A/N: Hey HEY hey! I told you I wouldn't leave you hanging for that long, and then I did. I'm sorryyy! I feel all... bad and stuff. Some responses to your reviews: HMC, now Ah know you did NOT call my little Finchy what Ah THINK you called 'im! *snaps fingers* But I forgive you... for the moment. TasChiBandGrl, don't freak out, it's gonna happen eventually! And Hijah, I'm glad you like my story, and I won't let you down! All righty, let's get the next chapter started! Oh, and by the way, I thank you all for your support. If I hadn't gotten so many reviews, I probably wouldn't have written this much. *sniff* You guys! You're the best.
On another note, guess what. No really, GUESS!! Just kidding. SERIOUSLY though, I got an autographed picture of David Spade. Yee-haw!! HMC, I know you have one too, but it's still a huge deal to me. It says, "Megan - Be cool. xoxo, David Spade". Now I is happy. And I can barely restrain my girly shrieks. SO ANYWAY, let's get going here!
Disclaimer: I own nothing: Finch, Maya, Jack, Nina, Elliott, Vicki(even though she's not in my story), not even Kevin. Thank God. All I own is the dog.
Ciao
a 'Just Shoot Me' fanfiction
by Wakizashi
Sunday, 11:14 A.M.
"All right, I think that about does it," said Maya, shoving her notepad and recorder into her purse. "You've led quite an interesting life. Thank you very much, Mrs. Finch. I really owe you."
"Oh, don't think anything of it, dear," replied Finch's grandmother, taking a sip of her tea. "I'm just glad I could help bring a little more culture to your magazine. I can't say I'm a big fan of Blush, but it's good to see that you're making an effort to give the magazine some class."
Maya laughed. "And I'll be the first one to agree with you."
Looking over her shoulder, Mrs. Finch sighed and shook her head. "Now I wonder what's gotten into that boy. Denny is usually so conversational when he comes over. I don't suppose you know what's bothering him, do you?"
Maya bit the inside of her cheek, looking down at her hands. *I think I might have an idea,* she thought to herself. All Finch wanted was for her to understand his decision to respect Jack's wishes, and she had been nothing but a jerk to him all day. It wasn't his fault that they could never date; it was actually admirable of him to stand by his convictions. She decided she had to apologize to him when she got a chance.
She caught his grandmother staring expectantly at her, and she quickly shrugged. "I guess he's just a little down because this weekend hasn't gone exactly as he planned, that's all. His car broke down, we had to stay in a motel, and we had no choice but to show up here a day late."
"Mm, that must be it," Mrs. Finch replied, nodding thoughtfully. Leaning forward, she added in a confiding tone, "You know, from what he's told me about you, I can tell he admires you a lot, Maya." At Maya's reddened face, she laughed softly. "I'm sure you already knew that, but in case you didn't, it's something worth thinking about."
Maya frowned. "Something worth thinking about?" she parroted.
In response, Mrs. Finch gave her that all-knowing smile that only women wisened with age are allowed to give. "It surprises me that even now, young people can be so oblivious of someone's feelings for them."
"Oh," Maya blurted, suddenly understanding what Finch's grandmother meant by her words. "Well, um, I- I'm not oblivious, Mrs. Finch," she said uneasily, wringing her hands in her lap. "I know that Dennis has feelings for me; he's the one who told me, actually. But he-- well, *we* decided that it wouldn't work out." Mrs. Finch raised an eyebrow, and Maya began to see where a lot of her grandson's mannerisms came from. She continued, feeling for some reason like she had to defend herself. "It's not that I never considered dating Dennis. But my father wouldn't approve of it, and Dennis really looks up to him."
"And he doesn't want to let him down," the old woman finished. Maya nodded, wondering why she had just confessed all of that to Finch's own grandmother. "It seems to me, Maya, that maybe if two people really care about each other that much, everyone will see it and learn to accept it. Don't you think?"
Maya looked down at her hands and nodded again. "Yeah, I know," she said quietly. "My dad loves Dennis like a son. If he could just understand the way he feels, then he might decide not to interfere. Dennis told me that he would never hurt me."
"Do you believe him?"
