Naughty or Nice, part 2
Becker walked to the ADD. What would he say? How do you stop two people from acting like juveniles.
"Hey, Jess," he said lightly.
She smiled pleasantly. "Hey yourself."
Becker stared. She wore a bright blue sweater with snowflakes sprinkled across, and a short silver skirt, with sheer white stockings, also sprinkled with snowflakes.
She was stunning, as usual, but it was her shoes that mesmerized him. The bottom of the shoes, and the heels were silver, but the shoe bodies were transparent, and her feet were visible. For some reason, the tantalizing view of her foot had him spellbound.
Eventually, he realized he was staring in stunned silence.
"So, I was just down in the canteen. Saw the naughty and nice list."
Her smile fell and she turned red. "Sorry. I was hoping you'd miss it. I don't suppose you missed the picture on the web page."
"Actually, I did miss it."
"Oh, that's a relief," she said, chuckling. "I wasn't staring. I just happened to be looking your way."
He smiled. "No worries."
She smiled. "Good."
"Jess, um, about this naughty/nice war you seem to be having with Connor..."
"A war? It's not that bad."
"It isn't? It seems pretty bad to me. Are you even speaking to him?"
"Of course," said Jess. "Here he comes. Watch us talk."
Connor walked up. "Here, your program," he said, handing her a disc.
Jess smiled. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Connor left.
"See?" asked Jess.
Becker laughed. "I say more to him than that."
Jess frowned. "It's his fault. He started it."
"Jess, that's not very mature."
"So."
Becker sighed. "OK, I think we should take the list down."
"No. I'm just a little miffed. I'll get over it, and Connor will stop acting like a bonehead. We'll be fine."
Becker chuckled. "Glad to hear it."
"Have you written anything on the list?" asked Jess.
"I thought you were the only one who was writing on it."
"Not anymore. Most people are writing sweet little comments about their friends, partners, or crushes," she said, smiling. "Anyone you want to leave something cute for?"
Becker stared. "Not really."
She frowned.
"Promise me, Jess, no more bad things about Connor."
"OK," she said, "but l'm still leaving nice comments."
"That's fine," he said. "I'll ask Connor to behave too."
"Alright. See you later?"
Becker chuckled. "Yeah."
Jess decided to make up with Connor. Becker seemed upset by their tiff and she didn't want the list coming down. She found Connor in his lab.
"Hey, do you have a second?"
"I guess," he said.
"I'm sorry. I've been acting like a stupid kid."
Connor smiled. "Me too. I' m really sorry about the web picture, and not because Becker threatened to make my next picture look like a crime scene photo."
Jess chuckled. "Did he really say that?"
"Yes, he did."
"I didn't put him up to it, Connor," said Jess.
"I know. And like I said, I'm sorry."
"Thank you. I guess I've gotten carried away writing nice things about Becker. You probably didn't realize, but I have a bit of a crush on him."
"You do, really?" asked Connor, with a smile. "Well, I didn't have to tease you, and not on a sign everyone could read."
"I'm the one who put up the sign. Anyway, truce? Can we be friends again?"
"Sure," said Connor. "We are friends."
"Will you be home early tonight? We could have movie night."
Connor smiled. "We haven't done that in a long time."
"Too long. How about it?"
"Sure. Brilliant. You get the movie, and I'll get dinner."
Jess smiled. "Great. I'll tell Abby. Right, well, back to work."
"See ya later," he said, and she left.
Jess stopped in the canteen and wrote on the nice list. "Connor and Jess, for coming to their senses, apologizing and forgiving each other, and for Becker, mediating their squabble."
She smiled. Then she glanced over the list and found her name on some nice comments she hadn't seen.
"Jess, for bringing the holiday spirit into the ARC. Jess, for bringing biscuits into work. Jess, for buying the biscuits and not attempting to bake them like last year. Jess, keeping us safe by being our eyes and ears on missions."
Who wrote those? She knew who she wanted them to be from, but he wouldn't, would he?
Jess questioned the people she ran into on the way back to the ADD. No one knew who had wrote the comments.
"Hey, Jess," said Abby. "Thanks for making up with Connor. Want to go shopping to celebrate?"
Jess stared. "You're asking me if I want to go shopping? Is this a gag?"
"No. I need to do some Christmas shopping. I want to get something naughty for Connor."
Jess smiled. "Are you going to buy sexy lingerie?"
Abby blushed. "Maybe. You want to come?"
"Sure. Not that I have anyone to buy lingerie for, but I can help you look," she said, and she sighed wistfully. "It would be nice to have someone to be naughty with."
Abby chuckled. "You will."
Jess asked Abby about the comments on the nice list. "I have no idea. Did you ask Becker?"
Jess smiled. "I wish, Abby, but there's no way he'd write something everyone could see."
"You never know," said Abby.
"Ho, ho, ho," said Matt, as Abby and Jess strolled into the hub. He offered them a mug. "Eggnog, Emily's family recipe."
Emily stood over a desk, ladling eggnog from a large punch bowl.
"It seems Miss Parker, that your decorating, oufits, and that infernal list have spread the Christmas cheer," Lester said, and he sniffed the nog in his mug. "Not bad, could use some brandy," he said, sipping. "I approve, Miss Merchant."
"Thank you, Lester."
"Put that woman on the nice list," said Lester, strolling back into his office.
"It was nice of you," said Jess.
"I wanted to start the season right," said Emily. "I tended to dread Christmas back home. There were so many obligations, and they rarely generated any cheer for me."
"That's sad," said Abby. She took a sip. "This is really good."
"Matt," said Becker, jogging in. "I need your help."
"Something wrong?" asked Jess with concern.
"No, just...security stuff."
"Let's go," said Matt.
Becker and Matt disappeared for a while, but Matt came back. Becker did not.
"Is he OK?"
Matt smiled. "He is," he said. "It's just security stuff. He's fine."
"OK," she said, unsure.
Jess went to her locker and opened it. She gasped. Inside was a small organizer for her shoes, made of wood. She had a pair of flats, sneakers, and boots in her locker, and each sat in a small cubby.
"Do you like it?" asked Becker.
Jess turned pink. "How? Why? Yes! I love it!"
Becker smirked. "The 'how' is I constructed it at home and Matt helped me bring it in and fit it."
"The 'security stuff' from earlier?" she asked.
"Yeah. The 'why' is that I read some of the nice comments left for you. The writer was right. You have brought Christmas into the ARC, and you do watch over our missions. I wanted to say thank you. The only thing you love more than chocolate is your shoes, so I thought maybe you needed a way to store them."
She ran up and hugged him. "Thank you. You're on the nice list for life."
He chuckled. "I don't know about that. I'm just glad you're happy."
"Very. Everyone is getting so Christmas-y and generous," she said, looking at her new shoe organizer.
"So, Jess, you don't know who wrote those things?"
"No. It wasn't you?"
"Sorry," said Becker.
"It's OK. I guess I have an admirer."
"I guess you do," said Becker.
The next morning, Jess came into work with several bags of scones. She loved spreading cheer, and being thoughtful. Maybe others would keep it up too, just like Emily and Becker had. She dropped the scones into the break room, to the cheers of those inside, and then she went to check the list.
First, she wrote Emily on the nice list, writing, "for her lovely eggnog."
Jess then added Becker to the nice list, trying to keep it vague. She didn't want to make anyone feel bad, like Connor had because of the many Becker nices, and she didn't want to embarrass Becker.
She wrote, "Becker for thanking and appreciating a colleague."
She checked for her name, and there it was, several times. It was in the naughty list.
End Part 2