Walter's desk, like almost all of the office furnishings, was second hand. Everything but the chairs, but even they showed lots of wear and tear. And an argument could be made that as a second hand piece of furniture, there was a chance it had, at least once, seen the backs of lovers lying on top of it. But what was a cold hard fact, since it became property of Scorpion Inc it was never used for anything but work. Not counting an occasional butt that sat on the edge of it for one discussion or another. But Saturday morning, that cold hard fact was no longer true. The story of the night before that his desk could tell if it had a voice, just might make you blush. It would definitely cause a certain genius nerd to blush to have it found out.
Walter was in his so-called bedroom in the Loft. Sitting on the desk chair beside the small desk he kept there in case he needed to work but didn't want to go downstairs.
Five feet away from him was his bed. His seemingly amused eyes drinking in the sleeping form of Paige. She was lying on her right side, her left shoulder was bare as her left arm stretched out from under the covers. Her palm was firmly in the spot he had been in maybe an hour ago. His mind seemed stuck in a loop over what he had experienced over the last twelve hours.
"Walter?" Paige said sleepily as her hand ran back and forth across the bed. Her eyes opened slowly and didn't see him. Her head rose up as she leaned back in bed and looked across the room. She smiled seeing Walter sitting there staring at her. "What time is it, lover?" Paige asked with a sexy purr.
Walter still stared at her.
"Walter?" Paige said a bit louder.
Walter still didn't respond.
Paige frowned as she forced herself up in the bed, propping her back against the wall. She pulled the sheet up and tucked it tighter against her body.
"Walter, are you okay?" Paige asked.
"Oh, good morning love." Walter smiled. "It's 9 am." Walter told her.
Paige smiled.
"It's too early then, come back to bed." Paige pouted as she patted the bed and slipped back down into the covers.
Walter still sat there.
"Walter? Didn't you hear me? Come back to bed." Paige told him.
"I'm fine Paige. I was just reliving the evening." Walter smiled.
Paige grinned as she shook her head.
"Come back to bed Walter." Paige told him again.
"Oh, yes, I heard you. Sure, coming back to bed." Walter nodded as he stood and removed the sweat pants he was wearing. He quickly crawled back under the covers.
Paige cuddled up with him and slowly she started to sleep.
"Paige? Was that a typical dance you used to do?" Walter asked.
Paige's eyes opened slowly.
"No." Paige said with a smile as she nuzzled into his chest. "I never sang back when I danced and I tried to minimize contact between me and whoever. But I relished what I did with you. You should have seen me in the bathroom yesterday. Every chance I got, I rehearsed the dance." Paige giggled. I was definitely a little rusty."
Walter hugged her tighter.
"I thought you were magnificent." Walter said finally after several minutes. So long in fact, that Paige had almost dropped back off to sleep.
"Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it." Paige said as she yawned.
"It was far more than the word enjoyed can convey." Walter said but Paige was back sound asleep by the time he replied.
Keys could be heard jingling as they were inserted into the lock. The mechanical grind as the key was turned forcing the lock to retract the bolt followed. The door pushed open and then an almost nine year old, brown haired boy pushed past the man opening the door.
Sylvester just smiled as he stepped inside and closed the door. A quick stop at the alarm panel, reset the system even as Ralph ran up the stairs to the Loft.
"Hi Mom! Walter!" Ralph said loudly and excitedly as he dashed over to the table they sat at with lunch before them.
"Hey baby. Did you have a good time?" Paige asked as she hugged him tightly to her for a moment.
"It was amazing. I hope Walter and I can try and reproduce one of the experiments." Ralph said quickly.
"What?" Walter said suddenly as if coming out of a fog. "Oh, Ralph. Welcome home." Walter smiled.
Ralph looked at him funny even as Paige did her best to stifle the giggle she felt.
"Good afternoon guys." Sylvester said happily as he came up the stairs.
"Good afternoon Sylvester." Paige greeted him. "Would you guys care for some breakfast for lunch?" Paige asked as her hand waved over the large spread of food she'd fixed.
"Breakfast?" Sylvester frowned for a moment as he walked over. "Sure." He nodded finally as he stopped at an empty chair. "That is a beautiful silk robe Paige." Sylvester said as he sat down.
"Well thank you. We got a late start today so I just figured we'd do breakfast." Paige smiled.
"What experiment would you like to reproduce?" Walter finally asked as his mind caught up with what Ralph wanted to do.
"I was thinking we could modify his remote control idea and we could tap into one of the decommissioned satellites that still has power." Ralph grinned.
"Oh, Sylvester. Yes, sit and have some lunch." Walter told him.
"Mom, what's wrong with Walter?" Ralph asked his Mom as he stood staring at the man.
Paige grinned even as she blushed a little.
"Nothing sweetheart. We just didn't get to sleep until late…going over all the…figures. And he's just a little sleep deprived." Paige told him before biting her lower lip.
