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She checked her phone before going to bed and discovered the voicemail from Jane. /Hey Teresa, I just wanted to make sure your date was going okay. I know these things can get a little uncomfortable. So if you need a call-out buddy, I'm your guy. Really though, I hope you're having a good time. Goodnight, see you tomorrow./ She smiled and laid her phone back on her nightstand and drifted off to sleep.
A harsh beeping rung out from her alarm clock which shut down almost immediately. Teresa swung her legs over the side of her bed and stood up, stretching and trying to feel more awake. Her eyes were heavy and she had a slight headache from all of the wine the night before. She then made her way to the bathroom to take a quick shower. Teresa got out of the shower and toweled herself off, walking over to the sink to do the rest of her morning routine. After Teresa got done in the bathroom she found herself standing in front of the closet. She picked out a tank top and a blazer and began to pull them on. She felt the fabric of the tank top rub against her shoulder and was reminded of the night before. Teresa thought that things had gone pretty good other than the incident in the alley, which she blamed on the alcohol and excitement. Sure he was a little rough, but that meant that he wanted her right?
She arrived at the office around 7:45 and sat down at her desk, making sure to be quiet because Jane was still sleeping on the couch behind her. She smiled as she heard his even breathing and looked down at her stack of paperwork to start on for the day. She noticed a small white envelope with her name on it, she opened it and began to read
'Hey, I had a great time last night, I know you did too. I will be seeing you soon.' Teresa stared at the note for awhile, he seemed very direct, but at least he wanted to see her again. Most guys she had dated in the past are done with her at this point and it was refreshing to see that somebody was actually willing to make an effort for her attention. A hand touched her shoulder, causing her to wince at the fire it brought with it.
"Oh, I'm sorry Lisbon. Did I hurt you?" Jane asked, a little confused after she pulled herself away from him.
"No. Sorry Jane, you just startled me." She crammed the card back into the envelope and shoved it in her desk drawer. She pushed her drawer shut and looked back up at Jane.
"Oh, um, no need to apologize. I am the one who should be sorry. So, is that from Pike?" Jane gestured to the closed desk drawer. He chuckled as he saw her cheeks redden slightly.
"Yes." The normally confident agent tried focusing on her keyboard and biting her lower lip, trying to play off her embarrassment.
"Well, did you have a good time?" He asked eagerly as he leaned against the corner of her desk and looked down at her.
"Yes I did, Jane."
"You did? Was he a gentleman? Did he pay for the entire bill? He was good to you, wasn't he?" Jane questioned like they were teenagers and he was one of her girlfriends. She looked up at him and turned towards him with a slightly amused look in her eyes.
"Of course, Jane." She laughed and shook her head. "Now hush. This is starting to feel like an interrogation and I have paperwork to do." She turned back to her computer and shot him a look. He was still grinning, satisfied that he was able to make her smile.
"By all means, go ahead." He laid back down on his couch and stared at the ceiling.
Lisbon, began typing on her computer for what seemed like hours, it was an incredibly slow day.
"Lisbon." She heard Jane whine from the couch.
"What Jane?" She asked, still not turning away from her computer.
"It's lunch time." Jane stated simply, stretching and sitting up on the couch.
"And...?" Lisbon replied, trying to finish typing a file in her computer.
"And that means it's time to eat, I noticed you didn't pack a lunch today. So I thought we could go get something." He saw Lisbon stop what she was doing, probably considering the idea.
"Okay, but we can't go to far. I still have a lot of paperwork to do." Lisbon gave in and pushed her chair in as Jane jumped up from the couch.
They walked out of the building and stopped at a food cart. Jane waited for the food and Lisbon found a small picnic table with an umbrella over it. She noticed her phone ringing and saw Pike's face lighting up the front.
"Hey Marcus." She greeted him, a smile forming on her lips.
Hey Teresa, I was wondering if you wanted to go grab a bite to eat with me? It's kinda a slow day and I want to see you.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm kinda busy right now. But maybe later, I'd like to see you too"
I see, well, okay. Guess I'll just eat by myself then.
She heard his laugh from the other end of the phone and Jane sat a plate of food in front of her and looked curiously at the phone pressed up against her ear.
"Okay, sorry. See you later. Bye." Teresa hung up her phone and put it back in her pocket, she met Jane's eyes from across the table.
"What?" She smiled at Jane who was already grinning at her.
"What did Pike have to say?" Jane asked.
"He asked me to go to lunch with him."
"Yeah? What did you tell him?" Jane asked as he put a bite of food in his mouth.
"I told him I was busy." She picked up her fork and watched his eyebrows furrow.
"Why didn't you just tell him you were with me?" He asked and saw her stare down at her food, trying to come up with a reasonable answer that she didn't even know yet.
"Oh, I don't know. I guess I just don't want to make him jealous this early in the relationship."
"Tell him there's nothing to be jealous of. I'm a married man, remember." He twisted the gold wedding ring around his finger, reminding them both of the terrible loss and grief.
"Yeah, well..." She stopped mid-sentence, following Jane's eyes which were filling with surprise and maybe a little jealousy.
"Hey Teresa, I thought you were busy." She heard Pike's voice from behind her. She grimaced slightly and turned to face him.
