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Bobby felt his shoulders drop and let out a heavy breath as his apartment door shut behind him. The relief of finally being home and away from the awkward situation he’d found himself in earlier tonight was palpable. He dropped his keys, took off his jacket and shoes and went to his kitchen to get himself a glass of water. Setting his glass down on the coffee table, he plopped down on the couch and sighed. He stared into space and wondered whom he was going to kill first: his sponsor or certain members of his team.
It was Wendell who’d first encouraged him to get back out there and start dating again, but it were certain members of his team who were quickly making him regret ever even contemplating the advice. He never should have let them catch wind of it. That part was on him, he had to admit. He shouldn’t have started working on his dating profile around the fire station when he knew damn well his team was full of well meaning busybodies. Well meaning but not always on the mark, as he’d once again become very aware of over the past two weeks.
After mocking his – according to them – outdated dating profile and watching him basically muddle through and not take any further action for a week, they’d decided to take matters into their own hands and organize some dates for him. And by ‘they’, he obviously meant Chim and Buck. The others knew better than to get involved. Though, to his ever growing exasperation, just today they’d been trying to rope Hen into it. Which certainly couldn’t make things worse at this point, but he wasn’t confident it would make things better either. To be honest, he was over the whole thing and wanted to abort mission. Badly. The three dates he’d been set up on so far over the past two weeks, somehow went from bad to worse.
Bobby had of course at first refused their help – adamantly in fact –, but after they’d gotten on his profile behind his back and started going through potential matches, messaging them and actually planning a meet up with someone, he felt he had no choice but to actually go on the date. He couldn’t possibly stand up the poor woman, gentleman that he is.
So first up had been a date set up by Chimney with a woman named Patricia. According to Chim, she’d been age appropriate (though barely in Bobby’s opinion) and sounded ‘very enthusiastic, fun and adventurous’ (which sounded vaguely overwhelming to Bobby). It took Bobby barely two minutes into the date to realize that Chimney had basically set him up with Tatiana 2.0. Patricia was just as into heroic tales of firefighting as Tatiana was, but got twice as wound up hearing about them (or so Bobby assumed, Bobby didn’t understand how Chim had ever been able to stand to be around her otherwise). Bobby had gotten increasingly more uncomfortable as she kept trying to scoot closer and closer and touch him. He’d hightailed it out of there as fast as he could without being rude. Of course Chimney had been eager to know how the date went the next day during their shift and made a valiant effort to change his mind when Bobby said there most definitely wouldn’t be a second date. As much as he hated disappointing anyone, Chim would just have to deal. That was a hard pass.
Then, of course, had been Buck’s turn. Bobby had really hoped to be done with the whole thing entirely, but before he could even open his mouth, Buck and Chimney were quick to point out that it would only be fair for Buck to have his chance too. He guessed that was true enough so four days later, he’d reluctantly went to meet Buck’s pick. He hadn’t exactly had high hopes for that one because you know… it’s Buck. He wasn’t entirely sure how he went about arranging a date for him (all Buck had wanted to tell him beforehand, was that her name was Sandy and that he was going to be blown away) but he could take a guess as to what would be considered important in the kid’s eyes. When he’d excitedly exclaimed the words ‘mind blowing’ a second time, Bobby had felt his apprehension grow exponentially.
The night of the date, he’d been awaiting Sandy’s arrival, keeping an eye on the door to see which patrons entered the restaurant Buck had also chosen, and he’d somehow been able to tell right away when she walked through the door that this would be Buck’s pick. He’d been proven right within seconds as the maitre d’ quickly approached his table with said woman in tow. Though she wasn’t exactly his type, Bobby could see why most men would find the tall, long haired blonde attractive. It’s when she started talking about herself and her life (more like droning on), though, that Bobby realized their lives and interests were miles apart (and that she wasn’t exactly the smartest tool in the shed but he’d kept that thought to himself when telling the guys how the date went, he was a nice guy after all).
Bobby had well and truly hoped that would be the end of Chim’s and Buck’s short-lived careers as matchmakers but he really should’ve known better. They were like dogs with bones sometimes and had no shame in bringing out their puppy dog eyes to get their way. They’d begged him to let them join forces and pick someone together. They were sure their combined efforts would lead to finding his ideal woman. Bobby wasn’t nearly as convinced and resisted for a bit, but they’d only been on the second hour of a 48-hour shift and eventually he ended up giving in just so they’d stop pestering him. After their shift, he’d wondered how he’d let that happen, and really regretted it.
He’d really regretted it then, but not as much as he was regretting it now, after what could only be described as the date from hell. Catrina had somehow been a combination of Patricia and Sandy, but amped up. If that was even possible. She’d made him uncomfortable before she’d even sat down and it hadn’t gotten any better from there.
Bobby shook his head and shuddered. He didn’t want to think about this anymore. It would definitely be his team members he’d be killing. Surely, this isn’t what Wendell had meant when he’d suggested getting back onto the dating scene. He grabbed his glass of water from the coffee table and gulped it down in one go. Tomorrow he would just tell the guys that he truly appreciated their efforts and their care for his happiness, but that he was done with online dating. This obviously wasn’t the right way for him to go about this. He nodded decisively and got up to get ready for bed. He just needed a shower to wash the horrors of the evening away, and to go to sleep so he could forget all about this terrible night.
Bobby was at the firehouse bright and early the next morning, cooking breakfast for the team. Hen, Chim and Buck entered the loft together fifteen minutes later. Hen being first up and going to greet her Captain; Chim and Buck practically tripping over themselves and each other in their eagerness to inquire about the date. Looking between the both of them, Bobby almost felt bad to have to burst their bubble but alas. He told them that unfortunately the date hadn’t really worked out. Without giving any more details, he turned back to the stove to turn the heat off and carry breakfast to the table while calling out to the rest of the crew that breakfast was ready. Chim and Buck shot each other a look before scurrying after Bobby and taking their places at the table. They started filling their plates like everyone else and then looked expectantly towards Bobby, but he was just quietly eating his food. Until he stopped mid chew as he noticed their stares.
“What?” he asked, confused.
“What do you mean ‘what’?! Are you serious right now?” Buck burst out, gesticulating wildly. He turned to Chimney, “Is he serious right now?”, before looking back at Bobby incredulously.
Bobby just raised an eyebrow.
“Oh come on, Cap! We want to know how your date went,” Chimney exclaimed.
“I just told you,” Bobby spoke calmly.
“All you told us, is that it didn’t work out,” Buck said slightly perplexed.
A snort from the other end of the table drew all their attention. Hen sat eating her eggs with a small smirk on her face, shaking her head.
“What?” Buck asked slightly defensive.
“Well clearly the date was a total disaster seeing as Cap doesn’t wanna say any more about it.”
Buck deflated slightly as Chim started protesting. “Surely not! We vetted Catrina really carefully, you know. She seemed totally awesome! Right, Buck?”
Buck nodded with a dejected look on his face. Bobby shrunk in on himself and scraped his throat lightly, not sure what to say. He felt bad seeing the dejected and expectant looks on Buck’s and Chim’s face, respectively. He really didn’t want to expand on how the date went, though. Living through it had been embarrassing enough. He internally breathed a sigh of relief when Hen saved him from having to answer.
“Well clearly your vetting process needs work because Cap looks hella uncomfortable. He cringed just at the mention of her name.”
Bobby’s cheeks turned slightly pink at Hen calling him out on that.
“Surely it couldn’t have been that bad,” Buck said petulantly.
Bobby looked at his plate for a second and then back up. “Let’s just say we weren’t compatible and leave it at that, okay?”