"That's an interesting idea Ralph. Your Mom wants us to go do a little shopping now that you are home. But with her permission once we get back we can dig through the web and see which satellites are still listed as functional but decommissioned and then we can do some research to find out communication protocols." Walter smiled.
"I'd stay away from the old Russian ones if I were you. Most of them are so shoddy. And you never know when one of them might have a payload of some kind or weapon." Sylvester told Ralph.
"Yes, nothing wrong with me at all Ralph. It was a wonderful way to spend the evening. Your Mom had a way about it and made me completely aware of t-the…f-f…figures." Walter stumbled. "It definitely opened my eyes to what I had missed."
"It certainly was a hard time." Paige grinned. "But with resolve and the firmness you possessed, we made it." Paige giggled.
"You guys are acting really weird." Ralph said before sitting down to eat.
By Saturday evening Walter was acting more like himself. After dinner Walter and Ralph had chosen a satellite to attempt to communicate with. The rest of their time together was spent developing an interface system for communicating with it.
Paige could feel his nervous energy as they got ready for bed that night. She smiled and inched her finger to him.
Walter leaned over and she kissed his cheek.
"I realize what we did last night is new to you and you are probably really excited about repeating it. But we have to be careful Walter. We don't have real walls and Ralph sometimes wakes up or it takes him longer to fall asleep." Paige whispered.
Walter swallowed hard as he nodded. This was going to take a lot of effort.
The gang walked in Monday morning and Happy saw Walter at his desk. Some would assume he was working, Happy knew Walter's style when typing and this wasn't his normal for work. His car was gone so she assumed Paige took Ralph to school. She walked over and stopped in front of his desk.
"Morning Walt." Happy said.
"Good morning Happy." Walter said and then looked up at her and smiled.
"How was the weekend?" Happy asked.
"Good." Walter told her.
Happy walked around his desk and leaned back until she was half sitting on the edge.
"Glad to hear it. Did you get your problem worked out?" Happy asked as her eyes tried to look down his torso but Walter moved forward until the desk touched his stomach.
"Happy." Walter said softly.
Happy grinned.
"Come on Walt. You both were here alone together for over twelve hours. Surely something popped up." Happy asked.
"We had a very nice time together." Walter told her.
Happy shook her head as she looked back and saw Toby as he was flipping through the mail he got Saturday.
"Fine, be that way. But, one thing I would recommend you do before Toby comes over here." Happy grinned.
Walter frowned and looked up at her.
"Keep your laptop pulled closer to the edge of your desk. You pushed it further away when you scooted under the desk more. You don't want him seeing the stain on your desk." Happy said as she placed her hand a few inches away from the stain she was referring to. "You should do a better job of cleaning it too." Happy giggled.
Walter's eyes closed after he looked down and saw the stain. His fingers grabbed the laptop and slowly dragged it back over. He had to scoot out from under the desk to make it comfortable for his arms.
Happy laughed seeing what Walter had tried to hide.
"Yep, you keep that up Walt…and Paige will love it." Happy said as she jumped off the desk and walked to the kitchen.
Most of the day had been hectic. Cabe had come in shortly after Paige got back from dropping Ralph off with a case for the Governor of California. Paige found herself working hard interceding between Walter and the various officials concerning the attack on the Governor's daughter.
Something about this case was bothering Walter more than it should have been and she cornered him at one point. It took her a bit but Walter finally confessed to her about his sister and her illness. After saving the Governor's life and apprehending the culprit, Walter and Paige returned to the Garage. Ralph was to be picked up by Paige's friend Sara. So Paige decided to take a shower and change clothes. Walter decided to make an important phone call while she was busy.
"Briggs and Barrons, this is Terri. How may I direct your call?" The receptionist answered the phone.
"Yes, Walter O'Brien for Bobby Dankworth." Walter said as he sat at his work table watching the front of the Loft for snooping.
"Walter?" Bobby said as he picked up his phone.
"Yes Bobby, it's me." Walter replied.
"Wholly crap! Dude, it's been like ten years. I thought someone was messing with me when the receptionist said it was you. How the hell are you?" Bobby asked.
"I'm getting by thanks. You?" Walter asked. He figured a little honey might be called for.
"Not too bad man. Hey, I'm really glad you called man. I've felt pretty bad all these years. Tricking you to get that contract. I knew from talking to you, you were the best candidate for it. But our company was dying. If I couldn't get it, well a lot of people would have lost their jobs. I know the ends doesn't justify the means, so I needed to say that." Bobby explained.
"That's kind of why I called to be honest." Walter was relieved to hear he had regrets. He hoped he'd open up more. "The statute of limitations is up and I don't want to cause any problems. I just need some information. You know, because I don't understand what happened that night. I barely remember much after we walked into some kind of bar. Which is weird because I don't drink."
He heard Bobby take a deep breath.
"Okay man, I'll tell you. I'm not proud but I owe you." Bobby said.
