Hello, you guys! Inspiration hit and here we are with the next chapter! Enjoy!
"Hetty? Do you have a moment?"
The Operations Manager looked up at her team leader. "Mr. Callen. Yes, of course. What can I do for you?"
Callen sank down in the chair on the other side of her desk. "How'd your background check on Deja turn out?"
Hetty narrowed her eyes at him. Apparently he knew her better than she gave him credit for. Callen laughed. "Oh, come on. We both know you know. There's no point in hiding it, Hetty. I would've done the exact same thing had it been the other way around."
That made her feel better, somehow. "Nothing that concerns me," she admitted. "She's squeaky clean."
"I know."
She shook her head. "If you know that, what brings you here? I trust it's not to talk about the weather?"
Callen changed positions, leaning his elbows on his knees. "Believe it or not, she wants to meet you." He shook his head, grinning. "She's been going on about it for a while now, so I can't stall anymore. We'd like to invite you to dinner."
Hetty felt her eyebrows rise to her hairline. "Pardon?"
Again, that grin. It was good to see him grin. "That's what I told her. Told her you'd be more surprised than anything else."
Hetty frowned. "Why would she like to meet me?"
This time, it was Callen who raised an eyebrow at her. "Because you're important to me, Hetty. Have been ever since I was a teenager. Don't you think that's reason enough?"
Nodding, she gave in. "I hope so."
"Trust me. Saturday okay?"
"Saturday is fine. Do I need to bring anything?"
He shook his head. "Appetite and an open mind."
She narrowed her eyes. "To the food or the two of you?"
"Both," he answered easily. "Seven? My place?"
"I'll make sure to be on time."
He rose, signaling that their short conversation was over. "Thank you, Hetty. It means a lot."
She watched him go, not used to this side of him. Of course she'd run a background check on Deja Barrow. Her agents needed to stay safe. Especially this agent. It was nice to see him happy, a bit more carefree than he'd been before. Hetty wondered if maybe Deja was what Callen had needed all along.
That Saturday, Hetty arrived at Callen's house at five minutes to seven. Even walking up to the house felt different, as if she could sense that things had changed on the inside. She could hear soft music playing, and laughter reached her ears.
Knocking, she heard shuffling and then the door opened to a widely grinning Agent Callen. Hetty smiled at him. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"
He shook his head, and stepped aside to let her in. "No, you're not. Thanks for coming, Hetty."
The first thing that struck her was the fact that there were actually pieces of furniture in his living room. In all the time she'd known him, this was the most he'd done to decorate a place. The couch took up a lot of space in front of the fireplace, but Hetty found that she liked it. It fit him. Then her eyes travelled to the kitchen and the woman standing in the doorway. She was even prettier in real life than she was in pictures. One look at her and Hetty understood completely why Callen felt relaxed around her. She radiated calmness, and had eyes that seemed to look right through you.
Callen stepped around Hetty and put an arm around her waist. "Hetty, this is Deja. Dee, this is Hetty."
Deja put her hand out for Hetty to shake. "It's nice to meet you."
Her handshake was soft but firm. A minute in and Hetty knew that she could be the perfect girl for the agent she considered her son. She relaxed a bit. "Likewise, Ms. Barrow."
"Oh, please. Ms. Barrow is a bit too formal, don't you think? Deja will do fine."
So Dee was reserved especially for Callen. Understood. Hetty handed her a small gift bag. "I know he told me not to bring anything, but I gathered you're a tea fan. It's one of my favorites. Blood Orange Sorbet Oolong."
Deja took the tin out of the bag and her eyes lit up. "Oh, I've been wanting to try this one. Thank you, Hetty, that's really thoughtful." She looked up at Callen. "Can you show Hetty to the table and give her something to drink? Dinner will be ready in about three minutes."
Callen showed her to the dining room and again, Hetty was impressed. "I love what you've done with the place," she remarked, and this time, it wasn't sarcastic at all.
The smile didn't seem to leave his face, and Hetty was glad it didn't. "Yeah, it was about time. I remember what you told me about the epiphyte, it just took a while to figure out how to actually put down roots." Without asking, he uncorked a bottle of wine and filled her glass. "But you were right, as always. You're stronger with roots."
Hetty looked at him, but didn't say anything for the moment. It would come down to this, eventually. And she was happy that it had happened for him. The only thing she wanted to make sure of was that he was genuinely happy. That she was going to be good for him.
"Grisha?"
"Yeah, babe?"
"Come give me a hand, please?"
With a wink, he disappeared into the kitchen. Hetty registered that she'd called him by a first name she hadn't heard before. Could it be that he'd found out? That he'd actually found out and hadn't told her? She looked down at the set table with its linen napkins, gorgeous china and even prettier wine glasses. Apparently, there was a lot he hadn't told her.
They came in laughing; Callen carrying a basket with bread and a salad bowl, and Deja with the three plates. "Dinner is served."
Impressed, Hetty looked down at her plate, then back at Callen. Deja smiled at her as she unfolded her napkin in her lap. "Grisha told me that you've travelled all around the world, and you've eaten almost everything there is to eat, so we opted for something simple. Homemade gravlax with salad and sour dough bread."
This was her definition of simple? Homemade gravlax was grand on its own. Callen slid into the chair next to Deja and chuckled at Hetty's impressed face. "Yeah, I know. She calls all of this simple." He gestured to the table. "She won't admit that most families don't eat like this on a daily basis."
Deja stuck her tongue out at him. "Well, we do."
It didn't go passed Hetty that the 'we' and 'us' had become second nature to them already. Dinner passed with easy conversation about Deja's parents, Hetty's past and the way she and Callen had met, although Deja had already heard most of it. It didn't go unnoticed that Callen was composed; he swung his arm over the back of her chair, leaned into her, teased her. Obviously, her senior agent was smitten with this girl; probably even loved her. Not even with Joelle had Hetty seen him like this.
Over tea, the topic of 'them' came up. Deja put her cup down on its saucer and locked eyes with Hetty.
"Well? What do you think? Have I passed the test?"
Her frankness made that Hetty almost chocked on her sip. Almost. "Whatever made you think this is a test?"
Deja shrugged. "No matter how much he loves me, and I'm fairly sure he loves me, a lot, he wants your blessing more than anything else, Hetty. Believe it or not, you're the closest thing to a mother that he has." She paused, then leaned back in her chair. "Maybe he might even seek permission of some sort."
Hetty noted that her instincts had served her right. This woman could see right through him. There were no secrets she wouldn't get to the bottom of; no things he could willingly keep from her. She would've made a great agent. She eyed Callen over the rim of her cup. "Do you want my permission? It would be awfully late to ask for my permission."
He denied. "Not your permission. Would like to have your blessing, though."
"My blessing?" For a moment she thought. Everything she'd seen so far was positive. Deja made him smile. Made him want to build an actual home. Made him more careful out in the field, so that he could return to her at night. She was the reason he was eating better, was learning how to cook, to openly show affection. She was, wrapped in one person, the reason he was trusting again, the reason he was putting down roots, why he was getting in touch with his feelings. His epiphyte was no longer surviving on only air; it was standing in a pot on the mantle, to grow roots. To grow stronger. In the end, it was all Hetty needed.
"Of course you have my blessing."
