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Friday Afternoon

It was nearly a typical day for the Blue Moon office. Despite it being the holiday season and the office adorned with Santas and snowmen, everyone seemed to be in a glum mood. One of the biggest cases the office had had in a while had ceased business with them which had sent David and Maddie into a screaming match and ended with slamming doors. One would think this would be too typical to concern the drones, but something was different this time.

David and Maddie had experienced some monumental moments in the previous few months and even the employees were noticing a difference between their bosses. Even as Maddie had yelled, "Don't slam that door on me," it wasn't so much what she said but how she said it. It was filled with hurt more than simply being annoyed with her business partner. After the last door slam, David had grabbed his jacket and left the office without a word to anyone. Maddie hadn't entered the outer office since.

In Maddie's office, she hadn't taken her eyes off her window for the last twenty minutes. She couldn't get her mind to shut down as thoughts and images swirled around her without warning. David's words echoed in her head and the sound of the door slamming continued to jar her. She cringed at the memory and sighed. Lately, it seemed, they were at each other's throats. "Why," she asked herself. She knew things weren't the same between them anymore. Although, she had thought things were progressing somewhere, she was no longer sure. Just as sure as she was about exactly where that progression had been going.

Just as she was about to plop her head into her hands, she saw something flutter outside the window. She looked up and saw white flakes falling from the sky. "Snow?! In LA?!"

She immediately ran from her office out into the outer office where everyone was gathered around the window watching the peculiar weather. "Is this some kind of joke," MacGillicuddy asked.

"I'm really sure, Moron."

"Who's the moron?"

"Miss Hayes," Agnes asked at the confused look on Maddie's face and also anxious to stop the argument. Everyone turned to see Maddie staring out the window at the near flurry outside.

"Where's Mr. Addison?"

"Don't know. He just left."

To suppress her growing worry about David being out in a freak snow storm, she rushed to her office to turn on her TV. Every local station was reporting on this storm which was causing near panic across Southern California. Scenes flashed from all across California of people in feet of snow, cars covered, children playing, people shoveling. Meanwhile, all she could think of was where David had gone.

She listened as the weatherman stood in front of the large map of California showing the direction of the storm. The good news seemed to be that it wouldn't last long. The negative was that it was Southern California where most people just don't deal well with real weather. Maddie had grown up in Chicago and snow was as common there as smog was to LA, so it was like second nature to her. The weatherman was now back at the news desk and advising people to stay off the roads. The weather would loom for the weekend and probably melt as fast as it had come.

Suddenly, Maddie turned not having taken her eyes from the TV and began to call, "Miss DiP…" when she noticed the entire staff was huddled around her desk also watching the news report intently. "I think it's a good idea if we call it an early weekend. And don't take any risks going home."

Everyone seemed pleased with the news. Agnes replied, "Are you sure, Miss Hayes?" Everyone immediately gave Agnes a glare as if she'd just reminded the teacher that she'd forgotten to give them homework.

"I don't want to keep you here if it's unsafe."

Without another word, everyone left the office before she could change her mind. Soon the office was empty all except for Maddie who continued to stare out the window…and Agnes who was gathering up her things. Agnes stopped in Maddie's doorway and said, "Miss Hayes, aren't you leaving too?"

"I think I'm going to stay here. You know…," Maddie searched for a convenient lie, but couldn't come up with one.

"I'm sure he's fine," Agnes reassured. Both women were silent for a moment and then Agnes continued, "Do you want me to call him?"

"I already dried. No one answered."

"He's probably…," Agnes began.

"You'd better go, Agnes, before it gets really bad out there."

The woman smiled at her boss and said, "Okay," but before she left she asked, "Are you going to be okay? How will you get home?"

"I grew up in Chicago. I've driven in worse weather than this. I'll be fine."

Contented with the answer, Agnes said, "Goodnight, Miss Hayes."

"Goodnight, Miss DiPesto," and Maddie turned back to the TV. When she heard the door to the outer office close, she turned her gaze to the window. Where IS he?!