“Well how can we adjust our vetting process accordingly if we don’t know what exactly the problem is? We don’t want to make the same mistakes setting up the next hot date,” Chimney reasoned between bites.
Bobby’s eyes widened in fear at the mention of them setting up more dates but another snort and reply from Hen interrupted him before he could try to shut that down.
“The problem is that the two of you are idiots.”
“Hey!” Buck became indignant right away.
“What?” Hen continued, “You lot can’t even find good dates for yourselves.” Buck opened his mouth to counter that but Hen continued before he could even try. “I did say dates, Buckley, not hookups.” Buck shut his mouth abruptly. “You’re both hopeless at dating yourselves, what exactly made you think you’d fare any better setting Cap up?”
Both started sputtering but neither really had a good comeback to that so Buck just settled for “Yeah well…could you do any better?”
“Puh-lease. No offense, guys, but doing better than you two isn’t exactly a challenge. From the sounds of it, one could hardly do any worse. Right, Cap?”
Bobby didn’t really want to answer that so he just gave a small half shrug. Which really was confirmation enough.
“Exactly,” Hen deadpanned.
“Okay then it’s settled,” Chim said decisively.
“What’s settled?” Buck asked, confused now.
“Cap’s next date will be courtesy of one Henrietta Wilson. She can show us her superior matchmaking skills and hopefully get Bobby the hot date he deserves.”
Bobby’s eyes widened once more and he jumped in quickly. He needed to shut this down right now. “No no no! No more online date set ups! I know you guys mean well and I appreciate all your efforts but I really don’t think any of this was a good idea. Maybe I’m not ready to get back out there in the first place.” He added the last part in the hope that would convince them to drop it.
He clearly miscalculated.
“Oh come on, Cap! Just because you’ve been on a few crappy dates, doesn’t mean you should just give up! Surely your princess charming is out there, we just have to find her!” Chim said enthusiastically.
“Yeah, Cap!” Buck joined in. “You deserve to be happy and have a little lady love in your life. You might be a little rusty because you haven’t done this in forever and your dating profile may be incredibly dorky and lack game but we’ll totally find you the perfect girl!”
Bobby blinked slowly and stared blankly at Buck while Hen rolled her eyes at his idea of a peptalk and Chim shook his head slightly.
“What?” Buck asked.
Chim patted his shoulder. “You need to work on your peptalks, buddy.”
Buck looked put out and opened his mouth to respond but Bobby interrupted him before he could. They weren’t about to get off track again. He had to shut this matchmaking thing down now.
“Guys—” Before he could go any further, however, the fire bell went off and everyone got up in a flurry of movement to head to the engine. Bobby wasn't sure whether to be relieved or not. It would probably be too much to hope for that that would be the end of it.
The emergency they got called out to was a rough one and took up the rest of the morning. Afterwards the crew got back to the firestation dishevelled, tired and hungry. Bobby commanded his team to rotate between the showers and restock their vehicles while he himself trudged up the stairs towards the loft to start on lunch.
Just as he was about to call out about lunch being ready, he heard footsteps coming up the steps and he turned just in time to see Sergeant Athena Grant approaching. A smile instantly lit up his face.
“Sergeant, what a lovely surprise! To what do we owe the pleasure?”
“Captain,” Athena smiled back and leaned in for their usual side hug as she came up next to him. “I just finished up a call and realized it was lunchtime and Thursday. I never skip Pasta Thursday if I can help it.”
“Ahh,” Bobby nodded sagely, “it’s the food that draws you here.”
“Well the company isn’t too bad either,” Athena smirked.
“That’s high praise coming from you, Sergeant. We’re honored.”
“As you should be,” she said primly. Bobby chuckled, which immediately put a smile on her own face. Bobby laughed so seldomly that getting him to chuckle or full out laugh felt like an accomplishment. One she took more pleasure in than she wanted to admit.
“Can I help?” she questioned as he turned back to the stove to check on the food.
“I was actually just about to serve up so if you could grab the salad bowl, I’ll take the pasta.”
“At your service, Captain,” she said as she went to the counter to grab the bowl of salad and the necessary utensils.
Bobby bellowed out that lunch was being served as they put the food on the table and took their seats, Athena taking her place to Bobby’s left. A horde of hungry firefighters could be heard rushing up the stairs, turning the quietness of the loft into noisy chaos.
Athena heard her name being called through the commotion as Hen yelled out a greeting.
“Hey Thena! I didn’t know you were coming by today.”
Athena turned in her direction as she replied. “Hey Hen, like I just told Bobby here, I’m always down for Pasta Thursday.”
“Well it is the most amazing thing,” Buck said seriously as he took his seat, eyes already focused on the food.
Athena smirked as Hen snorted and Bobby smiled fondly. He looked at Buck for a second longer before turning to look at Athena and giving her a slightly more teasing smile.
“And apparently the company here is Sergeant Grant approved as well.”
“Now don’t let it get to your head, Captain,” she said mock seriously while pointing a finger at him.
Bobby made a “Who? Me?” gesture and added “I wouldn’t dare, Sergeant.” Athena couldn’t help but smile, looking at her plate for a second before looking back up at Bobby through her lashes.
Hen was watching the interaction and mumbled a “Oh the company is Sergeant Grant approved, alright” under her breath.
Chimney, who was sitting next to her, turned to her, and spoke between mouthfuls. “What was that?”
“Swallow before you speak,” she deflected. Chimney shrugged and went back to his food.
Conversation flowed as everyone enjoyed their food. Bobby was listening to Athena talk about her shift so far and was actually starting to relax for the first time that day, but he should have known that the other shoe was about to drop. As he was responding to something Athena said, Buck tried to draw his attention from the other side of the table.
“So Cap, about Hen’s turn at matchmaking…”
Bobby sighed and shook his head, closing his eyes for a second. He didn’t want to talk about this anymore. And he definitely didn’t want to talk about this with Athena sitting right next to him. He could already feel himself getting warm and had no doubt his cheeks were turning red. From the corner of his eye, he could see Athena frown slightly and look from him to Buck. Surely she was confused and about to ask what was going on. Desperately wanting to divert attention to something else, he opened his mouth but before he could come up with something to say, Chimney butt in.
He snapped his finger and pointed at Buck as he said “That’s right! We still need to plan! When are you free, Cap? So Hen knows when she can plan this date. We need to get the ball rolling asap.”
“Date? What’s going on?” Athena asked with feigned casualness. Something only Hen picked up on.
Bobby’s “It’s nothing” got lost in Buck’s excited ramblings. “Cap’s getting back out there on the dating scene so great friends that we are, we are helping to find him a girl. Because honestly, he wasn’t getting very far on his own.”
“That’s not—”, Bobby tried to interrupt but didn’t get very far as Chim wanted to get his two cents in.
“Yeah Bobby could use a little lovin’ so if you’ve secretly got some impressive matchmaking skills, feel free to pitch in, Athena.”
Even though Hen was curious about what the unfolding of more of this conversation might do to a certain someone at the table, she could see that her Captain was getting more and more flustered with every word the boys uttered, oscillating between wanting to look at Athena and not being able to look at her at all, and she took pity on him. So she stopped the boys’ word vomit fest and took control of the situation.
“I thought we’d agreed you two lost causes were going to stay out of it from now on. Now how about you leave this to me and Cap and we can discuss instead when you two are finally going to pay up that money you owe me,” Hen said as she stared them down.
“What money?” Chim tried innocently.
“The money from that bet you two were oh so sure you were going to win but you obviously didn’t.”
“Well… That is to say… Did we really lose, though?” Buck tried.
Hen raised an eyebrow. “You really did.”
