Authors Note: Thanks to Ebony10 for being my beta, and to all of the people who reviewed the first time around. Don't for get to let me know what you think :)
He snuck into her office. He knew that she would be at lunch for at least another 20 minutes and he knew exactly what he was looking for. She had been taking a continuing education course at the local college for the past few weeks, and some of the assignments she had to do annoyed her. He had noticed today when she came in that she looked particularly annoyed and had guessed that it was because of the homework assignment that she had probably completed the night before. He wanted to read it and see what had her so irritated.
He knew that she kept all of her school work in a folder in the drawer of her desk. He pulled it out to look at it. After glancing at the assignment, he quickly read through the paper she had written. He noticed her creative use of margins and font, but decided that trying to make a paper longer than it really was should not have her this irritated.
As he read, he realized what was bothering her. She hated to look at her life and see what was lacking—this assignment made her do just that. He wondered how long it had taken her to write this paper, which could barley be called two pages. He also wondered what she had not written, what she had typed and then deleted.
He knew he didn't have much time, but he wanted to get a copy of this so he could look at it more closely. He quickly went out to the copy machine and made a copy, careful to replace the paper when he was done in the same spot in the folder, and the folder in the same spot in the desk. He did not want her to know that he had been into it, not yet anyway.
He sat on his sofa with the paper and a few others to disguise what he was looking at. He didn't want anyone to get suspicious. How would they know he wasn't really working, he hardly did any work anyway. He read it through slowly. He mulled over every sentence, just getting to the end as she came back in the door from lunch.
"Did you have a nice lunch, Lisbon?" he asked without looking up.
"Fine, thanks. Did you go out for lunch today?" she asked him to be polite.
"No, I stayed in." He still had not looked up from the papers in his hand to look at her. "I know you really just want to go into your office, so go ahead. I won't be offended if you don't stay to talk."
She looked at him and shook her head as she walked away. He glanced up just as she entered her office and smiled; sometimes it was just too easy. He looked down at the paper and read the last few lines "I think that I might want to be married, if he right man ever came along. I would love children, just one or two; of course it will never happen if it doesn't happen soon."
He had never taken Lisbon for the marriage and babies' route. She always seemed so content with the job. Maybe this is what had her so wound up today. Having to look at your life and realize that something was missing. Still, the way she wrote it, it was as if she already had someone in mind, but couldn't say anything to him. Maybe it was someone they worked with.
He started to look around, looking to see if there was anyone that he thought Lisbon would be attracted to. No, not really. They were either too short or too stupid. There was obviously no rule saying you had to have a high IQ to work at the CBI, which was too bad. The amount of time that she spent here, this was probably the only place she met men. There had to be someone. Maybe he should try to figure out which one it was and see if he could help her win him over—not that it would take much; anyone would be lucky to have Lisbon.
He looked up and decided that he needed to talk to her. He should be able to figure out who it was that she liked around here with a few simple questions. She was generally easy to read. He wanted her to be happy; after all, when she was in a good mood it made his life easier. He walked to her office and knocked on the door.
She sat at her desk. She knew it was him knocking. She didn't even have to look up; he had a bad habit of coming to see her when she just wanted him to leave her alone. She sighed. She knew that she had been in bad mood today—it was that class she was taking. She hated having to look at her life and see what she could be doing. Well, he wasn't likely to go away so she called out to him to come in.
He came in and shut the door behind him. He doesn't normally do that, I wonder what he did now. She thought as he sat down in the chair across from him.
"Before you ask," he said with a smile, "I didn't do anything that you need to be worried about."
How does he always know what I'm thinking? I can't stand it. There are some things I would rather he not know.
"I don't always know what you're thinking, you know." He smirked; he knew he was driving her crazy, he could see it in her eyes.
"What do you want Jane, I have work to do." She said impatiently. She didn't really, but he couldn't know that.
"No you don't. We haven't had a case in a week, all you have to do is paper work, and even that can wait."
How did he do that? "That still doesn't answer the question."
"Now don't be mad," he started and she groaned, "But I snuck into your office while you were out at lunch and got a copy of the paper you wrote for your class tonight."