Looking up at Mrs. Finch, she thought for the briefest of moments. "Yes," she replied. "He might not like people knowing it, but he's the sweetest guy in the world."
Maya Gallo groaned, watching Nina walk away after throwing out her invitation to Oscar Milos's fashion show. The ex-model had lamented her predicament, wishing she could go to both the fashion show and Sting's benefit to ban cloning, and had finally decided to attend the latter. "Ohhh, man!" Maya whined.
Dennis Finch looked over at her from his desk. "What?" he asked.
"Well, here we are working our butts off in this supposedly glamourous industry," she said sardonically, "but do we ever get to go to any of these cool things? No!" She shook her head to emphasize her annoyance.
"Hmm." Finch looked at her thoughtfully. "Speak for yourself, nerd."
Her mouth dropped open, and she glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"
As a reply, he pulled a large black scrapbook out of his desk drawer and held it up. The cover read, 'D. FINCH. HANDS OFF!' "My clippings," he said in explanation. Maya frowned, and he beckoned her with his finger. "Come hither. Take a gander."
Amused, she joined him at his desk, leaning over the counter to look at Finch's so-called "clippings". He thumbed through the pages with obvious pride, and she looked at the numerous pictures of major celebrities at various parties, award ceremonies, and benefits.
"Here I am at a little music show called the Grammys," said Finch, chuckling to himself as he pointed at one of the pictures. He turned the page again. "Here I am bustin' a move at the 'Bring in Da Noize' Kwanzaa party."
Looking closer, Maya shook her head, failing to see any trace of Finch in any of the clippings. "You're not in any of these pictures," she said slowly.
"Oh, yes I am!" He moved the scrapbook closer to her, allowing her to see the pictures in more detail. "There's the tip of my head," he said, pointing to an obscure corner in one of the clippings. Maya bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. "There's my elbow... See how Barbra Streisand looks all irritated? That's 'cause I just asked James Brolin to take a look at mah transmission." He snickered at the remembrance.
Maya was stunned. "How did you get invited to these things?"
"It's very complicated, you wouldn't understand," he replied in that self-important voice he always used to make himself feel superior. "But if you really want to go to that Milos show..." He snapped his fingers. "I can make it happen."
She smiled wryly at him. "Yeah, right. How?"
Bending over, he pulled the envelope that held Nina's invitation out of the waste basket. He smirked as he handed it over to her. "Here you go, *Nina*, pick me up at eight."
Shocked that Finch would commit fraud and risk getting caught simply to allow her to attend the fashion show, Maya stared at him. "H-how am I gonna pass for Nina?" she asked to conceal her surprise.
He smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders as he sent her off in the direction of her office. "Eat nothing. Drink everything." He leaned toward her and grinned conspiratorially. "Wake up in the coat room."
Stifling a laugh, Maya cast one last grateful smile at him as she watched him head back to his desk. Already planning out what she was going to wear to the fashion show, she grinned and strode across the bull pen to her office, amazed at the unexpected bursts of generosity that Dennis Finch constantly surprised her with.
"He tries to hide it," Maya said, taking a sip of her now lukewarm tea, "but he cares about his friends more than anything. They come first in his life."
Gloria Finch smiled, nodding in understanding. "I got the feeling," she replied.
Maya sighed. "I just wished he could realize that people would love him even without the wisecracks and clowning around. He seems to think that the only way to win approval is to be funny."
"Oh, I know, dear," said Mrs. Finch. "He's always been that way. When he was a little boy, he got picked on a lot by his schoolmates; mostly because of his size." She shook her head sadly. "He didn't want to show how much it bothered him, so he used that dry sense of humor of his to hide his feelings. And he still does, to this day."
"Like a defense mechanism," Maya murmured, more to herself than to Finch's grandmother.
Her dark eyebrows drawing together in concentration, Maya stood in front of the magazine layout board, wondering if she could make any changes. For obvious reasons, though, she found that she couldn't concentrate. Nina had just been burned by that "hip" new Model Cafe by displaying her famous leopard-print bikini above the Dumpsters at the back of the building. The former model was trying to hide how disappointed she was, but Maya could tell she was hurt.
