"Good morning, Stella," Flack said, smiling at her in a way that made Stella want to drag him into the nearest supply closet and kiss him senseless.

"Good morning, Flack," Stella returned with a smirk.

"Flack! Stella!" Mac barked coming down the hall and ruining their little moment. "We're going to be understaffed until Lindsay and Danny get back, so there's no time for small talk!" he told them when he was right in front of them.

"Ok," Stella said, suppressing a smile.

"Sure thing, boss," Flack said, also fighting not to laugh.

"Good," Mac continued down the hall without another word.

Flack and Stella burst out laughing when they heard him give the same speech to Hawkes, who was chatting with a pretty new lab tech.

"Think he's a little stressed?" Stella asked between giggles.

"Just a bit," Flack agreed.

The two reluctantly parted, as they both had work to do, but not before making plans for another date.

"Do you want to do something after work?" Flack asked, still a bit embarrassed to be asking her this.

Stella beamed. "I'd love to. But can we not go back to Rosario's for a little while? I think I've had enough Bernardo that I can handle for a few weeks."

Flack laughed. "I promise, no Bernardo this time."

"Than what are we going to do?" Stella asked innocently.

"Oh, you'll see," Flack said mysteriously, flashing her a wicked grin.

Stella pouted. "Tell me…. Please?"

"No," Flack replied lightly.

"I hate surprises," Stella grumbled.

"Well, that's too bad, sweetheart," Flack said and walked away.

Flack just called me 'sweetheart', Stella though, not able to suppress the slow smile that crossed her face at the idea.

I just called Stella 'sweetheart', Flack told himself as he walked down the hallway. He was very concerned that it had been a bad move, but one glance back at Stella relieved him of this worry. She had a smile that rivaled the Cheshire Cat's dancing across her face and she seemed to be rooted to the spot. Don couldn't help smiling himself. He wanted more that anything to run back to Stella, take her in his arms and kiss the living daylights out of her. Obviously, this was no the time nor the place, however, so he managed to refrain from doing so. Instead, he kept his mind on getting his job done. The way he saw it, the sooner he started his work, the sooner he could be finished and have a nice evening alone with Stella.

To: SBonasera
From: DFlack
Subject: Tonight

Stel –

I'm really sorry, but I'm going to have to cancel on you tonight. Apparently I'm really behind on paperwork, and I need to get it done ASAP. Sorry, again.

Don

Stella's heart sank as she read Don's email. She had been really looking forward to whatever surprise he had planned for her, even if she refused to admit it. She truly did hate surprises, but coming from Don it was different. She wished that Lindsay wasn't on her honeymoon. If she were in New York, working, Stella would be able to ask Lindsay's advice on the situation. She knew that her friend would give her an honest opinion and wouldn't judge. In fact, Stella was pretty sure that Lindsay would be quite thrilled. Her younger co-worker was always urging Stella to being dating again. Stella sighed. It was no use feeling sorry for herself; this was a lesson she'd learned early on in life. She shoved away all thoughts concerning Don or Lindsay and finished her work.

"Heading home, Stel?" Mac asked.

"Yeah," Stella said, "Is there anything you want me to do? I can stay if you want me to."

"No, it's ok. Go home and get some rest." Mac smiled.

"Thanks, Mac." Stella called over her shoulder, and headed home.

Stella wasn't in the mood to share a confined space with a lot of strangers, so she opted to take a cab instead of the subway. She relaxed into the slightly comfortable back seat and closed her eyes. It had not been the best day. A fifteen-year-old girl had been murdered with a shish kabob skewer and Stella had to process the scene. To make matters worse, the killer turned out to be her own father, who was a chef at a popular restaurant. How she hated the scenes that involved young, innocent people. It really hit her hard to think that Molly Khalis, the victim of this brutal crime, would never grow up. She'd never graduate high school, or go to college or get married.

"Hey, Lady!" The impatient and slightly rude cab driver tore Stella away from her musing. Her eyes snapped open and she saw that she was sitting out side of her apartment building.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Stella exclaimed, handing him a wad of cash and climbing out of the cab.

She trudged into the building and was greeted by her friendly doorman. "Good evening, Ms. Bonasera!" he exclaimed.

"Hey, Stan," Stella said half heartedly, and crossed the lobby. She ignored the dinging of the elevator that told her that it was ready and waiting for her and began to climb the stairs. At this point she'd do anything to avoid other people.

By the time she reached her floor, she deeply regretted her choice of stairs over the elevator. She'd never realized how steep those nine staircases were! Stella fished around in her purse for he keys and slid it into the lock. She paused a moment, her hand on the doorknob. She swore that she heard music inside the apartment. Shaking her head, she passed it off as her imagination, turned the knob and pushed the door open. She was greeted with the sight of a smiling Don Flack, the smell of something Italian and – it hadn't been her imagination – soft music playing in the background. "What? How?" Stella was so shocked that she couldn't even form a complete sentence.

Flack just laughed and pulled her into his arms for a hug. "Why did you have to go and get me all disappointed for?" Stella asked, a stubborn look of annoyance on her face.

"I wanted to surprise you," Flack answered, still smiling.

"Well, you certainly did surprise me," Stella said, kissing him softly on the lips. She pulled away suddenly. "How did you get in?"

"Well, it just so happens that your doorman is my sister's fiancé's brother's best friend from childhood."

"Seriously?" Stella asked.

"Nope." Flack said, earning a swat on the arm from Stella.

"You're infuriating," Stella told him.

"Oh, but you love it," Flack teased.

"Seriously, how did you get in?" Stella asked, not taking Don's bait.

"Well, I told Stan that I was your boyfriend and that I wanted to get something that I left in your apartment, but I forgot to get the key from you and I didn't want to bother you at work."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously." Flack confirmed.

"I think I'm going to have to have a little chat with Stan," Stella joked, "If they knew the right story, just about anybody could get a spare key from my doorman."

"Never thought of that," Flack said, suddenly feeling very protective of Stella. "Come on, let's eat," he said, changing the subject to make them both feel better.

"Thanks, Don," Stella said quietly. "For everything."

A/N Doesn't writer's block just suck? All of my ideas just flew away or suddenly started sounding really stupid. Anyway, I'm sorry for the wait, and I'm sorry if it's lame-ish.

xoxo

Lia