As Buck and Chimney started debating whether they really owed her money, Hen risked another glance at Bobby and Athena. Both were now completey silent. Bobby was staring at his plate as if it held the answers to all questions in the universe, occasionnally throwing a very quick glance Athena’s way, and Athena was just shuffling the last of her food around. Probably trying to think of the fastest way to get out of there, if Hen had to take a guess.
Yet it ended up being Bobby who suddenly got up, announcing that he’d be cleaning up lunch. Normally Hen would protest considering he was the one that cooked. This time, though, she decided to let him go because he clearly wanted to get away from the table as soon as possible. Athena saw her own opportunity to leave and said she should be getting back to work. While under normal circumstances she no doubt would have offered to help clean up, she shot a quick “thanks for lunch” Bobby’s way and a “bye all” everyone else’s way and started making her way down without truly looking at anyone. Hen didn’t miss the way Bobby couldn’t help but turn from the counter and follow her departure with a longing gaze. Clearly he was still too embarrassed to say anything, though.
Hen quickly got up herself and started following her friend. She caught up with her and called out just as Athena was reaching her cruiser.
“Hey, Thena, wait up a second!”
Athena stopped in her tracks and threw a quick glance over her shoulder but didn’t turn around. She grabbed the handle of her car.
“I should really get back to the station, Hen. I’ve got a mountain of paperwork from this morning’s calls and should try to get some of it done before I get called out again.”
Though Athena couldn’t see her face, Hen raised an eyebrow. “Really, girl? Paperwork? That’s what you’re going with?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Athena answered flatly.
“I’m talking about what happened in there just now.”
“What happened is I came for lunch, we had lunch and now I’ve got to get back to work.”
“What happened is, one minute you were flirting with my boss, the next Buck mentioned him and dating in the same sentence and you went mute and couldn’t get out of there fast enough.” Hen knew her friend really well and knew the direct approach was the best approach in this case. Athena was the queen of deflection when she wanted to be and Hen knew trying to shock her with bluntness was likely the best way to get anywhere with her right now.
“You’re insane,” Athena scoffed. Deflective Athena could get quite testy and borderline mean, Hen knew that too. She wouldn’t be deterred that easily, though.
“Girl, don’t try that with me. I know you. I heard your voice when you asked about the dating and I saw the look on your face when the boys started rambling about finding Bobby some hottie. They might not have noticed, but your girl sure did.”
Hen waited a beat but Athena didn’t say anything. Hen smirked before just coming out with it.
“You were jealous.”
Athena whirled around without conscious thought. She took a second to gather herself before responding to Hen’s claims.
“I was not jealous. I was just surprised. That’s all.”
Hen rolled her eyes. “You like him.”
“Of course I like him. He’s my friend,” Athena said primly. She clearly wasn’t done deflecting yet but Hen wouldn’t let that discourage her.
“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” Hen said incredulously.
“Well that’s all there is.”
“Yeah okay. You can tell yourself that until you’re blue in the face, but I’m not buying it.”
Athena stared her down but said nothing. Hen held her gaze for a minute, not backing down either, before she sighed. “Look, I wasn’t even sure until today. I’d been wondering lately… but I wasn’t sure. Because the two of you have always gotten along, right from the very beginning. You were always friendly and… playful in a way. There’s this like…ease between the two of you, some sort of connection. And I didn’t think anything of it because you were in the same friend group and around the same age so it seemed natural for you to maybe gravitate towards each other a little. But lately…lately there seems to have been some sort of shift. And you’re around more often. And at first I figured it was just because of the divorce and the kids not being home all the time and you not wanting to be alone in an empty house. And so I thought you just came around more because you feel good here and to hang out with me, but then I started noticing you weren’t really hanging out with me more, you were mostly hanging out with him.” She paused for a second. “The line between friendly bantering and flirting is a fine one, you know. I wasn’t really sure yet were the two of you were landing these days. But then just now… when I saw your reaction to the dating thing and when I saw his reaction to your reaction… that was all the confirmation I needed.”
Athena looked down but still said nothing. It seemed like a sign of defeat. Hen frowned and went on more softly.
“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, you know. Quite the opposite in fact. I don’t get why you’re looking so defeated. We both know Bobby is a good guy, he is in fact still single, so what’s wrong with liking him?”
Athena finally looked up and shook her head slightly. She felt tears gather in her eyes but refused to let them fall.
“The ink is barely dry on my divorce papers, Hen. My mother already considers me the shame of the family for getting divorced at all. How is it going to look to people if I’d start dating again so soon? And like you said, Bobby and I have gotten along from the moment we met. We’ve been friends for a few years now, even more so lately. We’ve got a good thing going. I don’t want to screw that up.”
Hen looked at her friend and saw the vulnerability she was trying desperately to hide. Athena was all hard exterior and mushy insides. Not to mention that she’d been put through hell lately and Michael’s lies and actions had really done a number on her.
“Okay first: yes, officially the ink on your divorce is barely dry but we both know that in reality your marriage was over ages ago and you haven’t gotten what you deserve in a relationship for years. Second: your mother is who she is and, no offense, but she’ll probably have something to say about you dating again regardless of whether you start dating tomorrow or in two years. And third: there’s always risks involved when it comes to love and relationships, Thena. That’s the hard truth. Yes, things could go wrong. But, things could also go very right and there could be so much to gain. Would you rather try with the chance of it not working out, or live with the what if of never trying at all for the rest of your life?”
Athena saw the wisdom of what Hen was saying but fear and shame were strong motivators and were determined to hold her back, to protect herself. She stared at the ground once more.
“Look, Athena, ultimately it’s your call. But… I saw your face just now at just the mention of him dating another woman. Dates that have a snowballs chance of going anywhere, mind you. I really don’t want to see the look on your face when some nice woman actually snatches him up. Because here’s the thing: those two amateur matchmakers might have been setting him up with women who are completely wrong for him and don’t stand a chance, but we both know that Bobby’s a catch, whether he himself believes that or not. One day some good, nice lady is going to realize that too and snatch him right off the market while she can. Right now that woman could still be you. I just wouldn’t want you to regret not taking a chance. Because I can see it, Thena, I can see how you two could be so good together. And I want that for you, for both of you. Because if there were ever two people who deserve love and happiness, it’s you and Bobby.”
Hen let that sink in, then took a step closer and grabbed onto Athena’s forearms, giving a light squeeze and bending down a little to look her in the eye.
“So when are you free?” Hen tried lightly.
Athena frowned, confused. “Free for what?”
“Free to go on a date with my boss.” Hen had meant what she said, ultimately it was Athena’s call, but surely a little extra push couldn’t hurt.
Athena sighed. “You’re really setting him up?” Athena spoke in the softest, tiniest voice Hen had ever heard her use. She sighed as well.
“Look, I didn’t mean to get roped into this. At all. Bobby’s sponsor suggested that he should get back out into the world, spend time on other things than just work. I think he’s got the right idea there. And I think Bobby agreed and wanted to dip his toe in, go slow. But Tornado 1 and Tornado 2 caught wind of it and torpedoed all over that. They completely took over, full speed ahead, and Cap’s too much of a nice guy to tell them to back the hell off. They set him up with girls they’d probably pick for themselves but made Bobby totally uncomfortable in one way or another. He thought, or probably rather hoped, they’d give up after a couple failed attempts but they’re like dogs with bones and Bobby was once again too nice to stand his ground. So I stepped in to save him from himself, and from them.”
Athena nodded and asked carefully. “So… so if I say no, who are you setting him up with?”