She stared at him like he was crazy "You did what!?" she yelled at him. In her head she was thinking: Oh great, I wonder what he's going to read into that...Is he going to be able to figure out that I like him? Oh, I hope not.
"I told you not to get mad. I read it and I think I can help."
"Help with what?" Maybe he already knows. I'm never going to live this down! Why is he acting so nonchalant about this? Why can't he ever just come out and say it!
"I can help you get what you want, well some of it any way."
"Are you going to buy me a house?" she smirked. She knew that's not what he meant.
"No, I figured you could do that on your own. I'm going to help you get married."
"YOU WHAT!?" She yelled at him again. I can't believe this. This is so humiliating; maybe he gets some sort of pleasure out of embarrassing me.
"Yes, well, I noticed that you seem to get uncomfortable in personal or intimate situations, like this one right now. By the way, you're blushing."
She wanted to bury her head in her hands and tell him to just go away, but it was impossible. Even though she knew it was going to end badly, she couldn't help but stare at him and wait for him to continue.
"To be fair, I can't guarantee to get you a husband, but I can help you get the guy you like to ask you out and make sure the first few dates go all right. After that, it's up to you."
"How do you know I like anyone?"
"It was all over your paper. A woman who didn't have a man in mind for marriage would have fantasized a little bit more about what he would look like or what kind of job he should have or any number of other things."
He's right. I didn't do any of those things. That would have been a way to make the paper longer; I'll have to remember that for next time.
"And who do you think it is that I like?" It was her turn to smile now. I don't think he knows. I can't believe it—maybe he's not as good at reading people as I thought or maybe I'm just really good at hiding it.
"Well," he paused, "That's the thing. I can't figure it out. I know that it's not Rigsby or Cho. Neither of them strike me as your type. They're not intelligent enough. Not that they're not smart, but you would need a guy with at least the same IQ as you."
"I'll make sure not to tell them that you think I'm smarter than they are." She was really amused now. He had no idea and she wasn't about to tell him.
"It would be easier if you would just tell me who it was, you know."
"How about I just let you guess?"
"It's not Johnson from narcotics, is it? He's kind of creepy."
"What makes you think it's someone that works here?"
"Well, you spend most of your time at work and you never mention going out with any one. You often decline the offer when any of the women here ask, so I figure this is the only place you would meet anyone."
She was a little hurt by this. From the way he described it, it sounded like she had no social life. The fact that it was true didn't make a difference. She decided to string him on a little bit and see what his offer would involve.
"I can't really say who it is." She said after a minute.
"Why not, is he married?"
"Not anymore, but he's still deeply attached to his…"she paused, not sure how to phrase it.
"His wife." Jane finished for her.
"Yes, and it would seem insensitive for me to tell you. How do I know that you wouldn't just go spreading office gossip?" She looked him in the face and tried to look sincere. I wonder if he keeps up on office gossip. I know of at least four guys who are recently divorced who would fit the bill, and at least two of them have to have the same IQ as me.
"OK, I can accept that, but that doesn't mean I'm still not going to try to figure it out."
"I should tell you though, I already know your advice to Rigsby of "love and affection," so if that's all you are going to tell me, I can save you the trouble."
"No, I wouldn't just tell you that and turn you loose. I think you need more…" he was looking for the right word, "intensive therapy." He flashed her one of his killer smiles and she wanted to melt, instead she decided to play like she was mad, she did it all of the time, and he seemed to fall for it.
"I do not need "intensive therapy." I have dated before, quite successfully in fact."
"That may be, but not recently. Since I've been here I have only seen you go on two dates and heard about you going on three more. All first dates too—that's not a good thing Lisbon."
"I still don't need "intensive therapy."" She glared at him for a minute, her arms across her chest. She could tell by the look on his face that he knew she was going to give in. He was always able to sucker her into things and it drove her crazy. "Ok, fine. What do you want to do?"
His face lit up like the Fourth of July. He's like a little kid at Christmas. I love that look when I give into him.
"Not today. I'll tell you tomorrow. Finish your work, go to your class, and I'll see you here bright and early tomorrow morning." He smiled, stood up and walked to the door. "It will be worth it, Lisbon, you'll see." He said just as he closed the door.
I'll bet it will be, she thought, gazing through her window as she watched him walk away.