There was a knock on the door. Without answering, she shouted from the hall. "Go away! I don't want to see you!"

"Er – it's Melvin, Director." An unsure voice came from the other side of the door. "There's a delivery for you. I signed off on it."

"Oh." She said, and she opened the door to see Melvin holding up a bouquet of bright purple orchids. The card contained a single line – a scrawly signature that she recognised at once.

"Trash 'em." She said nonchalantly. Flowers were not going to butter her up.

"Um… are you sure, ma'am?" asked Melvin. "These flowers must have cost a fortune."

"You keep them, then." Said Jenny. "Give them to your daughters or something. I don't want it."

"Thank you, ma'am."

She nodded at him and closed the door behind her. She leaned against the door and covered her face with her hands, sighing deeply. She wanted to catch up on some sleep, but she couldn't seem to actually fall asleep. When she removed her hands from her face, however, she almost died of shock.

"Jesus fucking Christ –" she cussed again, and she was angry to see that Leroy Jethro Gibbs was standing in the hallway with a smile on his face that grew wider once he saw her reaction.

"Don't kick me out." He began. "I'm here to apologise."

"Doesn't work that way." She glared at him.

She still felt stupid every time she thought about it. She wanted to stay angry at him, and she wanted a reason to lash out at him.

"Mike told me to come back." He said, "Seemed to think I had some unresolved issues about ya."

"Don't." she warned. "Don't get my hopes up again."

"I'm sorry it didn't work out the way you wanted it to, Jen." He said sincerely. "But I really like – "

"Yeah, I know." She said. She sighed, and she forced a smile on her face. "And I'm happy for you. I'm still angry, though. And I'm not sure how long I'll stay this way, so stay clear."

"I'll wait. S'long as it takes." He said, tilting his head at her.

He wanted them to be friends, but he wasn't sure if that was too much for her to handle.

A real smile graced her lips and she stared at him. A moment passed, then she opened the door.

"Close the door behind you." She said, walking past him and back into the study.

She sat back down on the chair in her study. How could she not have seen this coming? Leroy Jethro Gibbs was the most fickle person she'd ever met. Of course he'd never have taken that promise seriously. She felt as though she'd had something that was finally going to bring her joy in her life, and by some cruel twist of fate, she'd lost it.

Jennifer Shepard went to bed that day with the feeling that no matter how many chances she got with Leroy Jethro Gibbs, nothing was ever going to work out.