Back in my office, I sip the coffee and go over my new case. There’s an inquiry being done into the activities of one of the L2 colonies, and I pulled the duty. There’s a knock on my door and I call out a distracted, “Come in.”

    I look up, and almost wish I had pretended to be out.

    “Have you had time to think of the answer yet, Sally?” It’s Jean.

    I start to speak, but behind Jean I can make out another figure. Just as tall, if not a little taller. “What’s up, Trowa?”

    Jean stiffens momentarily as I say that name.

    “I was just checking in to see if the coffee you got was making you feel any better,” he says, his visible eye narrowing at Jean. I have to wonder if Trowa didn’t figure out what made me late to the meeting. He was the only other person that would’ve seen Jean and me walk off towards my office together.

    But what’s odder, I can’t think of a logical reason why Trowa would care that Jean made me late for the meeting.

    “Much, thank you. Remind me to thank Fei for bringing it.”

    Trowa nods, and folds his arms on his chest, looking Jean up and down predatorily. Jean turns and starts to say something to Trowa, but stops and looks away, “I’ll… catch up to you later, Sally,” he says, ducking out the doorway past Trowa.

    “Not if I’m lucky,” I mutter. Trowa remains leaning in my doorway and nods approvingly. “Thanks, Trowa…”

    “Sally,” he steps into my office and closes the door behind him, “are you interested in Jean?”

    “What do you mean by that?” I ask, a little put off by that thought. What business of Trowa’s is it if I wanted to see him? What does he care? “What if I am?”

    “Then I’d be a little worried about you,” he says in a gentle voice. “I take it you aren’t, then?”

    Oh Trowa, always treating me like your sister. Catherine had a big impact on your life, obviously. “No, I’m not, but even so, I can take care of myself, Trowa.”

    An ironic smile flits across his face. “Sally, have you wondered why Jean, the catch of the office, hasn’t gone out with anyone yet?”

    “Sometimes…”

    “Simple,” he says, turning towards the door, “he’s been seeing me.”

    I blink, gawk, and Trowa steps out of my office. Through the frosted glass I can see him move off down the hallway. If Jean and Trowa have been dating… why would Jean ask me to lunch? Puzzled, I lean back in my chair for a minute to think about it.

    I take a sip of my coffee. Sure enough, it’s the same kind I always get, hazelnut. When no answer presents itself easily, I shrug it off and go back to my report.

…the company in question was, before the Incident, known to associate and have dealings with arms dealers. Until recently they were off the list of suspected suppliers in the black market, but information brought in points to dual production of mobile suits and weapons along with the company’s normal inventory…

    There’s another knock at the door. “Come in,” I snap. If I keep getting interrupted like this I’m never going to finish reading this report.

    “I understand that people have bad days, Sally, but you really oughtn’t to take it out on your coworkers.”

    Apparently, this day can get worse.

    Une steps into the door. “I’m sorry, Miss Une, if I’d known…”

    “I’m well aware that if you had known I was the one at your door you wouldn’t have snapped like you did, Sally, you’re more professional than that. I wouldn’t have made you a Preventer if I hadn’t, Water.”

    I sigh and lean back. Une takes a seat. “I see you’re looking over your assignment… are you comfortable with the fact that you haven’t been assigned a partner for this mission?”

    I nod. “There’s a difference between the work I’ve done in the past and this,” I tap the folder. “Besides, surveillance is better completed by one person than two.”

    “If you get into anything over your head, Trowa and Wufei have a mission on L1. Be sure to contact the two of them for backup.”

    “Yes, ma’am.”

    Une stands. “Try and get some rest this week, I don’t want you to get to L2 completely worn out. It would not only look bad, but you’re going to be dealing with some heavy hitters on this mission, and it’s best if you’re at top form.”

    I hate it when people politely tell you to take some time off before you pass out. It’s always well meant, but it always feels condescending. I’m not a child to most everyone who decides to give me these little pep-talks, so they need to mind their own business.

    “Yes, ma’am.”

    She lingers a moment, as though about to say something else, and then nods, decisively, finally. She turns, and pauses at the doorframe to say, “I wish Noin were here. At least she would’ve known what to say.”

    I glance up at her retreating back from the report and my mouth drops open a little. The door remains open, and I see her smile and nod as she passes other people’s doors. Yes, Noin would’ve known what to say, I think.

