Ember's POV:

This is quite the week for firsts – my first time in District 14, first time living on my own, first day on the new job…will my life ever feel "normal" and "routine" again? Life has been anything but normal for so long and I'm tired of the struggle, but I'm not quite ready to give up yet.

This is going to be my chance, my opportunity to change the path I've been dragged down and make something more for myself – a future – that is vastly different from the past. I am all alone and sick of it. The revolution took so much more from me than I ever expected. I lost my home, my family, my love and several times almost my life. My home was destroyed by bombs dropped during a raid from the Capitol. My mother and young brother were home when it was destroyed. They probably never knew what hit them; at least that is my hope. I had been out bringing food to the men and women who were fighting for our freedom, two of whom were dear to my heart – my father and Tucker, my fiancé. My father was killed a few days later in battle. Tucker, who had been my childhood sweetheart, had been captured by the Capitol's goons and was injected with a lethal amount of Tracker Jacker venom and died days before the Capitol fell. Why the hell was I left? Why did I have to survive? All I wanted to do was crawl away into some chasm and disappear.

I don't know how, but I managed to keep living and functioning, sometimes just going through the motions. I moved into a temporary shelter and was put to work helping out others as unfortunate as I, or worse. I helped feed them, distributed clothing, set up schedules for baths & immunizations, and assigned sleeping quarters. I soon tired of living among all the suffering and oppression, as it felt like I was being pulled even further under. It was time for me to get on with my life and to find myself again, the real me. I needed to start over, to find something to live for. I decided after some research that a job offering at the CAACD in District 14 was as good a place to begin as any. They seemed to be working towards a better and brighter future, trying to make our world a safer place. Something so many of us were not even familiar with, it was all to intriguing to walk away from the offer.

And so, here I am, at the CAACD, day one on my new job and on my way to lunch with Gale Hawthorn, a man I was introduced to earlier this morning and whom I will be working with over the next few days.

Talk about first impressions! From all outward appearances, Gale can be summed up in one word – HOT! HOLY HOTNESS to be exact. Tall, well built, coal black hair and cool grey eyes, and ALL man. My stomach did a little flip and my heart rate accelerated just looking at him. Five minutes later I had a completely different opinion. Let's just say that intellectually I didn't give him rave reviews. When BeeTee introduced us right after the meeting, he just stared at me like he was missing a card or two from his deck. Glassy eyed, unfocused, blank. He was barely able to absorb the fact that BeeTee was talking to him and completely unable to put two words together to form a reply! He sure didn't get this job with his ability to communicate. Can you say ditz?

I hope lunch is better than our first meeting. I'm not interested in a one sided conversation, nor does spending the next few days with Zombie Man appeal to me. Not at all. Maybe I'll get lucky and this morning's incident will have just been a fluke. Maybe he was ill or something and he'll be better by lunch. Oh well, at least I will be able to appreciate the view. And who knows - I might get lucky and have a chance to check out the rear view, too! My favorite view on a man, who can resist at least a look?

Gale's POV:

It took every ounce of concentration I had to get through this morning. One of the traps BeeTee and I had created was causing us trouble as it kept hanging up when it was triggered and wouldn't close around its prey. It's been quite a headache for us, which is not an easy feet since BeeTee knows everything under the sun about anything. Finally we decided to ask Finnick to come by and take a look at it to see if he had any suggestions. While I was leaving for lunch, BeeTee was trying to get in touch with Finnick, apparently unable to immediately reach him. This is not unusual as he is always in the damn water. Waterboy, Surfer, Assclown; I have several names for the Pretty Boy, but he does have his uses.

I was standing in the hallway to the kitchen, waiting for Ember to show up, and suddenly feeling like an idiot. Shit, I really know how to impress a woman! Play dumb. Act stupid…. Go mute! Works every time! Especially if what you are trying to accomplish is to stay single and celibate! What a dumb ass! At this rate I doubt I could win a date with a snail much less a woman. I told myself to get my act together while I mentally kicked myself in the ass. Why can't I act like I have a cell or two left in the thick mass I call a brain? Maybe she didn't notice my lapse and I'll have a chance to give her a better impression at lunch. Yeah, right.

