Lovely Arrangements

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Year 1 Months 1~3

The first month was a month of discovery. Barry was still getting used to having a roommate and sharing the common areas. Then again since he wasn't around much, it hadn't been that hard. At least the sharing part wasn't hard. Now the talking...yeah, that was different.

Caitlin could talk nonstop about the simplest things. Case in point, when it started snowing and she marveled at the view of their backyard covered in snow. Which led to her making, or rather attempting to make, hot chocolate. He had to step in if he didn't want to throw away yet another burnt pot. Or that one time, when they showed an internet company commercial on TV, and she was telling him all about the market research to develop the thirty-second short. It didn't matter the topic, she always had something to say. There were rare occasions when he caught her reading in their living room (because it had the best ambiance she said), where if he didn't know her any better, he would've believed she was another person. Focused Caitlin was not to be messed with, especially when she was studying.

What was giving him the hardest time, internally, was the adjustment. Despite her nosiness, and his aversion to talking about important things with her. He found himself slowly telling her about his day, in more words than fine, okay, or uneventful. It felt strange. He generally only held conversations with Cisco about the little things in life —mostly because the engineer got bored with business talk, and there was only so much medicine talk he could take. What was it about her that made him talk? Could it be her own openness? Studies did show that people tend to imitate those that we like. Not that he liked her, well not romantically. But she was tolerable enough.

"Hello! Earth to Barry!" Cisco snapped his fingers in front of him, "I've been talking to you the last five minutes and you're who-knows-where."

"Sorry, thinking."

"Is it about a certain Jitters barista we both know?" Cisco gave him a teasing look.

Barry shook his head, Cisco and Caitlin always so childish, "If you're talking about Caitlin, then yes. I was thinking about her."

"Figured, only a month in and look at you, thinking about the fake wifey."

"Francisco," the warning wasn't missed, "she isn't a fake."

Cisco released a breath he wasn't aware he was holding, "Phew, I thought you would chew me out for the teasing," and then it dawned on him, "ooooooohhhhhh, but you're defending her."

Before Barry could pitch in, Cisco continued.

"I guess the honeymoon phase hit you hard. I knew you would warm up to her."

"All I'm saying is that we are legally married, so she isn't a fake wife."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, because God forbid you actually took a liking to your wife."

As it was customary, Barry rolled his eyes at his friend's antics, "You and I both know that my relationship with Caitlin isn't like that."

"Doesn't mean it can't be," he shrugged.

"This isn't some romantic comedy, Cisco. We are just two people who benefit mutually from this agreement."

"Okay, this is where I stop you before you start talking about some business philosophy. I get it you don't like her that way, and this is just, what did Caitlin say," he looked up thinking of the word, "a partnership, yeah."

"You talk to Caitlin?" weird, as much as Caitlin talked, she never mentioned Cisco in their conversations.

Cisco gave him an odd look, "Uh, yeah, I do."

"I see."

Cisco placed an arm around Barry, "Don't go on jealous mode, we've been talking about work, pop culture, movies, normal stuff. Besides, you know I'm committed to my Golden Goddess."

The doctor carefully removed Cisco's arm, "I didn't ask for an explanation."

"Wow, Caitlin must have the patience of a saint, you literally act like a two-year old."

"Certainly I do not," he gave his friend a hard stare.

Cisco nodded enthusiastically, "It looks like it takes a whole lot of effort to always act like a stick in mud, chill man."

"What type of work do you and Caitlin talk about?" he said, effectively changing topics.

"Just work stuff."

"What stuff?"

"Stuff."

And Cisco called him a two-year old. Ha!

{-}

Gosh midterms were killing her, she was so grateful her managers at Jitters and the CCU Library were so accommodating to her schedule, but she was beat. Professor Stein might be a world renowned scientist and a kind hearted man, but he was the toughest professor she's had to date.

She was ready for a hot bath, a strawberry-kiwi smoothie, and a good movie.

Hmm, speaking of strawberry-kiwi, she should get one for Barry too. Even though he was serious, could be anti-social, constantly got on her case about food in the living room….he was a good guy. Not that he would ever admit it. She was certain there was more to him than just business and medical talk.

