Here it is. I was fairly delirious by the time of writing this. Beware: Very, very light, romantic, and fluffy. I love it. I keep re-reading it.
Update: after over 100 Becker/Jess stores, this remains one of my absolute favorites. I love it. There are also two sequels: Becker's Shopping Trip, and Becker's Shopping Trip 2.
Part Three—the conclusion
Jess walked into the ARC. It was early so there weren't many staffers in yet. As she approached the ADD she caught her breath. It was covered with chocolate bars, teddy bears, and even a vase of red roses.
Had Becker finally done it? Had he finally decided to tell her how he felt?
She practically skipped to the ADD. She giggled and flushed as bright as the roses as she went through the presents. There were no cards on anything. The chocolate, while none of them had orange, were not her favorites. Becker knew full well what chocolates she loved. The roses were lovely, but she knew that he was aware that daisies were her favorite.
Then she heard shouts and the stomps of boots.
"She's back!"
"Thank God!"
"We're going to live!"
Jess was ambushed by Becker's men. Carly hugged her first, picking her up and twirling her. Then Vale hugged her, then Thompson, and even Flowers.
Jess giggled and tried to catch her breath. "What is with all of you?"
"Oh, Miss Parker," said Carly, falling to his knees. "Please, please don't ever leave us again. He's been insane. Don't ever subject us to that horror again." He grabbed her hand and sobbed.
"It's been a little intense, under the Captain's command," said Flowers.
Jess giggled. "How?"
The men groaned and shuddered.
Flowers laughed. "We'll spare you the details. Let's just say, Captain Becker is more humane when you're here."
Vale, flashed his winning smile, said, "We wanted to show you our appreciation. I got you the cupid bear."
"I brought the red label chocolate," said Carlson.
"The chocolate macadamia nuts and the white chocolate are mine," said Thompson.
"I brought the bear in the blue suit," said another soldier.
"Hold it," said Jess, trying to sort through all the soldiers talking at once. She smiled. "These are all from you?"
The men smiled and nodded. Jess, despite her immense disappointment, was as sweet and polite as ever. "That was so incredibly sweet of you all. I'm so incredibly afraid of what Becker did to you."
They laughed, then they clapped for her, and then they left.
"You thought they were from the Captain, huh?" asked Flowers, the only one still there.
Jess smiled, but then her face fell.
"I'm sorry, Jess. My wife told me it was a bad idea, that you'd misinterpret, but it was too late. The boys were so excited."
"It really was sweet of them," said Jess, "and I do honestly love the presents. I guess the roses are from you?"
"No, this is from me. It was my wife's idea. It's good for an entire year."
Flowers handed her an envelope with a certificate inside. Jess read it, "Free spa days! Your wife is gorgeous!" She threw her arms around Flowers.
"First day back and already hugging a security man," said Lester, jauntily strolling in. "You've been gone too long Miss Parker. Too much work has piled up. My computer is broken; your replacement, Epstein, had a breakdown and won't be back for a few days, and British Aeronautics wants a word with our resident hacker," he said, strolling to his office, and shutting the door.
He then re-opened the door, and said, "Oh, welcome back. The roses are from me."
Jess and Flowers stared.
"Wow," said the lieutenant. "I don't know which is more impressive, the list he gave you or that he actually bought you a gift."
"It was very sweet," she said, with some reservation.
"Another present not from a certain Captain. I'm sorry," said Flowers. "Becker isn't very open with his feelings. Don't forget how reserved and disciplined he is. He really did miss you. It was hell here while you were away. He's just, he's. ...he's an idiot."
Jess smiled, and hugged him.
"Hey! I'm telling your wife, soldier!" said Connor, smiling. Abby ran past and into Jess' arms.
"Did you have fun?"
"Very much. Look how tan I am," she said, posing. More staffers trickled in, gathering around her.
She happily told about her holiday. "Oh, the food was delicious and there was so much. Every time I turned around there was a waiter with something yummy or a bit of bubbly. The chocolate! Oh my gosh, they had German chocolate, and Belgian, and French and the chefs made this chocolate replica of the ship. I'm telling you, it was all I could do to keep myself from just sticking my face in the bow!"
As Jess rambled, there were several thunders of laughter. She kept them mesmerized by being animated, funny, excited and giddy. She was a joy to watch.
Becker certainly enjoyed it. He was off by the stairs, watching Jess entertain the small mob. She hadn't seen him yet. He was glad. He just wanted to stare at her, watch her face and how she moved from smile to silly face to laugh. She was beautiful.
She wore a new dress. He'd never seen it. It was lightweight, and evoked springtime. It was white with pink, yellow, and purple flowers blooming all over it. It was not short or tight. It went below her knees, and was a flowing, drape-y type of dress. She looked fresh, young, and delightful.
Then there was her voice. Becker closed his eyes to concentrate on the soft, sweet tones. The more she rambled on, the happier he became. By the time she was done telling about her adventure, Becker was more calm and relaxed then he'd been in two weeks.
Finally, people began to leave. Becker nodded to Flowers, traded smirks with Matt and Connor, smiled at Emily and nodded back at Abby's nod.
He stayed where he'd been throughout the storytelling, leaning against the stairs. Once the mob had cleared, Jess saw him clearly. He looked so at ease, she thought, so happy. They stood still, staring and lightly grinning at each other.
Finally Becker moved toward her. She stood still, letting him come to her. He stopped about an arm's length away. He cocked his head, like he did, and stared intently at her.
