Chapter 28

Tuesday morning

When Spencer arrived at work the next day he was still preoccupied with the previous night's events. He hadn't slept that well and felt uneasy about how things were between him and Louise. He'd hoped to see her in the morning as he knew she was off work for her Mum and Jack's last full day. He'd even come down the back stairs, a route which took him past her conservatory and kitchen, a fact he acknowledged was a bit obsessive, but there were no signs of life. They were likely having a lie in and in Anita's case, a hangover!

He walked into the large open plan office off of which was his own private room. He thought he would get some coffee and catch up with work in the open space first. Penelope was already there, sitting at her desk looking impatient while the IT guy fiddled about at the back of her computer. She rolled her eyes when she saw Spencer inclining her head towards him,

"Morning Reid, have you met Rory?" She said a little too brightly.

Rory looked up,

"Alright mate, think we met last week, I'm quite new, just finding my way round."

"Yes round my computer!" Penelope said tetchily, "I already told you I am perfectly capable of fixing this myself. My IT wizardry would make your hair stand on end! I was a hacker you know!"

An uncomfortable silence followed while Penelope's hand flew to her mouth,

"Oh my God I'm not supposed to talk about that! Please forget I said that!"

Rory looked amused,

"Don't worry Miss Garcia, your secret is safe with me. I know you could do this yourself, but it's university procedure and it gives me a chance to get out of my own office."

Penelope relaxed a little as Rory smiled at her.

"Can I get you a coffee?" Spencer asked.

"No thanks Dr. Reid, I'm almost done here."

As Spencer busied himself at the kettle, Morgan strolled in.

"Hey people, what's new?" He hung up his leather jacket and removed his shades. "Hey Rory, my man how are you?"

"Good Derek thanks. Will we see you at training on Thursday?"

"You know it!"

Penelope rolled her eyes for a second time. Sports of any kind bored her in fact she wasn't that fond of exercise in any form. Derek's perpetual gym sessions plus basketball training sounded so tedious.

"Reid, got one for me there?"

Spencer held up a cup to show that he had made coffee for Derek too. As he made his way back to his desk, depositing hot drinks as he went, Rory stood up,

"That's it done Miss Garcia, thanks for putting up with me. See you again."

Penelope smiled and blushed a little as Rory gave her a wave and headed out,

"Yeah, um thanks, maybe see you again."

Spencer was opening his emails when Derek piped up,

"Guys I think I'm gonna have a party on Saturday night. A sort of housewarming, catch up kind of thing. You in?"

Spencer and Penelope nodded and made noises of agreement. Spencer was mentally working out if he and Louise would be back in time from their day out, but he figured they would make it work. Derek continued,

"I think I'll ask Rory too. He's a good guy."

"Oh yeah that's a good idea," Penelope said nonchalantly though Reid detected a change in her demeanour. She seemed more excited at the prospect than she was letting on.

"Yeah I'm full of them baby girl." Derek smiled widely, "And another one I've had is I'm gonna set Rory up with Louise!"

"What?" Penelope sounded dismayed as Spencer choked on his coffee.

"What makes you think Louise would want to be set up?" Spencer enquired, trying to affect an air of only slight interest while inside he was panicking.

"I don't know she just seemed really down last night. She's not really seen anybody since Steve and with her fundraiser coming up next week, it would be good for her to have a date for it."

"We're all going" offered Spencer.

"Yeah, but we're not exactly her dates are we?" Derek snorted with laughter, "Unless you listen to Mani last night!"

"Mm mm", Spencer agreed in what he hoped was a non-committal way and returned to his emails. Penelope sat at her screen looking crestfallen.

Spencer was surprised she'd let slip about her hacking background. Spencer didn't know much, but from what he'd heard, she was so good that instead of arresting her, the government offered her a job. She was now in a similar set up to him. Working on sensitive cases within the confines of the university while providing tech support for the department. It was clear to him that she had a something of a fancy for Rory though it seemed to have escaped Derek.

He was totally thrown by Derek's willingness to set Louise up with anyone. He really thought that Louise being single suited Derek. Spencer imagined that one day he'd just get sick of all the lothario stuff, turn to the single Louise and sweep her off her feet.

He shook his head, since things with Louise had picked up speed, his productivity level at work had dropped and he felt guilty.

Still he couldn't shake his unease about Derek's potential match making. It's not like Louise could say she wasn't interested. Derek would want to know why and she'd promised Spencer she wouldn't say anything about them. After a few more minutes fretting, Spencer picked up his phone and typed out a text,

Morning Louise, hope you're well. Hope Anita doesn't have too sore a head. Just a heads up, Derek is having a house warming party on Saturday night and he's planning to set you up with our IT guy. Have a good day. Xx

A few minutes later she replied,

Hi Spencer, my Mum is suffering, but isn't getting much sympathy. We're going out for lunch later and to do some shopping. We'll go to the cinema after to keep Jack's face straight, he's not happy about shopping!

A party sounds good, we should manage back in time. I'm a bit confused though. Which IT guy? Why does Derek think I need set up? Is this going to involve me having to let down some random guy I've never even met?! Xxxx

They texted back and forth a bit more before Spencer had to commit to actually doing some work. He felt a bit better having been in touch with Louise though. She didn't seem interested in this IT guy so that reassured him.

He was starting to get quite excited about the day trip on Saturday. During his lunch he carried out a geographical profile showing all the possible areas on the map they could be heading to that were within a 90 minute drive. She had said they were going down south so that narrowed it a little. In the end he had to settle for waiting and thinking through the possibilities.

More than anything though he just wanted to see her again, hold her, kiss her. He wondered how much he would get to touch her in the next few weeks. She seemed set on the new plan of nothing physical until they knew where they were emotionally. He ached when he thought of holding her in his bed on Sunday night. Was it only 36 hours? It seemed so long ago.