If that wasn't enough, Finch had been pestering her all week about what a goody-two-shoes she was. Him and his stupid "adventure points". She didn't want everyone to think that she couldn't have any fun, but frankly, Finch's idea of fun took on a much more sinister form that hers did. He had gotten her to drop a water balloon on her own father; what more did he want!?
The door to Jack Gallo's office opened, and the object of her annoyed musings stepped out, shutting the door behind him. *Speak of the devil,* Maya thought to herself ironically.
And, wouldn't you know it, he walked directly up to her. Couldn't he see that she was busy? "Hey. Maya." Finch was speaking in a slightly hushed voice. Maya was curious, but didn't turn to look at him. "I think I have an idea how to get you more adventure points."
Those ridiculous adventure points again. "I told you yesterday, I'm not taking a bath with you," she replied absently, still staring at the layout board.
"Okay, I gotcha," he said, nodding. "Leave that one up in the air. But here's my second idea." Taking a step closer to her, he looked around before continuing. Finally in a low voice, he said, "Why don't we steal Nini's bikini?"
Maya's eyes widened, and she turned on her heel to gape at him. What on earth was he thinking!? *He must be insane to think I'd pull off something like that!* she thought, and decided to voice her opinions. "Are you crazy?" she hissed at him. "That's theft and vandalism! And to go into a bar on a work night!" she added, not even willing to think of such an indiscretion.
"Come on," he whined. Something wasn't right. Finch was acting strange, even for him. Why should he, the most selfish person she'd ever met, be so insistent that Nina should have her precious bikini back? Unless - and it was a long shot - he actually *cared* about Nina's *feelings*?
A slow smile spread on Maya's face. "Wait a minute," she said, placing her hands on her hips. "I know what this is. You're doing something nice for Nina!"
Suddenly Finch looked uncomfortable. "No, I'm not..."
She grinned at him, her voice raising in volume. "Yes you are, you're nice!"
"Shut up," he retorted, glaring daggers at her.
But Maya was too preoccupied with the overwhelming notion of Dennis Finch going miles out of his way to make one of his friends happy. Not only that, but dragging another of his friends with him. She stared at him, an amazed smile on her face. "Underneath all the snide little insults, you're just a sweet little puppy-dog with a great, big heart!" she exclaimed.
A blonde eyebrow suddenly arched, and she realized that that probably wasn't the best thing she could have said. Finch smiled deviously at her and raised his hands in front of him like paws. "Puppy needs a bath," he said, wiggling his fingers at her. With an annoyed sigh, she shoved him away and walked past him. But she knew, despite all of her instincts, that she had already agreed to help him.
"Your tea must be ice-cold, Maya," exclaimed Mrs. Finch, startling her from her thoughts. She looked up at her in surprise, then down at the dregs at the bottom of her teacup.
"Oh, it's all right," she said, offering an appreciative smile. "I think I've had enough, but it was delicious. Thank you, Mrs. Finch." She stood up and stretched, remembering how much she had been sitting during the past two days. Biting her lip in concern, she cast a worried glance at the back door. "Umm, I- I think I'm going to join Dennis outside," she stammered, not sounding at all casual or convincing. "I could use some fresh air myself."
But the old woman understood, and she smiled. "Of course, dear. You go on; I've got dishes to do anyway."
Maya smiled back at her and made her way to the back of the house, opening the door to the porch and wincing as it creaked. The first thing that struck her was how beautiful the scenery was. The long, green expanse of the backyard somehow gradually melted into the tall forest of evergreens beyond. It was very quiet and peaceful, which was a rare experience for a person who lived in the concrete forest of Manhattan.
The second thing that struck her was how adorable Finch looked.
He sat on the steps of the porch, staring out past the yard into the forest. His mass of blonde hair was tossed into disarray by the chilly breeze, and his left sneaker tapped the rhythm to some tune in his head on the wooden step. The small, fluffy dog asleep in his lap did nothing but add to the endearing scene.
"I thought you hated dogs," she pointed out.
Finch jumped slightly, and twisted around to look up at her. "Yeah, well," he mumbled, shrugging his shoulders, "she's keeping me warm. A poor substitute for a cat, but what are ya gonna do?"
