failegaidin

Drabble time!!

She wasn't happy. As she stood in the middle of the bustling floor, she looked around at her coworkers. Nadia was sitting at her station, visibly fighting back tears. Bill was sitting next to her, a gentle hand on her shoulder as he tried to comfort her about both Milo and Doyle. Milo's station was empty, and Chloe found herself quickly averting her eyes as she felt her own tears threatening to overwhelm her.

And then her eyes settled on Morris. He was focused on the screen in front of him, his eyes narrowing as he studied something. Since breaking up with her a couple hours earlier, he had simply returned to their normal routine of bickering and snarking. But she noticed that his eyes didn't quite meet hers when they spoke.

If she were honest with herself, Chloe could admit that she hadn't been happy for a long time. Lately there had been an ache building in her chest, spreading until it encompassed her heart and slowly squeezed the air out of her lungs. She had been surprised when some of the pain eased after Morris left her, her breathing coming just a little bit easier.

Sighing, she turned to go back to her station. Eyes making one more sweep around the room, she saw him, standing in the doorway. She felt a small smile grace her lips as their eyes locked, and she saw that it was mirrored on his face. Without walking any further into the room, he held something up. Chloe squinted in an attempt to see what was in his hand, frowning when she saw that it was a plane ticket. Her frown deepened as Jack winked at her, a smirk dancing across his lips. Without taking his eyes from hers, he shifted his fingers so that another ticket came out from behind the first one.

Her breath hitched in her throat and Chloe felt as though the rest of the room had suddenly fallen away. She found herself staring at him, trying to read him to find out exactly what his intent was. Finally she broke eye contact and moved toward her station, keeping her head down as she gathered her things and shut down her computer. With one last look around the room, she put her purse over her shoulder and walked over to him.

"I was afraid you wouldn't come," he murmured.

"I was afraid you wouldn't ask."

Smiling at her shyly, Jack reached out and took her hand in his, leading her gently away from the noise behind them. Chloe returned his smile, but then stopped suddenly as she realized something. Jack stopped too, looking back at her with a look of fear.

"What is it?" he asked, his voice tight.

She took a deep breath as she realized that the ache was gone. Her chest no longer felt constricted and her breathing came easily. Looking up at Jack and seeing the worry in his eyes, she squeezed his hand and leaned into his side.

"I'm happy," she whispered. He looked at her in confusion and she shrugged. "It's been a long time."

He nodded in understanding and tugged gently until she continued to follow him out of the building.