Time to wrap this up! And Eteri: yep, that is precisely what Cal and Gillian are going to do!
Their "debrief" had been a laughing matter, meaning they had laughed their asses off while exchanging notes on how Lightman and Foster had reacted to their avances. Loker told about how she had gone from compassion and understanding to sheer panic, while Torres had the pleasure to share how Lightman had covered miles while pacing his office and trying to get away from her. Some of their hilarity might have been caused by the Valium they had taken before the respective exploits, knowing they had to muddle the waters if they wanted to fool the experts, but as far as they were concerned their plan had worked and the bosses had been served a dose of their own medicine.
What they hadn't considered, as Torres realised when Lightman entered the lab towards the end of the day, was that they couldn't control how to finish what they had started. She kept her eyes on him as he approached Dennis, one of the interns they had recently taken on, exchanging a few friendly words with him before telling the young man he could wrap it up and go home for the day. Dennis didn't wait for him to say it twice, quickly switching off the computer and gathering his things before leaving the lab. Which left Lightman, and her, in a mostly dark room at a time where it was unlikely for anybody else to join them.
Oh shit! She thought then, going back to what she was doing when she realised that Lightman was now staring at her from across the room, with a look on his face that she had never seen in any of his books and manuals.
Even not looking at him she could feel the sensation of his eyes staring at her, knowing pretending she hadn't seen him wasn't going to help. Before long, right on cue, she heard his footsteps approach but tried to keep her focus ahead, doing what she could to anticipate what he was about to say or do and react accordingly.
"Torres," Lightman said eventually, a touch of pleading in his voice as if he had noticed that she was ignoring him and wanted to change that.
She took a deep breath and slowly turned around in her chair, ready to face the inevitable, and immediately realising he had come a lot closer than what she had expected.
"Yes, Dr Lightman?"
Distancing language, he's gonna see through that! She thought even though it was too late to take it back, but his reaction was nothing she could have foreseen. He kept his eyes on her, veiled by an absent sadness she had seen before, leading to him shutting down her attempts to investigate the reasons behind it.
"That research project, I think I might have some books at home that you could take a look at," he said, recovering from whatever had clouded his face for a moment.
"Oh, thank you. That would be great, thanks."
She knew she was babbling, she had no reason to thank him twice in the same sentence but she was struggling to think straight. There was a new look on his face, something that seemed to dig deep inside her while simultaneously letting her in to see things he wouldn't normally let people see. It was intense, not that kind of intense look she had seen many times as he interrogated suspects, badgering them with questions or simply staring them down until they caved, but intense nonetheless. And she was on the dangerous, very exposed, receiving end of it.
"Good." He smiled…God, had his smile always been that warm and friendly? "I can bring them in tomorrow, if you want." There was a pause before the last three words, as if he wanted to give those a different weight, perhaps a different meaning altogether. Then he came closer, taking his hands out of his pockets, not doing much with them for now, instead letting his following words take a more decisive action. "Or you could come over instead. Would be much easier, and you could get full access to everything you need."
Torres felt a shiver run down her spine, which was odd because she was suddenly feeling a lot warmer than she should have been. It was his gaze, sure, and his words clearly hinting at something far less academic than books and research, but more than anything it was his face. Lightman was abrasive most of the time, barking rather than talking, and always speaking in a way that made people work to be able to understand every word. But in that moment his voice was soft, low but clear, almost singing to her as if wanted to make sure she caught all that he was saying - and meant beyond words - with no problem of misunderstanding.
"That's very nice of you, Dr Lightman. I appreciate it." Scrambling, really one step away from full on panic mode, Torres decided to try a desperate counter attack move. "I was under the impression you weren't interested in some…private tutoring."
"The office is hardly the right place for something like that," Lightman explained in a controlled yet sultry whisper, taking another step closer and shrugging absently. "Stuff to do, people coming and going…" Out of the blue, much to Torres' confusion and strange interest, he licked his lips, never breaking eye contact. "I didn't want to start something we couldn't finish, love."
Only then, with that word he had used many times before with her feeling so much different on that occasion, Torres saw the mistake she had made in responding in stride. She also realised, while thinking about standing up and making some kind of move to flee the scene, that Lightman had now come so close that she'd been right in his face, dangerously close, if she had decided to get on her feet.
"Dr Lightman, I-"
"I know, I was surprised too." For the love of God and all things, Lightman pulled back a little as he looked suddenly shy, somewhat embarrassed for what he was about to say, absently caressing the back of his head with one hand. "I couldn't really make the first move you see, being your boss and all that. Wouldn't be appropriate and I didn't want to put you on the spot. But I've always felt it, the energy between us…I haven't been able to think about anything else since you came to see me today."