Shutting the door behind her, Maya walked across the porch and sat down next to him on the steps. For a while neither spoke, but simply took in the quiet, rare beauty of Nature. "It sure is pretty here," Maya finally said quietly.
Her companion nodded. "Yeah."
*That's it, I can't stand it anymore,* she thought exasperatedly. "Finch, I'm so sorry for the way I've been acting," she said morosely, turning to face him. "I shouldn't be mad at you. You're the only one out of the two of us who's acting with any maturity. I've just been acting like a... witch with a capital B." She reached out and grasped his hand, unable to ignore the electricity caused by their touch. "Please forgive me, I feel awful," she pleaded.
His lips curved in a smile, and he squeezed her hand comfortingly. "Hey, come on, Pretty Eyes, you think I could say no to that face?" Maya grinned, and he poked her in the ribs. As she started giggling, he released her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into a sort of half-hug. She snaked an arm around his waist and closed her eyes, resting her head on his shoulder.
"You're a good ol' chap," she said, smiling as she breathed in the fresh autumn air, mingled with the clean smell of Finch's shirt. Every shred of anger, confusion, and disappointment between them washed away in that moment, and Maya was Finch's friend once again. In that moment, she became the woman he could joke around with, the woman to whom he could tell anything, the woman he could always trust.
To Maya, however, Finch had become the man she loved.
A/N: Whooooo yeah, dass what I'm talkin' about! I know what you're thinking: took her long enough, didn't it? I happen to agree with you. But I didn't want to make her just suddenly be like, "Oh hey, I love him." She had to take some time until she realized it. This *is* Maya we're talking about here. Anyway, hope you liked my latest chapter! Did you enjoy the flash-backs? They were some hard writing, I can tell you that. The first one was from the episode "The Emperor", with guest star Dana Carvey, and the second was from one of my favorite episodes, "Nina's Bikini". It took a lot of rewinding my 'Just Shoot Me' tape with the closed captions on, but I think I got all the lines pretty accurate. I just wanted to get the message across that Finch is more caring than he wants everyone to think. Tell me if I left anything out. And I hope you do so in a review, hint hint. Meanwhile, I'll be working on the twelfth chapter while staring at my autographed picture of David Spade. Twelve chapters already, my goodness!
Wakizashi
tricksparrow@hotmail.com
On another note, guess what. No really, GUESS!! Just kidding. SERIOUSLY though, I got an autographed picture of David Spade. Yee-haw!! HMC, I know you have one too, but it's still a huge deal to me. It says, "Megan - Be cool. xoxo, David Spade". Now I is happy. And I can barely restrain my girly shrieks. SO ANYWAY, let's get going here!
Disclaimer: I own nothing: Finch, Maya, Jack, Nina, Elliott, Vicki(even though she's not in my story), not even Kevin. Thank God. All I own is the dog.
Ciao
a 'Just Shoot Me' fanfiction
by Wakizashi
Sunday, 11:14 A.M.
"All right, I think that about does it," said Maya, shoving her notepad and recorder into her purse. "You've led quite an interesting life. Thank you very much, Mrs. Finch. I really owe you."
"Oh, don't think anything of it, dear," replied Finch's grandmother, taking a sip of her tea. "I'm just glad I could help bring a little more culture to your magazine. I can't say I'm a big fan of Blush, but it's good to see that you're making an effort to give the magazine some class."
Maya laughed. "And I'll be the first one to agree with you."
Looking over her shoulder, Mrs. Finch sighed and shook her head. "Now I wonder what's gotten into that boy. Denny is usually so conversational when he comes over. I don't suppose you know what's bothering him, do you?"
Maya bit the inside of her cheek, looking down at her hands. *I think I might have an idea,* she thought to herself. All Finch wanted was for her to understand his decision to respect Jack's wishes, and she had been nothing but a jerk to him all day. It wasn't his fault that they could never date; it was actually admirable of him to stand by his convictions. She decided she had to apologize to him when she got a chance.