"A buddy of mine worked at one of the exhibits we went to and he slipped a little GHB into your water. It was just supposed to be enough to cause you to black out and sleep late. But I don't know if you had an adverse reaction, it didn't seem like it. Or if he gave you too much but man. At the club, you were a little nuts." Bobby sighed. "Anyway we started to sit at a back table and this girl was dancing on stage and dude. You absolutely went bonkers over her. I don't recall her name at the moment. Well I guess bonkers might not be the right term. More like catatonic. You just stared at her, literally drooling. It was like you were starving and she was a prime rib dinner."
"A buddy of mine worked there and he suggested we get a private room. Before I could say no, you paid him the thousand dollars for the room. You offered him another thousand, saying you wanted to have sex with that dancer. He said he wasn't sure she'd do it but he'd let the boss know." Bobby told him.
Walter sat listening to his breathing, listening to his speech pattern and compared it to what he remembered of Bobby from ten years ago.
"We were in that room and the door reopened. A guy I knew from when I was a juvenile came in. Drew said he heard what you wanted and he needed a favor. He said she was his wife and he believed she was cheating on him. He had a briefcase with a camera in it. If she agreed he wanted it caught on film. I thought great, this is getting out of hand. But you were so far gone, I don't think you realized it. Girl after girl came through shortly after that. But you weren't interested in those girls. You kept saying you wanted Pamela, yeah that was her name. Pamela. You said you had two thousand dollars left, you didn't care you wanted her. I was worried, freaking out. Drew told me to stay calm and do exactly what he said. I didn't want to, but Walter, he knows my secrets and he'd expose them and my life would have been over. Anyway the head bouncer comes to the room and since you were out of it, Drew told me to act like it was me that wanted her. He tells me she said no. So at Drew's insistence, I told him I would up it to fifteen hundred. So he left. Drew had said they wouldn't let someone in your condition agree to this." Bobby explained.
"He came back a short bit later and told me sorry, she wasn't interested. At this point you were next to unconscious. So I didn't say anything else. But then about an hour later you woke up and wanted to know why she hadn't been there. I told you and you were upset. Told me to raise it to two grand. Drew pulled your wallet out and gave me the money you had in it. So I did and I said that I'd pretend to be asleep. He came back after a few minutes and said she agreed. He needed my ID. I was hesitant, I was married and I didn't want anything to ruin that. Drew was right there, whispering his crap into my ear, so I gave in and gave him my ID. The guy gave me a room number. So after he left Drew and I got you up and took you to the room. Left you sitting there with the briefcase and the camera going." Bobby explained.
Walter could hear a soft sob come from Bobby.
"Walter, I am so sorry man. I had a troubled youth, I got into lots of stupid crap. But I had finally turned things around. I had a great job, pay, benefits, my wife and son. This was just supposed to be a simple thing of getting you to black out to miss your appointment. But I helped facilitate what happened and I am sorry. I was so scared, that is why I sent those texts, I wanted to try and establish like you had just left in case anything happened." Bobby nearly cried.
Bobby just breathed for several minutes.
"After she left, we went back in. Drew just grabbed the briefcase and left. Leaving me to deal with you and you were out cold at this point. Thankfully my friend William was still there and he helped get you to my car. Where you were staying wasn't too far so I offered him fifty bucks to go with me to get you into your room. His uncle owned the place so he agreed. We left you on your bed." Bobby sighed.
"Thank you Bobby, I appreciate you telling me the truth." Walter told him. "If you need it, I forgive you." Walter said before he hung up.
Greetings! I hope this finds you all well!
Railman - lol Well done on getting so many song titles into your comment! lol The Queen definitely knew "The Show Must Go On" and she really sent Walter to "Radio Ga Ga". He wasn't just an "Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy", he let his "Hammer to Fall" with "A Kind of Magic". He didn't know that "Too Much Love Will Kill You" but he wasn't about to "Face it Alone". He had "One Vision" for a "Breakthru" to "Keep Yourself Alive" because "These Are The Days of Our Lives".
Lucy - Right? I don't think he had one single complaint. LOL It does seem that way doesn't it? Who knew there was a decent person under all that? lol
LouBe - Well probably closer to 96 hours...LOL He's brain was definitely feeling the exhaustion! lol Really? You didn't even think it would be a lap dance? LOL What was so funny in writing this, I was trying to catch up on JerBr's story "From Letters to Love" and I read the comments between you and him about Paige doing a lap dance and he suggested maybe I could write it. I was dying...I almost stopped writing too...I was like...ack! Surprise spoiled! lol Definitely, I can't listen to the song without thinking of this scene anymore. lol Cabe's a good man. Yep, Railman did good.
Susan - lol Well hopefully you see Toby a little better now!
Marie Mac - Yep, he still has the original written but said he would love to have a copy of what you saved if we could figure out how to get it from you to him. lol
Pearliegirl - hehe Glad you enjoyed it! lol And glad you enjoyed the alternate version of Caber and Paige's dream/nightmare in the Grab Bag!
To the Adventure! -Tim