I spotted Ember in a crowd of people on their way to lunch, as she was hard to miss. I moved toward her and smiled hoping to catch her attention. She was listening intently to some guy who seemed to be taking up too much of her personal space to make me happy. Why did I suddenly get pissed off at this guy? She looked up right at the time I smiled and I waved her over to me. She smiled back, excused herself and strolled over to me. Did I mention she was beautiful, a knockout? I didn't know where to look first. Her beautiful green eyes were looking straight at me, but those gorgeous lips were smiling at me, too. Then there were her hips, which were swaying provocatively towards me with each step she took, which helped bounce those great breasts of hers at the same time. Get a freaking grip, man! You're acting like a hyper-sexed teenager!

"Hi. Gale, right?" she asked. "Yeah. And you're Ember, right?" I replied. She smiled again and nodded, causing the tiny curls around her face to bounce. I'm going to have to pray for some control with this little firecracker. I seem to be losing any self control I've ever had. Shit! Act like a man, not a boy, I keep telling myself. It's not working out really well.

"The kitchen's right through there." I nodded towards the doors behind me. "Let's go see what they have today and then we can get acquainted."

We ordered our food and sat at a small table near a window. "So, what do you think of CAACD so far?" I asked. "I'm a bit overwhelmed," she replied. "I didn't expect so many names and faces to remember. "It won't be so bad after you've been here a few days," I said. Soon they'll all become familiar and you'll feel like you've always known them. Some of the best people I've ever been privileged to know work here."

A waiter brought us our lunch and we ate in silence for a few minutes. I tried really hard not to stare at her, unsuccessfully. I couldn't seem to help myself. It was like Déjà vu. I felt like I'd seen her so many times before and it was hard to believe she was real. It was going to be difficult to restrain myself from treating her like the woman in my dreams. All I needed right now was to freak her out and run her off! Somehow I would have to find a way to get to know her better without scaring her off.

I broke the silence by asking "How do you like District 14? Have you settled in, managed to find your way around?" "I like it so far," she replied. "I finished unpacking over the weekend but I haven't had any time for sight seeing. There's a little coffee shop right around the corner from my flat that has really delicious pastries. I've managed to get by there a couple of times, but that's as far as I've ventured." "I'd be happy to show you around, if you like." I offered. "I've been here a while and know pretty much where everything is. Things work a little different here than in the other districts, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask." "Thanks," she said, smiling. "I'd like that." The color of her eyes darkened to a shade of pine as she replied. My stomach clenched and my dick twitched in response. Shit! This wasn't going to be easy. She was making it hard by making it easy – making me hard. Rock hard.

We managed to keep up a basic conversation during the rest of lunch. Afterwards, I asked her what she would like to see first. "I would love for you to show me around outside. I'm very interested in the power infrastructure and where the sources of power are generated and the operation of it all. If that's okay with you?"

"Sure, that's fine. It gives us somewhere to start." I said. "I guess the best place to begin is the fueling stations. Then we can head over to the production and distribution warehouses. Sound good to you?"

"Sounds fine." She smiled at me again and I watched as her eyes darkened. "I'll follow you." I swear I saw a hint of a smile form at the corner of her mouth.

As I started towards the shuttle that would take us to the nearest fueling station, I had the distinct feeling that I was being eye molested. It was not a scary, spooky kind of feeling, but it was unsettling. Probably because I knew who was watching. Damn. I hope she likes the view.

Embers POV:

I followed Gale down the hall and towards the shuttle, deliberately taking advantage of the opportunity to check out the "rear" view. Just as I suspected, it was quite a nice view, one I would love to take in daily. Just as nice as everything else I had checked out at lunch. His coal black hair was shiny and thick, with just a few waves in it. It was just long enough to run your fingers through and grab. His cool grey eyes had tiny flecks of gun-metal blue in them and they glinted when he laughed. His laughter made my stomach do those little flippy things again. I'd have to remember to make him laugh more often. I liked that feeling. A lot.

Gale wore a pull over shirt that skimmed over what appeared to be a nicely sculpted chest. I could easily imagine running my hands over it and down the very flat, rock hard abs that had to be there, too. His jeans rode low on his hips and fit snug around the curve of his ass when he walked. It was a really nice ass. Almost like an apple, makes you want to reach out and bite it.

I would definitely change my first impression. Gale proved over lunch that he was quite capable of handling his side of conversations and that he was knowledgeable about the activities surrounding the CAACD. Hmmm…maybe it was possible to have brawn and brain all in one tidy, tight, gorgeously wrapped package. I wonder what else he's capable of handling. Might be fun to find out. I think I'm going to have to take him up on his offer to show me around and hope that I get to see more than just the local grocer and Laundromat. It made me squeeze my thighs together just thinking about the possibilities. We'll just have to wait and see. Great, now I want an apple.