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CHAPTER FIVE: ROCK BOTTOM ( aka 03x08: lucky )
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DALLIS WAS RUNNING LATE. If there was one thing she hated more than bugs, than lukewarm tea, than her brother's infuriating habit of calling her in the middle of the night because he worked in traffic control and he typically slept while the sun was high. Than -- okay, so Dallis disliked a lot of things, but towards the top of that list was being late anywhere. It didn't happen often but on this particular morning, she somehow managed to snooze her alarm not once, not twice, but three times. Three! She was supposed to meet Garcia at the coffee shop fifteen minutes ago so they had time to chat before work started, then if they didn't have a case she promised her mum and Anthony she'd leave work by six o'clock for family dinner. The whole day was set back from one decision.
"Pen, I'm so sorry I'm late," she all-but sprinted through the coffee shop door to where Penelope stood by one of the tables, her back facing Dallis. "I slept through my alarm and -- oh."
Garcia's eyes were wide behind her latest funky pair of glasses. These ones were bronze metal, rectangular, sitting just below the uneven cut of her bangs. It took Dallis a moment too long to realise that her friend wasn't alone. She had a man with her, an attractive one, and they were sharing a shy smile as Garcia wrote her number on a card for him.
"Oh, my god," Dallis winced, backing away. "I'm sorry. I didn't realise you had company. Ignore me, I'll just... be over here."
Even the front counter didn't feel far enough away from the embarrassed blush that filled Garcia's cheeks. Dallis tried her best not to stare as she repeated to the barista her usual order plus a new addition of a cappuccino. By the time she'd paid, Garcia's mystery man had left and she'd made her way over to where Dallis was shoving her purse back into her handbag.
"I'm so sorry," Dallis said. "I hope I didn't scare him off."
Garcia scoffed. "I don't know who was more embarrassed just now, me or you."
Dallis merely groaned, hanging her head. "Me, surely. I'm all over the place today. Like I said, ignore me. The tea will calm me down."
Once they both had their drinks, Garcia -- who lived only two blocks away and often walked the fifteen minute trip from the café to work -- hitched a ride with Dallis to their home away from home. Dallis tried, she really did, not to pester Garcia with too many questions, but by the time they were entering the office with their arms linked, she'd managed to put together that Garcia was very much interested but nervous in where this could go and hoped Mystery Man would be too. He had her number, now the rest was up to him.
"Good morning, princess," Morgan gave his usual greeting to Garcia, then sent Dallis a smirk. "You too, Cohen."
Like she always did, Dallis exaggerated a wounded expression. "Wow, tell me how you really feel about me. Good morning to you, too, Morgan."
