Disclaimer and thanks: All the usual ones... nothing has changed

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Where you keep your treasure...

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:21

Oliver was back at the gym doing his routine workout. Leo walked passed him and slapped him on the shoulder. "Hi buddy, I haven't seen you here for a few weeks, how have you been?" Oliver put the barbell down on the ground and shook Leo's hand. "Hi there, Leo, I have been very well, thank you. You?" "All good, buddy. I take it you haven't had the need for another round in the ring lately?" Oliver chuckled, "Well, if you mean take another beating from you, no, not lately. But I will keep you informed if I feel the need to be beaten to a pulp again." Leo laughed and replied, "Hardly! But I'm here for you, anytime!" Oliver nodded. Leo gave him a lopsided smile and asked nonchalantly "How's the love life?" Oliver turned, rolled his eyes, picked up the barbell and said dismissing the question, "Oh man, you don't want to know."

Oliver finished his routine, took a shower and left for choir practice. He liked Thursday nights because they didn't provide any time to focus on sad things. Tonight was especially good in that his heart was joyful. He'd had a good month. He received a Dark of Night Award, his entire team was recognised for their outstanding work and Ms. McInerney and he seemed to have reached an understanding and "sort of" stopped trying to irritate each other all the time. Although it was obvious she still got a wicked sense of pleasure in trying to, or was she just flirting? He wasn't sure. One thing was obvious...he wished he could avoid her altogether… sigh… maybe then he could try to deny what was happening between them? That was a pipe dream! He couldn't avoid her and if he was very honest with himself, he didn't want to. He actually enjoyed her company tremendously, but he wasn't about to tell her that.

Friday morning the POstables started on their latest assignment. It was an intricate puzzle box. Through Norman's ingenuity, the box was opened to reveal a key to a safe deposit box. Shane and Oliver went to the bank to see what was kept in it and hopefully obtain an address to return the contents to the rightful owners. They met a young and disinterested bank employee named Jason who was in charge, of sorts, of the safe deposit boxes, and it was his job to take them to the vault. As fate would have it, at the exact same moment Shane and Oliver stepped inside the vault, upstairs in the main lobby, a rather naughty child triggered the fire alarm. As a result the entire bank went into lockdown including the vault. Shane and Oliver, along with Jason, found themselves in a situation that could result in their untimely death by suffocation. They had no escape and no other option but to kill time. For the time being until they were either rescued or dead, it seemed they might as well make the best of the time they had. Oliver, feeling quite sombre decided to write a letter to his wife, while Shane decided to play a word game. She was trying to distract herself from thinking the worst about their circumstances and like a giddy teenager; she just wouldn't leave him alone. So, whether he liked it or not, he had to play her word game. Truth be told, he enjoyed her silly little game. It was a light-hearted distraction and she managed to engage his attention even when he meant to be doing something else. He didn't know what it was about her… she made him happy… even in a dire situation such as the one they found themselves in. They laughed together and smiled into each other's eyes. She was becoming such a fascinating part of his life. Here he was, writing a letter to his absent wife when he thought he might not live to see the light of day again while gently flirting with Shane at the same time. What was wrong with him? He admonished himself. He should stop it, but she wouldn't be denied and his desire to ignore her was very half hearted.

They managed to get Jason interested enough to open the right box and in it there was a wealth of letters, love letters written by Jonathan and Katherine to each other. The time just flew by as they read the love letters to each other from two people obviously deeply in love who were separated by half the country. Shane got more and more involved in their love story to the point of shedding anguished tears when she thought Katherine had died before she was reunited with the love of her life. She stood and searched desperately for one more letter that would tell her of a happy ending. There was no such letter and Shane was distraught with the heartbreaking outcome of that story. Oliver, seeing how upset Shane was, went to her, pulled her into his arms and gently comforted her. Shane held tightly on to him, convinced the end was near for both of them, thinking there was no better place to die than in his arms. Fortunately for them, Norman had a cousin and he came to the rescue.

The next day, Shane and Oliver went to deliver the precious box containing the love letters. They found, to their amazement, that Jonathan and Katherine had lived over a hundred years ago but their love story was timeless. Katherine had lived! As Oliver suggested to Jonathan's great grandson and his wife to read the letters together out loud, he looked at Shane with the most piercing love gaze which made Shane melt inside. The carefully guarded feelings that both had kept hidden for so long were bursting at the seams and could no longer be contained, despite their best efforts.

The following week, a new challenge presented itself. Norman finally opened an envelope he'd been holding onto for a year because he was fearful of the contents inside, only to find he had a grandmother whom he hadn't known existed! He called her and she was on the next plane to Denver!

Shane had to hold in a chuckle as Mrs Ardis Parker Pennington Paine made a beeline for Oliver right in the middle of the Mailbox Grille and grabbed his chin with gusto. Of course she would choose the most handsome man in the room, Shane thought; she knew she would. Oliver had to flex his jaw muscles once Ardis let it go. Shane decided immediately she liked this lady very much indeed. She was perfect for Norman. What a gift from God to find your long lost grandmother and realise she was a true gem.

The latest assignment they were working on was all about the lost and found. The only POstable not affected directly by Joshua's story was Rita. The other three knew exactly what it meant to lose a parent; Norman in particular since he had lost every person biologically connected with him. So, when his grandmother arrived, all four of them embraced her as if she was a long lost member of their own family. She charmed them all.

As a result, once she ended up in the hospital with a minor heart attack, they all felt Norman's pain and the fear of losing her was tangible.

