"Hi, Dad."
Emily's soft voice interrupted her father's conversation with the bartender. She turned around to see his daughter, beautiful and glowing, and with a sharp looking date on her arm.
"Emily, my dear!" He embraced her in a bear hug, as was customary between them. Emily had always looked up to her father. He was smart, yet compassionate. She connected with him than with her mother.
"Dad, this is Dr. Spencer Reid, one of my colleagues. Reid, this is my father, Richard Prentiss."
"It's a pleasure, sir," Reid said. He extended his hand for a friendly handshake. Richard grabbed it and shook it feverishly. Reid knew that his handshake was kind of akin to that of a fish, but he was worried that Richard was going to rip his hand off.
"Same here, son. You look familiar, though. Was it- no… it was- no… oh! That symposium of the physiological… no the paleontology… no… the psychological effects of technology! That was it! Pleasure to meet you, son!"
Reid stifled a giggle. Emily's dad was so bumbling, but so warm at the same time. Quite a nice person.
"So, tell me son, when did you-"
"Emily! Emily!" Her mother was calling her. "Emily!"
Prentiss whipped around. "What, Mom?" She was just starting to enjoy herself talking with her dad.
"I just need to go over some details about the speech and the order of things. Can you come with me a minute?"
"Speech?" Reid asked. "What speech?"
"It's, uh- never mind. You'll see. All right, Mom." Prentiss gave a subtle roll of the eyes just for Reid to see, and he gave a sympathetic smile.
"So, tell me, Dr. Reid. How old are you?"
"26, sir."
"26! My, oh my! A youngster, aren't you!"
Reid awkwardly looked up. "Uhh, I suppose, sir." Reid was swirling his drink, and lifted it up to his mouth to take a sip.
"So how long have you been interested in Emily?"
Reid nearly choked on his drink. "I- I- what?" he stammered.
"Son, I can see it. The way you were looking at her while she was talking. The way you were holding her shoulder. That little eye-roll she gave you that was just supposed to be a secret between the two of you. I can see it."
Reid was still frozen. Yeah, he had feelings for Emily. Big ones. As in every time she smiled, his heart skipped a little beat. But he wasn't ready to admit it. And he thought he would be able to use his profiling skills to cover up the emotion on his face.
"If it makes you feel any better," Richard whispered, "I know my daughter. I can read her like the back of my hand. She's very into you, also."
Reid's mind started racing. He had always hoped for that, but he thought it was unlikely. Every time he thought he detected something, he immediately came up with a reason why it didn't mean anything. But with Prentiss' father telling him…
"And I give you my permission to date her. Or whatever you need. I like you, son. You're young, but you seem like an old soul. And I think you'd make a good match for Emily."
"Hey," Prentiss said. She had returned. And not a moment too soon… "What were you two geniuses talking about?" She looked right at Reid.
"Uhh, we were, uhh, talking about the, uhh, symposium. That I gave here at Georgetown."
Prentiss looked over at her dad. He seemed to be agreeing. But she knew Reid was lying. Were they talking about her? Impossible, she thought. That's impossible. But Reid's eyes were telling her that yes, in fact, they were talking about her. And her dad's eyes said that he was totally fine with it. Prentiss relaxed a little. She was glad her father and Reid were getting a long.
"Sorry about that. Mom's a stickler for details. She just wanted to make sure I knew how to use the microphone. Anyway, she said that dinner would be served soon. So, uh, I guess we could make our ways to the dais."
"Lead the way," Reid offered. And so Prentiss did. She gently picked up his hand in hers, smiled back at him, and brought him to the dais.