She caught his grandmother staring expectantly at her, and she quickly shrugged. "I guess he's just a little down because this weekend hasn't gone exactly as he planned, that's all. His car broke down, we had to stay in a motel, and we had no choice but to show up here a day late."
"Mm, that must be it," Mrs. Finch replied, nodding thoughtfully. Leaning forward, she added in a confiding tone, "You know, from what he's told me about you, I can tell he admires you a lot, Maya." At Maya's reddened face, she laughed softly. "I'm sure you already knew that, but in case you didn't, it's something worth thinking about."
Maya frowned. "Something worth thinking about?" she parroted.
In response, Mrs. Finch gave her that all-knowing smile that only women wisened with age are allowed to give. "It surprises me that even now, young people can be so oblivious of someone's feelings for them."
"Oh," Maya blurted, suddenly understanding what Finch's grandmother meant by her words. "Well, um, I- I'm not oblivious, Mrs. Finch," she said uneasily, wringing her hands in her lap. "I know that Dennis has feelings for me; he's the one who told me, actually. But he-- well, *we* decided that it wouldn't work out." Mrs. Finch raised an eyebrow, and Maya began to see where a lot of her grandson's mannerisms came from. She continued, feeling for some reason like she had to defend herself. "It's not that I never considered dating Dennis. But my father wouldn't approve of it, and Dennis really looks up to him."
"And he doesn't want to let him down," the old woman finished. Maya nodded, wondering why she had just confessed all of that to Finch's own grandmother. "It seems to me, Maya, that maybe if two people really care about each other that much, everyone will see it and learn to accept it. Don't you think?"
Maya looked down at her hands and nodded again. "Yeah, I know," she said quietly. "My dad loves Dennis like a son. If he could just understand the way he feels, then he might decide not to interfere. Dennis told me that he would never hurt me."
"Do you believe him?"
Looking up at Mrs. Finch, she thought for the briefest of moments. "Yes," she replied. "He might not like people knowing it, but he's the sweetest guy in the world."
Maya Gallo groaned, watching Nina walk away after throwing out her invitation to Oscar Milos's fashion show. The ex-model had lamented her predicament, wishing she could go to both the fashion show and Sting's benefit to ban cloning, and had finally decided to attend the latter. "Ohhh, man!" Maya whined.
Dennis Finch looked over at her from his desk. "What?" he asked.
"Well, here we are working our butts off in this supposedly glamourous industry," she said sardonically, "but do we ever get to go to any of these cool things? No!" She shook her head to emphasize her annoyance.
"Hmm." Finch looked at her thoughtfully. "Speak for yourself, nerd."
Her mouth dropped open, and she glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"
As a reply, he pulled a large black scrapbook out of his desk drawer and held it up. The cover read, 'D. FINCH. HANDS OFF!' "My clippings," he said in explanation. Maya frowned, and he beckoned her with his finger. "Come hither. Take a gander."
Amused, she joined him at his desk, leaning over the counter to look at Finch's so-called "clippings". He thumbed through the pages with obvious pride, and she looked at the numerous pictures of major celebrities at various parties, award ceremonies, and benefits.
"Here I am at a little music show called the Grammys," said Finch, chuckling to himself as he pointed at one of the pictures. He turned the page again. "Here I am bustin' a move at the 'Bring in Da Noize' Kwanzaa party."
Looking closer, Maya shook her head, failing to see any trace of Finch in any of the clippings. "You're not in any of these pictures," she said slowly.
"Oh, yes I am!" He moved the scrapbook closer to her, allowing her to see the pictures in more detail. "There's the tip of my head," he said, pointing to an obscure corner in one of the clippings. Maya bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. "There's my elbow... See how Barbra Streisand looks all irritated? That's 'cause I just asked James Brolin to take a look at mah transmission." He snickered at the remembrance.
Maya was stunned. "How did you get invited to these things?"
"It's very complicated, you wouldn't understand," he replied in that self-important voice he always used to make himself feel superior. "But if you really want to go to that Milos show..." He snapped his fingers. "I can make it happen."
She smiled wryly at him. "Yeah, right. How?"
Bending over, he pulled the envelope that held Nina's invitation out of the waste basket. He smirked as he handed it over to her. "Here you go, *Nina*, pick me up at eight."
