The Relationship Business

"Hello, Blix. New on the job?" She came to his chair and leaned over; he couldn't avoid staring at her breasts as he held them at eye level.

"I...ah...just helping...um..."

"Izzy, please. I'm having some computer problems and I asked Blix to help. Later, okay?" A random thought struck him. "Say, where's Lem these days? He missed the last staff meeting."

She sighed in mock disappointment. "All right. And Lem took a little personal time. Now, don't worry." Izzy placed a slim finger over Val's lips and his mouth went dry despite his distractions. "He's got everything under control. He's never let us down, and I'll remind him about the next meeting."

"Yeah, thanks."

Izzy waved as she exited. Val looked down at Blix, then whacked him on the back. "Breathe, man."

"Jesus." Blix gasped for air. "She's...oh, my God."

"Yeah, her and all the others," Val muttered, staring at the screen as though he could rearrange the letters into the answer he sought.

"Others?" Blix shot out of the chair. "I have to go."

"What? Come on, man, it's not that bad. And I want you to tell me about Halley and..."

"Sorry. Ask her yourself. Gotta run." Blix grabbed his bag and started for the door but Val snagged his arm.

"Blix, what's up with the program? That's why you came, right?"

"Ah, yeah. There's nothing wrong." He edged away but Val kept hold of his arm. "Sorry, Val. I've been over it and the program is functioning properly. If those two blocks don't match, they don't match."

"All right, thanks." Val sighed and let go. "Listen, say hi to...everyone for me, okay?"

"You bet." Blix was gone in a flash.

"What am I missing?" Val wondered aloud.

x-x-x-x

February 9

Halley hummed as she walked over to meet Mel. He'd suggested a hike and it sounded like a great idea. She'd been inside all week attending planning meetings. The busy season was months away, but the more they could plan and organize ahead of time, the easier things would be later.

She slowed down as she passed the gazebo. Her cheeks flushed as she remembered spending some time with Val there. Some very pleasurable time. I can't believe he got me to do that. When anyone could have walked by!

Well, not anyone, she consoled herself. It had been late, after midnight, so the chances of anyone finding them while they'd been...busy...had been slim.

Even so...Halley swallowed as she remembered how Val had led her there as though on a mission. He'd stared at her with a hungry look that whole night, and when he'd at last gotten her in the gazebo, he'd kissed her as though he hadn't seen her for days.

"You are so beautiful," he'd said in between his hungry, passionate kisses. "I wish I'd asked you up to the loft sooner."

She'd only been able to nod in reply, speechless as his skilled hands roamed her body. His hands had skimmed her sides, then come up to stroke her breasts, then cupped her bottom and pulled her against him. She'd felt every inch of his desire and clung to him, hoping he could feel hers.

I wasn't the only one who clung to him, she thought and her mood turned dark. Lots of clinging went on the loft that night I found him with her...whoever she was.

Picking up her pace, she went away from the gazebo at almost a jog. The worst part, she thought, was that until she'd caught him, Val had been terrific. They talked a lot, found out they had music and movies in common. He'd been sympathetic and understanding when she talked about her estrangement from her parents, and never tried to downplay or dismiss her feelings.

She'd felt comfortable with him, and had fallen into the rhythm of their relationship with surprising ease. Then...she'd found him. Rolling in the hay, in the most literal fashion, with some woman.

Vicki and the others had tried to convince her to at least let Val explain, but she wouldn't have any of it. Leopards and spots, Halley had told them, and after a time they'd left it alone. Val had tried to apologize, but she'd refused to listen. What was the point, she'd thought?

"Ah, lovely Halley!"

She jerked herself out of her thoughts at the sound of Mel's booming voice. "Oh. Hi, Mel."

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "All I get is an 'oh, hi?'"

"Sorry. Just...lost in thought." She shrugged.

"Well, put those thoughts out of your head, pretty lady. We have a beautiful day before us, and we should enjoy it!" He spread his arms as though to display it to her.

"You're right." Halley forced a smile and took the hand he held out. It was a gorgeous day, she thought, and she'd be damned if she'd let thoughts of him ruin it.

They walked for a while, with Mel making random comments and keeping up an easy conversation, requiring little of Halley other than the occasional nod and noise of agreement. When he mentioned Valentine's Day, she stopped.

"What?"

