Jan 27
The weight of the world on your shoulders becomes proportionately less to the strength of your friendships.
Jenny shifted uncomfortably in her seat, files scattered all over her desk. It was some ungodly hour on a Friday night, and, as far as she was aware, everyone else had left for the weekend.
Not her.
The fate of the world rested on signing off case reports by the morning, or so it seemed. Cases would fall apart in court without her help, potential leads would be missed, and justice would be blocked. Why the team leaders and the Legal department couldn't do this work she had yet to figure out.
Her frustration rose as she did a quick mental review of the files in front of her. If she hurried, she could get through them in another two hours. If she took her time and did her job properly, it would take three.
The door to her office swung open unexpectedly to reveal one Leroy Jethro Gibbs, both hands full with coffee cups. She couldn't quite summon the energy to raise an eyebrow at him, and settled for staring.
"It's 2300, Jen," he told her, taking a seat opposite. "What are you still doing here?"
"What does it look like?"
He briefly glanced at the paper spread out everywhere. "Single-handedly destroying half the Amazonian rainforest?"
She laughed, a proper laugh, one that she hadn't had in a long time. Several minutes later she managed to recover, a slight grin still present on her face.
He was smirking, but offered her the extra coffee cup anyway.
"Thanks," she smiled. "What are you doing here?"
"Well…" He looked a bit uncertain for a moment. "I'm about to head back to an empty basement and drink bourbon until the small hours of the morning. You're either doing to stay here til the early hours, or go home and work there."
This time she quirked an eyebrow.
"I was thinking…"
She waited patiently.
"That you might want to bring your…" He waved his free hand vaguely over the files. "And come somewhere with free bourbon and company."
She considered momentarily.
"Take the weight off your shoulders for a little bit, Jen," he soothed.
"Fine." She started to gather the files together as he watched. "And Jethro, thank you."
His answering grin chased all the dark thoughts away.