"How did midterms go Caitlin?" Magenta, a fellow co-worker asked as she prepped the smoothies.

Caitlin shuddered, "All I can say is that I'm so glad they are over."

Magenta laughed, "That sounds about right."

"Just you wait, it seems that every year they get more difficult," Caitlin was taking her apron off and getting ready to clock out for the day, "enjoy your days as a Sophomore, while they last Pinky," she teased.

The girl with magenta hair rolled her eyes in good fun, "Oh yes, you old lady."

"Well girly girl, I'm off for an evening of relaxation."

"Aye aye boss lady," she handed the woman her smoothies, "added a bit of extra kiwi on one as requested," Magenta winked.

{-}

Caitlin walked inside the house, placed the smoothies in the freezer for some time. Hoping Barry didn't take too long to get home today, so his smoothie was in the best condition. It was funny because the weather was still cold, but she loved cold drinks in the winter, as strange as that was.

She looked around the house and everything was organized and clean. It was such a blessing that both of them were so clean and tidy —Barry more so. Although she would like for them to do some cleaning together at times. Sure she saw Barry at dinner time and Sundays (some weeks), but he took the word workaholic to a whole other level. She constantly worried about his well being.

As Caitlin walked into her room and got ready for her hot bath she started thinking about something that had bothered her from a previous conversation with her husband.

"So what's going on in that head of yours?" She asked as she washed the dishes.

Barry was pensive, he stopped drying the dishes and turned to her, "I've been seeing some irregularities."

"Irregularities?" she asked.

He nodded and resumed his dish drying task, "Yes, but it's nothing you should concern yourself with."

And there he went again, "Come on, talk, you already started."

After a few seconds of silence he began, "Our medical inventory is odd, the figures aren't adding up."

"So you are seeing discrepancies in your medications," she nodded to herself, "let me ask you this, were there any staff changes in the area? Is it a particular medication you are seeing these fluctuations on? What about the expenses reported, is that consistent?"

They both finished cleaning the kitchen and headed to the living room.

Barry was actually surprised by those questions. Which indicated Caitlin thought about the issue more deeply than he would have given her credit for. He had already considered the fluctuations on the medications and sure enough it was one in particular that was having these variations. This was also reflected in the revenue/expenses. What he hadn't considered were any staff changes in the area. He took mental note of that.

"I generally want to think the best of every person I encounter," Caitlin said as she sat opposite to him in the living room and took a sip of her tea, "but I can't blind myself to the possibilities. Considering the high level of security at your hospital, it has to be an insider's job."

He nodded.

She wondered if it had been resolved. It had been a few weeks since then, and Barry being, well...Barry, hadn't said a whole lot. She also needed to ask him about going to meet Jade and Marcos at the hospital. Poor Jade had been asking since the moment they got married and she hadn't been able to ask.

One day.

Sooner rather than later she hoped.

{-}

He was reviewing the recording for the third time. To think Caitlin was right. It had been an insider's job. His first thought had been on the new interns that came to assist the pharmacy, but each of them had a sound and proven alibi.

What a shame that it was Old Genevieve, the oldest and most well known pharmacist. He had exchanged a few words with her on occasion, when he was a visiting resident. The woman had a motherly aura about her, and she was well liked by everyone at the hospital.

This was proof once again that closeness and familiarity only made the betrayal that much harder.

"Man, I wonder why she did it," Cisco said behind him, also examining the footage.

"Does it matter?" Barry asked, standing up and walking towards his window, "What's done is done, and this is a felony, have Jessie call the authorities."

Cisco turned off the feed and turned to Barry, "Shouldn't we at least know why?" he reasoned, "Old Genie has had a spotless record for over twenty five years, from what I know patients and staff alike love her. There must be a reason."

Barry sighed, "Cisco, whatever the reason it doesn't justify theft, besides, the quantities of alkylating agents she took are a considerate amount, and this has been going on for months."

The engineer nodded, "And I get that, but there has to be a why, the medication is very specific and that's the only type that was taken."