David was drudging down the Los Angeles sidewalk hugging his meager suit jacket to keep warm. He truly believed the world was coming to an end as he kicked a large chunk of snow from the sidewalk. Looking around at the deserted sidewalks and streets, it sure looked as if it was. People too terrified to drive had simply abandoned their cars and headed for the nearest shelter.

After leaving the office, he'd started walking going nowhere in particular and fuming at he and Maddie's argument. After a block, he'd turned toward the parking garage where he'd taken the BMW and started driving. He ended up at a usual hotspot when he was down on his luck, which was quite a lot lately, The Red Bull. He had ordered a drink, sat at the bar and had barely gotten halfway through his shot of tequila when someone called, "Look at that!" When he saw the white flakes of snow falling outside, he'd swallowed hard and the liquor burned as it went down.

It hadn't taken long before there was a full-blown snow storm. He had laughed and said, "I was only kidding when I called her the Ice Queen." When the bar owner ordered everyone to leave so he could batten down his own hatches, David returned to the car. It had been so long since he'd seen snow, he'd forgotten how he hated driving in it. Not only was he a horrible driver in general, but with snow in the mix, he was downright dangerous. As he took a turn, the car had skidded and hit a parking meter leaving a large and noticeable dent in the front fender. "Maybe she won't notice," he said looking it over.

In the end, he'd left the car and decided to walk the rest of the way. He hadn't exactly made it out of the city, so the only other place to go was back to the office. At the rate things were going, everyone was probably gone and he could camp out on his couch for the night.

When he finally made it to the building, the maintenance workers were just locking up. David entered the building and quickly shook the snow from his jacket and looked down at himself. He was soaking wet and freezing. "I hope I have some clothes in my office," he said to no one as he headed toward the elevator.

He reached the 20th floor and stepped into deserted silence. When he found the office door unlocked, he became alarmed. Slowly he opened the door and peered in, but saw no movement. The office was dark…except for a flickering blue light. David entered the office and walked around Agnes' desk to see it coming from Maddie's office.

As he crept closer to her door, he could see her sitting behind her desk watching news coverage of the storm. When he stood in her doorway, he said, "Maddie?"

She jumped at the sound of his voice and nearly fell out of her chair. "David," she exclaimed; her emotions betraying her cool façade.

"What are you doing here? Do you know what's going on out there?"

Maddie quickly stood and before David could speak another word, she ran to him and threw her arms around him. He gently wrapped his arms around her waist and suddenly forgot that he was soaked from the snow. It had been so long since they'd been so close and he savored everything. Her hair was just as soft as he remembered and he closed his eyes to take in the familiar scent of lavender.

All too soon, the moment ended and Maddie pulled away from him. "I was so…," she began, but stopped herself. "David, you're shivering.". He hadn't realized it, but he was. "You're soaked."

"Kind of got stuck," he replied.

"Do you have a change of clothes here?"

"Don't really know," he replied.

"You're hopeless," she replied walking over to her bathroom.

A moment later, she returned with a towel and handed it to him. He had taken his jacket off and was placing it on the coat rack by the door. He took the towel and started brushing the quickly melting snowflakes from his shoulders and hair. Once he was satisfied that his hair was relatively dry, he draped the towel around his shoulders and started to unbutton his dress shirt which was soaked through. He'd only gotten as far as taking off his tie when he looked over at Maddie who was just watching the flakes cascade from the sky. He took note of how beautiful she looked with only the glow of the TV and the muted light from the window. It was a mystery to him how he could still be in love with her after the screaming matches they'd had and all they had been through. And still beyond all that, he wanted nothing more than to take her into his arms and press his lips to hers.

Quickly, he shook the image out of his head. Out of the question, he told himself. Then he looked down at his shirt and then back to Maddie. He couldn't change here. "I'll be in my office," he said to her. "How are you getting home?"

"I'm not going home," she answered. She answered his questioning glance with, "It's really too bad out there to go anywhere. I'm going to sleep here tonight."