Seeing a small, incredibly small, window of escape for her, Torres stood up and tried to step away, but the moment she was on her feet Lightman took advantage and came closer again. God he's fast! She gulped when his body leaned in gently towards her, her eyes fixed on his as he stretched his arms at her sides and rested his hands on the desk behind her, literally trapping her against the furniture.
"You're right Dr Lightman, perhaps the office isn't the place-"
"Don't worry about it, Ria." He grinned, and Torres felt herself staring down at his lips before she could realise she was even doing it. "Why'd you think I sent Dennis home?"
"I know." Her voice trembling, Torres brought her hands up perhaps with the intention to put them somewhere on him but wisely decided against it. "But it's still early, there are still people around the office."
"It's ok," he whispered, leaning in with his face and a transfixed smile on his lips. "I'll take care of it. I'm the boss around here, aren't I?"
Torres wanted to answer, probably say something along the lines of the fact that being the boss didn't give him a pass for what he was about to do, but she had no ground for it. She had made the first move, she had flirted with him so hard and blatantly in order to make sure she couldn't read through her and now she was paying the price for it. Then again…for a brief moment she found his eyes mesmerising, his proximity intoxicating and somewhat irresistible and-
"What is going on here?!"
Torres froze, only then realising her right hand had started to move towards him, and they both turned toward the door of the lab where Foster was standing, Loker right behind her. Torres saw them and gasped, this time completing the motion and putting her hands on Lightman's chest only to push him away and ran as far as she could. She realised that she was short of breath, and that her body temperature must have dropped a good 10 degrees the moment she put some distance between herself and the boss, none of which helped much in softening the stance of the female one who had just entered the room.
"Cal, what are you doing?" Foster glared at him, coming closer with a deadly look in her eyes.
"Nothing," he muttered, keeping his eyes on Torres with a wicked smile. "None of your business, Foster."
"By the look of it, it most certainly is," she protested vehemently, then looked over at Torres with a more gentle look. "Ria, are you ok? Is he stepping out of line?"
"You and your bloody lines!" Cal moaned, exasperated, then marched over to Torres and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer. "No need to get all worked up about this Foster, this is between me and Torres." He turned towards her and squeezed her even closer. "Right, love?"
Torres was at loss for words and actions, capable only of looking over at Loker and pleading for him to jump in and get her out of it. Sadly, he didn't look like he could be much of help, standing there and watching the whole thing unfold as if he was the helpless witness of a trainwreck. Then she looked at Foster, who now had folded her arms and was staring at Cal as if to dare him to explain himself.
"C'mon off, darling," Lightman then whispered in her ear with a soft voice. "Don't leave me hanging now, we don't need to hide anymore."
That was the last straw. His gentle whisper that made her shiver, the hopeful tone of his voice, the hold of his hand on her hips, that darling sought to her as a confession of deeply buried feelings finally coming to the surface; no, she couldn't take it anymore. Terrified and unafraid to show it, Torres disentangled herself from Lightman and stepped away, pretty much running towards the relative safety of Foster and Loker on the other side of the room.
From then on things moved quickly, albeit inexplicably. Lightman tried to get hold of her again but missed, then looked at Torres with such a heartbroken face that it nearly got to her. Confused, lost and hurt, he looked at her with pleading eyes as a man who had just been stabbed in the chest. Next to her, Foster was fuming and staring down at her business partner with pure hate, looking like years of disappointment and frustration were about to explode and destroy the space around them in a fallout of epic proportions. Torres feared the situation and upcoming consequences, and once again looked for comfort in Loker who, as her partner in crime, had had a huge part in creating that very uncomfortable situation. She leaned on him, grabbing his hand and tugging at him, silently asking him what they should do, but he didn't seem to have an answer for her and they both stared at each other knowing they had royally messed up.
And that was when Lightman started to laugh.
It was just a chuckle at first, a stifled laugh he was trying to push back, but before he knew it he was laughing freely and with gusto, the foreign sound echoing in the lab.
"Damnit Cal!" Gillian whined, rolling her eyes and throwing her hands up in the air. "Too soon!"
"I'm sorry, love. I couldn't take it anymore!" He laughed again, trying to catch his breath and waving his hands at the employees duo. "I mean, look at them!"
Loker and Torres looked at each other, only then releasing they were literally holding onto each other for dear life and looked fearful as hell. Then Loker looked at Lightman, following up with a glance at Foster who was now too, laughing freely and with no restraint right in their faces.
"Oh my God!" He gasped. "You knew?!"
"Of course we knew, you muppets!" Cal teased, still catching his breath from the outburst of hilarity. "You think you can play this kind of game? With us? Kids," he shook his head, disappointed. "We're not even playing in the same league!"
"Now Cal, no need to be so hard on them," Gillian admonished him while going over to his side.
"Seriously? This was your idea, love."
"Wha-what?" Torres babbled. "You sent him to-" Hit on me? Am I really going to say this out loud?!