"Well, I'd hoped that perhaps we could do something that day. Or night." He gave her a suggestive wink. "Whichever you'd prefer."

"Thanks, Mel, but...I'm not much for Valentine's Day."

"What? That day of all days?" He placed a hand over his heart, and Halley thought for a moment he was genuinely shocked by her answer. Then she decided he must be teasing.

"It's just another day, really. Truth is, Mel, I broke up with someone a while ago and so romantic days like that aren't high on my list of favorite things."

"Oh, my dear Halley." Mel stood in front of her and she was struck by how he oozed sex and sex appeal. "We can't have that."

She stared up at him, lost for a moment in the cool blue eyes. He put his hands on her shoulders and she felt their warmth through her whole body.

"You are much too pretty to give up on romance."

"I haven't given up on it. I'm just not in the mood."

"Well, you're lucky then." He flashed a smile that made her knees melt just a little despite her efforts to resist. "I am an expert at getting a person in the mood." He slid an arm around her shoulder and resumed their walk.

"Oh." Halley swallowed in a dry throat and wondered if she should bother resisting him anymore.

x-x-x-x

February 11

There were three days to go and Val was close to tearing his hair out. Not only did he still not understand what was wrong with his matches on the program, he'd heard through the grapevine that Halley and Mel were getting close. Closer. Whichever it was, it was driving him nuts.

"She should have been mine," he said to the empty office. "If she'd only let me apologize..." He sighed. No use dwelling on it. He decided to focus all his efforts on the matching question. Now it was a personal challenge and he never backed down from a challenge.

"Val, you should take a break." Tina came in and perched on the edge of his desk.

"Later. I'm close. Really. I've almost got it."

She laid a hand on his arm. "Val, please. Take a break."

"What? Oh, okay." He sat back and sighed. "Problems anywhere?"

"No. Ross' load is slowing down, and Chac has everything organized, as he always does. Even Rhodi and June and Izzy are too busy to argue with each other."

"Thank God for that."

"How about you? You're looking a bit stressed."

"I'm so close." He shrugged and held his hands out in a gesture of helplessness. "I don't know what I'm missing."

Tina was quiet and he let her think, knowing she had something to say and would when she was ready. Why she hadn't been put in charge of the whole operation was beyond him. Tina handled everything with unflappable aplomb and Val thought she'd be perfect. Yet she appeared satisfied with her role, and when he'd once broached the subject with her, she'd looked appalled at the idea.

"Val, did you ever stop to consider that perhaps you're looking for the wrong thing? Or looking too hard?"

He went to answer but stopped, giving her question the consideration it deserved. In his previous position, whenever there'd been a problem, he'd been able to solve it. This time, the answer eluded him and it was frustrating.

"Maybe," he said. "But I don't know what else to do except keep looking."

"You need to maybe look from another perspective. You may be too close."

"Maybe." He sighed. "Any ideas?"

"Well, let's look." Tina pulled over the second chair he'd had brought in so that she didn't have to stand every time he needed help. "Let's take this group here." She selected five names from each of two columns. "I'm sure we can match some in this batch."

"Okay." Val rubbed his face. "So, this first guy, for example. He's into sports and outdoor activities. This woman—" he pointed to another cell "—likes hiking and swimming. I figured they'd be good together, but the system rejects them."

"Did you look further into it?" Tina asked.

"Well, some. They had similar interests in books, and movies. It seemed like enough to get the ball rolling."

Tina clicked the mouse. "See here? She's kind of introverted and likes to plan her outings. Notice that hiking and especially swimming are, or can be, solitary activities. He's much more outgoing, and according to these notes, can in fact be kind of overbearing."

"Oh. All right, I can see where that's not going to work." Val felt like an idiot.

"Yet this woman here, although not an athlete, is adventurous and loves to try new things. Let's try." Tina highlighted the cells, clicked and a red heart with "OK!" in the middle appeared on the screen. She smiled. "Excellent. That should work out well. You try the next one."

"Okay. So the first woman is a little bit of a loner, and...no, no, wait." Val clicked and studied the text bubble that popped up. "Ah, she's shy. That's why she does things like swimming. So if she's shy, we need..." He scanned the other list and found a name. "A guy like this. One who's a bit extroverted but not too much so. Comfortable with the idea of being alone with someone else. Here goes." He highlighted, clicked, and barely resisted a fist pump when he got his approval.

