Hi everybody… you still remember me and this story? Yes? Wow, you sure have an excellent memory!!
I have to apologise for the long absence, but I had writer's block, than I was totally busy, then 4 weeks BIG vacation in the US (which was pretty awesome) and then this and that and…. Well to make it short, life just didn't agree with writing. But now, I hope, I will be able to write more frequently….
All of you who still stick with my stories, let me tell you: You are the best! Thank you for your patience.
All of you who start reading only just now…: Thank you, too…. and please don't hate me when there might be another pause in updating…
That been said… I'm happy to announce, that I have got a new chapter on 'Case or Cake?'
Morning walk
Brennan sat on her bed in the guest room, fully dressed…. She let out a deep, heart-felt sigh. It was still pretty early and despite having gone to bed later than intended, she felt well rested and ready to face the day.
The problem was, it seemed that nobody else was awake yet. Which was fine by her, she didn't require company in the morning anyway.
She desperately wanted to go for a walk, but hesitated. What was a polite guest supposed to do? Surely not to sneak out in the wee hours of the morning without telling anybody… Right? Another sigh followed. She might be socially awkward but she knew as much. So, no going for a walk…. But what was she supposed to do to kill the time until somebody got up?
She gave her laptop a longing glance. Well, it was her own fault she couldn't write something for her book, she forgot the charging device. For a brief moment it occurred to her, that she could also try to write 'the old fashioned way'. Using paper and a pen…. She dismissed the thought after realising that she would have to type the words afterwards again anyway…. She was way too used to being efficient to let this happen.
Paper and pen… now there was a thought! Surely it was acceptable for a guest to go for a walk and leave a note, right? Brennan reached for the pen and scribbled a quick note down.
'Gone for a walk, Temperance'
Which was awfully short, she had to acknowledge herself. She scowled at the note. A moment later she tore the page off the note pad and thought about the best phrasing. She shook her head at her own stupidity…. After all she was the author of bestselling novels. Writing a note shouldn't be a challenge for her. But it was.
Finally, after some internal debates, she settled for:
'I went for a quick walk to enjoy the beautiful morning, I will be back soon. Temperance'
She nodded at the note. 'That will do,' she thought and gathered the note and her jacket, before opening the guest room door. She tiptoed all the way to the stairs and even remembered to avoid the creaking floorboard. When she reached the kitchen, she placed the note on the counter and left the house through the back door, only to run into Michelle – Jared's wife.
"Oh" Brennan made. "Good morning," Michelle returned and smiled at the other woman.
"I thought everybody was still asleep." Brennan slowly said. The other woman nodded, which caused her blond locks to bob up and down. "The Booths won't get up early…. Well maybe if you bribe them or threaten them, but if they don't have to…" Her voice trailed off. Michelle gave Brennan a curious look. "You going for a walk? Because that's what I wanted to do…."
"Well, yes…. I left a note in the kitchen." Brennan answered slowly.
Michelle nodded. "Thoughtful. I did that too the first few times, but trust me…. They'll still be asleep when you're coming back. As long as you're not going for a hike instead of a walk." She winked at Brennan.
"No." Brennan answered seriously. "I hardly have the right gear for that."
The serious retort caused Michelle to grin. "Well, if you want we can go together…. I can show you where the 'Seeley meets dog'- incident took place Anne told you about yesterday…"
Brennan frowned for a moment, then she knew what Michelle was talking about. "Ah, you mean when he climbed a tree because he was afraid of a poodle? I would very much like to see that." She had to grin.
Michelle giggled. "Yeah… hard to believe these hard-asses were little boys once and afraid of a poodle, right? Anne told me Jared and Seeley remained on that tree for an hour, until their father came looking for them. Andrew swears the poodle in question was the most gentle and harmless creature on earth." Her brown eyes sparkled with humour. "Every now and then I mention to Jared what WONDERFUL dogs poodles are. Naturally, he doesn't care for my jokes, but a woman is entitled to a good laugh from time to time, right?" Michelle led the way towards a small forest.
Brennan nodded. "I won't forget this story, either…. My neighbour even owns a poodle. Maybe I should borrow it for a day to make Booth promise to let me drive more often."
"Uh-oh… blackmail" Michelle commented. "Seeley's going to be pissed."
"Oh, I did that before." Brennan answered.
"Blackmailing him or pissing him off?" Michelle asked curiously, a smile in her voice.
"Well… both." She had to admit and caused Michelle to laugh out loud. "That's good… the Booth men need to get pestered from time to time or they get too comfortable with relying on their charm."
Brennan snorted in agreement.
They walked in silence for some time and Michelle shot the woman beside her a curious glance. Temperance Brennan seemed to be an interesting woman… and not only because she was a world-known expert in her field… No, Michelle decided, the woman and her interaction with Seeley were quite interesting. Deliberately, Michelle had neglected to mention that– additionally to her studies in mathematics – she had minored in psychology. She had found that most scientists reacted somewhat irritated when learning that she had mixed good old-fashioned science with psychology…. Something other scientists often referred to as the 'soft science'.
And what little she had learned about Temperance Brennan in the time she had known her, seemed to confirm the initial assessment, that the other woman was one of those more traditional scientist.
Jared had told her about Seeley's brooding in the living room and that Temperance seemed to have been crying.
And then she had fled pretty soon… The psychologist in Michelle was tempted, very tempted….
"How's your head today?" Michelle asked quickly.
"My head? Just fine, why?" Temperance answered, confused.
