Having avoided Gabriel's questions about his bar shifts, Castiël was pretty certain he would never see Dean again.
It tore at his heart, but he was sure Dean would never want him. He was just an oddball accountant, who secretly loved metal and had offset social skills.
Imagine his shock when he walked through the reception and saw an achingly familiar head of spiky, sand coloured hair.
Heart thumping in his throat, Castiël walked by slowly.
Dean sat with a darkhaired guy in an immaculate suit.
"So, Cole, almost done interning at Sammy's firm huh?" Dean said, seemingly casual, but Castiël could hear the strain in his voice.
"Yeah. Not sure I'm gonna go into lawyering imediately, though. Might wanna take a tour or two, you know. Learn the discipline."
Dean nodded, but his hands clenched together.
"Yeah. You know... Not saying you shouldn't, but ya' know... if the firm gives you a shot, might be worth taking it. Get the experience lawyering. Interns are the lakeys, but that's almost done now. Should get better."
Castiël turned a corner and pressed a hand to his beating heart.
Dean was still looking out for everyone. He hadn't changed at all.
Half an hour later Dean and Cole were still there.
Castiël was curious what was going on, so he walked by again.
"Dean, relax. Lisa will be out soon. Meetings can take a long time."
Frowning, Castiël looked over his shoulder.
He had seen Lisa at her desk, doing her nails and talking to Becky.
Aware that Gabriel knew most of the going on within Nomed, Castiël took a detour and popped in at Gabriel's office.
"Hey there, baby bro! What's going on?" called Gabriel with a broad smile.
Heaving a big sigh, Castiël sat down.
"You know if Lisa happens to have a meeting? Only she has people waiting for her, and they have been here over 30 minutes."
Gabriel raised both his eyebrows.
"Really? Hmmm. Not very polite, huh. You get your pretty ass back to work, Cassie. I'll see what's up."
When Castiël left, Gabriel's fingers were dancing over his laptop.
Casting a cautious eye to the reception area, Castiël saw Dean and Cole still there, and still no sign of a cup of coffee. That was very rude indeed. Determined, Castiël made another detour.
Not five minutes later, he got two piping hot cups of coffee. One with a spoon, cream and sugar on the saucer, and one without.
He'd heard Lisa complain about Dean drinking his coffee black. She said it made his kisses bitter. As if that should matter.
When he walked up to Dean and Cole, he heard Cole sigh and say how he would leave if getting this signature wasn't so important for Dean to move on.
Silently, Castiël put the coffee next to Cole on the magazine table.
Dean's leg was bouncing and he fidgeted with his silver ring.
"Geez... I haven't been this nervous since highschool, when the principal tried to get a hold of Dad because I threw a stinkbomb though the window..." he said, trying for levity.
Castiël couldn't resist. He gently put his hand on Dean's shoulder and passed the coffee over the other. All silent, because his throat was screwed tight with nerves.
Quickly he turned and walked off.
Vaguely he heard Cole's comment about how nice a secretary he was.
Castiël tensed at that, wondering what Dean would think.
"Castiël isn't a secretary. He works in accounting. He's smart and, apparently, very nice." he heard that gruff voice say.
His cheeks burning and his heart singing, Castiël went back to work.
The slam of his door made him look up and see thunder brewing on his brothers face.
"That bitch, Cassie! She had them there for nearly the full hour! I checked the tapes when they entered. If her car hadn't switched on the lo-jack, she'd have left them there even longer, maybe until they'd left."
Castiël sighed sadly. That was more than rude, that was inexcusable.
"But I'm proud of you, Cassie. You brought hem coffee. She'd told Marley to not give them anything, in the hope they would leave! Seriously screwed up! Dean just wants a signature to free him of the house and such..."
His tirade petered out and his face grew pensieve.
Worried, Castiël waved his hand in front of Gabriel's face.
"Gabriel? Are you allright? You look... calculating... What are you thinking?"
Gabriel's eyes focussed again and he smirked.
"How I can get you to wear skin tight jeans and shirts, brother..."
Rolling his eyes, Castiël excused himself and got back to work.