Harriet looked up as Sara passed by the lab, giving her a sideways glance, and then looking away embarrassed. Harriet smiled to herself, she was enjoying the fact that Sara thought something had happened between her and Greg simply because it was so funny and absurd.
The fact Greg also knew this was a misunderstanding helped her to laugh at Sara's assumption as well. It was kind of Harriet and Greg's private joke, something that gave Harriet a new sense of humility and ability to be relaxed. She supposed this meant she was actually interested in having Greg as a friend as apposed to finding new ways to piss him off until he hated her as much as she hated him. It was strange when she thought about it, how much things could change in one night. She felt that it was time she was less restrictive about her feelings as that always ended up in her deflecting the said feelings into behaviours that were totally out of her character.
Harriet had actually been looking forward to the time when she and Greg could finish work and go and grab some breakfast. Harriet had just finished writing her last DNA results up as Greg walked into her lab.
'Hey, you ready to get some food?' Greg asked, sauntering in, smiling.
'Pretty much,' Harriet said, smiling at the way he stayed in the doorway, looking warily at her pet tarantula.
It had been hilarious when he had taken hold of the creature, the fear evident on his face as it slowly walked across his hand, Harriet could have sworn he took even deeper breaths in and didn't exhale once. Not wanting to be a complete biatch, Harriet had taken Monty back after a minute but by the look on Greg's face, it clearly felt like a lifetime to him.
'So where did you want to go?' Harriet asked, amused by the look of disgust on Greg's face as she kissed the tarantula and made sure he was securely in his tank for the evening.
'Umm, just a diner around the corner, it's a typical American style place, everything comes with fries,' Greg said, tearing his eyes away from the spider.
'Sounds good to me,' Harriet hung up her lab coat and walked towards the door as Greg followed her cue and started to walk down the corridor.
She followed him to his car and got in. The diner wasn't far but they still found the trip long enough to argue about who was the better artist – Marilyn Manson or Green Day. Harriet enjoyed the fact that this time the arguing was playful and mutual rather than hostile.
Upon arriving at the diner, Greg waved to the proprietor who clearly recognised him as a regular and took Harriet to his favourite spot, in the middle of the diner. They looked over the menu for a minute or two and made their choices. Greg got up and ordered their food at the counter and then returned so that he and Harriet could chat. She watched him as he did this, surprised at how relieved she felt that they were no longer at war. She hadn't thought that his approval mattered much to her but obviously, it must to some respect if she was more pleased about being his friend than his enemy.
'I like sitting here,' Greg said, as he sat back down. 'You can people watch without them realising you're watching them.'
'Isn't that an invasion of privacy?' Harriet asked.
'Not really because when you think about it, someone out there has probably innocently watched one of us two. It's in human nature to observe, some more than others,' he explained.
'I guess so, I wonder what their stories are,' Harriet gazed towards the window.
'I totally agree,' Greg said, indicating a solemn looking man trudging past the window in a grey suit, tie unfastened around his neck. 'Like that guy, looks like he's totally down on his luck but he probably just won a couple of mill on the slots and it hasn't quite sunk in yet.'
'Interesting theory but to me he looks like he just lost a couple of mill on the slots.'
'Yeah well, half empty, half full, ' Greg philosophised.
'Do you always see the more positive option?' Harriet asked, surprised at how much she was discovering about him.
Greg shrugged and looked down at the table, he seemed a little embarrassed.
'I guess so,' he said, finally looking at her, a little bashfully. 'It's no use getting hooked up on the negative side of life, in a way I guess I hope that I'm right about them so at least someone is going home happy.'
The owner of the diner brought them their food. Burger and fries for Greg and pancakes for Harriet.
'You mean you're not happy?' Harriet asked, shocked that Greg might feel this way.
'No that's not what I meant. I'm really happy with my life and I love my job, it's what I want to do. I'd just like everyone else to be as lucky as me,' he explained.
'Good for you,' Harriet said, genuinely.
Greg looked up at her and their eyes met for a second or two. He smiled appreciatively; probably relieved that she didn't think he was a freak. Perhaps her approval of him was just as important as his approval was to her, Harriet thought.
Things were certainly taking a completely different direction to what they had been twenty-four hours ago. Harriet smiled to herself, perhaps things were looking up, and perhaps she shouldn't have let things get so bad to begin with. Maybe she should have just been able to take a joke. But then perhaps this kind of moment wouldn't mean as much to her as it did now although she would never dare say it to him. She felt at peace to finally be able to call him a friend.
'Do I have relish on my face?' Greg asked, making her aware that she must have been gazing at him whilst thinking about all this.
'I'm sorry,' Harriet said, shaking herself out of her thoughts 'I was just thinking about something.'
'Don't hurt yourself.'
Greg smiled cheekily at her and she took a couple of fries from his plate and threw them at him. He just laughed, rolled his eyes at her and continued to eat.
'You're a funny, funny guy,' she said sarcastically.
Greg shrugged. 'I try my best.'