"What would change if we knew why?"

{-}

"So," she started. There was only so much silence she could take, and Barry was quieter than usual —which was saying something, considering how little he talked. "How was —"

"Fine."

Definitely not fine. "Anything interesting happened today?"

He raised an eyebrow, "Did Cisco say something?"

She blinked in surprise, "Not really. Should he have? Now I'm intrigued."

He hesitated for a brief moment, "We found the culprit."

"Of the missing medication! Who was it?"

"Genevive, a veteran pharmacist."

His tone was the same as always, and yet Caitlin couldn't help but notice a sliver of disappointment coming through.

"Why?" she wondered aloud.

"Are you sure you didn't speak to Cisco about this?" There were days where he felt cornered by those two.

She smiled, "No, but I wonder what he told you that you think we did."

"He insists we should find out the why, before turning her to the authorities."

"And I agree," she stopped to think for a few seconds, "you say she's an old timer, meaning she's been with the hospital for a long time, why would she risk tarnishing her reputation and future pension," she stood up and headed to the kitchen, "not counting her potentially going to jail," she came back with two pink-greenish cups and handed one to Barry, "One strawberry-kiwi smoothie for our hotshot Doctor slash CEO."

"Thank you."

"Trust me, after the killer midterms I just finished, I needed the pick me upper and thought about you."

"I thought you said this smoothie was best in summer," and they were a few months away from it.

She nodded, "Yes, but I figured you would need a pick me upper too."

He smirked. Caitlin was amusing indeed, "Well, since you're so good at weaving stories together, why do you think Genevive did it?"

She took a sip from her smoothie and laid comfortably on the couch, "Gosh, there could be so many reasons, but somehow I don't think she did it for money."

Barry listened attentively to what his wife had to say. She seemed passionate about sharing her theories with him. She would ask him questions to understand the situation better and would continue drafting her theory of what might have led an exemplary employee to steal cancer medication.

Interestingly enough, the more he listened to her the more he found some soundness to it. He hadn't seen her in a medical setting, but she would make one heck of a lawyer if her convincing storytelling with limited evidence was anything to go by.

"...To conclude, find her emotional driver, and that will help clarify her motivations," it was strange she enjoyed a cold smoothie during the winter, but it was delicious, "Perhaps it was for a husband, a son, a daughter, a grandkid even. The medication taken is used to treat cancer, so my money is that this was an act out of love and not greed."

"Love?" the notion itself was ludicrous.

Caitlin nodded emphatically, "Yes! She did it for someone she cared about, and for reasons that we don't know, she had to go about getting these medications around the system."

She studied the facial features of her husband. It had been almost 3 months since they started living together, and slowly but surely he was coming around. She was far from knowing him well, but she understood him a lot better than what he would give her credit for. Like now, for example, while he wasn't completely convinced, he hadn't debunked her reasoning completely.

"Wouldn't you do everything in your power to save someone you love?"

He lowered his head and slowly finished up his smoothie. It was a great distraction. The answer to her question was so easy to respond and yet so difficult at the same time.

"Yes, I would do everything I could to save her," he said softly, "to save someone important to me, I mean."

Caitlin almost choked on her smoothie at the revelation. Not that the answer was strange, what was rare was that Barry was so sincere about it. Before she could dwell anymore on the moment, her husband spoke.

"How were your midterms?"

She groaned, "Ugh, all was fine until I got to Dr. Stein's exam, molecular thermodynamics," she shook her head, "why did I choose that as an elective?" She buried her head on a couch pillow.

Barry cracked a smile. There was never a dull moment with Caitlin around. She could narrate such simple events with unparalleled emotion. She was someone that enjoyed every day, every moment, and every now and then she would remind him of his late mother. Both women emanated warmth and a chaotic energy.

The auburn hair woman looked up quickly, "Next time I want to be an overachiever, please stop me," she urged the man before her.

And miss the opportunity of seeing her this anxious and pulling her childish antics? "I'd rather not."

"Barry!" She threw the pillow at him.

He turned to the side ever so slightly and the pillow missed him.

"You're picking that up."

{x}