Juliet grabbed her food from the line and waited at their usual table. They didn't have an exact time so whoever got there first would always start eating. And the other one would usually show up within about 15 minutes. 30 minutes came and went and she had finished off her soup and salad. There was no sign of him. She started to worry that he was avoiding her after the moment this morning. Maybe she's wrong about what was going on between them. She hated feeling like this: a high-schooler worrying about a crush. She collected herself and jumped up to grab a refill of her drink so she didn't see him as he entered or the worried look on his face as he rushed in.
As he entered the cafeteria he was nervous she wouldn't be there anymore. He'd never been this late to lunch. Of all days, it had to be today when Horace wanted to talk to him about a promotion. He decided this was good news, but when Horace wouldn't stop talking he started to get impatient. What would she think if he didn't show up after whatever that was this morning. He needed to play it cool like nothing happened, and being 30 minutes late was not helping the cause. So when he saw her at the drink machine he took in a deep breath and trotted up behind her.
"Sorry I'm late. Didn't think you'd still be here."
She turned to look at him, trying to decipher the expression on his face. She decided it was a little more playful than usual.
"Oh I just got here."
"Really?"
"No! I've been waiting forever! I thought you fell down a well or something."
"Well call me baby Jessica. They found me."
She rolled her eyes and followed him through the line as he got his food.
"So what really happened to you?"
"I guess you might call it big news."
He walked back to their table before continuing. She watched him expectantly and gave him an expression that meant spit it out already.
"You're looking at the new head of security!"
She grinned, her face radiating with pride at this news, which caused the pit of his stomach to warm.
"Of course. That makes perfect sense! You're perfect."
He grinned back at her, enjoying the unusual feeling of accomplishment. Her pride in him made him feel it that much more.
"Well, I don't know about perfect, but I guess I might do alright. I officially start Monday. And it means I get to sleep in an hour longer and get out of that boring monitor room!"
Her face fell with realization. He noticed.
"What? You worried about losing your 'me time'?," he questioned.
She tilted her head as if to say he was being absurd.
"No of course not. I was just thinking of this. Lunch. Do you think you'll have time anymore? You might be busier from now on."
He looked worried for a minute as he considered the question. He had only thought about all the perks and not the cons that come with more responsibility. He furrowed his brow before dismissing the idea.
"Nah, we'll figure out!"
He hadn't convinced himself, but maybe she'd buy it.
"I hope so," she said with a sad smile.
Juliet was very happy for him, but the thought of their routine changing made her feel lonely. What would her life look like if she didn't have him around all the time? What would happen to all the things she loved: like how they entertained each other at lunch, dinner with the guys, long discussions by the water, late night walks, or how they always settled down to read in the evenings? It was all perfect…well mostly perfect minus the slight development between them that she wasn't sure how to define. She pushed it from her mind and tried to focus on him.
"Well, I know you're going to be great!"
"Thanks." He sheepishly smiled up at her.
"So any other exciting news I should know about?"
He could tell she was trying to keep things cheerful. He tried to think of some good gossip to share, but the only security intel he had for the day was that she left out early and went grocery shopping.
"I hear they have Apollo bars in stock. That's pretty exciting."
She smirked at him.
"Old news."
"Well then I'm plum out. What about you? Don't you get any good gossip working with all those guys?"
"Oh sure. I get the daily report of who's sleeping with whom and why they're no longer sleeping with the other one…usually because she dumped them."
He raised his eyebrows at her in mock suspense.
"It's pretty boring."
He chuckled. He really didn't want to know. He was trying to act casual still, but for some reason he felt like their conversation had become forced for the first time ever.
"Well what about books? What are you reading again? Is it any good?"
She honestly had no idea if the book she was reading was good because she had only been pretending to read it for the last week.
"Jury's still out. I'll let you know."
"Well that's okay. Hopefully you've only got about another month or two until your favorite finally gets published!"
