"Damnit Root! I told you I won't be there. Don't make a big deal of the day. I'm not."

"But Sameen it's been a year to the day that we met."

"Let's see Root. As I recall you tased me, zip-tied me and threatened to burn me with an iron. Why in the hell would I want to celebrate that?"

"But Sam, look how far we've come."

"OK, well... you constantly break into my apartment, you invite yourself where you're not invited and you generally do everything you can to annoy me whenever we're in the same room.

"If we've come a long way, I don't think I want to go much further." Shaw turned on her heel and left the subway. Root's smile remained, but her eyes, to anyone who really knew her, showed her disappointment, if not her hurt.

Just before Shaw disappeared up the stairs, Root called out, "I'm planning dinner for 7:00, steak's on the menu."

Shaw slowed, almost hesitated, then continued climbing. "Feed my share to Bear." She disappeared into the darkness.

Root's smile faltered briefly, then returned tinged with sadness. "I wonder when she's going to realize we're perfect for each other." Reese and Finch looked on without comment. Suddenly, her eyes got that faraway look the two men recognized. Root tilted her head momentarily as the smile returned. Standing, she headed up the same stairs Shaw had climbed only moments before.

"Gotta go guys, She needs an errand. Don't wait up- I'll see you when I see you."

And she was gone, again, doing the Machine's bidding.

...

The smells wafted through Root's apartment as twice-baked potatoes, garlic bread and baked asparagus cooked in the oven. Two hunks of meat rested on the carving board next to the oven. One filet was at least three times the size of the other.

Root had eaten enough times with Shaw to consider her voracious appetite when shopping. After running an errand for the Machine (which involved stopping an irrelevant number's kidnapping) she stopped at her favorite market on her way home.

Two filets, sides, a bottle of Shaw's favorite Scotch and a bottle of wine for herself filled two shopping bags she carried through the door. The apartment was approximately 800 square feet with a large kitchen and living room. The only bedroom was actually a master suite with full bath and walk-in closet.

Root had tastefully and artfully bridged the area where the kitchen and living room came together with an expanding oak table which, when necessary could be expanded to seat six comfortably, Tonight, there were only two places set, with candles burning in the center of the table. The Scotch and wine sat on the counter and only the filets remained to be cooked as Root awaited Shaw's arrival. She didn't want to overcook the steak on the first night she cooked for Sameen,

Forty five minutes earlier, she had texted Shaw a short message. Dinner in process, I'll hold the main course 'til you arrive. Adding a smiley face emoticon at the end, she waited. When she received no response a slight frown appeared.

She's coming.

….

7:00 came and went. At 7:45 Root poured her first glass of wine. At 8:30, halfway through her third glass, she took the food out of the oven to cool and placed the filets back in the fridge. By 9:00 with her wine glass empty for the fourth time, she slowly put the potatoes, bread and asparagus in containers and stored them away.

She blinked away tears as she considered possible reasons for Shaw's not even responding to the text, much less giving her a call to let her know…. know what? The part of her mind that told her Shaw was unavoidably detained was overridden by Root's common sense.

Her rational mind told her that she wasn't coming for the simple reason that she really didn't care and that no matter how much Root cared, she couldn't care enough for both of them. Thinking maybe she should just go to bed, she made another in a string of mistakes that marked the day as one of her worst.

She asked the Machine, "Where is Shaw?" The answer, echoed in her head and sent her running to the bathroom where the four glasses of wine were the only thing she had to regurgitate. The rest of her pain remained festering in the pit of her stomach and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get it out.

After several minutes of dry heaving and sobbing, Root regained enough control to clean herself up. She stayed ten minutes longer in the bathroom as she brushed away the sour taste in her mouth, then applied some make up and lipstick.

Then, blowing out the candles, she headed out into the New York night.