Hen stared her down. “Like I said, Thena, there was no plan. Really I just want to give the man a nice evening, get him a dinner that he’ll actually enjoy for once. I imagine when his sponsor suggested this, that he wanted Bobby to have some fun, live a little. So far this experience has been anything but that and that’s just sad. Really, I just want him to actually have some fun.” Hen added pointedly: “And, girl, he always seems to have fun with you around.”
Athena still seemed uncertain but looked as if she was really considering that so Hen forged ahead. “It doesn’t even really have to be a date, Athena. You could call it whatever you want. You both deserve a fun night out so why could it not be with each other? It could just be a nice dinner between friends. That way the stakes wouldn’t be so high but you’d get to spend some time together without a bunch of firefighters constantly around.”
Athena had to admit it didn’t sound nearly as scary when put like that. Still… “But Bobby will be expecting a date.”
Hen shook her head vehemently. “No, the boys will be expecting a date. Like I just said at the table, this is between Cap and me now and I know how apprehensive Cap is. He doesn’t want to be set up on another date. So I plan on reassuring him, tell him that I’m gonna make sure that he has a relaxing evening, a nice dinner with someone whose company I know he will enjoy. So if you want to call it a dinner between friends, he’ll go with that.”
Hen sighed exasperatedly. “Honestly, girl, if you won’t go, I’ll probably send Karen to have dinner with him or go myself or whatever, to make absolutely sure he has damn good company because I really don’t wanna run the risk of breaking that promise, okay? The poor man has been through enough.”
A small smile appeared on Athena’s face at Hen’s dramatics. “Okay,” she said carefully.
Hen’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. “Okay? As in you’ll go?”
“Okay as in I’ll go,” Athena confirmed.
“Damn, girl, this was like pulling teeth but I’m glad you saw the light at the end. I swear to God, between you and these guys, I’m losing years of my life.”
Athena rolled her eyes. “I’ll send you my schedule for the next few days. The kids are with Michael this week so nothing else to take into account.”
“Okay I’ll talk to Bobby and get back to you. This will be good, Thena, I know it.”
Athena nodded hesitantly. “I hope so,” she said softly before giving Hen a small smile and finally getting in her cruiser to get back to the rest of her shift. She already knew she’d spend most of it swinging between fear and excitement for what her evening with Bobby would bring.
Hen stood watching as Athena drove off. “One down, one to go,” she murmured to herself before turning on her heel and marching back into the firehouse so she could find Bobby and get this show on the road.
She found Bobby still in the loft, drying the last of the silverware with a far off look on his face. Hen took a look around the loft and noticed that everyone else had dispersed by now. Just the way she wanted it.
Hen approached slowly and leaned against the countertop before speaking. “Cap?”
Bobby came out of his daze and gave Hen a brief look. “What can I do for you, Hen?”
“I just wanted to touch base about the whole date thing,” she spoke softly so as not to draw any attention to their conversation. She wanted to keep this between them for the time being.
Bobby’s shoulders dropped and he let out a heavy breath. “Hen…”
Hen held up her hands in defense. “I know you’re over the whole thing, Cap. Buck and Chim might be too far gone in their enthusiasm to notice, but I could tell how uncomfortable you were at the thought of another blind date. I promise you, I was just trying to help get them off your back by agreeing to set you up myself.”
Bobby gave her a soft smile. “I appreciate that, thank you. I know they mean well but I just… this whole thing just isn’t me I guess.” Bobby sighed. “Maybe I really am too old. I mean I haven’t done this in decades. Or maybe I’m just not ready after all. I get what Wendell is saying, it makes sense and I do think it would be nice to have someone in my life again, I just… none of it felt right. And maybe I just don’t deserve it after everything I’ve done.”
Hen felt her heart go out to him. “You’re never too old to find love, Bobby. And you deserve that more than anybody else I know. I think you’re being way too hard on yourself. I know the dating scene has changed a lot with all the online dating stuff, and to be fair I don’t think that whole thing is for you, but that’s okay. There are still other ways, you know. It is still allowed to just meet some lovely woman IRL and do it the old fashioned way. You just have to leave the matchmaking duo out of it.” Hen smirked and Bobby chuckled lightly. She was glad to see him looking slightly less dejected.
“Look we both know that Buck and Chim will never let this go if I don’t set you up.”
The smile left Bobby’s face and he sighed. Hen quickly went on. “I just want to organize a nice dinner for you, Cap. One that you’ll actually enjoy. I promise it will be fun. I’ll make sure it’s just a relaxing evening with someone whose company I know you’ll enjoy. Trust me, I got this.”
She held Bobby’s eye so he’d see how sincere she was. Eventually Bobby nodded.
“I know you’re right about Buck and Chim never letting this go. And I do trust you, Hen.”
Hen gave him a genuine smile. “I won’t let you down, Cap. Are you free on the evenings we don’t have a shift this week?”
Bobby nodded. “Yeah, just let me know where and when and I’ll be there.”
“Perfect!” Hen said as she pushed off the counter and started walking towards the stairs so she could go downstairs and get back to her chores. “I’ll send you the details tonight.”
She missed the surprised look on Bobby’s face as he realized she apparently already had a date in mind if she’d get him the details that fast. He wasn’t sure whether that was a good or a bad thing. But he’d promised Hen to be there and, if he were honest, he did have more faith in her ability to pick a decent date for him than he had in Buck and Chim. Didn’t mean he wasn’t nervous, though.
Two days later, Bobby stood nervously pulling at the collar of his shirt. He kept telling himself to trust Hen, yet he was still cursing himself for giving into all this. He sighed, putting on his suit jacket and shoes before grabbing his phone, keys and wallet and getting out the door. He wanted to get to the restaurant before his date arrived so he’d have some time to acclimate and hopefully get his nerves under control a bit.
Hen had picked out an Italian restaurant that was on the fancier side but luckily still felt cosy. At least the atmosphere was relaxing, that was a good start, Bobby thought to himself as a waiter led him to a more secluded table for two that was next to a glass partition overlooking the lower level of the restaurant. He ordered a water as he took a seat and started assessing the place. Side effect of the job and something that would help calm him down. Bobby thanked the waiter as he brought over his water and said he’d be back once his company had arrived. And then he just had to wait.
On the other side of town, a similarly nervous Athena had been cursing herself for almost being late because she’d spent too much time changing her mind about what to wear. She’d just decided that the long, brown one shoulder dress she was currently wearing would have to do, when she was notified that her Uber had arrived. She felt too jittery to drive and she wanted the option of getting plastered if this didn’t turn out well. Whether the getting plastered would happen before or after killing Hen, she wasn’t sure yet. She didn’t want to assume that this would be an unmitigated disaster, but at least she’d be prepared just in case. That could never hurt.
The restaurant was one Athena had never frequented before, but just like Bobby, she immediately liked the atmosphere and it settled her somewhat. She gave Hen’s name at the front desk and within seconds a waiter appeared to point her in the right direction. She saw Bobby before he saw her as she turned a corner and there was a clear path towards the table he was already sitting at. He was looking through the glass partition on his other side, so she couldn’t see much of his face, but her eyes glanced over his body head to toe and Athena thought to herself – not for the first time – that he cleaned up very nice.
Athena flushed as she realized that she’d stopped in her tracks to basically check Bobby out, feeling her nerves flare up once again as she resumed her walk towards their table.
Bobby noticed someone approaching out of the corner of his eye and saw a body clad in a long brown dress walking towards him. The further his eyes travelled up the woman’s body, the more he felt like he knew that figure but before he could give it any thought, his eyes already met Athena’s.
A surprised “Athena!” left his mouth.
“Hi” she said with a small nervous smile.