She smiled at his comment. They had discussed their favorite books at length in one of their long walks and he was excited to get her a copy of Carrie whenever it finally came out. Neither could recall the exact publication date. She guessed it was in the spring or summer. It was going on April so they would know soon if she was right. His of course had come out long before, in 1937. There was still only one copy they could lay their hands on, so they had taken turns reading it. Juliet was never happier to discover that he was just as much a book worm as she was. And she was even more delighted when he didn't bash her when he found out her favorite book was Carrie.
"I just hope we can get a copy when it finally does come out."
"Oh I'll get it for you! Don't you worry. I can't wait to read it again. You talked about it so much I'm really looking forward to it now. Can you imagine if telekinesis were real? I love that stuff."
She looked down into her drink, suddenly disturbed by a memory.
"I don't have to imagine."
"Why? You gonna tell me you've got TK?"
He laughed thinking about it. If anyone was going to move things with their mind he was pretty sure she was the woman to do it. She didn't laugh with him.
"No…Walt."
The mention of that name sent chills down his spine. A flood of memories came rushing in and he felt a twinge in his shoulder as they did. He all but growled. Her face was full of guilt as she took in his expression.
"What are you talkin' about? You're telling me the kid could move things with his mind?"
"Something like that," she quietly admitted. She was afraid to tell him the whole truth, but felt compelled to continue.
He looked at her incredulously, but also waited for her to continue. On an island that jettisoned them into multiple eras, finding out Walt was a superhero was perfectly acceptable news.
"We were studying him. He could do things…things I can't explain."
"Like what?"
"Well, mostly it involved a lot of dead birds."
He wasn't sure he wanted to know, but he couldn't help but imagine her and the Others keeping Walt locked up like they had done to him. He shook his head trying to clear the thought from his mind. He knew why she had done the things she did. The whole thing was just screwed up. He didn't blame her, but he still felt pissed at the idea of them torturing the kid.
"So what did y'all shock him shit too?"
She quickly protested, "NO! No, nothing like that. We just…tested him and interviewed him mostly. Everyone was afraid of him so Ben made me do it."
He felt a little relief at this news.
"Afraid of him for what? He never did anything when he was with us."
"For one, they thought he could appear places he wasn't supposed to."
He looked at her now wondering if she was messing with him. She just looked back at him with a blank stare, still lost in her guilt. He could tell she blamed herself. He wasn't sure what to do with this new found knowledge. He took a deep breath before trying to change the subject.
"Next thing I expect you to tell me is you weren't kidding about those aliens."
For someone who spent his whole life seeking revenge, she wasn't sure why he was always willing to let her off the hook. Ever since they had taken up the habit of getting each other's backs it was like she could do no wrong in his eyes. If only she could say the same for herself. One thing she did know was that he was the best friend she had. Feeling relieved, she gave him a wry smile.
"Oh the aliens? No, I wasn't kidding about that," she said flatly.
He gave her a mischievous smile in return and they both sat gazing at one another for a minute.
"Oh hell! What time is it?," she suddenly interrupted, jumping up from the table.
"What they got an emergency down at the garage?"
"No, but Steve likes to micromanage everyone. And if he thinks I missed time he'll make me work late."
"Oh, Steve, shmeve. Tell em the head of security needed you."
He stood up to follow her out of the cafeteria, tossing his trash on the way.
"Yeah, I'm sure he'll buy that, " she mocked.
"You want me to walk you back and tell him myself?"
She liked the idea of him telling Steve off, but decided to spare the poor guy the embarrassment.
"No. I'll handle Steve."
"You do that. As I recall you have no trouble sticking up for yourself."
She pursed her lips at him while turning to leave him to look after her. As she walked off she called back "See you tonight Mr. Head of Security."
He watched her go, once again admiring how her curves looked in the blue jumpsuit. After a few minutes he realized he was still standing there smiling like an idiot. He looked around to see if anyone noticed him doing it and felt relieved when no one seemed to be paying attention.
"Get it together man," he coached himself as he turned to head back to the office.