    But Noin left, chasing her dream.

    After another moment of silent contemplation on the now empty hallway, I turn back to my file. And I remember why I was so startled when Wufei said that to me yesterday, when he noticed my eye color.

    Noin used to say the same thing.

*

    “You know, Noin, you’re staring off into space again,” I commented once as we were loading up our transport ship.

    Her eyes turned to focus on mine, but they remained glazed over slightly, and I knew she wasn’t really seeing me. “Noin…”

    Finally, she snapped out of it, and smiled a little lopsidedly at me. Her smiles were always graceful and serene. She was often lonely, but she always knew how to handle her situation, because she could survive on the memory of him.

    “Sorry, Sally.”

    “You seem to do that quite often,” I commented, tossing her the next box to be stowed away in the back of the cargo bay. In the lower gravity of the dock we were in, it sailed easily over to her, and she gave it a gentle nudge to send it into the ship.

    “Your eyes,” she said without looking at me.

    I blinked, looking up from the crate I was holding to catch her profile. “What about them?”

    “They’re not quite blue.”

    “What do you mean by that?” I replied, on the offensive. As I mentioned before, I’ve always been quite proud of the fact that my eyes are blue.

    “Don’t take offense, Sally… please, I don’t mean it that way. But your eyes aren’t as blue as his are.”

    I began to understand. “Noin… Lucrezia… don’t you mean were?”

    She shook her head violently, motioning me to send her over the next crate. “Zechs isn’t dead, Sally,” she said it firmly. She had a habit, over the year I worked with her, to repeat that whenever she was scared or challenged.

    I never could have quite the same faith in that missing man that she did.

    But then, I wasn’t in love with him.

    I don’t think I’ve ever been in love with anyone, really.

*

    The text before me is blurred. I’ve been staring at it for a long while, and I finally admit to myself that I’m not going to get it read today. I close the folder and put it in the inbox on my desk. I glance at the clock, half an hour until lunch. With a sigh, I glance at the only other paperwork on my desk.

    I was quite proud, on Saturday, that I finished the rest of my paperwork. Now I’ve got to resubmit the last report. I pick up the new form and glance over at my computer screen. All I have to do is copy over the information, it shouldn’t take too long, I guess.

    I’m just finishing the last of the data fields on the new form when I reach over for the Styrofoam cup that Wufei brought me and am disappointed to find it empty. I smile a little, twirling the pen in my hand a couple of times and double clicking its button to retract the ballpoint.

    I guess today is just my day to remember quaint things about Wufei.

    The little things he noticed scare me. Like how he got me the right kind of coffee this morning, probably just by smelling the coffee beans. We went to the same coffee shop where I get coffee before work after dinner, since it’s open twenty-four hours, and we were in the restaurant until it closed.

    Something in the air startles me out of my realization, probably the fact that I was slumping over my desk, half falling asleep, and I look at my watch. Blissfully, it’s lunch time. I scoop up the paperwork from my desk, and grab my jacket from near the door. I’ll drop this off with Jean’s aid on my way out to lunch.

    I step out of my office and lock the door behind me. Down the hall to the right I can see Trowa leaning against the doorframe to his office, talking quietly with Wufei. I wave at the two of them and make my way to the elevator.

    As usual, the thing takes forever to get to the right floor. And just about everyone takes lunch at the same time, so it’s bound to be packed. I pull my jacket on and zip it up, eyes glued to the display above the doors that tell me what floor the car is on, like staring at it will make it move any faster.

    “Going to lunch?” Without turning I know it’s Wufei.

    It’s not that he’s got an unmistakable voice or anything, I just can’t help but recognize it.

    “No,” I quip, “I’m going to go dig my grave,” I mutter. When I finally turn to look at him, I wish I hadn’t said that. He’s got an incredulous look on his face, and, dare I say it… he almost looks a little concerned.

    “I can see you’re in a mood,” he responds, reaching over to press the button for the elevator again.

    “That doesn’t make it go any faster,” I say, trying to find some common ground. We stand in silence, and I look up at the display. The fifth floor is lighted. “Thank you.”

    “For what?” he asks, and even though I’m not looking, I can almost hear the little smirk on his lips.

    “Bringing me coffee this morning.”

    He nods and doesn’t say any more about it.

