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Lightman Group

The next day…

Gillian walked in briskly from the elevator. She held two coffees in her hands and her briefcase was over her shoulder. She walked up to Cal's office and hesitated before going through. She held up a cup for him and said, "Good morning. I brought a cup of coffee for you."

Cal looked up from his desk and greeted her with a smile, "God bless you. I was in a hurry to get here and forgot to stop by somewhere. The coffee here tastes like sand."

"Loker got it from somewhere in the Caribbean."

Cal scrunched his nose, "It's crap."

Gillian shrugged her shoulders. "Oh well, seems like no one will be coming in today."

Cal almost choked on his coffee, "It's Sunday, I bloody well hope no one is coming in." He thought for a couple seconds and then added, "Unless they just came back from an exhausting trip from Amsterdam for two weeks."

Gillian rewarded him with a bright smile and added, "And spent 11 hours on a plane."

Cal took a casual sip and then supplied, "With no movie or peanuts." Gillian laughed out loud, her eyes gleaming with amusement. To Cal, it seems like forever since he had seen her eyes light up like that. He also noticed that her shoulder looked more relaxed. He was afraid that she was going to come in that morning with her chin held high and not utter one word to him. She is definitely full of surprises! He reveled in the moment.

She shook her head and said, "We must be the stupidest people in the world for coming in. Work must go on, right?" He silently nodded. "I'll see you around." She turned and made her way towards the door.

He stopped her just as she passed by the coffee table, "Oi, did you get my text message last night?"

Gillian stopped dead in her tracks and her shoulders instantly stiffened. She turned slowly around, biting the side of her mouth. She looked so damn cute. She pressed her lips together and smile. It wasn't forced but it didn't reach her eyes either. Then she nodded and quietly said, "Yes I did." She quickly turned back the other way and walked out the door.

Cal grinned.

.:.

By 2 o'clock, Gillian stretched her arms in the air. She was ready to call it a day and go home to a nice, hot bubble filled bath. She turned her computer off and placed some papers in a nice, neat stack. She reached for her bag and slipped her discarded shoes on. Yes, by her standards it was too early for her to go home but she was suffering from a bad case of jetlag.

Just as she turned off her office lights, she saw that Cal's were still on. She had decided last night in her sleep deprivation that she was going to just pretend that nothing had ever happened. She was going to go in the office and bring Cal his coffee like she normally does. In her head, it felt like the right thing to do; but her stomach gave her another pang deep in the middle. She knew that if their relationship changed to something more personal, then the business would change as well. And, although, their business wasn't perfect, it suited to their needs just fine the way it was.

She knew it was a crappy excuse.

She walked up to his door and knocked on it softly. Without waiting for an answer, she walked in but then stopped in her tracks. The scene in the office seemed to have frozen in time. Cal was half leaning, half sitting on the corner of his desk with his arms across his chest and a silly smirk dancing on his lips. And right across from him was the good ol' detective inching closer till her body was between his legs. She had a smile dancing on her lips too, but she had something else on her mind. And then there was Gillian, who looked down in embarrassment and sadness. "Opps, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."

Both Cal and Wallowski looked up at the figure in front of the door. Cal stood up and pushed the detective back with both arms on her shoulders. "Hey Gillian, where are you going?"

She was still looking down, "I'm heading home. I need to get some sleep before tomorrow. Well, I'll see you later."

She was about to turn when Cal yelled out, "We were about to get some food, did you wanna join us?"

For the first time since that morning did she look up at him. Instead of light and laughter in her blue eyes, he was met with anger. "No Cal, I don't think I will. Detective, it was nice seeing you." And like that, she disappeared through the door.

Cal exhaled deeply. Not the best question to ask her, but he had to say something. Wallowski seemed to be reading his mind, "That was intense. You probably shouldn't have asked that question. Oh well, more for us, right? And we can be alone together." She purred at the last sentence and cozied up to Cal.

Cal was still staring at the door when he said slowly, "Sorry, Luv, I just remembered that Emily is cooking dinner for me. Raincheck?" He stepped to the side so that she didn't touch him.

She looked at the door too. Her eyebrows wrinkled together and her eyelashes fluttered. "Seriously, Lightman? You just got back!"

Cal shrugged his shoulders and went around his desk. "It is what it is, Luv. So is that a no on the raincheck?" He almost seemed hopeful. He had not meant to be caught in his office with Wallowski. She had come in unexpectedly, telling him that she wanted to treat him to a dinner at her place. She looked like she wanted to kiss the lips off of his face. He said a silent prayer thanking that he didn't let her get close enough to do that.

Wallowski snatched her purse up and yelled back, "Whatever!" and left his office.

For the second time that day, he grinned.

.:.

Gillian was sitting in a tub with hot water and bubbles all around her. She had been sitting in the bath for about 30 minutes. The water was starting to get a little chilly, but she didn't get out. How could she have been so dumb into thinking that he would even change for her? Grant it, it was in the back of her mind, but still. At least she didn't follow him like a stray puppy. She knew there was a reason why she didn't give in to his smooth talk. She was angry, but probably a little bit more angrier at herself for getting into this situation. She should have used her head that night instead of her heart. Just as she thought that, a pang sprang up in her chest.

She picked up her glass of wine and downed it contents down her throat. For a slight second, she thought about what it would be like to be in a relationship with Cal. They have always had a certain sexual tension between them, but she naively thought it was due to the closeness of work. Then she thought back to that night. My goodness, no wonder women fell over backwards to get his attention. The way he touched her, the things he whispered in her ear, even the way he smelled… it gave her chills just thinking about it. That night was fueled by passion and he didn't falter one bit.

Gillian fanned herself after placing the glass on the counter. She felt her body getting hot and chastised herself on her thoughts. But she didn't stop there; one picture remained in her head and that was his body. He was fit for his age and the tattoos over his body complimented it nicely. She loved tattoo's on men and his were very ornate and down-right sexy. And then her memory went down south to his long, hard—

"OKAY!" She stood up abruptly and reached for her towel. She shouldn't be thinking of those kinds of things, especially since she caught him very close to Wallowski. Wallowski. She laughed mirthlessly. Yeah, he promised her that she would be the only one for him. Was she supposed to wait for him after he got done getting his kicks with Wallowski? She answered aloud, "Hell no!"

After drying her body, she went into her room and slipped into some comfortable pajamas. Just as she was about to comb her hair, she got a text message. She walked over to her phone and promised herself that if it was Cal, she was not going to answer it. A very teenager thing to do, but whatever. She looked down and saw that the message was from Emily. She quickly clicked to view the message. A picture came up showing Cal eating a bowl of spaghetti and making a funny face with noodles sticking out of his mouth. Under the picture it said, "hi gill! missed u 4 spaghetti nite! hopefully next time!" She laughed at the picture and texted back, "lol! missed u 2! I will keep this pic as leverage! ;)"

She looked back at the photo and giggled. Then she noticed that no one else was sitting right next to him. In the back of her mind, she was screaming for joy and the pang in her stomach eased. She snapped her phone shut and threw it on the bed. She shook her head as she made her way out of her room.

Next chapter, Gillian and Wallowski will have a little chat!