“What are you doing here?” It hadn’t connected yet for Bobby that she’d be here for him. His first thought was that she happened to be meeting someone for dinner at the same place that he was meeting someone, had seen him and came over to say hello, just to be polite. He briefly wondered if she was on a date and felt a flash of jealousy that he was very quick to push down.
“Well, Hen told me that she’d promised you a nice dinner with good company. According to her, that good company is me, apparently,” she said with a small half shrug.
“You’re my date?” Bobby asked with a surprised smile.
Athena startled slightly at the word ‘date’ and wondered if she should correct him but she didn’t want to make things awkward already so she decided to just let it be. “If you don’t mind.”
“Mind? Of course I don’t mind!” Bobby answered immediately with a small chuckle. He could see the nervousness and uncertainty on Athena’s face and immediately his eyes softened and he sent her a warm smile.
“I’m really happy you’re here, Athena,” he said genuinely and could see her relax right away.
He got up to walk around her so he could help her get seated, his hand lightly brushing her back in passing, both exciting and calming her at the same time. Bobby pulled out her chair and gently pushed it back in as she sat down.
As Bobby was pushing her chair in, he bent down slightly closer and spoke softly. “You look beautiful, Athena.”
Athena was glad that she had time to school her features before he was back in front of her, because she was sure the feelings his statement and proximity evoked were clear to see on her face. It had been a long time since someone called her beautiful, especially in a tone she’d almost call reverent. She had no doubt that Bobby meant it.
Bobby had barely sat back down again when the waiter appeared to take her drink order and hand out menus. Instinctively she went to order a glass of wine but then she remembered and hesitated, which Bobby noticed right away. He was quick to reassure her that he didn’t mind her drinking wine. Once Athena had ascertained that Bobby meant what he said, she ordered a glass of the house red which quickly appeared at the table, their waiter telling them he’d give them some more time to pick their food.
As Bobby looked up from perusing his menu to thank him, he noticed Athena looking around attentively.
“Trying to find a way out of dinner with me already?” Bobby joked.
Athena’s gaze swiveled back to him and she almost looked caught, which made Bobby worry for a second.
“Sorry!” Athena exclaimed. “I just… It’s a bit of an occupational deformity to always locate possible exits first when I go somewhere new,” she said sheepishly.
“Oh I can help you out with that,” Bobby said easily, “I already identified all of them before you got here.” He pointed out the different escape routes. “I’ve also scanned for sprinklers and for anything I could use to make a splint if necessary.”
Athena smiled and said conspiriatorally. “I usually scan the crowd to see who might be carrying a gun.”
Bobby chuckled. “Ahhh the life we’ve chosen… Well I’d say that between the two of us, this evening is off to a very safe start. What could possibly go wrong?”
Athena laughed along. “Don’t go jinxing us now, Captain.”
Their laughter died down and both looked back at their menus, discussing different options. When Athena eventually closed her menu and looked back up, it was to find Bobby already looking at her with a soft smile on his face.
“What?” she asked softly.
Bobby shook his head slightly. “I’m just so relieved that it’s you. I was really dreading tonight after the team’s previous efforts.”
“Surely it couldn’t have been that bad.”
Athena couldn’t suppress a laugh as she saw him literally shudder. “But it really was, Thena! I can’t remember it being this bad in the past. Buck would probably say it’s because I’m a dinosaur or whatever.” he said rolling his eyes.
“Poor you!” Athena said with mock sympathy.
“I know!” Bobby exclaimed and both laughed.
The waiter chose that moment to come take their food orders. After they’d ordered an appetizer to share and their main courses, they were left alone again.
“So I’m curious, tell me what exactly made these dates so disastrous. I mean apart from you being a dinosaur,” Athena said with a twinkle in her eye.
Bobby groaned but couldn’t deny her twinkling eyes anything so he started recounting what happened during those three dates from hell. The merriment in her eyes and her tinkling laughter made reliving his discomfort and embarrassment worth it and before they knew it, their appetizer arrived.
“So you can see why I wasn’t exactly champing at the bit to be set up on another date,” Bobby concluded exasperatedly.
“No, I imagine I wouldn’t be either after all that,” Athena smiled softly. She turned wistful. “All this dating and relationship stuff is already hard enough in your twenties, but at least then everyone your age is struggling through the same things. And then you get married and you don’t think you’ll ever have to worry about any of that again.”
Bobby nodded. “Yeah. I’d never imagined I’d be doing all this again at fifty.” He paused. “To be honest, I hadn’t even considered dating at all until my sponsor brought it up. When I came out here to LA, I was in no place to think about any of this because of…well you know. Even if I’d been in any place to consider all that, I didn’t feel as if I deserved to love, let alone be loved. A large part of me still doesn’t.”
Bobby looked down, ashamed. Athena tentatively reached out and lay her hand on his.
“Hey,” she implored him to look back up, “it’s okay. We all make mistakes, Bobby. Doesn’t mean we don’t deserve to be loved. You’re a good man who’s fighting to be better every day, you deserve to be happy more than anyone I know.”
When he looked back up at her, Athena saw so many emotions swirling in his eyes. He was clearly deeply touched and slightly surprised by what she’d said, but she’d meant every word.
They sat just looking at each other for a few moments before Bobby cleared his throat and offered a soft “Thank you, Athena.”
She gave a barely perceptible nod. The waiter chose that moment to come clear their appetizer plates and only then did Athena realize that her hand was still resting on his. A blush appeared on her cheeks when she remembered Bobby telling her how the women he’d been set up with had constantly tried to touch him and how uncomfortable it made him. She snatched her hand back abruptly.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.”
Bobby shook his head. “You didn’t.”
She still looked embarrassed, though, and Bobby didn’t want her to feel that way. He’d actually liked having her hand on his, it was warm and comforting and felt like it belonged there. He startled at his own thoughts but now was not the time to analyze them.
He turned his hand over palm up and lay it a little closer to her on the table. He looked from her eyes to his hand and back, imploring her to put her hand back in his. She hesitatingly put her hand back. He intertwined their fingers and gave a soft squeeze.
“You don’t make me uncomfortable, Athena.” He spoke in a low voice that nearly sent shivers down her spine. “I promise. In fact,” he paused for a second, not sure if he should say this out loud, but eventually decided to take a chance, “I haven’t felt this comfortable with another person in a long time.” If ever, he thought, but he chose to keep that last part to himself.
“So you’re not disappointed that Hen sent me tonight?” she asked with a small smile.
“I could never be disappointed to see you, Thena,” he said genuinely. She nearly gasped at the sincerity she saw shining in his eyes. This man could say the simplest yet sweetest things and while some men no doubt threw out such lines to try and butter you up, there was no mistaking that Bobby genuinely meant what he was saying. There was no artifice. Sad as it was, Athena was in no way used to being complimented this way and she had no idea what to do with that.
Bobby could tell that she didn’t really know how to react. Trying to bring back some levity into their conversation, he added: “In fact, I am already thinking about what gift I’ll be buying Hen to thank her for getting you to give up your whole entire evening so I wouldn’t end up on another hellish date. Any gift ideas?”
Athena shook her head fondly and held up her hand, naturally breaking their hand holding. “Okay first: stop talking as if it’s a chore for me to be here. Hen asked me to come under the impression that we’d both have an evening we’d enjoy and so far, as far as I’m concerned, she was right. So no more of that, you hear me?”
“Yes, Sergeant,” Bobby said, his voice a mix of playful and serious, both relieved and touched to hear that she really was enjoying herself. “And second?” he questioned with a raised eyebrow.
“While Hen will no doubt be all noble and say us having had a nice night out is all the reward she needs, she will also never turn down flowers and chocolates. She’s always joking how she’s not generally a girly girl but she’ll make an exception for those. And who can blame her, I don’t think any woman would ever turn down flowers or chocolates.”
