Mai did not make it to the office until noon. Madoka had left her a text saying that she needn't bother coming in at all if she didn't want to, but once Mai was awake, she needed something to do.

However she had not been expecting the office to have a guest sat on the sofa when she arrived.

"Madoka!" Mai called. "We have a…" But Mai trailed off as their guest turned round.

"Hello Mai." Masako said sweetly from behind her sleeve.

Mai closed the office door behind her, took off her coat and hung it up, then moved over to the sofa.

"Hello Masako." She replied, keeping her face neutral. "I would offer you a cup of tea, but then I would have to spend the rest of our conversation refraining from tipping it over you."

"As expected from someone as uncouth as you." Masako said.

Madoka's head appeared from behind the office door.

"I tried to get rid of her Mai." She said.

"No worries, Madoka. I can handle her." Mai said. "What do you want Masako?"

"I just want to have a chat!" Masako replied innocently.

"What about?"

But Masako only giggled. This had the effect of greatly annoying Mai.

"So how many men were you screwing to get yourself in such a situation?" Masako asked finally. Mai saw Madoka start forward, but she raised a hand to halt her progress.

"Does it matter?"

"I was only wondering how much of a slut you really were!" Masako continued, her voice still sickly sweet. "You know he won't want you now. Men don't like girls that sleep around."

"If he doesn't want me because I have slept with other men, then that is his loss, isn't it?" Mai replied, keeping her tone even. "My self-worth is not defined by how many men I may or may not have slept with." Masako scoffed. "To be honest, I think you are jealous, Masako. That I have the freedom to do these things and you don't because your father and the media control your life so rigidly. And as a result you have been brought up to think that sex is bad and that women who have lots of it are consequently bad, despite it being a perfectly natural thing to do." Mai leant forwards and began to whisper. "Do you want to know a secret, Masako? Sex is great. And anyone who thinks less of me for enjoying it can go and fuck themselves."

Masako glared at Mai for a moment, then stood up and stormed towards the door. She turned at the door as if she was going to say something, but Madoka beat her to it.

"Go and tell it to someone who cares Masako."

Masako left.

Mai breathed out slowly.

"Great speech." Madoka said, letting out a gentle laugh. "She had that coming to her."

"I kinda wish I had poured the tea on her."

"That's becoming a habit of yours, huh."

"I thought all good superheros have signature moves?"

Madoka laughed and came to sit down beside Mai. She placed an arm around Mai's shoulders and pulled her into a hug.

"How are you feeling?"

"What if the rest of them feel the same way?" Mai asked. "Monk was angry and John was shocked. That's what Lin said. John is catholic; they are really against abortion, aren't they? Will he hate me? And I don't want Monk to be angry at me."

"And if they are angry or hateful towards you, are they worth knowing?"

"No, but…"

"But it will still hurt." Madoka finished for her. "Come on, let's take the day off."

"And do what?"

"Shop! Of course!" Madoka said. "A little birdy told me that someone suggested to my boyfriend that he should propose…"

"And…?" Mai grinned guiltily.

"Well I just think I should be prepared…"

"You mean he didn't ask?" Mai said exasperatedly.

"I'm half tempted to ask him." Madoka laughed. "Especially if I'm staying here longer now."

And so they did. The two women shopped all afternoon and ate dinner out at a little restaurant.

They were just about to order dessert when Madoka's phone began to ring. She answered it immediately.

"Hey Noll. Hmm, oh that's great. What time?" She listened for a moment. "Yes, she's here. I'll hand you over." She took the phone away from her ear and held it out to Mai. "It's for you."

Reluctantly, Mai took it.

"Hello?"

"We will be arriving back around lunchtime tomorrow, so if you want to leave then, Madoka will not object."

"Why would I want to leave early?"

"To escape awkward questions."

"I appreciate your concern, but avoiding people will not make the problem go away." Mai replied, slightly shocked by Oliver's kindness. "Besides, I'm sure you could glare them all into silence if it gets too bad."

Mai thought she heard Oliver chuckle, but wasn't 100% sure.

"Are you available tomorrow after work?" Oliver asked; his tone even.

"I might be, why?" Mai asked suspiciously; acutely aware of the fact that Madoka was listening into the conversation with interest.

"I… No reason. I better go and make sure those idiots are packing up correctly."

"Naru, what were you going to say?" Mai insisted.

"Goodbye, Mai." And he hung up.

"That arse." Mai cursed loudly, and then remembered she was in a restaurant and lowered her voice.

"What did he say?"

"What didn't he say?!" Mai replied furiously. "I swear he does this just to aggravate me."

"He does." Madoka agreed. "Because he likes the attention you then give him."

"He likes me being annoyed at him?!" Mai asked incredulously.

"No, he just likes the attention and it's a sure-fire way for him to get it."

"Or he could just be nice to me."

"And admit that he is in love with you? I thought you understood him better than that." Madoka said with a wry smile.

"Madoka!" Mai protested. "He is not in love with me."

