Ed's cell rang as he dropped the folder in front of Lennie.

"Passed Lieu in the hallway."  He explained while fumbling through his coat.  "M.E.'s report on the Atkinson case."  He finally extracted the phone and flipped it open.  "Green."

"Hello Detective Green."

Ed immediately recognized the husky voice.  He tried to ignore the charge that it sent surging through him, but quickly succumbed and felt himself smiling unchecked.  Lennie looked on, amused.  His partner obviously wasn't grinning about anything business related and he couldn't let the moment pass without some good natured ribbing.  Lennie puckered his lips and made smooching sounds which prompted Ed to roll his eyes and turn his back before he spoke.

"Counselor." His voice was low and matched the intensity with which she'd said his name. "How're you this brisk February morning?"

Abbie leaned back in her chair and propped her jean clad legs on the desk.  "Well, actually I'm a little puzzled." She told him as she gazed at the animated heart dancing merrily across her computer screen.

"About?" Ed inquired innocently, knowing full well what she was alluding to. 

He wasn't sure why he'd done it.  It had been something of an impulse. Since she wasn't working for the DA anymore, their paths rarely crossed.  He'd faked being asleep as he listened to her tiptoeing out of his apartment on New Year's Day.  They'd only spoken once since then, and the conversation was full of excruciating pleasantries that left them both hovering somewhere between giddy awkwardness and utter confusion.  He estimated that he'd started nearly two dozen emails that were never sent because they'd either been banished to his 'drafts' folder or he'd pressed the cancel button instead of 'send'.  Maybe it would've been easier had he said something to her that morning when he heard her leaving.  Why hadn't he?

"I had no idea you were such a poet." She cracked.  "Imagine my surprise just now when I stumbled across this masterpiece."

Abbie's heart had skipped a beat when she was skimming her emails and saw 'Ed Green' near the top of the list. She'd lost track of the number of times her hand lingered over the phone's receiver as she debated calling him.  The last time they'd seen each other had been so weird.  Maybe that was her fault.  She'd left his bed after their night together and slipped out of his apartment while he slept.  Even as she descended the stairs in his building she asked herself, 'Why?'

Maybe because she didn't want to hear him try to explain that what happened was just a chance, one time thing.  She was a big girl.  She knew better than to expect a night of intoxicated abandon to develop into anything substantial or long term.  And there were other things; a sea of circumstances that both separated and intertwined their lives. Lately she would chuckle to herself whenever she heard anybody say that something was as simple as black and white.  Nothing was that simple. But weren't they educated professionals living in enlightened times?  This made her laugh too. Sadly.

"I wasn't sure if I should send it." Ed admitted.

He'd been passing all the Valentine's Day displays in the stores for weeks and each time he fought the temptation to stop and browse.  Sending an actual card seemed too premeditated.  It would've said that he'd made a concerted effort, that he'd spent time wading through the mountain of greetings to find the perfect one.  It would've said that he'd been thinking about her.  And he wasn't sure he was ready to admit that.

But last night, on an impulse, he'd gone to one of the electronic greeting sites before he turned off his laptop.  He found the Valentine's Day section and quickly eliminated the romantic and risqué categories.  The 'friends' & 'funny' categories didn't do much for him either and he finally settled on personalizing his own. After composing the message, he typed her email address in the recipient field and clicked the send button before he could second guess himself.

Abbie laughed heartily when she opened the e-card.  Its sentiment seemed appropriate.

'Roses are red

Violets are Blue

I waited too late to buy a card

But hey, this one's for you!'

"I'm glad you sent it." She told him, and before her common sense had a chance to censor her emotions she blurted out, "I've missed you."

Ed was floored by the revelation and the line went silent.  Abbie tittered nervously.

"Um, you still there?"

Ed laughed softly.  "Yeah, I'm still here."

"Thought maybe I'd lost you."  She joked.

"No. I was just," He paused and cleared his throat.  He felt like he was in the seventh grade all over again. "I was just tryin' to figure out how to ask you something."

Abbie held her breath, but managed to croak, "Yeah?"

"Will you be my valentine?"

She exhaled and pushed against the desk, sending herself spinning in circles as the smile on her face spread through her entire being.

"Detective Green," She said as the chair slowly came to a stop. "I'd love to be your valentine."