Suzanne was busy at her desk when she heard the slight creak of someone entering. She noted the size of the shadow which fell across her desk, along with the hint of aroma which drifted in on the breeze, and smile slightly, knowing exactly who it was.
"Hi Kate, he's just finishing up some paperwork, I think!"
"How do you do that, Suzanne?"
"You two aren't the only ones who went through Quantico. And besides, you wear a distinctive perfume. It makes it a little easier! Do you want me to let him know you're here?"
"No, I'll let myself in. Has he had lunch yet?"
"Does he ever have lunch when he's supposed to? Do you want something sent up?"
"No, I've organised lunch, just on a hunch!"
"That's a worry. You're starting to get to know his habits!", teased Suzanne, returning to her work as Kate continued onward into the office itself.
Josh was reknowned for working with his office door open, unless he wanted to be focussed, when he shut the door out almost completely. But, he rarely ensured the catch caught. Fortunately, this was one of those times when it hadn't. Kate eased the door open gently, and silently looked into the room. Luck would have it that Josh was reading and, as he usually did, had turned to face the window, using outside as a better source of light and also as a distraction when the reading was frustrating him.
Kate eased through the door, guiding it silently back into position so that it didn't quite click. She glided across the room and rounded the desk, soundless in her approach. Neatly, she placed the bag she'd been carrying upon the desk, out of his peripheral vision, without a sound, and stood, watching him for a moment. He was totally unaware of her observation, focussed on the document in his hands. Slowly, she lowered her head on the shadowed side of the chair, and gently suckled his earlobe, almost giving him a heart attack.
"Oh God, Kate, you almost scared the life out of me!"
"Well, that's the last thing I want to do!", she retorted, a wicked glint in her eye.
"Oh, and what was your intention", he answered with equally veiled innuendo.
"To come in and have lunch, of course!", she parried, presenting the bag that had soundlessly accompanied her.
"And that was top priority!", he replied, putting down the document he'd been reading, and eyeing the bag suspiciously, "Home made?"
"You're still in recovery, remember, although it doesn't look like you're doing too much resting!", she said, as she brought forth the bagels she'd picked up on a break.
"I've eased off, I promise!", he said, doing a mock salute, and earning a gentle tap of retribution.
"Keep that up and I will feed you!"
They both laughed, and tucked in to the bagels. They weren't too bad at all, thought Josh as they chatted casually over lunch. Kate discussed the piles of paperwork she'd been doing (something he too could relate to at the moment), and the various pieces of office gossip that were circulating. He meandered through the assignments and paper shuffling that had been happening at his end of things.
"By the way, what do you have planned for tonight?", she asked out of nowhere.
"Nothing in particular. Just getting intimate with about a dozen documents that need reading. Why? What did you have in mind?", he asked pointedly, barely veilling the innuendo.
"Justin's playing ice-hockey tonight, and I was wondering if you might like to come and watch", she said, sidestepping the innuendo.
"I'd love to", he answered immediately.
"You don't have to, you know. I'll understand if you...", she said, before Josh placed a finger to her lips and silenced her.
"I said I'd love to, OK? No strings attached, I know. Just watching a game of ice hockey. You might have to help me through the finer points of the game. Never seemed to get too much attention around our household growing up. You had basketball and basketball, that was it!"
"Hmm....well, I'm sure I could help you with the finer points", she retorted, a wicked eyebrow raising slightly. "7pm sound good?"
"Sounds perfect!", he answered, closing the distance between them and adding an enthusiastic, albeit short, kiss to add some emphasis.
"I'll see you then", she replied, regretfully stepping out of his embrace and heading back to the office of Unit Delta.
*****************************************
Time: 7.00 pm, Kate's house
Josh pulled up out front of Kate's house, realising it was the first time he'd ventured out here. Fortunately, he'd received directions from her later in the afternoon when she'd realised he might need an address and directions. He stepped out of his car, wondering what he should expect. He had no idea what the boys knew about him, what they thought of this situation and how they felt about Kate dating. He also didn't really know a great deal about either of the boys, he realised suddenly. No more than Kate's mentions of them, and what he could glean from the files, which wasn't much. Admittedly, he hadn't dug around, preferring to play things by ear and for their relationship to be totally open. He swallowed the nerves, took a deep breath and strode up the path to the front door. Deftly tossing the fears deep inside, he pressed the door bell, and waited patiently for an answer.
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