Just A Friend

Chapter 2

"Elenore - make twenty copies of this and leave them on my desk. Thanks."

Lorne rushed off just as quickly as he'd given me the command, off to do who knows what at who knows where. I gathered the stack of papers which appeared to be a script and headed towards the office room, deciding last-minute to bring my mug of coffee with me. Who knew how long this would take? I set the mug down on a small table and sent the pages through the machine.

Jimmy entered the room and grinned. "Good morning, Nori," he chimed. I swung around to answer him and immediately regretted all of my decisions.

It happened in slow motion - my arm impacting the cup, the hot drink splashing across the carpet and my shirt sleeve, the sturdy mug somehow surviving the fall; it was honestly the only thing that did. Jimmy stifled a laugh; I stifled a scream.

I got down on my knees and picked up the mug, cursing my clumsiness and the law of gravity and my lack of good timing. "Let me help you with that," said Jimmy, grabbing a large stack of napkins on a nearby counter and soaking up the coffee as much as he could. I gasped as I noticed the stain on my shirt. He looked up and froze.

"Okay, that's more important," he said quickly, standing up and steering me down the hall.

"What about the carpet?"

"Who cares? Let's get this stain off of your shirt!"

He paused momentarily at the bathroom entrance and went with the women's, deciding his embarrassment was less important since I'd already been through enough in that department today. He pulled out a few paper towels and ran some water on them.

"It's okay, Fallon," I said, forcing a slight grin, still feeling eternally stupid for what I'd just done. "I can do it myself."

"No you can't," he countered, squeezing out the excess water. He pointed at the stain. "It's on your right sleeve. You're right handed. I've got this."

I gave in. "Okay," I said, extending my arm for him to scrub. He held my elbow with one hand and dabbed at the stain with the other, working with an intense gentleness that made my mind wander. "It doesn't have to be perfect," I remarked after several long seconds of silence, save the faint noise of paper towel against fabric.

"Almost done," Jimmy muttered, biting his lip in concentration. "There!" he said, backing away to admire his work. "Yeah," he muttered, staring at my arm, "it's not perfect, but it'll do." I glanced at my sleeve.

"You can hardly tell there was ever a stain," I marveled. He shrugged, smiling smugly. "Thanks so much!"

"No problem, Nori," he said. He got on his toes and threw the balled-up paper towel into the trashcan. "Boom! Made it!"

I strolled back to the office and threw away the napkins off the ground, unsure of what to do with the stain on the floor. Thankfully, most of the coffee had ended up on my arm rather than in the carpet. I scooped up the copies and placed them on Lorne's desk, then walked back to mine, absentmindedly rubbing the spot where Jimmy had held my arm; it felt like he hadn't let go.

I wished he would.