Tina laughed. "You're getting it! Ok, let's move on." She switched screens. "Now, these are established couples who have some problems. Let's try to help them solve them."

As before, Tina did the first one, pointing out how the woman was dropping hints as opposed to addressing the problem directly.

"Now, partly this is a gender issue," she told Val. "Not to generalize, but women often do avoid confrontation and, oh my, given her history I'm not surprised. But communication is key. She's afraid of how he'll react, but also frustrated that he hasn't picked up on what she's said."

"So we need to get her to be clear and him to respond, right?"

"Exactly." Tina nodded. "Some people would even suggest she write a letter, but I think she'll really have to confront him face-to-face. That won't happen, though, without some help."

"Hey, isn't this Harry's area?" Val asked. "He looks after families, and communication could be a problem for a family."

"Excellent." Tina beamed. "Yes, this should be referred to Harry."

A few more and she decided he was ready to move on again. "Ah. An unfortunately common situation here."

"What's that?" Val felt his second wind coming on. He was ready to attack any problem.

Tina sat back and sighed. "He caught his girlfriend in what appeared to be a compromising position. She apologized, and they're still together, but it's grudging and will fall apart soon. Pity, because otherwise they're high on the compatibility charts."

"Oh." Val wondered if she'd picked this one on purpose. Surely it was common, but to have it be so similar to what had happened between him and Halley couldn't be coincidence. "Yeah, that's bad."

"So what should we do?"

"We should make him sit down and listen to what she has to say. What a jerk."

"He was hurt. It's understandable." Tina patted his hand. "Come on, let's focus. Once you see this, I think you'll have it down. They need to talk, that's the first thing. Who should go first?"

"Does it matter?" He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well, no, it doesn't, but I think we're going to have to force the issue," Tina said. "He was wrong for misinterpreting, she was wrong for not making him listen. Blame is not the point. Fixing it is."

"Maybe they should break up."

"What!" Tina looked shocked.

"Well, I'm just saying. It's an option."

"Not here. It's not what we do." Tina was firm. "Our job is to help people get together, not fall apart."

"All right, all right." Val studied the information as it appeared on screen. "So it was an office party. A drunk co-worker got overly amorous. Oh." He blinked as some pictures came on the screen. To him, it was obvious the woman was trying to get away from her drunken friend, but...he tilted his head. If he was seeing things from the same vantage point as the boyfriend, misinterpretation wasn't implausible.

"Okay. He needs to apologize. It's obvious she's still upset and has done what she can. If he doesn't apologize and listen, then he'll lose her."

"But why, Val?" Tina grasped his hand. "Why can't he lose her?"

"Because..." It clicked. "Because he'll be worse off without her. She balances him, and he balances her. They work together. Because even though he's angry, her happiness is important to him. More than his own." Another click. "He can't be happy if she isn't, and vice versa."

"Yes!" Tina smiled, and to his surprise, kissed him on the lips. "You've got it!"

"Oh, not you, too!" Val leaned back, his heart racing. "Please, with Izzy and Rhodi and..." He stopped as Tina laughed to the point of tears. "What?"

"Oh, Val. You're so sweet." She wiped her eyes. "I like you to bits, but honey: No."

"Hallelujah." He grinned; he'd never been so happy to be rejected. "Now, let's get this done. I have things to do."

x-x-x-x

February 14

Valentine's Day rolled around, and Halley put on a brave face. In truth, none of her friends were involved with anyone, aside from Don and Jeanette, so it wasn't too bad. With Don and Jeanette on their honeymoon, she was spared seeing any demonstrations of sappy love and devotion. She'd considered wearing black as a sort of protest, then decided she was being silly.

She found Martha, Vicki and the others in turn. The women had decided on a day of romantic comedies, but Halley didn't think she had the heart for it. Dash and Blix were playing computer games, and she had no interest in that either.

It crossed her mind that Mel had talked about doing something, and she found herself disappointed that he'd never said anything more about it. Not that she wanted to do much, and she wasn't even sure she wanted to do it with Mel.

"It's ridiculous," she said to herself. "He's gorgeous. Like mouth-watering, cover-model gorgeous and I..." I keep thinking of Val. She groaned and pulled at her hair. "Okay, this is crazy. Me talking out loud to myself is crazy but...dammit, he made me happy."

"You made me happy, too, Halley."

