THE DATES
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It's been one week since the auction. Sturgis and Bobbie had dinner with Elizabeth a few days after the auction. Elizabeth spent the entire evening asking questions. When she was done, she thanked them for their time and left them at the restaurant. Bobbie and Sturgis sat and had a cup of coffee and laughed. It was good to be with someone you feel comfortable with, even if you weren't sure where it was going.
TINER AND COATES
It was Saturday afternoon, and Jason arrived at Jen's apartment for their date. He was still surprised that Jen had bid, or actually had Valerie bid, on him. He couldn't believe that she wanted to go out with him. He couldn't believe that she was interested him. He was more than flattered. He was actually thrilled.
"Hi, are you ready?" Tiner asked quietly.
"Yes," Coates smiled. "Where are we going?"
"Well, a dinner at Elysium in Alexandria was arranged." Tiner said.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Coates asked. "I am not dressed for that place. Besides why are we leaving so early?"
"I canceled the reservation," Tiner said. "I thought we could do something else."
"What did you have in mind?" Coates asked.
"I thought we could spend the day together, maybe go play miniature golf and a picnic? The Elysium really isn't me." Tiner said honestly.
"That would be nice," Coates said.
Tiner took Jen by the hand and walked her to his car. He was the perfect gentleman, opening the door for her and waiting until she was seated comfortably before he closed the door. They went to play miniature golf, went to the Smithsonian, where they found a little carousel near by and took a ride. From there they had a picnic at Rock Creek Park. They did a lot of talking and driving. By the end of the day when Tiner took her home it was obvious that a connection had been made. Tiner gently kissed Coates good bye and then asked if he could see her again tomorrow. This was definitely the start of something very special.
GUNNY AND IRENE
Gunny arrived at Irene's home promptly at 8pm. Their date had been donated by L'Etoile Restaurant and Gunny was looking forward to it.
"It's nice to see you again," Gunny smiled. "Are you ready?"
"Sure just let me grab my bag," Irene smiled.
Gunny escorted her to his car and opened the door for her. They drove to the restaurant and chatted.
"I say we make a deal tonight," Gunny said. "Let's talk about anything but our jobs."
"Victor that sounds like a fantastic idea," Irene smiled.
They had a wonderful meal and went for a walk after. Sometime during the course of the walk, Gunny slipped his hand in hers and she didn't pull away. Gunny was very comfortable with this woman, more than he had been with any woman in a while.
"Irene I was wondering," Gunny said.
"Would you like to go out again?" Irene asked.
"I was just going to ask you the same thing," Gunny smiled.
"Great minds," Irene laughed.
Gunny drove her home and kissed her good night. He would absolutely be seeing this woman again.
WEBB AND ZOYA
It was 8 am Saturday morning when Webb arrived at Zoya's. She was sitting in the kitchen wearing a t-shirt and pair of shorts, drinking coffee and reading the paper when he let himself in. He looked in the living room, where all the furniture had been pushed into the center and covered with sheets. There were also tarps covering the floor.
"I hope you brought a change of clothes," Zoya said.
"What are you talking about?" Webb asked. "What's wrong with my clothes?"
"Clay you can't paint in that," Zoya said.
"I'm not painting," Webb stated.
"You said you would help," Zoya said.
"I meant by hiring a good house painter," Webb said.
"Nothing doing, you said help and that means you are going to paint," Zoya smiled.
"I am not going to paint in these clothes," Webb said.
"I think I have something you can wear. Follow me." Zoya said as she led him to the bedroom.
"That's my shirt and those are my sweats," Webb said. "How much of my stuff did you steal?"
"Just the stuff that looked better on me," Zoya smiled. "Now come on. We have some walls to paint."
"How about I take you out for the day and I hire someone to paint for you." Webb offered.
"Clay, I paid good money for you. Now change," Zoya ordered.
"So this is how it's going to be?" Webb asked changing.
They returned to the living room and Zoya handed him a paint roller. Webb just stood there.
"You've really never done this before?" Zoya laughed.
"It was never something I had to do," Webb shrugged. "We normally hired people."
"It's very simple. You roll the roller in the paint tray and then roll it on the wall." Zoya said as she demonstrated.
"I think I get it," Webb said and began to paint.
"You're doing it all wrong," Zoya said taking his roller. "Let me show you."
"Countess, how hard is it to roll paint on a wall?" Webb asked.