"Hi."
"Hi yourself," she said. She was happy. Happy to see him. The disappointment of the presents had faded. She just needed to be close to him.
"How was it?"
"Good. I heard it was 'hell' here," she said with a smirk.
Becker looked at the loot on her desk. "They exaggerate," he said.
"Really?"
"Definitely," he said. "Though Lester was in hell without you."
She smiled. "I heard. I'll be catching up on work for days."
"Well," he said turning to leave. She frowned. Then he called over his shoulder, "Glad your back."
"Thank you."
He was gone. That was it. She could have cried. His soldiers were more expressive than he was. She sat down on the chair to the ADD, and wiped tears away. Then her feet kicked something underneath the ADD.
She backed up the chair and plopped onto the floor to see what it was. It was dark under there, and whatever the thing was, it was pressed up against the back of the ADD. Finally she pulled it toward her, and felt something splash her hand. She pulled it completely free. It was a vase of daisies.
She giggled out loud. There was a card that said, "Keep Looking."
She laughed and got back under the ADD, this time she pulled out a heart-shaped box of her all-time favorite chocolate and a mound of her other favorite chocolates. The card on the box said, "Keep Looking."
She laughed and shook her head, and went back under, pulling out a giant teddy bear in a pink frilly dress and matching bonnet wearing purple high heels. High heels in Jess' size. They were covered with tiny lavender crystals so they shined. They were beautiful.
Jess burst into tears.
From behind the stairs Becker had watched her find the treasures. When she started to cry he laughed. She heard him. She turned as he slowly walked toward her.
"There's a card in one of the shoes," he said.
Jess wiped a tear, so she could see, found the card and read it out loud.
"I missed you. Please don't leave again," she looked up, crying more, and read the last part, "without me, Becker."
"I know it's kind of presumptuous, maybe you met someone. Maybe it's too late."
Jess shook her head and ran into his arms. He swept her up, and without hesitation, they kissed.
"I missed you, so much," she said, through kisses.
"I almost killed my men and a prehistoric crocodile," said Becker. Jess laughed, then they resumed kissing.
"I don't want...(kiss)... to leave you...(kiss)...ever again."
Through kissing, he said, "Won't let you."
Lester was trapped in his office. He wanted to give them privacy, Lord knows it took them long enough to get to this point, but really. They'd been kissing long enough. Still...they did look awful good together. Jess did have a lot of work to do, once she de-lipped from the Captain. Lester supposed he'd let them be.
They'd release each other eventually, or pass out from oxygen deprivation, whichever came first.
They did not pass out. They stopped kissing and held each other. Finally, Becker pulled a box from his pocket.
Jess gasped. She was an expert shopper and she knew boxes. That contained jewelry. Jewelry was highly personal and intimate.
Becker was giving her jewelry!
"I couldn't put this with the others," he said. "I was afraid I'd blown it with you, made you wait too long. I wanted to be sure first."
She smiled, tears forming again. "Oh, Becker," she whispered, as she shakily took the long, white gold-embossed box. Her fingers shook as she opened it.
She gasped again. She looked at the exquisite, dainty chain that bore a tiny rectangle tag that said "18 carat gold." On the chain hung a gold heart. A fairly large crystal sat at the top. Tiny crystal specks dusted the rest of the heart.
There was something about the crystal. She looked at it. She looked closely.
"Becker," she whispered. "This is a diamond."
"I know."
She cried. She looked at him. She opened her mouth, and nothing came out.
Becker broke into laughter. He had made Jess Parker speechless! He shook his head, and pulled hers close to him to kiss the top of it. Jess kept crying.
Becker waited until she stopped, again, and then held her a short distance away.
"I'm going to need it back for a bit," he said. She looked appalled and pulled the box back defensively.
Becker laughed. "To have it engraved," he said, as her eyes grew wide. "I'm not rich, Jess, and if you broke my heart, I was going to return the sucker. They frown on returning it with words carved in for some reason."
"What...what is it going to say?" she asked, in shock and delirium.
Becker smiled. "Our initials...something else. Maybe I should make you wait." Jess grabbed his collar threateningly. "Okay, OK. I'll tell you. It's going to say, "I love you."
Jess started to blubber and threw her arms around his neck as he chuckled more.
"Iuuooo" she said.
He pulled her back, to see her. He couldn't help laughing. She was so adorable, and she was his. "What did you say?"
She took a breath, tried to stop the tears, and said, "I love you."
Becker smiled, and Jess resumed crying. He pulled her close and let her cry, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, one hand in a death grip around the box.
Finally, she quieted down.
"Can I put it on you?" he asked.
She nodded, handing him the delicate necklace, and turned around while he fastened it around her neck.
Once it was on, he moved back around to see. "Beautiful," he whispered, "and so's the necklace."
She smiled and kissed him tenderly.
"We're going to the engraver, right now," she said, sniffling. She took his hand. "We are going to wait until it's done, (sniffle,) and I don't want to hear any argument from you, or Lester, or the engraver." (Sniffle.)
Becker laughed as he let her pull him along. "OK, Jess. I'll fix it with Lester."
"Just go," said Lester, looking down on them from his office. "We might get some work done if you two are out of the building."
"Thanks, Lester," said Becker.
Jess blew Lester a kiss. Then she gathered all her loot, which she couldn't hold. There was so much. Even with Becker taking some it was too much.
Luckily a whole crowd of people had been eavesdropping and they helped carry the stuff out.
The End