Oh. My. God. 2x17 gave us Keenler! When Red gave Liz the wine and told her to share it with someone special, my wish for the entire episode was that the special person would be Ressler. I held my breath all episode, and couldn't believe I got my wish at the end! Wow. So along with the rest of us Keenlers, my heart about melted. Perfect scene. The way she looked at him was beautiful, and the way they locked eyes as he leaned forward and put more food on the desk. Wow. Just. Wow. Kudos to the writers, to Diego and Megan for such an outstanding 2 minutes! So then I found that every time I watch the scene, I start wondering 'what are they talking about?' And that's where this chapter comes from.
As she reached into her desk drawer he saw her pull out a bottle of wine. Obviously a birthday gift with the ribbon on it, he surmised.
"Oh, look at you!" he beamed. Partly because in his haste to get food he'd forgotten about the wine, even though that had been his first intent for her this evening. But mainly because she was enjoying this too.
"I've been saving this for a special occasion," she told him, and he knew she wasn't being entirely truthful if it had been a gift given today. But his heart leapt that she considered this a special occasion. His gamble had paid off.
With that closeness he'd developed with her, (a closeness that confused the heck out of him more times than not) he'd acted on his feelings when he'd heard there was no reservation at Wing Yee. In that moment it all felt right and he immediately put in the order on the phone. Not knowing specifically what she would want, he'd just ordered a variety of sweet and sour, chicken, pork, fried rice and vegetables. Covering his bases. Surely she'd like some of what he'd got.
And as he'd swung by and picked up the order from the young girl at the counter, she wished him a good evening. As he paid for his order and smiled at her, he hoped it would be a good evening - and not one where he showed up fully laden with a meal for two only to find the birthday girl had already left.
So it was with some trepidation that he'd driven back into the Post Office parking lot, but then as he saw her car was still there, he couldn't help but grin. Score one for the thoughtful partner.
And it wasn't until he entered their office and saw her sitting at the desk that he realized how much he had wanted to do this for her. And how much she needed this. Eyes downcast as she sat there, the picture of abject misery, he interrupted her as he stood in their doorway. And as she told him what was on her mind and the fact she felt she was failing in life, he empathized with her. He felt the same way, minus the profiler part. Neither of them were in a loving relationship anymore. Neither of them had the child that they both 'should' have had this past year. And in that moment, the contents of the box he had brought in and his purpose in being there meant more to him than anything else had in some time.
You're celebrating your birthday – with me.
And if he'd had any doubt about his intentions at pleasing her, that had melted away as he saw the darkness flee and her entire being light up when he'd told her that. As she rose to her feet, the look on her face stopped him in his tracks. Fingers to her lips as her blue eyes held him, 'she is beautiful' was the only thought that hit him in that moment.
And now as she held the bottle of wine and looked at him with a light in her eyes that had been extinguished for so long, he held out the two paper cups to her. "Well, I'm honored," he told her, smiling. And the thought that struck him as he set out the plates and she poured the wine was 'why haven't we done this before?'
As he shared out the food on the plates, he glanced up at her. She was still smiling. Still watching him. He smiled back at her. "I wasn't sure what you wanted, so I got us a bit of a variety here."
"It all smells and looks great. Thank you, Ress. Seriously, this is…"
And for that moment as she hesitated, he saw the gleam of tears in her eyes. They appeared to be happy tears though, and that in itself was a welcome change. Both of them had shed far too many unhappy tears this past year. He pushed her plate before her and laid the chopsticks beside it.
As he lifted his cup of wine, she raised hers and smiling, they toasted each other. "Happy birthday, Liz," he told her and again, her face lit up in that beautiful grin as she held his eyes. For a second he held her eyes, unable to drink, and then raised the cup to his lips and took a sip. Placing their cups back down, she smiled and shook her head.
"Do you know where this wine comes from?"
"I assume a gift today," he told her, starting in on the sweet and sour pork on his plate. As he chewed, she smiled, and lifted up the bottle.
"Yes, from Red actually. But Sam made this when I was 9 years old from grapes we grew in our back yard," she told him, then for a moment looked into the distance, remembering. She almost hugged the bottle as she thought of her and Sam harvesting the grapes as he then began the process of wine making.