David let a smile tug at one corner of his mouth and said, "Kind of like that first night, huh?"

Maddie allowed a chuckle. "Except no one is trying to kill us."

David also chuckled and looked at Maddie for a moment. "I'll be in my office," and reluctantly, he left.

When he was behind the closed doors of his office, his mind began to reel. They would be alone in the office all night long. He wasn't sure he trusted himself alone with her even if they were in separate rooms. To repress his thoughts, he started poking through drawers and cabinets looking for anything that he might have hidden in an emergency. He laughed at that thought. That would require planning and he never planned anything. The thought occurred to him that Maddie probably had a spare outfit somewhere in her office and if he thought he could pull off the look, he'd ask to borrow whatever outfit in whatever shade of pink it was. If he were alone, he wouldn't have worried about what to wear at all. He usually traipsed through his apartment in his underwear or nothing at all…but, here with Maddie…well, that just wouldn't work. No matter their history.

Just then he ran across a duffle bag in a cabinet close to the coat rack. Inside was a pair of gray sweatpants and a white t-shirt. Suddenly he remembered leaving it there in those days he'd started going to the gym after work. After he and Maddie's relationship had blown up, he'd given up going. That time with her had given him more energy and drive than he'd ever felt before. To be with her every night in whatever capacity and be able to tell her he loved her had given him more happiness than anything else ever had. When she had left for Chicago, all of his happiness had been smashed to pieces.

He resolved to shove the memories away. Quickly he grabbed the clean, dry clothes and headed to the bathroom.

After changing, he draped his wet clothes on the towel rod resolving to take them to the dry cleaners with his next batch of clothes. He entered his office again and suddenly realized he hadn't had dinner - just that half a shot of tequila at the bar. Food was one thing he knew he had around.

He went to his fridge first and rummaged around for something edible that wasn't out of date. He came out with two cartons of chocolate milk and a half a canister of orange juice. Then he remembered Maddie and wondered if she'd eaten anything…probably not. Looking at what he had come up with, he knew he had to do better than that.

Grabbing the juice and chocolate milk, he entered the outer office and found Maddie's office door still ajar. The TV was down low and he didn't see any movement from inside. He set the two items on Agnes' desk and walked to the small fridge by the coffee machine.

As he rummaged through an assortment of what could be described in some cases as 8th grade science projects, he heard, "You found something."

David turned to Maddie while holding a bowl of something he couldn't identify. She had also changed and was dressed in a white pair of pants and a white top. Seeing her dressed all in white, he thought she looked like an angel.

"We should really tell them to clean this out once in a while," David said changing the subject.

"What are you doing?"

"Looking for some dinner."

"Well, you won't find it in there. Come on." Maddie turned toward her office and David watched her a moment before he followed.

Upon entering her office, he saw she had Chinese take out containers littering her desk. "Where did you get this?"

"I ordered before you came. I figured I'd be here a while. There's plenty."

"I mean, who's delivering in this weather?"

Maddie took a look out the window at the storm that hadn't let up and said, "It's from that place on the corner. I called hoping someone would answer. I got lucky." David hadn't moved from the doorway and noticing this, she said, "Come on. Help yourself."

He walked over to her desk and took a seat in one of the guest chairs. For a moment, he just watched Maddie as she walked behind her desk and took a seat. He continued to watch as she took a paper plate and began to dish out a sizeable helping of kung pow chicken. That's when he noticed the plate that sat in front of him and he began tentatively peaking into the various cartons and dishing out a helping of each. And for several long minutes, they sat in silence as the TV continued to flicker from the corner of the room.

David's gaze alternated from his plate to the TV to her not wanting it to seem as though he was staring. Not wanting her to get the wrong idea. He just couldn't believe he'd never noticed it before. Sure he thought she was the most gorgeous woman he'd ever set eyes on, he'd told her so once, but as she sat unmade up in the waning light, she was so classically beautiful. Sure there were signs of age, signs he had too, but, as he saw it, they added to her beauty. He knew if he told her that, she'd shove it off and say something like, "You want a shovel, Addison?" But, dammit, he meant it. How could he ever get her to listen to him?

