Logan

181. Professional

*Jack's POV*

I stood by the door, staring at the coats Natalie picked out for me. I'm still surprised at her taste, the way she coordinated all of the outfits now in my closet. I had to come home and take a shower, I needed to remain objective. I curiously stared at the bag containing my old shirt. The shirt Natalie wore until she bought a dress, and then she placed it delicately on my couch in the office. Everything in it's place.

I opened the bag and it smelled like her. I remembered the touch of her skin, the sound of her moans in my ear, last night, how we were so close-

NO.

That can't happen again. I need to be professional, objective. I choose the peacoat, slipping into it and using the gloves she'd placed inside.

I call Natalie but she doesn't answer. It goes straight to voicemail. I take the road to her house and notice the new bits of snow from last night. No blizzard, just a small flurry. But the Koughlin's driveway is shoveled, faint tire tracks on the driveway.

I knock anyway and a man opens the door, standing at 6'0, brown eyes, ruffled hair, standing in sweatpants.

It's probably her boyfriend.

"Hello, may I help you?" He's holding a pastry and takes a bite.

"I'm here for Natalie-"

He looks me up and down, "Oh, you must be one of her uh, come in. She's just upstairs, you can just knock on her door."

He lets me in and waves me up, "If you want some scones, you're welcome to them. Still warm."

I look at the bannister and see it's slightly wobbly, I should have someone fix that. I knock on the door and look back to see he's sitting back at the kitchen.

A 5'5 woman with a maroon bun opens the door.

Girlfriend? Friend? She's standing in a blue nightgown.

"Is Natalie here? I'm her boss, I'm here to pick her up."

The girl looks confused and then opens her phone, "Oh no." She looks up at me and shyly chuckles, "You must be Jack," she nervously looks over her shoulder and when I lean to see inside, Natalie is tucked into a cocoon of blankets. I can see the crown of her head, her brown curls on the pillow. The woman walks up to Natalie and nudges her a little. I hear Natalie groan.

There's an inaudible conversation of just whispers and Natalie's protesting sounds. The woman yanks the covers off her and I hear her sternly say, "Get your ass up, your boss, is in this room."

Natalie's eyes open and she shoots up out of bed, grabbing her phone and the disconnected port, then up at me.

"Oh no, Special Agent Medeira, um," she stands up and I see her bedtime attire. "I am so, sorry, I don't mean to be late on my second day, you can fire me if you want," she is grabbing at something hanging in the closet, and she darts past me, down the hall and finally slamming a door behind her.

The woman who woke Natalie leans against the doorframe, "Hey." We make eye contact and I nod.

"Hello, I'm Special Agent Medeira, I'm-"

"Natalie's boss, yeah. I'm Ophelia." I offer my hand and she doesn't take it so I put my hands back in my coat. I clear my throat and walk in the middle of the hallway toward the door.

"Hey Natalie, I'm going to be down in the kitchen." I call out.

"Okay!!" She yells back.

Ophelia scoots past me and goes into the room, closing the door behind her. I can faintly hear her conversation.

"Why didn't you tell me he was in the room?" Natalie yelps.

"Oh my god, he is hot!" Ophelia says.

"PHE! You can't say that!" I smirk and hear the door open and Ophelia is pushed out and Natalie looks up at me in shock. She's wearing a bra and underwear, and she closes the door. Ophelia and I look at each other and she looks up at me up and down. I turn around and go back down the stairs.

"I'll take that scone, I think," I say to the man. He stands up and grabs a plate.

"I am so sorry, I didn't know you were her boss, we haven't had a moment to really chat yet. Uh," he awkwardly chuckles, "would you like some coffee?"

I nod and he quickly pours into a mug, handing the warm contents to me. "I'm sorry you had to see all o f that, um, let's start over. "My name's Alex, I'm Natalie's-" he pauses for a moment, then stands straighter, "I'm Natalie's brother."

We shake hands, and I introduce myself, "Special Agent Joaquin Medeira, but you can call me Jack."

Alex smiles, "I really hope this doesn't effect your overall opinion of my sister, she's normally very punctual. We've been going through a rough patch, uh, our friend passed away and they were close, and then..." His smile fades, "We found out we don't share the same father, so uh," he clears his throat, "Oh, and I hope that this doesn't reflect poorly on Everett, he tried to get her this position so she'd have something to occupy her time."

"Everett?" I ask.

"Agent Everett Landry, he's my partner." Alex says.

I take a bite of the scone, holy shit this is delicious. "Landry, yes I know him. Small world. Are these storebought, or?"

Alex shakes his head, "No, um, I made them. I'm a chef."

"Pastry chef?" I ask.

He shakes his head, "No, just a chef, but I like to keep up on my dessert skills."

"This is delicious." I say.

"Thank you," he beams and takes another sip of his coffee.

Natalie's coming down the steps wearing a dark blue dress, a grey cardigan and tights. I can see the smallest bit of cleavage, and I straighten. She holds her hand out.

"Hold on, I gotta put my boots on." She's holding a big brown purse and a normal handbag, and she puts the boots on beside the welcome mat.

"Why the two purses?" I ask.

"A heating blanket," she says, "I saw Mariana brought one with her so I figured why not." She stands and smiles, "Again, I'm really sorry I'm late, please don't fire me."

"We need to pick up some files, so really it's not a problem." Ophelia comes down wearing a robe, and I look away. "I'm not going to fire you, you're technically not late, but I would prefer not to have you rushing to get ready.

"She won't be late again, Special Agent," Alex cuts in, standing beside his sister and shoving a bag into her brown purse. "I packed this for you, and a thermos."

Natalie and Alex have a silent conversation when she looks up at him, and he kisses her forehead and pulls her coat tighter. "Have a good day, okay?"

"I will, you too." She says, then looks back at me, "Ready?"

I wait for her to open the door and walk out, then nod to Alex and Ophelia and close the door behind me. Alex is a loving brother, I wonder what happened, but I won't pry this early.