Friends and Lovers
Chapter 2
Disclaimers: Still the same, STFBEye characters not mine. New ones are.
Author's note: Thanks for the reviews!
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Next day
Bullpen
7:00 am
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" asked Tara as she and Lucy huddled conspiratorially critiquing their handiwork over the doorway.
"Yeah," declared Lucy. "I'm going to have Jack stop here and pretend to show him something while you make sure Sue's coming through this door. We'll have them stand under here and point out what's over them," two pairs of eyes automatically looking upward at the mistletoe strategically placed above amongst the other Christmas decorations. "And they kiss. Got it?"
"Are you sure this is a good idea?' Tara repeated.
"Those two need something or somebody to give them a nudge," she insisted. "It's been what—three years and they're still on square one."
"Okay," agreed Tara a trifle doubtfully. "And when is all of this going to happen?"
"I'm thinking when Jack comes back from his meeting with Randy, maybe sometime this morning. I don't know. We just have to seize the opportunity," schemed Lucy.
"Seize the opportunity," repeated Tara. "Got it. Operation Mistletoe in place." They separated to their respective desks.
Myles was on the phone and his eyes were idly sweeping the room as he spoke when he noticed the mistletoe above the doorway. His eyebrows raised at the recent addition to the holiday decorations, his eyes traveling to the various occupants of the room trying to determine who the responsible culprit was.
His eyes automatically focused on Sue. For all her angelic expression, he'd been the victim of her pranks more than once. But this didn't seem to be her style. Not Bobby. He wasn't the subtle type. Definitely not D. Jack was in a meeting upstairs. Then his gaze landed on Lucy. Bingo! She would do it. And her partner in crime? His eyes swiveled to Tara. Definitely those two. But what were they up to?
Lucy walked over to Sue's desk. "You told me to remind you of that meeting with Warren at 9:30," she told Sue. "How long is the meeting supposed to take?" she asked trying to gauge when she could maneuver her into the 'accidental' meeting with Jack under the mistletoe.
"Not long," she smiled. "Maybe half an hour at the most. I just finished up the report." Gathering up the file, she stood up to leave for her meeting.
As she reached the doorway, Bobby called out, "Sue! Wait up! Levi! Get Sue!"
Levi stopped and pawed Sue. She looked down. "What is it, Levi?" Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Bobby waving for her attention while on the phone. He hurriedly finished his call and bounced up to catch her before she left.
"That was my mechanic friend on the phone," he explained. "He changed the battery and everything's fine. He'll leave your keys downstairs with the guard."
"What about the bill?"
Bobby waved her off. "Don't worry about it. He owes me a favor."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"Thanks," she smiled. "I appreciate you taking care of the problem."
Just as Bobby was about to reply, Myles' voice boomed out, "What have we here? Bobby, do you realize where you and Sue are standing?"
Bobby looked around in confusion. "Doorway?"
"What?" asked Sue noticing his distraction.
"Above you, Manning."
Bobby looked overhead and Sue's eyes followed—mistletoe! Immediately, their eyes made contact and widened in surprise.
"Well, Bobby," began Myles, enjoying himself, "don't you know what you're supposed to do when you stand under the mistletoe?"
Bobby looked taken aback as Sue's eyes opened even wider. Lucy and Tara looked at each other in dismay. Things were not going according to plan!
"Get it over with," called out D, standing at the coffee station. "You're blocking the doorway."
With that comment, Bobby smiled and looked at Sue. "You mind?"
She shrugged, "It's okay." Just as the two leaned in for a quick peck, Levi sneezed, pushing Sue into Bobby. Automatically his hands reached up to catch her and the quick peck turned into something more. When they broke the kiss, they stared at each other in shock.
"I…I'm sorry," apologized Sue her eyes darting everywhere except Bobby's eyes. "Levi bumped into me."
Uh…yeah." The usually glib agent was at a loss for words. "That's okay."