As Maddie took a bite of her egg roll, she looked over at him. He'd been staring at her. She'd sensed it since they'd sat down, but she wasn't going to draw attention to it. He's probably just waiting for me to explode at him after this afternoon, she reasoned. It was now her turn to watch him as he began to pick at his food.

He had grabbed up a set of chopsticks, but had abandoned them for a fork. He's nervous, she thought. And the fact that she could tell he was nervous, made her uneasy. She knew him too well. She knew his mannerisms and quirks. The fact that she'd caught his hands shaking as he'd tried to work the chopsticks had sent her gaze in another direction.

If only she could be as oblivious as he was pretending to be. If only…if only…if only she didn't still love him.

It would be a lot easier to hate him. She'd tried. Like today, after their argument, she'd tried to reason with herself that she could learn to despise him, but her mind wouldn't go there. Her mind couldn't because her heart couldn't. Without even realizing it, he'd entered that restricted area she thought she'd blocked off from everyone except her family. She'd never truly given herself to a man and now she had. Not even Sam had entered that part of her she staved off. And now that David had entered, she couldn't get him to leave. Even if he left on his own, he would still be there. The lingering shadow of him.

She stole another look across her desk. He was watching out one of the side windows at the snow. How was she going to get through this night? They hadn't been completely alone since that month they'd been…what…lovers? She shook off the image in her head. That image of him, her, candlelight, wine…rumpled sheets.

Suddenly he looked back across the desk at her and she felt the blood drain from her face. She recovered, but not quickly enough for her. "So," he said apparently in an attempt to break the silence.

"So."

"When's the last time you saw weather like this?"

Maddie looked over her shoulder and out the window. "Chicago," she answered. That one word set a new degree of tension in the air. Chicago. Too much of a reminder of those months she'd run away from him. She'd hidden herself and their child. The child she lost. There was too much regret. More than she thought she could handle right now, so she decided talking might chase it away for now. "A couple of Christmases ago we got four feet. It's funny, but there, this would be nothing."

"Same in Philly," he answered. "I used to skateboard to school in stuff like this."

Maddie looked back at him with amusement in her eyes. "Skateboard?" He'd let out a small piece of himself he probably hadn't intended.

He chuckled and then looked down nervously into his food. "Yeah. Skateboarding, roller skating, bike riding…whatever to get around."

"And did you do this in high school too," she asked just having to know what he had been like back then. Back in that boys Catholic school. Back when he knew Tess. Back when things were probably a lot simpler for him.

"That's how I hurt my arm," he said simply.

Maddie had noticed the scar, how could she not, but she'd never asked about it. After all, he'd never offered up the information. "What happened?"

"After school one day my friends and I hung out in the school parking lot. Not my idea. I'd have rather been a hundred miles from school. Anyway, my friends were egging me on to try some ridiculously stupid stunt. Couldn't turn down a challenge. Tried to jump the curb and ended up flying through the air one minute and slamming into the pavement the next. I actually blacked out at one point and when I came to, my friends were all standing over me. Luckily we were at the school where someone called an ambulance. Turned out I really messed up my shoulder."

Maddie took in all this information. David wasn't always so eager to offer up memories of his past, so she just sat back and let him talk. She began to wonder where she was during this time in his life. "How old were you?"

"Fifteen."

I was in Paris by then, she thought.

David seemed to be on a roll and didn't want to stop. He continued, "My arm was in a cast for months. Even if I'd been able to skateboard, I couldn't have. Dad took it away. Said I wasn't trustworthy," and he looked at Maddie for the first time since he started this jaunt down memory lane. He gave her a not too convincing smile and then looked back at his dinner.

Suddenly, she realized how little she really knew about David. Sure, she knew his mannerisms, his strengths and weaknesses, but she knew very little about his life before she entered it. "Did you have a car," she asked as casually as she could. "I mean, the following year you drove, right?"

