Girl Gets Her Man

She turned over the sheet of paper. It was a typed message.

"A little bit about me, so you don't think I'm a stalker or crazy or some sort of jerk. I'm the reason you get to go home before the sun rises most days. I took the five to eight patch of your observation service. Why, you ask? You intrigued me. I saw you go into the office one evening, and I was both floored and intimidated by your beauty and the idea that you were in my office. When your friend followed you in, I didn't think it would be appropriate to interrupt your intense conversation. What would I have said? Then, I got to thinking that you probably wouldn't give me the time of day. You usually don't pay much attention, do you? I talked to Dr. S, and he said you were taking most of the observation schedule at night. I am also in two of your classes, but I just run in and out of there. You didn't notice me when I tried to get your attention the first time. I guess, I was too subtle. It's been a while since I've pursued anyone. I prefer to be owned, but will wait patiently on the shelf until my owner claims me. Care to do so? I hope that you know that I mean you no harm after you've accepted my introductory hot chocolates. I figured that coffee would be out of the question because of the late hour. I'll be in the office at about two, which is when I usually drop off the hot chocolate. I'm telling you this so that if you want to be in the office, we'll meet then. If you prefer the pleasure of distance, I will understand but can oblige you for only so long. Daniel."

She looked at her watch. It was 11:30pm. She decided she'd see how she felt when it got closer to 2. She got what she needed and went down to the computer terminals. She'd entered quite a few numbers when a pair of hands covered her face. They were female, so they could only belong to Jesse.

"Guess who," Jesse's voice put her at ease. She giggled as she allowed her friend to turn around. Jo was about to say something mean when she saw Gary standing behind Jesse. His eyes were shining oddly at her. "Look who I brought with me. I figured you could go somewhere alone this time."

'Do I look that horney?' "Why?"

"I didn't get to talk to you at all, really. I thought we could get some coffee and pie. There's this place down the street that's open almost 24 hours. I see this guy making coffee in there when I walk by..."

"Oh, no. I can't have coffee or it will keep me awake when I need to sleep...."

"Then, hot chocolate. Jess told me you like it," he insisted.

"No, I'm sorry. I need to make up for last night."

"Jo, he came all this way..."

"Because you asked him to, I'm sure."

"I didn't have to ask him. He asked about you when I called..." Jesse couldn't hide the guilty smile that crept across her face. Jo knew the girl meant well, so she didn't really feel as mad as she would sound.

"Out. The both of you. Gary, when you actually want to go out with me, give me a call. It's the same number as Jesse's. And you, girlfriend, don't be settin me up no more."

She looked down at her watch. "Oh crap."

"What?"

Jo nearly died when she realized she'd spoken out loud. But the cover came quickly out of her mouth. "It's ten till two. I'm off schedule. I've got to go. The doors will lock behind you when you leave the building."

She hurriedly tossed her papers in her bag and left them in the room. She didn't remember if she shut down her station. It didn't matter. She was too curious. Daniel. She rushed up a flight of stairs and to the elevator. It was a simple name. He definitely didn't write simply. She got to the door at 1:58. The office was empty. She tossed down her bag and sat down at her cube. He wasn't there. No one was there, as usual. She dropped her bag into its usual corner and sat down at her cube. She dropped her head into her hands. 'What was I thinking? There'd be this tall dark and handsome brother coming through that door? Have you seen one of those in class ever? What kind of an idiot are you anyway? A lonely one. Hey, I could still probably go do something with Gary...'

She heard a set of keys outside the door. She froze. 'Maybe, this wasn't such a good idea, after all.' She heard the door creak open. There was silence for a moment, then the door shut quickly. She heard footsteps but didn't raise her head.

"I see your feet," a soft voice broke the silence. "Did you change your mind after you rushed in?"

She looked up and only got to the set of fingers that draped over the top of the cubicle. They were white. They were the palest, longest fingers that she'd ever seen. In her definition of a perfect man, she remembered specifically that her man would be tall, dark, handsome, and have a good personality.

'Okay, bad. Very bad.'

She looked up a little further. 'Tall white guy. Oh, this is bad. Very, very bad.'