"Oh, I just thought the headache you had yesterday might still be troubling you." The other woman explained.
A unmistakable guilty look appeared on the anthropologist's face. "Ah…."
"There was no head-ache, right?" Michelle asked knowingly.
Brennan shot her a surprised look. "Why would you say that?"
"Just a guess. You seemed to be upset …. And you figured saying you have a head-ache was more polite than saying the truth." Michelle analysed.
Brennan sighed. "You're right. I'm not good at that stuff. Being polite and all… I lack social skills. Even Booth says so."
"And what he says has to be right." Michelle said in a neutral tone, waiting for her retort.
"I have to admit that he has more social competence than I." Brennan said after a short pause. "But of course, that doesn't mean he has to be right. He often is, though. He uses his stomach."
"Gut." Michelle corrected.
"That's what I said." Brennan dismissed her correction with a quick movement of her hand.
"He's good at his job… and I'm good at mine. But I'm not good at dealing with … well, with living people."
"Don't be so hard on yourself, Temperance. You're doing well enough. Not everyone can be as slick as Seeley or Jared. I bet you were a nerd at school, just like me…. Popular guys have it much easier than us geeks." She grinned. "But look at you now… you're an expert in your field and write bestsellers. Geeks rule."
Her enthusiasm caused Brennan to laugh. "Thank you. But you're not… like me. You talk more like Jared or Booth…. Ah, I mean …Seeley. You're able to fit in."
"The hell I do. That's all Jared's influence. He has to explain every second joke to me… and I tend to take things way too literal for his liking. But I'm learning." She grinned." Since I met Jared I actually have a life outside my little world of numbers. Who would have thought. Besides, Seeley's told us you improved a lot already."
Brennan shot her a surprised look. "He… what?"
"Temperance, you didn't believe he wouldn't be talking about you, did you?" Michelle asked incredulously.
"I… don't know?" Brennan slowly said, unsure.
"He does. We only meet maybe three times a year, you know, the traditional occasions like Christmas and Thanksgiving and stuff… but since you started working with him, you're one of his favourite topics…. In the beginning it was mostly nagging about squints … he'd throw in an occasional compliment on your work, too, but mostly it was complaining about geek speek and people who don't know a thing about the world outside a lab." Michelle grinned again. "But you know, that changed pretty fast. He really admires your work and cares for you a lot. You're his favourite topic after Parker." Michelle shot the woman beside her a glance, hoping she hadn't been too blunt.
Brennan's eyes widened for a moment, a feeling of surprise and something she could not quite place rising in her….. but then her analysing brain kicked in. "Well, of course he talks a lot about work. It's very important to him."
"No." Michelle shook her head. "Oh, work is important to him, alright. But that's not what I meant. He doesn't speak about murder to his parents…. They know about his work, but he doesn't want to discuss the details with them and they don't ask too many questions about it. I can't blame them… Murder hardly is an enjoyable topic for a Christmas Dinner. But he talks about you, Temperance. A lot."
The forensic anthropologist stopped. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because he brought you here and you have a right to know, that we already know a lot about you." Michelle carefully answered.
Brennan frowned. "That's it? That's the reason why you're telling me this?"
"Absolutely." Michelle nodded. "And here's the tree we've been talking about earlier. Of course, it wasn't that big thirty years ago." Jared's wife tried to divert Temperance's attention from her sadly lacking skills in lying to the tree.
Temperance Brennan gave the other woman a long and thoughtful glance, then looked at the tree. "An oak. They don't grow very fast." She frowned. "How did they get up there… there's no branch anywhere near the ground."
"Andrew likes to point out that they had 'their little fingers tightly clawed into the bark, like squirrels'. I guess it's all about motivation…. People can do astonishing things when they feel they are in danger…. or somebody who's important to them. Jared once told me that Seeley helped him climb the tree first, before saving himself." Michelle answered thoughtfully. Brennan nodded, remembering how Booth reacted whenever he felt she was in danger. "He's protective" She said, without thinking.
Michelle nodded, then added with a sly smile. "Of course, the poodle wasn't that big a threat in the first place."
Temperance had to laugh. "Thank you for showing me the tree. Maybe we should go back now."
The other woman nodded and they went back without talking, both enjoying the silence of the morning, the fresh scent of the air and the comfortable feeling of understanding each other.
When the house came in sight, Temperance stopped and addressed the woman beside her. "Thank you for the walk …. I… just need a moment alone… would you mind going back without me?"
"No, not at all. You're alright, aren't you?" Michelle asked.
Brennan heard the genuine concern in the other woman's voice and a small smile played on her lips. "I'm fine… I just … need a moment, if that's okay."
"No problem. In case they are awake yet – which I doubt – I'll tell them you'll be back soon. See you later, Temperance."
Brennan nodded at the other woman's retort, murmured a "See you later." and watched her leave.
When Michelle was out of sight, Temperance Brennan sat down on a tree trunk and closed her eyes.
Michelle Booth was nearly as bad a liar as she was herself. And as manipulative as Angela
Brennan might be a squint, but she wasn't stupid…. She knew very well what Michelle had so bluntly tried to hint at. A fellow squint had turned shrink on her – oh, the irony!
The question was, was Michelle right? And if yes, what was she, Temperance Brennan, going to do about the whole mess?
So, what do you think? Like it? Hate it? I LOOOOVE reviews!
I thought it would be a nice twist to have another squint turn shrink on her to let her see what everybody else sees.