"I am. I had already told Jane that I would go to lunch with him. I couldn't exactly ditch him after I said yes could I?" She laughed nervously. She had been alone for so long and didn't want to mess this up so soon in the relationship. Pike moved to sit in the seat between Lisbon and Jane and glanced over at Lisbon.
"Well this is nice, isn't it?" Pike said as he took his suit jacket off and draped it over the back of his chair.
"Very nice, indeed." Jane agreed as he took a bite of his lunch and looked over at Lisbon who was pushing the food around on her plate. He tried to catch her eye, wondering if this was as awkward for her as it was for him but she seemed to be trying to avoid his gaze. Lisbon cleared her throat and finally looked up.
"So. How has your day been, Marcus?" She asked, looking over at Jane who shot her a cheeky grin in response. She looked away quickly and focused her attention back onto Pike. She then took a bite of her food that she had barely touched.
"It hasn't been bad, really. I have missed you though. I was thinking maybe I could come over tonight if you would let me." Lisbon swallowed hard and then took a sip of her water. Her eyes widened a bit and she looked between Jane and Pike, desperately wanting to get out of the awkward situation.
"I...uh well..." She started but was then interrupted by Pike.
"You know you didn't let me in last night...and I did pay for dinner. So I was thinking that you know-"
"Alright. That's enough." She stated as she threw her napkin on top of her plate softly. "Could we maybe talk about this later?"
"Oh yeah. Sorry. I was just wondering. You know I really like you." He reached out and rubbed his thumb across the top of her hand. Lisbon looked a bit agitated, but Jane figured that she really wasn't the type of person who was comfortable with public displays of affection. Jane looked over to Lisbon and then to Pike.
"Well," he breathed "I think I'm gonna head back to the office. See you soon Lisbon. Pike." He gave them both one last look before throwing away his and Teresa's trash and heading back to the office.
"So, about tonight." Pike's voice brought Lisbon's attention back and she cleared her throat.
"Well, um, you see-"
She was cut off by Pike's exasperated sigh. "What, don't you want to see me? Just tell me Teresa, and I'm gone okay. I don't want to play games with you."
"No, it's not that. I promise, it's not that. It's just-"
"No, I don't want to push you. I'm sorry, I don't ever want to make you do something that you don't want to do. Just tell me when you're ready, okay?"
"Okay." Lisbon shifted in her seat as Pike's grip on her hand tightened.
"Look at me, Teresa. Until then, I'm just happy that I get to see your beautiful face." He smiled at her and released her hand.
She laughed and checked her watch. "Oh, I have to go, but I'll see you later." Teresa stood up from her seat and was met by Pike's firm grasp on her arms. He planted a kiss on her forehead.
"Bye Teresa, I hope you had a nice lunch." He turned and walked in the other direction.
A few minutes later she arrived back in the office. Jane was sitting on the couch, looking at her as she walked in, sipping some tea.
"Hey Jane, I'm sorry if that was awkward for you. I didn't know he was going to do that." Jane sat his cup down and pulled her chair around to face him.
"Lisbon, don't apologize. You know, if you like him, he seems like a decent guy. All I care about is that you are happy." He stared into her eyes, she started to feel her cheeks burn and she shook her head.
Abbott putting another file on her desk broke them from their trance and she turned her chair back around to finish some more paperwork.
"Thank God, I'm finally done." She sighed and leaned back in her chair, a soft red glow coming through the windows from the setting sun.
"Well, I'm glad." Jane picked up his tea cup and Lisbon's old coffee cup and walked into the kitchen.
Lisbon followed him, drying the cups after he had washed them and finding the appropriate place in the cupboard.
"Well I think I'm going to head home." Lisbon yawned, now noticing how tired she was.
"Goodnight Lisbon. Sleep well." He headed back to his couch and made himself comfortable.
"Night Jane." Lisbon gave him one last glance before getting on the elevator and heading home. She pulled into her driveway and saw a familiar car parked there. Sighing, she unbuckled her seat belt and hopped out.
"Marcus, what are you doing here." She questioned the man sitting on her steps, he had probably been sitting there for hours.
"I just wanted to see you Teresa. You sure took longer to get home that I thought." He checked his watch and stood up to greet her.
"Sorry, I just had a lot of paperwork to do today. You know how it can pile up"
"It's okay, I'm a patient man." He wrapped his arms around her in a hug and she froze at the contact.
"Marcus, I know you drove all the way over here to see me. But I didn't know you were coming and I'm really tired. Do you think that maybe we could see each other later?" She asked, biting her lip nervously and waiting for him to answer.
He pondered the question for a while and finally smiled down at her. "It's okay, I understand. I will see you tomorrow though, have a good night." He pulled her closer to him and kissed her on the mouth. She kissed him back but finally had to break it off, pushing him back and taking out her keys.
"Goodnight Marcus." She smiled and unlocked her door, once inside the smile fell from her face and was replaced by a look of confusion.
Wow, that was strange. She thought to herself and locked the door before heading to her bedroom, she had a weird feeling in her stomach, but blamed them on nervous butterflies. After taking a shower, she climbed into bed, tossing and turning and willing herself to fall asleep.
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