"You don't do it up and down. You make a Z or an N and then fill it in." Zoya instructed. "Weren't you watching me?"
"Yes, actually I was." Webb sighed.
Two hours later, Zoya's entire living room including the ceiling had been repainted. The color was a light green and to Webb looked a bit unfinished. Webb was tempted to say something but figured if he did it would just create more work.
"Are you ready for the next part?" Zoya asked.
"We aren't done?" Webb asked.
"No, I want to do a faux finish." Zoya said and handed him a sponge.
"We're sponging?" Webb groaned.
"This is the fun part," Zoya said dipping her sponge in another color.
"Oh I can see how exhilarating this is," Webb said with sarcasm.
Zoya was up on the ladder haphazardly sponging the upper wall when some paint dripped and landed on Webb.
"Whoopsie," Zoya laughed.
"Watch it," Webb said wiping off the paint.
"That's so your color," Zoya replied.
"You think so?" Webb asked as he hit Zoya with the sponge.
"Hey, you did that on purpose." Zoya said coming down off the ladder.
"It was an accident," Webb smiled and turned back to sponging.
Zoya picked up the paint roller that was sitting in the tray rolled it over his back.
"Now that was on purpose," Zoya stated.
"Zoya!" Webb yelled and took off the shirt, "I don't believe you."
"You look kind of good shirtless, like a real man." Zoya laughed.
Webb took his sponge, dipped it directly into the paint can and held it in front of Zoya.
"You wouldn't," Zoya warned.
"I'm just getting ready to sponge this part of the wall," Webb said innocently. "Can you get me another shirt?"
She went to the bedroom to get Webb a shirt, when she returned Webb was in the powder room rinsing his shirt and wiping the paint off the back of his neck.
"Zoya, what's this?" Webb asked pointing to a box.
"Hair color. Why do you want a change?" Zoya asked.
"I know this is hair color," Webb sighed and walked out of the powder room. "I didn't realize you colored your hair."
"My natural color is a chestnut blonde. That sort of stands out when I am trying to blend in," Zoya said. "So I darken it."
"Interesting," Webb smiled. He reached out and touched one of the long loose spirals that went down her back. Today for some reason, Zoya wore her hair down except for a barrette that held the sides gathered at the top of her head.
"You should let it go natural," Webb said, "It would probably go better with your coloring."
"Thanks for the tip, but at this point people would probably think my natural color is fake," Zoya laughed.
"You know what hair color would really look good on you?" Webb asked.
"Red?" Zoya asked.
"No, pale green," Webb said and patted the sponge on Zoya's head.
"You dog," Zoya said. "I didn't even see that coming."
"I'm good," Webb laughed.
"Not that good," Zoya said and threw her sponge at him.
Before they knew it, they were in the midst of a full scale paint fight. They were completely covered in paint and Webb pulled Zoya to him and kissed her. They forgot about the painting and made their way to her bathroom. Zoya's master bathroom rivaled Webb's. She also had an immense two-seater tub with a ledge. They showered off the paint and then filled the tub. While they waited for the water to fill, Zoya lit some candles and then they settled in.
"Clay, I've been thinking," Zoya said.
"About what?" Webb asked.
"Us," Zoya sighed. "We're partners. We need to find a middle ground."
"I agree," Webb stated.
"Good, sooner or later we are going to be back in the field. We can't let our personal feelings interfere with our duty." Zoya said.
"I know that," Webb replied.
"I just don't want this to affect that." Zoya said.
"What are you talking about?" Webb said as he turned her around to face him.
"Clay, you spent two weeks sleeping in the security van outside my apartment. Would you have done that if we hadn't been intimate?" Zoya asked.
"Probably not," Webb replied. "Zoy, I will admit I care about you. More than I should care about a partner. Are you going to tell me that you don't care?"
"I never said that," Zoya replied. "We just have to keep it separate."
"We will," Webb said.
"Good," Zoya smiled. "Clay, we're not working now. Take me to bed."
"Anything you say, Countess." Webb laughed.
They went to the bedroom and entertained themselves as only two adults could. When they were done, Webb fell asleep and Zoya went to the living room to clean up the mess and finish sponging the walls.
Two hours later Porter called, and Zoya answered his cell phone. Zoya explained that Webb had been there helping her paint and had stepped out to get them something to eat. Porter knew Zoya was lying. Webb had to be there. Her son never went anywhere without his phone. She said she was looking forward to brunch tomorrow and hung up with a smile.