Ressler lowered his chopsticks, watching her. "Wow, really…?"
Her eyes came back to the present as she sat the wine bottle between them. "And amazingly, it doesn't taste like vinegar," she grinned, and took another sip. He did the same, tasting it anew.
"Tastes great to me," he said, appreciating it all the more now. That she had shared this bottle with him. For a special occasion.
As she started in on her food, they ate in an easy silence for a couple of minutes. He caught her eyes as he ate, and she met his and tilted her head.
"Is this a date?" she asked him, smiling as she picked up another mouthful wth her chopsticks.
"Do you want it to be?" he asked her, holding his breath that he'd even asked that, waiting for her answer.
She looked at the wine, then back at him. "Would it be the worst thing in the world if it were?"
He didn't hesitate. "Not at all," he said and met her eyes again as they sat close to each other. And if one look could say a thousand words, this was one of those looks, he realized. Full of 'you're my partner, but you're also my best friend. And I care about you. Somehow, through our terrible first year together, we are here sharing your birthday with wine you made 22 years ago. And it feels…good.'
And in reply, she picked up the wine and topped up his cup. He motioned to her to put more in, grinning as he held the bottle in place with his finger until she'd put enough in his cup. Topping her cup, she sat the bottle down and then toasted him again.
"To our office date," she said and grinned. He tipped his cup on hers, and added, "And to good company."
"I lied," she suddenly told him.
"Oh, what about?" he asked not sure it really mattered at this particular point in time. Not when they'd just officially decided this was a date. A first date?
"I wasn't saving this for a special occasion," she said, motioning to the wine.
"Ah." No surprise there. He'd already figured that one out.
She leaned closer, causing him to stop with food halfway to his mouth at the look in her eyes. "Red told me to share this… with someone special."
The food never made it to his mouth. Lowering it back to his plate, he digested that instead.
"You're very special to me, Ress. You do so much for me. And I'm sorry I'm so self-centered at times – okay, most of the time - and don't stop to tell you that," she continued, needing him to know that.
He smiled and laid his hand on hers without even thinking. She didn't draw it away. "Thank you, but you don't need to tell me that. It's what friends do for each other," he assured her, but deep down it had still been nice to hear her say those words.
He squeezed her hand then took it from hers, taking another sip of wine. It was good wine, and he wasn't sure if it was already causing a buzz or if that was just because…because of the way he felt on their 'first date'.
She felt it too and as she ate her meal, she laughed. "At the risk of doing a Red here, I'm going to tell you a story."
He leaned back in his chair, sipping the wine and nodded, "Hey, I'm all ears. Story time it is," he smiled, and waved his hand, encouraging her to start.
She grinned, and moving her plate out the way, leaned forward on her elbows on her desk. "On my eighth birthday, I got up that morning feeling so excited, having dropped hints to Sam for days that I wanted to go to Disneyland. So as I sat down to breakfast where my gift was all wrapped and waiting for me I was SO hoping it was two passes to Disneyland for him and I to go. But as I tore off the paper and opened it, I found that it wasn't. I tried so hard not to let him see how disappointed I was when I opened the box and found a little princess tiara. I put it on, of course, and let him take a photo of me on my birthday morning, but I went to school that day with the cookies he'd baked for me to give out in class, and felt so very disappointed."
Ressler leaned forward, smiling as he topped up their cups with more wine. "Is this a good story, because I gotta tell you so far I'm not feeling the love," he told her, grinning.
She motioned for him to be patient, smiling as she took another sip of her wine. "Well, that afternoon I got home from school and Sam was waiting at the front door for me, which was strange. And as I reached him he held up a little blindfold and asked me to put it on. I complied, because it was all very mysterious and exciting. So he led me through the living room to my bedroom and then when he told me to take off the blindfold, there was a beautiful princess dress on my bed, and shoes to go with it. I squealed in delight and hugged him, and he left me to change into it, telling me to knock on my door when I was dressed. And as he came back in he again put the blindfold on me, and then led me back to the living room. And as he took the blindfold off he told me to open my eyes." She stopped, looking at Ressler.
"Well, don't stop there," he told her, surprised at himself for getting into her story now. But it wasn't the story that was holding his attention. It was Liz and the way she was telling it. That faraway look she took on whenever she mentioned Sam. The same looked he assumed he had when he spoke of Audrey.