Shocked that Finch would commit fraud and risk getting caught simply to allow her to attend the fashion show, Maya stared at him. "H-how am I gonna pass for Nina?" she asked to conceal her surprise.
He smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders as he sent her off in the direction of her office. "Eat nothing. Drink everything." He leaned toward her and grinned conspiratorially. "Wake up in the coat room."
Stifling a laugh, Maya cast one last grateful smile at him as she watched him head back to his desk. Already planning out what she was going to wear to the fashion show, she grinned and strode across the bull pen to her office, amazed at the unexpected bursts of generosity that Dennis Finch constantly surprised her with.
"He tries to hide it," Maya said, taking a sip of her now lukewarm tea, "but he cares about his friends more than anything. They come first in his life."
Gloria Finch smiled, nodding in understanding. "I got the feeling," she replied.
Maya sighed. "I just wished he could realize that people would love him even without the wisecracks and clowning around. He seems to think that the only way to win approval is to be funny."
"Oh, I know, dear," said Mrs. Finch. "He's always been that way. When he was a little boy, he got picked on a lot by his schoolmates; mostly because of his size." She shook her head sadly. "He didn't want to show how much it bothered him, so he used that dry sense of humor of his to hide his feelings. And he still does, to this day."
"Like a defense mechanism," Maya murmured, more to herself than to Finch's grandmother.
Her dark eyebrows drawing together in concentration, Maya stood in front of the magazine layout board, wondering if she could make any changes. For obvious reasons, though, she found that she couldn't concentrate. Nina had just been burned by that "hip" new Model Cafe by displaying her famous leopard-print bikini above the Dumpsters at the back of the building. The former model was trying to hide how disappointed she was, but Maya could tell she was hurt.
If that wasn't enough, Finch had been pestering her all week about what a goody-two-shoes she was. Him and his stupid "adventure points". She didn't want everyone to think that she couldn't have any fun, but frankly, Finch's idea of fun took on a much more sinister form that hers did. He had gotten her to drop a water balloon on her own father; what more did he want!?
The door to Jack Gallo's office opened, and the object of her annoyed musings stepped out, shutting the door behind him. *Speak of the devil,* Maya thought to herself ironically.
And, wouldn't you know it, he walked directly up to her. Couldn't he see that she was busy? "Hey. Maya." Finch was speaking in a slightly hushed voice. Maya was curious, but didn't turn to look at him. "I think I have an idea how to get you more adventure points."
Those ridiculous adventure points again. "I told you yesterday, I'm not taking a bath with you," she replied absently, still staring at the layout board.
"Okay, I gotcha," he said, nodding. "Leave that one up in the air. But here's my second idea." Taking a step closer to her, he looked around before continuing. Finally in a low voice, he said, "Why don't we steal Nini's bikini?"
Maya's eyes widened, and she turned on her heel to gape at him. What on earth was he thinking!? *He must be insane to think I'd pull off something like that!* she thought, and decided to voice her opinions. "Are you crazy?" she hissed at him. "That's theft and vandalism! And to go into a bar on a work night!" she added, not even willing to think of such an indiscretion.
"Come on," he whined. Something wasn't right. Finch was acting strange, even for him. Why should he, the most selfish person she'd ever met, be so insistent that Nina should have her precious bikini back? Unless - and it was a long shot - he actually *cared* about Nina's *feelings*?
A slow smile spread on Maya's face. "Wait a minute," she said, placing her hands on her hips. "I know what this is. You're doing something nice for Nina!"
Suddenly Finch looked uncomfortable. "No, I'm not..."
She grinned at him, her voice raising in volume. "Yes you are, you're nice!"
"Shut up," he retorted, glaring daggers at her.
But Maya was too preoccupied with the overwhelming notion of Dennis Finch going miles out of his way to make one of his friends happy. Not only that, but dragging another of his friends with him. She stared at him, an amazed smile on her face. "Underneath all the snide little insults, you're just a sweet little puppy-dog with a great, big heart!" she exclaimed.