Bobby chuckled. “Noted.”
At that moment their waiter brought out their entrees and they focused their attention on their food for a bit.
Conversation then turned to every day topics ranging from their latest shifts, to his team’s antics and her kids, to what books they were currently reading. Throughout all this, both were reflecting on how effortless this was. Neither of them were the biggest talkers, neither of them were quickly at ease with other people, both of them had been through a lot, had been hurt in the past, and weren’t quick to trust or open up, but there was an easy camraderie between the both of them that was undeniable. Athena remembered that Hen had said the same thing when she was trying to convince her to go on the date: The two of you have always gotten along, right from the very beginning. You were always friendly and…playful in a way. There’s like this…ease between the two of you, some sort of a connection. There was no denying this was true.
Moreover, there was an understanding between them, both as people who’d been hurt in the past, and as first responders. Certain things you just couldn’t explain to outsiders, to people who aren’t in the same boat. It was refreshing for both of them to talk about the trials and horrors and joys of the job and of life with someone who just got it. Both realizing that they hadn’t had that in a long time (if ever) and that they could definitely get used to having that in their lives now.
After the waiter cleared their plates, he brought out the dessert menu and Athena had to laugh when Bobby’s entire face lit up when he saw flan on the menu. He was smiling so big his dimples came out to play. Athena sat captivated and thought to herself that he should smile like this more often. Though she might be in some serious trouble if he did.
To Bobby’s absolute shock and horror, Athena admitted that she’d never tried flan. He stated that that tragedy couldn’t continue on his watch and would have to be remedied right away. Athena laughed and was easily persuaded. Since there were two varieties of flan on the menu, they decided to get both and share.
Athena soon had to agree that flan was in fact wonderful, though she suspected that much of the appeal for her, was probably witnessing how much Bobby enjoyed it.
They lingered over coffee and fought over the check, a fight which Bobby won eventually.
“Did you drive here?” Bobby asked as they were finishing the last of their coffee.
“No, I took an Uber,” she answered as she gestured towards her phone. “Which I should really—”. Bobby rested his hand on hers to stop her from picking up her phone.
“No need. I can drive you home.” Athena objected half heartedly. “You really don’t have to go through all that trouble.”
He caught her eye and softly caressed her hand subconsciously. “It’s no trouble, Athena. I want to.”
Athena swallowed and nodded. “Okay. Thank you.”
Bobby nodded and got up to help her out of her chair, gesturing towards the entrance of the restaurant as he let her precede him. Athena got her coat from the coat rack and blushed as he helped her put in on.
As they left, Bobby opened the door and gestured once more for her to go first, his hand hovering at the small of her back as she passed in front of him. Unbidden, the thought flashed through her head that she wished his hand would actually press into her back. She shook the thought away and gave him a quick side glance as he started walking next to her, their hips and shoulders occasionally bumping into each other.
They walked to his car in companionable silence. It was nice. The temperature had dropped some, making it go from scorching daylight heat to a pleasant evening warmth. That in combination with the fantastic food and wonderful conversation they’d just had, made them both feel completely relaxed.
When they reached his car, Bobby helped Athena into the passenger seat, which earned him a soft smile and a teasing “Thank you, Captain.”
“You’re quite welcome, Sergeant.” Bobby smiled back before gently closing her door.
Athena used the time it took for him to make his way around to the driver’s side, to take a deep breath and let it out slowly. The evening had gone way better than she could have imagined. And it technically wasn’t over yet.
She startled slightly as Bobby opened his door and slid into his seat. He put on his seatbelt and started the engine, gesturing towards the radio and murmuring a playful “lady’s choice.”
Athena smirked and went through a few stations before settling on one that seemed to be playing golden oldies. She saw Bobby smile from the corner of her eye and warmth settled in her stomach.
By unspoken agreement, they spent the ride to her house mostly in comfortable silence, both going over the night in their heads.
Bobby reflected on the stark contrast between the previous dates he’d been set up on and this one. It really was like night and day. While his previous dates had made him feel at the very least awkward, Athena had a way of putting him completely at ease. That had always been the case, but it had become abundantly clear tonight as they spent hours of uninterrupted alone time together. With her, he felt like he could just be, without having to pretend to be someone or something he wasn’t. It was comfortable and effortless and he felt grounded, which was a liberating experience for someone who’d felt the ground disappear below him continuously for most of his life. He knew he was falling for her, fast, had been from the very beginning if he were completely honest, even though he had been nowhere near ready to face that up until this moment. Even now, if it hadn’t been for Hen, he still wouldn’t have acted on the feelings that were lurking deep down. The whole thing was both exquisitely exhilarating and absolutely terrifying. He still wasn’t entirely sure he was ready for this, but after being thrown into it by Hen, he knew he couldn’t go back to pretending she was just his colleague and friend. The floodgates had been opened and he wanted more of her, more with her. Question was if this goddess of a woman wanted the same with him, though.
As for Athena, the night had definitely exceeded her expectations. She’d gone into it hoping to not completely mess things up and write it off as a dinner between friends, not wanting to jeapordize their existing relationship and terrified of putting herself out there again, not wanting to get hurt again. The plan of keeping it casual had barely lasted two minutes, though, when Bobby almost immediately, and enthusiastically, as far as Athena could tell, claimed her as his date. She could have redirected him, gotten them back on steady ground, but the truth is, she didn’t want him to take it back. She’d wanted to be his date, the idea gave her butterflies. He made her feel warm and seen and cared about and those are things she admittedly hadn’t felt in a really long time. And as much as she feared it, she also craved it. Craved more of those feelings, more of his soft gazes and gentle smiles being directed at her, more of his silly jokes and playful banter, just more of him. She could pretend all she wanted in order to try and protect herself, but the truth was that after tonight, she could never just be his friend. She didn’t want to just be his friend, she wanted him. And wasn’t that an absolutely terrifying thought. Especially after just one date. And several years of friendship, but still.
Athena was startled out of her musings when Bobby killed the engine and murmured a soft “We’re here.” She’d been so deep in thought, she hadn’t even realized they’d arrived at her house.
She unbuckled her seatbelt and made to open the door when Bobby’s hand landed on her knee. She turned back, looking first at his hand and then at his face.
“Let me help you,” he said softly. Athena just nodded and waited as he got out of the car and walked around it to open her door for her. He offered a hand and helped her step out, intending to walk her to her door.
“Such a gentleman, Captain Nash,” Athena spoke softly, with a hint of teasing.
“I do try, Sergeant Grant.” Her breath caught at his tone, all low and deep.
When they got to her front door she turned back to face him and fidgeted slightly. “Thank you for dinner, Bobby. I had a wonderful night.”
“I had a great time too. Thank you once again for spending your free night having dinner with me.”
Athena tutted. “Now what did I tell you about making it sound as if spending the evening with you is such a big sacrifice for me?”
“Right.” Bobby chuckled and gave her a disbelieving look. “I just still can’t really believe that I got to go on a date with you, Athena. I just… You could date anyone you wanted, you know that, right?”
Athena blushed. “I think you might be overestimating me, Captain.” Bobby started shaking his head but Athena didn’t give him the chance to interrupt. “And even if you aren’t, I still wouldn’t change whom I spent my night with.”
Bobby felt his breath hitch. “You wouldn’t?” he asked softly.
Athena held his eye and shook her head. “I really wouldn’t.”
Bobby swallowed and went on carefully. “Does that mean… you would want to do this again?”
“I would,” Athena said decisively. “And next time will be my treat,” she spoke in a voice that dared him to fight her on that. Bobby was smarter than that. “Deal,” he just said.