Madoka only rolled her eyes.

Oliver would not admit that he was worried for Mai's sake when they arrived back at the office the following day.

Yet Mai and Madoka were waiting to greet them.

Oliver watched as Monk rushed out of his hastily parked car to hug Mai and badger her with questions. He watched as Mai brushed off Monk's questions and hugged Ayako and John in turn. Madoka greeted Lin enthusiastically.

And Oliver stood alone by the van; watching.

Then he saw Mai's eyes flick to him and then back to Monk, who was still asking questions. She had not looked pleased to see him. Perhaps confused.

"Monk, John, help Lin move the equipment." Oliver interrupted the frivolities and grabbed a box himself before heading straight into the office.

Once everything had been brought up, checked and put away, Mai made a large pot of tea and they listened as Monk regaled them with a retelling of the case.

Oliver joined them, mainly for the tea, and occasionally corrected Monk's tendencies to over exaggerate things. He could feel Mai's eyes flicking to him every now and then, and wondered if she was still thinking over his words from the previous night.

He had planned to ask her to dinner at his place. So they could continue their game of questions.

But nerves had gotten the better of him.

Nerves.

He, Oliver Davis, had become too nervous to speak his mind.

When – ever – did that happen to him? Of all people?

He was angry at his own incompetence.

And would rectify it as the soonest possible moment.

Once the others were out of the way. And he and Mai were alone, just in case she said no.

What if she did say no? What if she refused his offer? But that would make no sense. Had she not said that it had been him all along? That it had never been Gene.

But hadn't she also said that she had been sleeping with strangers to try and get over someone. Had that someone been him?

"Naru, are you alright?" Monk was staring at him, as was everyone else. Oliver had not realised he had been glaring at a point on the floor with a furious frown upon his face.

"Of course. Don't you people have places to be? This office is not a coffee shop." Oliver said as he returned swiftly to his office.

After closing the door behind him, Oliver learned against it and sighed.

Mai had been put through that ordeal because of her attempts to get over him. So did she no longer want him?

Was he too late?

He had to know. Not knowing was almost worse than the idea that he was too late. He needed an excuse to speak to her now.

Oliver pressed an ear to the door and listened carefully. The others were saying their farewells. Once he was quite sure they were gone, Oliver slipped out of his office, ignored the glance from Lin and walked confidently to Mai and Madoka's office.

He knocked before sticking his head around the door.

"Mai, can I have a word? It's about your bank details."

"What about them?" Mai looked concerned.

"I was updating your pay and the system is having an issue. I want to check that the details are correct."

"Okay, I'll just grab my purse." Mai rummaged through her bag and pulled out her purse. "Sorry Madoka, back in a minute."

Mai followed Oliver back to his office.

"Close the door." He muttered and Mai obliged him.

"So what's wrong with the details?"

"Nothing, I just needed to talk to you without Madoka making a fuss."

"Oh." Mai's face relaxed. "You are, of course, assuming that she is not listening at the door."

"She won't be. She has tried it before and it did not end up well for her."

"I don't want to know." Mai mumbled. "What did you want to ask me?"

"Before, you said you were trying to get over someone when you slept with those men." Oliver said, and Mai nodded. "You also said that it had never been Gene. That it had been me, all along." Mai nodded again. "Were you trying to get over me?"

Mai nodded for a third time and then looked away from Oliver.

"Sorry." She muttered.

"Why are you sorry?" Oliver asked, but continued before Mai could answer. "Do you still want to get over me?"

"I have to." Mai replied quickly. "You have no interest in me and I have to stop kidding myself that something might happen." It pained her to say these words.

"You really are an idiot aren't you?" Oliver said, and he cupped her chin with his fingers, so that she looked back up at him with tears in her eyes.

Gently, ever so gently, Oliver wiped away a stray tear.

"I care for you more than I want to admit." He whispered, scared of speaking his own feelings too loudly. "The fear of losing you has forced me to realise this Mai. I know you don't trust me right now, but I will fix that."

"Stop." Mai whispered and Oliver faltered. He backed away slightly and let his hand fall to his side. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you care?" She asked in an almost accusatory tone.

"About you?" Oliver frowned. "Because you stand up to me, you aren't afraid to speak your mind to me. Because to you, I am Naru, not Dr Oliver Davis. Because you are so willing to learn. Because you're kind and good and polite and everything I am not. And…" Oliver chuckled lightly. "And because you make damn good tea."

"You are kind." Mai whispered back, tears now streaming down her face. "In your own demented kind of way."

"Thank you." Oliver said, and Mai's mouth fell open slightly, which made him smirk. "So what do you say?"

Mai looked up and studied Oliver's face. If she hadn't been entirely convinced that he was incapable of the emotion, she would have guess he was nervous.

"Make me dinner and we'll see how it goes." Mai replied finally and she wiped her eyes. "Think of it as a test, if you like."

"I should warn you, I don't intend to fail."

Author's note: I hope this does not disappoint! Please review :)