The good thing about being on leave, Lisbon thought, was that she could sleep longer in the morning when the night was bad or short, a thing she could eventually get use to, or maybe not. Having eaten breakfast a few hours earlier with Jane, she showered and then took care of the shattered glass and dead flowers that were still spread out in the leaving-room. It was still too early to call Jane, so she decided to go get a fresh brewed coffee and something to eat.

Jane on the other side was since leaving her home on his way to Quantico. He had rather preferred to travel with his Airstream but three days in and three days back didn't leave enough time to do anything there. Of course that journey was a pretense Abott understood, but they had really been looking for some profiler classes in Virginia, so Jane hadn't had much choice at the end.

The cafe she had found days ago 'Il caffè latte' was her choice for the morning. The coffee was good and the encounter she had made then had change something in her way of seeing her future or at least it had changed for sure something in her present. Soon she would tell Jane everything about it, about him, but she had to think more about all this, for she didn't want to jeopardize everything on one big decision and she didn't want Jane to pressure her in a way or another.

While thinking she saw her new friend entering the cafe and decided to wave at him. Noting her he waved back and as he approached her he frowned.

"Well Hello Teresa, had a rough week-end?", he said looking discretely at her new scratches on her face.

"Hi! Actually I mostly had a nice week-end, how was yours? Had free time at last?", she didn't want to tell him everything yet and fortunately she knew respectfully he wouldn't ask further, leaving her enough space to share.

"Unfortunately no time to breathe really...", cut by the waitress he ordered a coffee and a croissant. "So Teresa, have you thought about my proposition or do you need more time?", he asked her in a warm voice, hope and excitement in his eyes.

Before Lisbon could actually answer, her phone rang. She excused herself and picked up the call, while standing up to walk outside for more privacy.

"Hey love... "

"Hey you. Already arrived?"

"Landed few minutes ago... I miss you..."

"Come on Jane, how do you want to make it for two weeks?", she said laughing a bit.

"I have no idea... So what are you up to? Having a nice coffee at 'Il caffè latte'?"

"How do you know... Never mind. Yes my coffee taste good, thank you."

He noticed that she didn't answer his first question but thought better than to ask again. "Could you sleep a bit longer after I left?"

"Yeah..."

"More nightmares?"

"Mmm..."

He sighed... Walking on eggshells again he thought, well that had to be expected. "Hey love, my ride just arrived. I'll call you tonight if it's fine with you..."

"Well if you don't I will, be sure of that", her half-joking tone was welcome.

"Okay. I love you and miss you, we'll talk later"

"I love you too..."

They hung up and Lisbon entered back in the cafe to find her new friend on the phone. Hanging up he stood up finishing his croissant in one small bite.

"Well I have to go, duty call, you know how it is..."

"Yeah..."

"Will I see you later today? There are other things I have to show you... And maybe it can help you to make up your mind...", he winked at her, but smiling Lisbon remained silent. "Anyhow, you know where to find me. And Teresa... I guess I know what keeps you from jumping at my proposition, but I assure you if he wants you to be happy he will have to accept your choices somehow".

That was far from her certainty, if she could judge by the last argument they had the evening before. Her happiness was clearly not in the game for Jane, not anymore at least she told herself thinking back at his behavior when Pike was still in the picture. What held her back was the love she had for her job and to be honest the love she also had for Jane...

Few minutes later she stood up and exited the cafe. She had another week before returning to work and at least two to three weeks before hitting the field-work again, physiotherapy will be needed after removing her cast she had been told. Sighing she decided to have a long walk to ponder her opportunities and her future.

.-.-.-.-.-.

NB: Sorry for that chapter I was not really inspired... I feel a bit blocked with my story. I know pretty much where I'm heading but I need to find how I'll continue writing it... But inspiration will come back! Don't forget it's a fiction so it means a certain freedom for fact, places and time... I try to be precise but sometimes the information just lacks.

Still don't own anything...

Thank you for the time you took to review or follow my story! Hopefully you keep enjoy reading it!