she threw at the mysterious guy his heart felt another ache, which felt like someone threw daggers through it, or a knife and then turned it slowly around, dragging out the pain. But he needed to keep his cool, for her alone as a main reason. It was her list and her 'mission' and Morgan had to accept it. And maybe he should take one of the willing females around him home, after he got Penelope home that is.
A good ten minutes passed by, Morgan still busy watching what was going on with Penelope and her guy and by now he felt more like a creep than anything. It showed how brain dead or just plain horny the women surrounding him were because none of them had picked up on where his attention was truly focused.
And then he saw it.
Penelope leaned slightly forward, moving in for her kiss, and Morgan knew that it would happen any moment. A second before their lips probably would meet Morgan decided he couldn't watch it and got up, threw some bills on the counter – probably too many – and left. He wasn't mad, maybe mad at himself. He had her for himself for years and never made one single move. All he did was talking and pushing buttons, seeing how far he could push her. He never expected her to push back. And he certainly never imagined falling for her to begin with. But that's how life goes, certain things can change in the blink of an eye and now, several years into their friendship, it definitely was too late for any moves anyway.
That train had long ago left the station.
He walked to his car, deciding to wait there for Penelope. But judging by how the two of them looked he could spend a while waiting. They had some sort of connection, he could see it in the way they talked.
But just a moment after he got into his car the door to the bar opened and out running came Penelope, a huge smile on her face, she ran towards the car, jumped in and nearly yelled 'go' to Morgan, who was only too happy to oblige.
Looking at his best friends face, he could see that this evening was a full success. And he had to admit one thing: he was screwed.