A blonde eyebrow suddenly arched, and she realized that that probably wasn't the best thing she could have said. Finch smiled deviously at her and raised his hands in front of him like paws. "Puppy needs a bath," he said, wiggling his fingers at her. With an annoyed sigh, she shoved him away and walked past him. But she knew, despite all of her instincts, that she had already agreed to help him.
"Your tea must be ice-cold, Maya," exclaimed Mrs. Finch, startling her from her thoughts. She looked up at her in surprise, then down at the dregs at the bottom of her teacup.
"Oh, it's all right," she said, offering an appreciative smile. "I think I've had enough, but it was delicious. Thank you, Mrs. Finch." She stood up and stretched, remembering how much she had been sitting during the past two days. Biting her lip in concern, she cast a worried glance at the back door. "Umm, I- I think I'm going to join Dennis outside," she stammered, not sounding at all casual or convincing. "I could use some fresh air myself."
But the old woman understood, and she smiled. "Of course, dear. You go on; I've got dishes to do anyway."
Maya smiled back at her and made her way to the back of the house, opening the door to the porch and wincing as it creaked. The first thing that struck her was how beautiful the scenery was. The long, green expanse of the backyard somehow gradually melted into the tall forest of evergreens beyond. It was very quiet and peaceful, which was a rare experience for a person who lived in the concrete forest of Manhattan.
The second thing that struck her was how adorable Finch looked.
He sat on the steps of the porch, staring out past the yard into the forest. His mass of blonde hair was tossed into disarray by the chilly breeze, and his left sneaker tapped the rhythm to some tune in his head on the wooden step. The small, fluffy dog asleep in his lap did nothing but add to the endearing scene.
"I thought you hated dogs," she pointed out.
Finch jumped slightly, and twisted around to look up at her. "Yeah, well," he mumbled, shrugging his shoulders, "she's keeping me warm. A poor substitute for a cat, but what are ya gonna do?"
Shutting the door behind her, Maya walked across the porch and sat down next to him on the steps. For a while neither spoke, but simply took in the quiet, rare beauty of Nature. "It sure is pretty here," Maya finally said quietly.
Her companion nodded. "Yeah."
*That's it, I can't stand it anymore,* she thought exasperatedly. "Finch, I'm so sorry for the way I've been acting," she said morosely, turning to face him. "I shouldn't be mad at you. You're the only one out of the two of us who's acting with any maturity. I've just been acting like a... witch with a capital B." She reached out and grasped his hand, unable to ignore the electricity caused by their touch. "Please forgive me, I feel awful," she pleaded.
His lips curved in a smile, and he squeezed her hand comfortingly. "Hey, come on, Pretty Eyes, you think I could say no to that face?" Maya grinned, and he poked her in the ribs. As she started giggling, he released her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into a sort of half-hug. She snaked an arm around his waist and closed her eyes, resting her head on his shoulder.
"You're a good ol' chap," she said, smiling as she breathed in the fresh autumn air, mingled with the clean smell of Finch's shirt. Every shred of anger, confusion, and disappointment between them washed away in that moment, and Maya was Finch's friend once again. In that moment, she became the woman he could joke around with, the woman to whom he could tell anything, the woman he could always trust.
To Maya, however, Finch had become the man she loved.
A/N: Whooooo yeah, dass what I'm talkin' about! I know what you're thinking: took her long enough, didn't it? I happen to agree with you. But I didn't want to make her just suddenly be like, "Oh hey, I love him." She had to take some time until she realized it. This *is* Maya we're talking about here. Anyway, hope you liked my latest chapter! Did you enjoy the flash-backs? They were some hard writing, I can tell you that. The first one was from the episode "The Emperor", with guest star Dana Carvey, and the second was from one of my favorite episodes, "Nina's Bikini". It took a lot of rewinding my 'Just Shoot Me' tape with the closed captions on, but I think I got all the lines pretty accurate. I just wanted to get the message across that Finch is more caring than he wants everyone to think. Tell me if I left anything out. And I hope you do so in a review, hint hint. Meanwhile, I'll be working on the twelfth chapter while staring at my autographed picture of David Spade. Twelve chapters already, my goodness!
Wakizashi
tricksparrow@hotmail.com