Disclaimer: the characters used in this story (with the exception of Cathy) are property of Belisarius Production.
Harm and Cathy had been going out together often lately. They weren't actually calling it dating, but that was the impression that everyone at JAG Headquarters had. They had been the best friends since they were children and had always been there for each other. But lately they both had the distinct impression that something was changing.
That night they were on their way to Marcello's, a nice Italian restaurant on Granville Island. Cathy liked that place particularly because it wasn't one of those big crowded restaurants where you couldn't even have a quiet conversation. Harm pulled into Granville Market and found a parking space just across the restaurant. The place was crowded for a Thursday night.
He took Cathy by her arm and led her into Marcello's. She waited for him as he talked to the hostess at the front. Harm smiled at the woman and came back to Cathy to tell her it was not going to be too long to wait.
"I don't have to be anywhere. Do you?" she asked smiling at him.
"Nope. The only place I need to be is here with you," he said and that was more than enough to make Cathy shiver. Harm had been her best friend since…she didn't even remember since when: he had always been part of her life. In the past few weeks they had spent a lot of time together and she had actually started to see him in a different way but she wasn't one hundred percent sure how he felt about the two of them. "Are you cold?" he asked calling her back to reality.
"I'm fine," she said, rubbing her arms. The goose bumps on her skin weren't from the temperature.
"I have a jacket somewhere in the car. It's a bomber jacket and it is pretty heavy, but I can go get it for you if you want," Harm told her, looking over her head towards the door.
"You don't have to do that. I'm sure I'll warm up as soon as we sit down," she said, rubbing her arms with her hands. She didn't actually intend for him to put his arm around her and pull her close to him, but he did. And they both enjoyed the closeness more than they were ready to admit.
The hostess finally called for 'Rabb, party of two' and the couple followed her to their table, where a waitress took their orders.
"That should warm you up," said Harm flashing Cathy an evil grin, as the waitress put a Strawberry Margarita in front of his friend. He had talked her into ordering a drink, telling her he was going to drive and that she should just go for it.
It was not long until the waitress put their lasagne in front of them, and it was delicious. Thin layers of pasta and meat sauce, covered with a white cream sauce. They both loved Italian food and they didn't mind to cook themselves from time to time, but sometimes it was just good to enjoy the end result.
"Are you hungry?" asked Cathy as Harm literally devoured his meal.
"Well…I've hardly had time to make a pause today," replied Harm. He had a hard day behind him at his law firm: the SECNAV was going to have his head if he wouldn't hand in the report for the Madison case for the next morning. He didn't want to miss the dinner with Cathy so he had worked hard all day, barely stopping to eat something.
They just sat and ate quietly for a while and listened to the music playing in the background. Harm liked to be with Cathy. They could talk for hours or just enjoy each other's company without saying anything. He could be himself, no masks, no pretending, just himself. Since she moved to West Van he had had time to think about how important Cathy had been in his life and he had come to a new awareness about the deep bond they shared.
"So, how did your boss take you leaving?" he asked, his mind wanderings interrupted by the waitress collecting their plates. Cathy had just told her editor that she was going to stop writing full-time to run a little book-shop.
"Well enough, I guess…he wasn't exactly thrilled about my new plans…but he did understand in the end," she replied startled by Harm's insistent gaze on her. He just couldn't take his eyes off her. "What?" she asked.
"Did I tell you that you look great tonight?" he replied surprising Cathy even more. He knew she wasn't the type to live off of compliments or admiration but he had told her anyway.
"Why are you being nice to me?" she asked teasingly.
"Hey! I'm always nice to you!" he replied pretending to be offended by her remark.
"Thank you," she said, a familiar sparkle in her eyes.
Every time she looked at him with those crystal eyes he had the impression she could read through him. "Anytime," he replied smiling at her as the waitress put their desserts in front of them.
"What about you, what do you think about my plans?," she asked picking on the tiramisu.
"Well, it's great! I mean, since you started writing you've been dreaming of running your own book shop," he replied. Cathy's mom had ran a small book shop when they were kids: she used to have fairy-tales afternoons, where she would read the children's favourite stories, so it wasn't really that surprising for Harm that Cathy had decided to step in her mother's footsteps. "Is something wrong?" he asked sensing a certain nervousness.
"It's just that I'm afraid I won't make it by myself," she said putting the little fork down. "You probably think I'm overreacting…"
He reached over to her hand and covered it with his'. "Cathy, it's normal to be nervous about a new job. But you are not alone. I'm not going to let you down: I never did and I won't start now," he reassured her.
Cathy didn't know what to say but in the end she seemed to relax a bit. "What would I do without you?" she asked smiling at him.
"You'd simply be lost!" he replied with his all-too familiar teasing tone.
After dinner Harm drove Cathy back to her place. "Thank you for listening to my rambling," she said as she stepped out of the car.
"Anytime," he replied as they walked to the front door of the apartment building.
"I would invite you in for a drink…" she said softly, shortening the distance between them, "but there's always that work colleague of yours who lives over there and keeps spying on us…", she said referring to Lt. Lauren Singer.
"What if we give her something to look at?" he whispered hoping that he had not misinterpreted.
"Why not…," she replied leaning in for a kiss. A kiss that freed emotions that have been pent up for too long. A kiss that marked the beginning of a new future.