He hesitated for a second before leaning down and gently kissing her cheek. He heard her soft gasp as he was pulling back and feared that he’d gone too far.
“I’m sorry, I—”
Athena shushed him and cupped his cheek to stop him from retreating further. “Don’t be sorry,” she whispered. He looked back up and searched her eyes. They looked at each other for a minute before Athena leaned back in and pressed her lips against his in a soft peck. The contact only lasted for a second before she pulled back just enough to be able to look into his eyes.
“Athena,” Bobby breathed into the minuscule space between their mouths and she shivered as she could feel his breath on her face.
“Bobby,” Athena murmured back as he closed the tiny gap again, this time for a longer kiss. Both relaxing into it and exploring each other’s mouth. Bobby’s hands came up to rest gently at her waist, as Athena’s hand that was cupping his jaw moments ago, travelled further up to grip at the back of his neck and scratch in his hair there. Her other hand came up to rest gently on his chest as she melted into him.
Neither of them knew how long they stood there sharing soft, slow kisses. Some distant part of Athena acknowledged that this was her first first kiss in over two decades and she wondered fleetingly if it would also be her last. Aside from that, her mind was surprisingly devoid of thought.
Eventually Bobby reluctantly pulled back. After all this was only a first date and he didn’t want to scare her off or rush anything. He wanted to do this right.
“Should I apologize now?” he asked, half teasing, half genuinely worried that he might be overwhelming her.
“Don’t you dare apologize for that, Captain,” Athena said sternly, still trying to catch her breath a little.
Bobby grinned. “Yes, ma’am.”
They stood staring at each other for another minute before Bobby sighed and gave her waist a gentle squeeze before reluctantly pulling back. “I should probably go, it’s getting late.”
Athena’s hands fell to her sides listlessly as he stepped back. She immediately missed the warmth of his body around her, the solid form of him under her own hands. She very nearly pouted and Bobby couldn’t help but think how adorable she looked. He felt warmth in his chest at her obvious reluctance to let him go, relieved that he wasn’t the only one feeling this way.
“Can I call you tomorrow?” he asked softly, trying to give them both something to look forward to. He knew neither of them worked the next day. Athena smiled and nodded. “I’d like that.”
“Well… goodnight, Athena,” he said as he took a step back. “Sweet dreams.”
“Night, Bobby.”
He gave her one last smile before turning around and walking back to his car. Athena stood watching him as he got into his car and started it up. She soon realized he wasn’t going to actually drive off until he was sure she was safely inside, though. She shook her head, half exasperation, half fondness, and fished her keys out of her bag. As she opened the door and stepped through, she shot one last look in the direction of his car, offering a little wave before closing the door. It was only when she turned on the lights and started dropping her bag, shoes and coat, that she actually saw his headlights disappear. “And they say chivalry is dead,” she murmured to herself as she happily made her way towards her bathroom to go through her nightly routine. Soon after she found herself in bed, sending off two text messages before turning off the lights and laying down so she could replay their night over and over again in her mind. How he’d looked, how genuine he was, how tender, how funny, how skilled. Eventually she fell asleep with a smile on her face.
Bobby came home marveling at the difference between coming home from his last date and from this one. Last time, he’d felt drained and embarrassed and frustrated and even gross in a way. He’d wanted to wash off the evening and never think about it again. Now, he felt calm and light and happy and excited (and when was the last time he’d felt any of that?). He wanted to linger in it. He dropped his keys, jacket and shoes, went to grab a glass of water and plopped down on the couch, languidly this time instead of with jerky tense movements. He took his phone out of his pocket and noticed he had a text from Athena. Curious and slightly surprised, he opened it.
Thanks again for a wonderful evening, Bobby. I haven’t enjoyed myself this much in a long time. Can’t wait to talk to you tomorrow. Sweet dreams. X
Bobby sank down further on his couch, leaning back and resting his head on the headrest. He closed his eyes and smiled, thinking back on the evening. He already couldn’t wait to talk to her again tomorrow either. Big contrast with last time indeed. He almost felt like a teenager again. The cautious side of him warned him to take it slow, to guard his heart, but he knew it was no use. He was well and truly falling for her already. He knew with that would also come doubts and fears but he didn’t want to think about those right now. He’d just had one of the best nights of his life and for now, he just wanted to bask in it. Everything else could come later.
Bobby got up and made his way to the bathroom to get ready for bed. Once he was in bed, he grabbed his phone to start arranging a few things before turning off the lights and laying down on his back. He replayed the evening over and over again in his head, how she’d looked, her smiles, her words, her laugh, her kiss. Eventually he fell asleep with a smile on his face.
The next morning, Athena was just coming out of her bedroom, still clad in her pyjamas, intent on making herself a late(r) breakfast even though she didn’t really feel like cooking, when the doorbell rang. Her brows raised in surprise, not really expecting anyone. She tied her robe a little tighter, making sure she was decent before opening the door. She was greeted by the sight of a delivery guy holding a large bouquet of flowers.
“Morning, ma’am,” the man started. “Are you Athena Grant?”
Athena nodded. “That’s me.”
“Great! Delivery for you, ma’am.”
Athena went to take the flowers from him, having quite a good idea who they were from.
The delivery guy cleared his throat sheepishly. “Uhm, ma’am, that’s not all. It’s quite a lot so maybe you could take the flowers and I’ll help you carry the rest inside. I couldn’t carry it all over myself in one go either.” The guy was looking down at his feet and Athena’s eyes widened almost comically when she followed his gaze down and noticed a box of chocolates and a picnic basket. She shook her head. That sweet sweet man.
“Sure,” Athena said to the guy as she took the flowers from him. The guy picked up the basket and chocolates and followed her inside. She instructed him to just put everything down on the dining room table, where she also temporarily lay down the flowers, before thanking him and getting him a tip for his help.
After letting him out, Athena curiously hurried her way back to the kitchen. She picked the box of chocolates off the basket to inspect it, noticing that it was the good kind. She already couldn’t wait to dig into those but suspected that the basket contained breakfast so she decided she should probably start with that. She opened it and started emptying out its contents. Inside were several pastries and spreads, a box of freshly cut fruit, a tightly closed can of freshly pressed orange juice and a few different flavored yoghurts. Athena nearly started salivating. Just as she was about to close the basket again, she noticed a card on the bottom and took it out as well. Turning it over she smiled as she saw the front. The card had “Thank you for being you” written on it in a big swirly font and had little flower decorations around it. She opened it to be greeted by Bobby’s handwriting. She had no idea how he’d done all this between last night and now. Yes, she’d slept in a little today since it was her day off and they’d had a late night, but still. She shook her head and looked back down to read his message. She’d find out how he pulled this off later.
Dear Athena, thank you again for a wonderful evening. You are the best date a man could ever hope for. Words didn’t seem like enough to convey my thanks so I wanted to get you a little something. A wise woman told me recently that no woman would ever turn down chocolates or flowers. As you can see, I take her advice very seriously. I figured you should start your day with something a little more robust than just chocolates, though, so I decided to alter your advice slightly and throw in some brunch. I hope you won’t hold that against me. Enjoy the food and flowers and have a nice day off. I can’t wait to talk to you later. Love, Bobby
She finished reading with a smile on her face and stared at the message for another minute. This man was too sweet. She had no idea what she’d done to deserve such treatment but she vowed to herself to just enjoy it and hold onto it, no matter how scared she might get. She placed the card in front of her on the table, got up to put her flowers in a vase and then sat back down to enjoy her breakfast. But first she picked up her phone to send him a text.