They had been waiting in the hospital for hours to hear news of her surgery. Shane in particular was very tired. She sat next to Oliver trying at first to stay awake by making small talk. She soon realised this was not working as he didn't seem to be in a talking mood. He was obviously still annoyed with her since he caught her at what he thought was snooping into his personal stuff at his desk. So, she decided she might as well take a little power nap while she could. The chairs in the waiting room were not particularly comfortable and she had nowhere to rest her head. She kept dropping her head and waking up with a start every few minutes. Suddenly, she felt a strong but gentle hand guiding her head onto his shoulder. His height made his shoulder the perfect pillow for Shane to rest for a few minutes. Resting her head on Oliver's shoulder was like heaven and she immediately relaxed and got comfortable. Even though only half awake, she could still feel his strength and breathe in the scent of his cologne. He filled her senses. She started to dream. She found herself back in the bank vault, locked up with him again. Jason was not there, thank goodness!

As they read Jonathan and Katherine's letters, they flirted, they laughed, she cried, he hugged her, and then he kissed her… long and passionately. Then she woke up to her reality that this sweet moment was just a flitting dream. But she had rested her head on his shoulder… for real, she hadn't dreamt that. He had been the one to grab her head to rest on his shoulder. What did it mean? Would he have done the same if it had been Rita? She somehow doubted it.

Hours later Shane was still daydreaming about the dream she had in the middle of the afternoon about kissing Oliver. She was struggling to stay focused. She looked at him now when they were in the hospital lobby watching Norman talking to the twins, Joshua and Matt. She couldn't help but fantasise about Oliver. He was incredibly handsome not to mention strong and well toned. Kissing Oliver was a fantasy she often indulged herself in nowadays, as she was convinced it would never happen. There was no harm in dreaming about it, was there? As long as nobody knew about it… especially him! However, what she hadn't expected was to actually dream about him while she slept resting her head on his shoulder! Oh my goodness! She just hoped she didn't moan with pleasure or call out his name. How embarrassing would that be?

As Rita left to get Norman something to eat from the hospital cafeteria, Shane was moved by how sweet Rita was towards Norman. She mentioned to Oliver how both of them tiptoed around each other saying 'I love you' all the time without actually saying it and how exhausting it must be. Oliver agreed by saying that one day when the time was right they would actually say the words as true love couldn't be held at bay regardless of how hard one tried to hide it. Shane smiled wistfully knowing that she and Oliver did exactly that all the time. They constantly said 'I love you' without actually saying it.

From the very beginning there had been hundreds of 'I love you' exchanges between them. Shane started to compile a mental list just out of curiosity. She even counted rescuing him at the coffee cart as he was totally stuck with no way out. Of course she didn't love him then, she didn't even know him. Maybe it had been one of those divine deliveries that he goes on about all the time, she mused. Then he went after her when she quit for the first time. As much as she irritated him, he still didn't give up on her. Then they danced for the first time when he inexplicably opened up to her about Holly leaving him and she to him about her father leaving when she was just a child. They didn't know each other very well back then. They had only known each other for a few days but they already trusted each other. More importantly there was already a spark between them… that she could not deny. They connected on a deeper level and whether it was appropriate or not, they kept getting closer on a daily basis.

How, for some reason, she hated seeing him check the Paris box. Was she jealous, even then? If she was really honest with herself, she needed to acknowledge that she was jealous and there was no way around it. She tried to convince herself that it was all out of concern for him, to stop his living in limbo and so on, but was it really?

How they gravitated towards each other in every assignment. When they split into teams, they invariably ended up together; they were always the natural choice for each other. Of course, it didn't help that Rita and Norman had this thing going on between them despite the fact they would rather die than come clean about it, especially Norman.

What about the invitation to be his dance partner? Shane was absolutely certain he could have found somebody else to dance with, perhaps somebody with more experience than her, but he chose her. How had he found Louise in the first place? Surely he could have found another partner if he'd really wanted to. And to make the blunder of telling her he didn't want a nice lady, he wanted her. His mouth just spoke of what his heart was already full of. At first, Shane was super uncomfortable taking those dance lessons in front of very experienced and very good dancers. But she agreed regardless… that was a big 'I love you' on her part, she thought. The dance training itself was a constant 'I love you', one after another from both of them. How they started to enjoy it more and more and how they relaxed in each other's arms. How about his jealous demeanour when Ramon came on the scene? Why should he be jealous?

One of the biggest 'I love you's' came at the late night rehearsal in the DLO. Her face got all warm just by remembering that intimate, and frankly, wonderful moment. For her, it had been the moment when it became all too clear. Until that moment, it had all been just a bit of fun. Although they were obviously attracted to each other and neither of them would deny it; she suspected he rather die than admit it. But the cat was truly let out of the bag with that rehearsal. Why did he panic and run away? Why did he look as if all he wanted at that very moment was to kiss her senseless before the gravity of the situation dawned on him?

What about the loving gazes? What about the intimacy in the bank vault? If those were not "I love you's", she didn't know what love was.

Shane could have spent days daydreaming about all the 'I love you's' between them, but another huge one happened that very night when she saw Oliver, standing in the pouring rain, and mail the letter he had in his pocket… to Holly. Her heart broke in a thousand pieces, as he looked at her knowing everything was out of their control now. Holly might come back and if she wanted to restart their life together, he'd have no other option, he'd never turn her away and Shane would be utterly and completely out of his life. His look now said it all, he might as well shout it from the rooftops: "I love you Shane McInerney and I'm so, so very sorry."

Shane concluded her heart belonged to Oliver now, he was her treasure!