    We stand in silence for a long moment, the two of us staring at the little lighted display in futile hope. I glance at him sidelong, from the corner of my eye. As though he can feel my careful glance, he straightens his shoulders and folds his arms across his chest. One thing I can say for Wufei, in the years I’ve known him, he’s definitely grown into his profile. It’s striking. He caught up with me when it comes to height, and almost, by maybe an inch or two, he’s taller.

    I hear the carpet crunching under footsteps, someone comes up behind us. I turn slightly, and notice it’s Trowa. “So, what’s your mission about?” I ask, casually pressing the button for a third time. It can’t hurt, now.

    “There’s a hostile group of terrorists that are probably going to make a move towards independence on L2.”

    “I thought the Preventers generally agreed to leave successions from the Earth Sphere to the police…”

    “We did,” Wufei says, still with his eyes trained on the display above the elevator doors. “But that was before the President decided to decrease the funding for the police force. Now it’s apparently been foisted off into our jurisdiction again.”

    Trowa shrugs and leans against the wall off to the side of the elevator doors. “What’s with the folder? Paperwork during lunch?”

    “I was going to drop it off in the records department on my way out.”

    Trowa’s visible eye narrows slightly. “I was on my way down there.”

    I smile at him, a friendly smile. “Want to drop this off in the office for me then? I’m really in no hurry to get down there.”

    “Really?” Trowa asks, seeming a little surprised.

    No, Trowa, I’m planning on fighting with you over a man I’m not in the least interested in, really. I hold out my hand with the file in it. “All yours.”

    He smiles at me. Wufei, on the other hand, has noticed our little exchange, and narrows his eyes slightly, glancing at me seriously. I can read the look on his face. It says, ‘Is there something you aren’t saying?’ and he turns it on Trowa as well.

    Finally, the elevator arrives, and the doors open.

    Just as I suspected, it’s packed. Trowa steps in, and I move to get in the elevator after him, but Wufei’s hand falls on my forearm as I start to step across the threshold.

    The elevator doors close.

    “All right, what was that about?” I ask, an edge in my voice. “If you’ve got something to ask me, or something to say… you could’ve said it after lunch, couldn’t you?” With a roll of my eyes, I shove my hands into my coat pockets and start off towards the stairs, which are at the end of the hallway.

    Wufei follows me, wordlessly.

    “Aren’t you going to say anything?” I ask, piqued.

    “What do you have to do with Jean?”

    His quiet question almost gets lost in the squeak of the stairwell door as I shove it open. I turn to look at him as I start down the stairs. “Nothing, why?”

    “It’s obviously something. Trowa wouldn’t be so defensive about hearing you were going down to the records room if there wasn’t.”

    I shrug, and as Wufei says something else, I tighten my hands into fists. “I don’t think you’re telling me the whole truth.”

    That’s when I feel the letter again, and pause at the landing to take it out of my pocket. “He tried asking me out,” I mumble, starting down the stairs again.

    “What did you say?”

    “I didn’t.” I flip the envelope over, wondering who it’s from. There’s no return address sticker over the back side either, and so I slide my thumbnail under the seal and open it.

    “Don’t you find Jean attractive?”

    A little uncomfortable with that question, I don’t respond, but continue to work the envelope open. It’s stuck securely, and it’s annoying to have a ripped up envelope.

    We’ve reached the first floor landing. I didn’t realize I was walking so quickly down the stairs. Wufei repeats his question.

    “What’s it to you if I am?” I say, voice a little arch. He winces a little, and swallows. We cross the lobby and out to the street and the traffic is still thicker than four week old pea soup.

    I stuff the letter back into my pocket and start off down the street. For a moment, Wufei lags behind, but eventually he catches up to me, jogging a little. “Where are you going to lunch?”

    “I’m not sure yet, but after wasting fifteen minutes on an elevator I didn’t take, it’ll have to be somewhere close.”

    “Here,” he says, stepping quickly around in front of me to stop me. I glare at him momentarily and then sidestep, starting off down the sidewalk again. “Sally, this is a restaurant.”

    I must really be zoning out without my normal level of caffeine. It’s impossible to tell that I get a double espresso shot in my hazelnut, apparently, just by scent. It was just good coffee, nothing with a kick in it. I stop and glance at the front window.

    Wufei nods and motions me inside the door, which he proceeds to open.

    My stomach growls as soon as the aroma from inside hits me. Whatever it is, it’s good. Folding my arms, I step inside.

***