"No, didn't have a car." He looked over at her and then down at his food saying, "Worked for my dad driving a delivery truck. It was a horrible job all except for being able to drive. That's the only reason I got my license." He looked up at her again and noticed her sympathetic look. "So, what about you, Blondie?"

The nickname brought her up short. He hadn't called her that since…well…the last time they were together. "What about me?"

"Did you have wheels?"

She thought back to the cute little blue sports car her father had given her for her sixteenth birthday and realized she didn't want to go there. She and David were from two different worlds, but if they were "wrong," why did it feel so right to be with him. And not just in bed, but here, like this, talking and eating a meal. In that month, they had done very little of this. They'd had dinner together, shared a bottle of wine, and seen a movie or two, but it had been mostly physical despite their feelings for each other. That had been her insistence. Nothing in public. Why did I do that?!

"My life was pretty boring," she concluded.

"I doubt that."

She looked up to see his smile and said, "Really. It may have seemed glamorous, but it wasn't."

"No all night parties and hob-nobbing with the famous?"

Maddie laughed. "Hardly. With my father?"

David watched her intently imagining a teenaged Maddie being ushered around by her parents and only allowing so much exposure of their only daughter. "But you must have seen a lot."

Maddie continued to look at her hardly touched dinner. "I traveled a lot, yeah, but my mother was never far behind. My father insisted on a chaperone. He never let me get a big head. Whenever he saw me acting like a brat, he'd put me in my place. I used to hate him for it. Told him so on more than one occasion. Told my mother things I wish I could take back. Now I'm grateful for it."

The room was silent as both pondered their own thoughts. "Did anything change when you got 'Blue Moon?'"

"Only that it got me my two years of college."

"Do you ever wish you hadn't done it?"

His question caught her up short almost as the nickname had. "I don't know. Sometimes I wish people didn't define me as the 'Blue Moon Girl.' Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like to have entered into some profession right out of college. Lawyer, journalist, teacher, something else. Sometimes I wonder if my life would have been any different." Sure it would have been different. I wouldn't have met David. "What about you?"

"I don't think about it," he said taking a mouthful of mixed vegetables. After he swallowed, he added, "The past is my past. What can I do about it? Sure I've made mistakes. I try to make peace with them and move on because what else can you do?"

David's statement seemed so out of character for the party animal she had seen. Then again, he never did dwell on anything. Had he ever brought up their past? Her answer: Never. Only when they became heated did David bring up Sam or Walter or anything having to do with their relationship or lack there of. In the same way he never brought up anything about his childhood. Was that just as off limits? Too much pain, missed opportunities, mistakes? Then again, there was a lot she'd never shared with him, so she was just as guilty.

She bowed her head at the idea. For so long she'd blamed him for so much. Now she could see the truth. Maybe he had done that some in the beginning, but she had done the same. In running off to Chicago and distancing herself from him after losing the baby, she'd put an even bigger barrier between them. Not only the miles between them, but a lack of communication. Those miles from LA to Chicago had haunted her. In those days she spent hiding in her parents' home (and, yes, she realized she had gone to hide), those miles terrified her. Would he show up one day on the doorstep? Would he not come at all? What she hadn't expected was exactly what he had done - gotten to her without crossing her lines. He hadn't shown up, hadn't called. He'd sent packages, written letters…and in that, shown he cared.

"You're quiet," David said jarring her from her thoughts.

"Sorry," she said quietly still looking at the food in front of her. How she wanted to tell him…well, everything. How much she loved him then, back during that month, but she was too afraid to admit it. Too afraid to admit that she could feel that kind of emotion. She wanted to tell him now how much she still loved him. How she sometimes woke up in the night from a dream where he was with her and expected to find him with her. And then would cry when he wasn't. Did he feel the same for her? Does he still love me? How could he? After the way she'd treated him, it was any wonder he was still around. Which made her think. Why was he still around?

"Whatcha thinking?"

"I hope everyone made it home safely," she said hoping her voice didn't shake when she spoke.

"I'm sure they did. And I bet anything Agnes called everyone to make sure."