"Jesus!" She jumped and spun around. "You scared me, you idiot! What the hell are you doing here?"

"My job." Val smiled but stayed where he was, not wanting to spook her.

"Your job? I thought you had a new job."

"There's overlap." The smile faded and Halley was surprised. Val's usual confidence wasn't there.

"So what are you doing here?" Halley stuffed her hands in her pockets.

"I came to see you, and to apologize. It's not what you think, or thought." He took a step towards her.

She held her ground. "Then what was it?"

"I don't know; bad timing, I guess. It doesn't matter. I'm sorry."

Halley debated, then sighed. "I'm sorry, too, Val. I should have let you explain. I was just surprised and...scared."

"I'm sorry for that, too."

"So what was it? I'll listen now, I promise."

"Can we walk?" He took her hand when she nodded and was relieved when she didn't remove it.

"Okay, it sounds stupid, but I'd gone up to the loft again because I was looking for...I don't know. Inspiration. I wanted to do something for your birthday and couldn't think of anything."

"Oh. That's sweet." Guilt formed a ball in Haley's stomach.

"So while I was there, someone from Planning came looking for me. I called back and she came up. She hadn't seen the loft and thought it was neat and we got to talking. Then she stood up to go and slipped and I grabbed her and I slipped and...I don't know. That's when you found us."

"Oh." Halley wasn't sure what to say. From anyone else, it would sound like a lame excuse, but the one thing she'd learned about Val in their three months together was that he didn't lie.

"Halley?"

"Well then." She cleared her throat. "Looks like I owe you the apology. I'm really sorry, Val."

"It's okay. I can understand. I'm sorry I didn't try harder to make you listen. I think we were both victims of our own fears, you know? You were afraid I'd cheat and I was afraid you'd leave."

"You were?" That was news.

"Oh yeah." He nodded and ran his thumb over the back of her hand, making her skin tingle. "I knew you were the one for me, Halley. I know how that sounds, but it's true."

"Wow." Halley tried to smile and blink back tears. "Guess that job of yours has worked some changes."

"It has. I mean it." He stopped and put his hands on her shoulders. "Halley, I want you to be happy. Preferably, I want to be the one to make you happy. If not, well, then...it won't be easy but I'll let you go to whoever will."

She was silent for a few minutes, as the heat from his hands rocketed through her. Then she smiled. "You're not getting off that easy, Val."

"But I'll be getting off?" He raised an eyebrow and she couldn't help but laugh.

"If you're good, maybe."

"Oh, I will be better than good, sweetheart." He caught her up and kissed her, hard. After a moment's surprise, she responded in kind. "Come on, over here." His voice was rough.

"What?" She had to run to keep up. "Oh, Val, no. Not here. It's outside. It's cold." She stared at him, then at the gazebo.

"Not that cold. And I stashed a blanket." He kissed her again and slid off his own jacket, then hers. "Come on, Halley." He nipped at her neck and she gasped. "The quicker we do this, the quicker we can use body heat to warm up."

"All right. But you better be serious about that blanket." She worked on the buttons of his shirt as he worked on pulling her sweater off and they laughed as they got in each other's way.

Val was better than his word; there was a comforter and a blanket. Before Halley knew it, they were laying on the former and covered by the latter. Any fears of discovery flew from her head as his hands and mouth explored her body.

"You are so gorgeous." Val grazed his teeth along her shoulder and she shivered, clutching at his shoulders. "I missed you, you know."

"I missed you, too. Oh." She dropped her head back as he flicked his tongue over nipple and then closed his mouth over it. The heat of his mouth contrasted with the cool air and her body tingled with excitement. When she caught her breath, she pushed him down. "Okay, my turn."

She smiled to herself as Val fought to remain still under her touch. She ran her fingernails over his chest, skimming the muscles and his nipples and making him hiss in a breath. When her hand closed over his hard shaft, he stopped her from stroking for a moment, letting go only when he had evened his breathing out.

She kissed him as she stroked him, then pulled away to take him in her mouth. He tried to grab her again, but she caught his hand and shook her head. "Mmm-mmm," she hummed with a smile, making his eyes widen before he dropped his head back. When she chuckled at his reaction, he sat up.

"That is not fair, not by a long shot." He pulled her up to kiss her again and rolled so that she was partly pinned under him. His hands slid down her body to the wet heat between her legs and it was his turn to laugh as she moaned at his touch.