Chapter 3: Isobel (June)

The disadvantages of having your birthday fall on a work day were quite evident to Isobel. Her birthday would just be a couple of days after Maggie's but hers was on a weekend. She had her celebration surrounded by her family and the team.

Isobel's occurred on a Tuesday. The work week had already started and the weekend was still far away. Her good night's sleep was interrupted by a phone call from the deputy director. He ordered that the team handle the sensitive case. That was the start of her supposed special day.

The SAC just finished getting ready when a couple of messages greeting her came in. The first coming from her ASAC which made her heart flutter. She didn't want to dwell on the reason why a simple gif of Happy Birthday followed by a few emoticons and See you later earned that reaction.

The next was from her dad. Her smile was genuine when she read ¡Feliz cumpleaños mija! See you this Sunday. Their relationship is still a work in progress but at least both father and daughter are making efforts.

After sending her thanks to both of them, she prepared her things. She was already downstairs when she received the message from her driver. He was running late because he had to make a minor repair to the vehicle.

She was about to request an uber when the driver showed up. To make things worse, they got stuck in traffic for an hour due to an accident.

The day started to get better when she entered her office to drop off her things. She saw the bouquet of tulips on her side table. Quickly reading the attached card, she saw that it was from the team though she recognized her ASAC's scrawl. She didn't have time to admire them yet since the case was in full swing. She got to the JOC already buzzing with activity. Jubal handed her coffee that she noticed came from their favorite cafe. She nodded her thanks and listened to him give updates about the case.

Since most of the morning was spent on the case, Isobel generally received short greetings from college friends and former colleagues. However, during lunch, the team surprised her with food, her favorite red velvet cake and balloons in the break room. Apparently, Tiff baked the cake at Jubal's request, OA and Stuart bought the food, Maggie got the balloons, and the analysts decorated the break room. Deeply touched by her team's efforts, she promised them a team dinner - her treat - after the case.

But things don't always go as planned. It was already late and Isobel was still in a meeting with the deputy director and other superiors. She had to text Jubal to send the team home and that she'll make up for the team dinner next time.

The ASAC replied that he already did and that the team had food delivered for dinner before going home.

Although she had a hunch, she still asked. Who paid for dinner?

She smiled at his reply. Don't worry about it followed by a smiley face.

When she was finally allowed to go, Isobel found Jubal at the JOC, munching on a granola bar. Wiping the crumbs away as he stood up, he asked, "How was the meeting?"

She took a deep breath before responding. "It went as well as it could since we got the results." She paused and looked around. "Everyone went home already?"

"Yeah," he answered with his hand going to his nape. "They wanted to wait up but it was already late. They had dinner though."

"They? You didn't join them?"

"I didn't want to have a proper dinner without the birthday girl," he shyly admitted. "There are leftovers in the break room so we can reheat them if you want."

She sighed. "Maybe we could just bring them to my place. I'm tired and don't want to spend any more time here tonight than I have to."

"Sure," he chuckled. "There should be a rule that there shall be no meetings for birthday celebrants."

"I wish but sadly no. None of them even greeted me."

"Never mind them, you have us to greet you. Happy birthday again, Izzy." Jubal gave her a side hug as they started walking towards the door. With a beaming smile on her face after she murmured her thanks, Isobel thought that this day is special after all.

Notes:

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