Maddie looked up to find him with a comforting smile. "You're probably right."

"No question. She'd done it before," he said stabbing his fork into a large sprout of broccoli, but making no attempt to eat it.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, before you came, we had a horrible earthquake." He looked up at Maddie for a moment and then back down at his plate. "Nothing new, right," he chuckled. "Anyway, we had a really bad tremor. The whole building shook. Everyone was really shaken up, so I sent everyone home. Agnes called everyone and wouldn't rest until every last person was accounted for. It's just the way she is. Wants to take care of everyone."

"She's the mother hen," Maddie said in thought.

David smiled and replied, "So, what does that make us? The chicks?" Maddie was oblivious to David and didn't even try to stave off his inevitable comment on who the real "chick" was. David noticed and said, "You okay?"

"She wants to take care of everybody. Even her bosses." She thought and said absently, "Even me."

"What does that mean?"

All she could think about at that moment was running off and leaving the people she saw daily in the lurch. She'd learned from her lawyer and the employees later that the business had barely stayed open while she was away and as much as she'd wanted to blame David, she knew she couldn't. She blamed herself. And now Agnes was taking care of her when she'd had little or no regard for her, the other employees or David. It made her feel like a heartless person and she knew that was the furthest thing from the truth - she adored these people. She'd do anything for them and she knew that was why she had tried so hard to gain back their trust when she returned. As much as she worried that her employees would never trust her again, it was David she really worried about. Would he ever look at her in that loving, adoring way he once had?

She had been so lost in thought, she'd forgotten about him and she turned to his questioning expression. "Nothing," she said not too convincingly.

"Well," David said realizing dinner was over. "I think I'm going to get some shut eye."

Maddie looked at the clock on her desk. "At 8:15?"

"Well, it was a long day." Both avoided each other as they recalled the events of the day.

"Maybe I will too. It was a long day," and she rose as he did. She began to gather up the remains of dinner and David tried to help. "I've got it," she said with a smile.

"Are you sure," he asked watching her tidy up.

"I'm just going to stick the rest of this in the fridge. If you get hungry later…well, you know where it is."

David inched toward the door as if he were unsure if he should really leave. "Well, I'll be in my office if you need anything."

"Sure," she said with a half-hearted smile.

With that, he left. He left her standing there with the carton of steamed rice in her hand. When he was out of range, she dropped the box onto her desk, dropped into her chair and plopped her head into her hands. How she wanted…what did she want? She wanted everything she had once had with him. She didn't want memories. She wanted reality.

She grabbed the containers and threw them in the fridge. "So much for trying to get his attention," she said shutting the fridge door.

When David entered his office, he slumped onto the leather sofa and laid a hand against his head. He hadn't wanted to leave, but she had seemed so eager to not have him there. All through their very tense meal, she'd been so quiet. So unwilling to share anything with him. Why?

Reconsidering his thoughts, he realized he'd been just as stand-offish at one time. He'd been so scared of getting hurt or extending himself to anyone. Even Maddie. A woman he wanted to know inside and out. Never had he graced the halls of a concert hall to attend the symphony for a woman…and in a monkey suit no less. She was the first…and only as far as he was concerned.

They had shared so much it almost seemed like a liability to lose each other. Not only did she know things no one else knew, but they were things he had wanted her to know. He had never planned to tell her about Tess, but then when she showed up in New York, he knew it was the right thing. Jillian had been a whole different situation. He had never wanted to hear her name again, yet Maddie was with him through the whole ordeal. He wouldn't have wanted anyone else.

David stretched out on his couch and positioned a pillow under his head. He thought about Maddie on the other side of the office and wondered what she was doing. Was she trying to analyze their tense dinner conversation? Was she wondering what he was thinking? Did she still love him the way he loved her?

He groaned and turned on his side. Although he shifted to get comfortable, he was sure he'd never find sleep that night. Not with Maddie two doorways away. Instead he turned his gaze to the still falling snow from outside his window.

This was going to be a long night.