"Um…I...um…have a meeting," she said pointing to the elevator. "I better get going." Tapping Levi's head, they left but not without a backward glance at Bobby.
Bobby slowly turned back into the office to stunned silence. Myles was astonished how his little practical joke had escalated into something much more. The two women stared at each other wondering what had just happened while D stared thoughtfully at Bobby who looked like he didn't know what hit him.
Walking back to his desk, he bumped into the corner of Sue's desk, apologized, and literally fell into his chair with a dazed expression on his face. Sue...her soft lips...Sue...holding her... He seemed incapable of a consistent coherent thought. What...what happened?
Everyone who witnessed the kiss tried to discreetly peek at the befuddled agent.
A concerned D walked over to Bobby and put a hand on his shoulder, "You okay?"
"Uh...yeah...sure," replied a confused Bobby. "Did I...Did she...Was that..." his voice lapsed into silence. He wasn't sure what he meant.
Myles leaned forward. "That," he began in an exaggeratedly patient voice, "that was called a kiss. You kissed Sue under the mistletoe. You liked that kiss under the mistletoe. And I think she liked it, too." He sat back in his chair waiting for Bobby to process the information.
D was having a difficult time trying not to laugh. Myles hit it right on the nose—talk about being overwhelmed and overcome. That was Bobby. He looked like he got hit with a two by four smack dab in the middle of his forehead.
"Myles is right—for once," agreed D which earned him a look of exasperation from Myles. "Now as your acting supervisor," he continued in his "official" voice, "I'm going to overlook this public display of affection because anyone could have been under that mistletoe while you were there, even Myles here, and you would've had to kiss him according to tradition."
Myles threw up his hands in mock indignation.
D's voice changed to a friendlier tone. "But if anything else happens, keep it out of the office, okay?" He patted Bobby on the shoulder and walked back to his desk chuckling to himself.
In the meantime, Lucy and Tara huddled together at Tara's desk staring at Bobby.
"What did we do?" asked Lucy in shock. "I had no idea this would happen. It was supposed to be a simple set up for Jack to kiss Sue, to kick start their relationship. It never occurred to me that Bobby and Sue would wind up under the mistletoe!"
"Too bad we didn't include Myles in on the plan," said Tara. "He's the one that pointed out the mistletoe."
Lucy stared at Bobby. "Look at him! I've never seen Bobby act like that."
It was obvious he was trying to focus and get back to work but failing miserably. Anyone looking at him could tell his mind was not on the paperwork in front of him. After a few minutes, he gave up and threw down his pencil. Grabbing his jacket, he said to no one in particular, "I need some air."
Lucy looked at Tara. "Should I go talk to him?"
"And tell him what? We planned the whole thing so Jack would kiss Sue? I don't think so."
Myles unobtrusively joined the two women. "I take it your plan, whatever it was, backfired?"
Lucy looked at him skeptically. "What plan? What do you mean backfired?"
He gave them the 'Come-on-who-are-you-kidding' look.
"So why did you point out the mistletoe?" asked Tara indignantly. "You think Sue should date Jack, too."
"Don't blame me if your plan to get them together went south!" he defended himself. "I just meant to play a harmless little joke on Bobby and Sue. You know I've been the butt of Thomas' practical jokes a couple of times myself and Bobby's always at me about something. I thought it would be mildly amusing to make them a little uncomfortable. I certainly didn't expect a kiss that figuratively appears to have knocked their socks off, particularly Bobby."
"Well, what'll we do now?" asked Lucy her eyes darting between Tara and Myles.
"Taking down that mistletoe would be a good start," said Myles. "Other than that, I think you've done enough already. I suggest you do nothing more."
Tara stared at Lucy. "It pains me to admit it, but Myles makes sense. I think we've done enough for one day."
"Okay," said Lucy admitting defeat. "We'll take down the mistletoe when the office is not quite so crowded."
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