She smiled, and held his eyes as she continued. "While I had been at school, he'd transformed our living room into a princess castle. It was amazing. He had known I wanted to go to Disneyland, but it wasn't possible for him to get time off work for us to do that. So he had brought Disneyland to me. He took me by the hand and led me inside the castle and inside was a dinner for two, with a birthday cake and two or three more gifts. My tiara that he'd given me in the morning was on the table and he placed it on my head. And he'd even put a bed in there and I slept in my castle that night, feeling like a real princess. And in that princess castle in our living room, he gave me the best eighth birthday party any little girl could hope for." She dropped her head, smiling at the memory, and brushed a tear away at the memory and the thought of Sam not being here for this birthday.
Ressler watched her, seeing the emotions playing across her face. And was about to say something when she looked up at him.
"And I didn't think I would ever feel that way again. Until I didn't go to Wing Yee, but you brought Wing Yee to me," she told him, reaching out and grasping his hand as her eyes shone.
He held her blue eyes with his own for a moment, then grinned. "Well, they were all out of tiaras at Wing Yees, or I'd have had them add one to my order," he said, watching her closely as she cracked up at that.
"But they did have fortune cookies," he added, passing one over to her.
Letting go of his hand, she unwrapped the small half-moon shaped cookie. She smiled, then read the inscription on the small slip of paper inside it. "Ask yourself if what you are doing today is getting you closer to where you want to be tomorrow," she said and then lowered it to the desk meeting his eyes. Was what they were doing today something they wanted to continue tomorrow? "What does yours say?" she asked quickly.
Crumbling his cookie on his plate, he read the words on the paper, and then laughed.
"What does it say?" she prompted.
He read the words to her "You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality. Walt Disney."
"What? It doesn't say that, does it?" she gasped as he gave her the slip of paper. And it did. Right as she'd told her story of Disneyland here was a quote from the man himself. "That's funny," she laughed and then placed the piece of paper near her computer screen.
Lifting the wine bottle and seeing that it was now empty, she turned and placed it back in her drawer, unable to discard it. "I'll keep it as a memento," she told him and in that moment, he didn't want to ask her if she meant of Sam, or of their birthday meal. It was best not to ask.
Reaching behind him he took the last two items out of the box. On his way to their office he'd stopped at Aram's desk and taken the last two cupcakes. As he gave one to her, he grinned.
"Just pretend it has 31 candles on it and we'll call it good," he said, as she began to peel the paper off it.
As he ate his cupcake down in a few large bites, she ate hers more slowly. "This was nice. I almost don't want to get up and go home," she said, licking the icing off her fingers.
"To that lovely motel," he deadpanned, dropping his cupcake wrapper in the trash. "But your dog awaits," he added, smiling as he stood up and wheeled his chair back behind his desk.
"Are we the only ones left here?" she asked, getting up and peering through the blinds as he leaned on the edge of his desk.
"There are lights on upstairs. I think the narc boys are still up there working on something," he replied, rolling his shirt sleeves down. "But our team and Cooper are all gone."
As she turned and faced him, he stopped halfway through rolling his left sleeve down. "Are we okay to drive?" she asked. They'd polished off an entire bottle of wine between them and he was feeling rather good. Not drunk. Just good.
"I don't really feel like getting a ticket. We should probably drink a bottle of water and wait a while," he told her, finishing rolling his sleeves down. "I'll go grab us some from the break room," he said and rose from his desk as she stepped toward him.
And suddenly her arms were around him, clutching him tight as she leaned into him. His arms encircled her, surrounding her as she breathed against him. "Thank you," she whispered.
Resting his chin on her hair, he smiled. "You're welcome. Same time next year?" he asked and felt her chuckle against him.
Raising her head, she looked up at him noticing how blue his eyes looked in the glow of the floor lamp behind her, "Let's not wait that long, okay?" she said, and patted his chest before stepping back.
And with his outstretched hands still holding her arms, he smiled and nodded. "Happy birthday, Liz."
And as her eyes shone as she looked up at him with that beautiful smile that he'd unleashed in her, he felt better than he had for a very long time. And so did she.