"I was surprised to see you at the bar last night. Too bad you didn't hear my second song."

He looked down at her in curiosity. He'd combed his unruly dark brown hair behind his ears and put on a clean shirt, though it was wrinkled. It was the same man who had played that song at The Bans. "Daniel? The piano player?" She knew she sounded like a moron, but she figured no one noticed when she blushed any way. "This is all wrong. Very bad. You're just all wrong."

"Joanne?"

"Hmm," she sighed as she registered the reverent way in which he used her name.

"I don't bite," he soothed as he came around to squat in front of her. He placed a cup on the desk and rested an arm next to it. His fingertips were inches from her leg. "I'm not a leper, and I'm not delusional. I wouldn't be here if I were. What's so wrong about me? I'm white. Is that it? If I could, I'd change that, but..."

"You're white. You're supposed to like..." 'Blonde bimbos with long legs and fake breasts. Or maybe, you're supposed to like 'em big, caramel, and wild like Jesse. You can't like me, I'm the ugly one, remember?' All of those things were impolite to say, so she desperately tried to think of something she could say. "Uh...not me."

"I like you. What I know about you, anyway. There's no need to freak out on me."

"I'm not freaking out." She absolutely was freaking out. "It's just....I was expecting...I need some time...Yeah, to figure something out."

He blinked slowly at the wall over his shoulder for a moment before he asked. "To figure out how to brush me off without hurting my feelings?"

'Yeah!' Jo sat up straighter in her chair and said, "Maybe."

"Then, figure it out with me rather than alone. We could go to a movie. I can open up the shop and ply you with chocolate. You might even like it. I'm not seeing anyone. Are you?"

"Well," she started to lie and say she was.

"I couldn't see you with that big guy from last night. He seemed all wrong. Don't say you're dating him."

She concentrated on her fingers and said, "I might be..."

"Might be. You're interested in him?" When she looked up into those eyes, they were dark, but they weren't brown as she had thought. They were blue, like slate.

"He is kind of sexy. He came here to see me... "

"Sexy, hmm? And yet, you can make a snap judgment about me right away. I'll have to see about that."

"I don't know."

His hand dropped to her knee and she froze. She wasn't used to being touched by anyone. He raised an eyebrow at her. He spread his fingers across her thigh and soothed her with his certain words, "I know." His fingers trailed to her knee and were gone.

He stood up and pointed to the cup on her desk. "I made it myself. Real chocolate. Not that lame cocoa. You want me to wait for you? I don't want you to walk into that parking lot alone. Come to think of it, I'm going to be here when you are, from now on. You may not want me to care, but I do. It's too dangerous for a woman to be by herself late at night. Just think of it as part of the courtship."

He moved to his cubicle. She heard a scraping sound and wrappings dropping into the wastebasket. So, he wasn't a slob after all. Jo looked down at her pant leg. It had tingled like static electricity straight through her leg when he touched her. She smoothed the fabric of that leg and pulled out some of her folders from her pack. 'And, he called me a woman.'

"Too bad," his sigh made her jump. When she looked up in the direction of the sound, he looked down at her from across the barrier. "This does not change my intentions. I'll just wait for you. You obviously haven't had many suitors, so I'll have to teach you."

"I know all I need to know about dating, thank you, Daniel. I'm not into it."

"Dan, please. I didn't say anything about dating," his voice seemed to sing in her ears. "I don't plan to date you. That never crossed my mind. We'll talk and have a little fun. You'll know..."

A knock came to the door and he dropped down behind the divider. She got up and opened it.

"Hey, Jo. How can you disappear like that?" Jesse shoved her way into the office. "Gary's wondering if you've got some man stashed up..."

Jo braced herself for the gasp that she knew would be coming, but it never came. A quiet, "Hi," came from her as she moved to take Daniel's hand.

"Hello," he responded.

"I'm sorry. Am I interrupting something?" Jesse's eyes bore into hers with an odd smile to them.

"Absolutely not," Daniel smiled and opened one of his drawers. He pulled out his calculator and slapped it down on his section of desk. "I was just going to head down to the terminals." He leaned over Joanne and softly intoned, "Joanne, just let me know when you're heading out, okay?"