Considering it means I get to enjoy a delicious breakfast, I definitely won’t hold you changing up my advice against you, Captain. Thank you for my flowers and my chocolates AND my breakfast. Talk to you soon. Or maybe we could hang out later? X
The last sentence she added on impuls, only to get nervous about it after sending the message. She’d just been so pleasantly surprised by his gift that she wanted to actually see him and thank him in person and question him about how he’d arranged all that in such short time. And she knew they both had the day off and thought it would be nice to hang out together. It wasn’t till after she hit send, that she started second guessing herself and worrying that she might be coming on too strong.
She needn’t have worried, though. Barely half a minute later her phone lit up with a text from Bobby.
Glad to know I’m still on your good side, Sergeant. And you’re very welcome. I would love to hang out later today. Maybe something a little more casual than dinner last night? I could cook for you? X
Athena’s anxiety disappeared as quickly as it had come. She smiled as she replied in the affirmative, suggesting a meeting time to Bobby, which he immediately agreed to. And just like that, they were both suddenly looking forward to and not so patiently waiting for it to be evening.
As Athena finally started digging into her breakfast, the same delivery driver that had surprised her this morning, walked up another driveway to surprise another woman with flowers and chocolates. The guy knocked and waited.
Inside the house, Karen was cleaning the table from breakfast while Hen was in the kitchen loading the dishwasher. They were lucky to have a day off together and had slept in and done a late breakfast, intent on having a lazy morning. So when a knock sounded at the door, Karen frowned, wondering who that could be. She threw down the rag she was using to wipe the table and made her way over to the door. She was surprised at the sight that greeted her when she opened it.
“Morning, ma’am. I’m looking for a Henrietta Wilson. I have a delivery for her.”
Karen raised an eyebrow. “Good morning. Hen’s my wife. She’s busy in the kitchen so I’ll just take that for you.”
The driver hesitated for a second but ultimately shrugged and handed off the flowers and box of chocolates.
“Have a nice day, ma’am.”
“You too.” Karen nodded as she tried to maneuver inside and close the door without dropping the flowers or box.
“Karen? Was there someone at the door?” Hen questioned as she entered their living room. She stopped in her tracks and raised her brows as she saw her wife struggling with flowers and what appeared to be a box of chocolates.
“You tell me,” Karen said, “delivery for one Henrietta Wilson.”
Hen frowned. “For me?”
Karen shrugged. “Apparently. Unless you know of another Henrietta Wilson living here.”
Hen approached and noticed the card that was tucked into the flowers. She took it out and opened the envelope while Karen put the flowers and chocolates down. Karen noticed a grin appear on her wife’s face while she was reading and she got even more curious. “Well?” Hen turned the card so Karen could read it for herself.
Hen, if you ever tire of your life as a firefighter (which I hope not), know that you have a solid back up career as a matchmaker. Please enjoy these flowers and chocolates as both a thank you for arranging this for me and not letting me back out, and an apology for ever doubting you in the first place, even just a little. Bobby
Karen looked up confused. “I don’t get it. What does this mean?”
“It means that your wife is a genius!” Hen gloated. Karen just looked at her imploringly.
“Remember when I told you about Cap getting back into dating and Chim and Buck basically taking over?” Karen nodded. “Well, to no one’s surprise, that turned into disaster so they had me step in. I set Bobby up on a date last night and it clearly went great.”
Hen had already assumed so. She’d spent the entirety of the night before wondering if she’d hear anything from either Athena or Bobby. She was just about to give up and go to bed when she’d received a single text from Athena.
You were right. Thank you. Talk soon. X
It wasn’t much but it was enough to put Hen at ease for the night, assuming things had went well if not fantastic. She’d been fully prepared to hound her best friend and/or Captain today to get more information but judging by his gift and card, Hen already knew that at least her boss had had a wonderful time. Just like she’d wanted. She’d still get Athena on the phone or over for a visit later, though, to find out just how wonderful the night had been.
“Who’d you set him up with?” Karen’s question drew Hen out of her musings.
“Athena.”
Karen’s eyes widened in surprise. “You set your boss up with your best friend?” she questioned doubtfully.
“Absolutely I did!” She tapped her finger on the card. “And by the sounds of this, it was an absolute hit.”
Karen still wasn’t sure about the wisdom of setting your boss up with your best friend, but shrugged, Hen did have a point.
“Well, good for them,” she said.
“Very good for them.” Hen agreed decidedly as she went to open the box of chocolates and selected one to try. She moaned as the flavor hit her tongue. “Damn and he got them good ones too.”
Karen shook her head fondly as she grabbed the flowers off the table to go organize them in a vase.
Hen grabbed her phone out her back pocket to check the time. Late enough to start pestering Athena, she thought to herself.
As she started typing out a message, Karen came back and placed the flowers on their table before returning to the kitchen. Hen briefly glanced up and a mischievous smile broke out on her face. She quickly propped up the box of chocolates against the vase and took a picture. Attaching it to the message, she added another sentence before she hit send. Now she just had to wait.
Athena was just starting on her second croissant when her phone dinged. She slid it closer to see an incoming text message from Hen.
Late lunch or afternoon drinks at mine so you can tell me all about last night? X
PS Don’t get all jealous when you see the gifts your date got me, tho
Athena raised an eyebrow and smirked when she saw the attached photo. She rearranged her breakfast spread slightly and angled her phone so she could take a picture of the spread with her own flowers and box of chocolates behind it. She typed out a respons and added the picture before hitting send. Then she waited a couple minutes before composing another text, this one actually answering Hen’s question.
To Hen’s surprise, Athena responded within minutes. Hen was so quick to get to her phone, she almost dropped it. When she read Athena’s message and saw the attached pic, first her mouth fell open, then she laughed.
Now why would I be jealous?? X
While Hen’s bouquet was quite large and consisted of a mix of colorful wildflowers, Athena’s was somehow even bigger and held a mix of red, white and pink flowers. Seeing a card standing in front of it, Hen zoomed in on the picture so she could read what the front of it said.
Hen whistled between her teeth. “Way to go, Cap!” Hen shook her head. “And those boys think their boss has no game.”
Just as she was giving the breakfast spread a closer look, another text from Athena came through.
Afternoon drinks is fine. Can’t stay long, though. X
Hen raised a brow. “Can’t stay long huh?” she muttered to herself. “I wonder why that is.” Hen couldn’t stop herself from writing out a reply, asking Athena teasingly if she had another hot date already to have to be rushing out so soon.
When she only got a coy Maybe. in respons, Hen knew enough. “Damn girl! Good for you!” she said to her phone.
Hen truly couldn’t be happier for either of her friends. She had a feeling that this would be good for both of them, that this was something real and would last. She wouldn’t push too hard too fast, though. Both Bobby and Athena were a bit liked wounded animals in a way, they spooked easily. So while she wanted to hear all about the date and about Athena’s plans later today, she wouldn’t make too big of a deal about it. She’d given them the push they needed to take the first step, now the rest was up to them and she had a feeling they’d want to take it at their own pace and keep it on the down low for a while. But they’d make it, all the way, she just felt it in her bones.
Deep down, Hen felt like they always would’ve found their way to each other, one way or another, even without her help. It might have taken them a bit longer otherwise, but she’s sure they would’ve gotten here anyway in the end. The chemistry was just too good for them not to. Still, they got here now because of her so she damn well was going to be taking the credit for this. She’d be holding this over the boys’ head for a long time to come. Now that she thought about it, maybe she should make a bet out of this somehow and make some more money off of those idiots. Bobby and Athena were clearly having their fun, so why shouldn’t she? She decided to give this some more thought while waiting for Athena to show up. Now there was another great plan in the making.