"To set you two straight, yes. And I didn't send him."
"You kinda did, Gill," Cal muttered, all smug about it. "By the way, I love that you did."
Much to Torres and Loker's surprise and dismay, Foster gave him a smile that spoke volume about what was really going on there. She seemed reproachful, on the surface at least, unhappy with what he implied and the mischievous tone of his voice; but beyond that, she looked amused and…what was that? Pleased, aroused?
"Oh my God," Loker muttered again, then nearly yelled. "Oh my God!"
Torres was about to ask him what he was yelling about, but then she followed his eyes and looked at the two bosses finally coming together on the other side of the room. Lightman was standing on the same spot and welcomed Foster as she came closer, literally opening his arms to let her in as she wrapped her arm around his waist and leaned into his embrace as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Which, they then realised, it truly was.
"You two…you're-"
"An item? A couple? Hitting it on?" Gillian rolled her eyes at Cal's quipped series of responses. "Whatever you kids call it these days, yes, we are."
"So that-'' Oh my God, how did we miss that?! "You two coming in together, having lunch in the breakroom and being so…touchy…that wasn't an act?"
"Why would it be an act?" Gillian asked, honestly confused.
"Hold on a second, you thought we were faking it?" Cal was beyond amused by the idea, which deeply gritted on their nerves after already having been exposed and called out on their bluff.
"Yeah, we-" Loker tried, Torres had to give it to him. "We thought it was a test."
"A test of what?"
Neither of them had an answer for Gillian's honest question, even though they had discussed the point at length. Now that things were unfolding, not like they had imagined, none of the many explanations they had come up with seemed to be solid and rational enough to be shared.
"You plonkers!" Cal eventually laughed. "You over-thought it, didn't you?"
"Cal." Gillian put a hand on his chest, unable to hide her amused smile but still trying to play the good cop in the situation and tone him down a bit. Then she gave him a quick kiss on his cheek, just because she felt like it really, and held his hand as she went back to address the other pair. "We figured there was no need to make a big deal out of it, and when we decided to come clean we thought all we had to do was to act normally."
"Come clean?" Torres moaned. "How long has this-" She waved her hand at them, struggling to find the fitting word. "How long has it been?"
"Four months, give or take,"
"Boy! You were absolutely clueless, weren't you?!"
They didn't need to answer, the astonished look on their faces said it all. Four months, four and counting their bosses had been in a relationship - That's the word I was looking for! Torres thought - and they hadn't had the faintest idea about it.
"Yeah," Gillian mumbled with a sly smirk while looking at them. "You two should be ashamed of yourselves."
Cal laughed, softly at first and then much louder when he saw how Loker and Torres reacted to her reproach, clearly not expecting Foster to be the one making that kind of snarky remark. Then he smiled at her, extremely pleased with how things had turned out, and decided it was time to wrap things up.
"Well, this was fun. We should do it more often, really. But it's getting late and we have dinner reservations," he quipped, then took Gilian's hand and they started to leave. "See ya."
"H-hold on!" Loker called back, gulping at the way they turned around in unison and looking like they've had enough of that already. "What are we supposed to do with this information?"
"Whatever the hell you want, Loker," Cal responded with no hesitation and a teasing smirk, but Gillian rolled her eyes and took charge.
"What Cal means is that we're not keeping it a secret anymore." He looked disappointed that she had to clarify, but eventually sighed and nodded. "That was the whole point over the past two days. So, yes." She smiled, a bit of a cheeky one that made Cal feel all fuzzy inside. "Do whatever the hell you want with it, Eli."
That said, she turned around and grabbed Cal's arm, pulling him away before he could get into another verbal round and they headed out of the lab. She kept holding onto him all the way to the elevator, Cal smiling widely like a proud idiot by her side, meeting the curious eyes of everybody who looked at them throughout the journey. When they reached the elevator and stood waiting for it, Cal turned around and kissed her behind her ear, pushing a little too far maybe but unable to hold back after the day they'd just had. And managing to do so only by relying on the knowledge that from then on things would have been much easier.
The end
Interesting trend...stories that are all funny and bubbly get a lot less attention than stories where I put them through hell and back...
Good to know, good to know...
Edit because I appreciate reviews and I think it's only fair to respond!
Tori: that's a good idea, I do always struggle a bit with the idea that every story "should" end with them getting together, on the other hand it is always a great journey to get them there. Thanks for the feedback on the chapters' lenght, although I am not too sure what you mean: some chapters are short, some are longer: it depends on the amounts of things they need to convey, on the pace and what they are supposed to do. I think it helps to keep an even tone in the same chapter. If you mean how many chapters in one story, that depends on the story. Personally, if I like something in a chapter enough to point it out it doesn't really matter how short or long it is.
Eteri; that was my favourite moment too, along with Gillian's "Whatever the hell you want, Eli" at the end