Contrary to popular belief, I did not intend to leave this story on a cliff-hanger. I don't know why it's taken me so long to finish this, but when inspiration strikes... it takes an entire day to write this whole chapter (I scrapped all the work I've done since the last update, it just wasn't working). I did have time to make a cover art for the story, which you might have notices. The full work can be found on my DeviantArt profile, because I'm an old fogey. (Side note: episodes of Jimmy Neutron are on Hulu Plus now! They have a week free trial if you don't want to pay for an account. Let the squeeing commence!) Enjoy!

Cindy stormed passed the couch where Sheen and Libby were absorbed in whatever terrible sitcom was playing on the TV. A quick getaway was the only chance she had at avoiding confrontation from the obnoxious power couple. She could hear them stirring as she entered her small room, but ignored any attempt at conversation.

She had struggled to tame her temper for years. When she was young, an outburst could be considered amusing. As she got older, people became less tolerant with such behavior. The only way she could survive law school was to learn to think before she spoke and bite her tongue accordingly. Over time, her hot-blooded nature cooled slightly. Her tongue still ached though.

Even slamming the door didn't make her feel better though. Acts of trivial violence had been her bread and butter for letting the anger out when she was younger, but it had been a long time since her temper had last gotten the better of her like this. She wasn't a volatile sixteen year old anymore; she needed to let it go. But she just couldn't.

She took off her clothes and threw them as hard as possible into the hamper before donning the oversized t-shirt and yoga pants she wore as pajamas. But the usual instant comfort didn't come. Flinging herself onto the bed didn't help either.

She curled up in a cocoon of blankets, saying to hell with her nightly skincare routine. Curling up with Humphrey in the crook of her knees, sleep came in fits and starts.

When the alarm clock sounded, she ignored it for once.

Several hours later, she was jolted awake by a knock at her door. "Cin? Are you alive?"

"Go away."

Libby entered the room and plopped down on the bed next to her. "Are you alright girl? The last time you slept in this late it was because of a stomach bug. You didn't get food poisoning or anything, right?"

"I have the day off. People sleep in." Cindy covered her face with a pillow.

"Uh, not you. You're always up at ungodly hours doing tai chi in the living room or alphabetizing your sock drawer or something." Libby grabbed the pillow and tossed it aside. "Is this about something that happened last night?"

Apparently the look on Cindy's face was all it took for her best friend to put the pieces together. "Oh my god! Did that rich creep do something? I will shatter his kneecaps; where's my aluminum bat?"

Cindy picked at a nonexistent thread, "As much as I would like to see that, it's kind of complicated."

"Nothing's complicated unless you make that way."

"Oh yeah? What would you call my kind-of client telling me he 's too good to be friends with me?"

"He said what?"

Cindy quickly recapped everything that had transpired on the street front.

Libby let out a deep sigh. "You managed to have a huge fight in the three minutes it took to walk outside? That must be a personal best."

Cindy supposed that technically she may have slightly overreacted… but no one could fault her irritation.

"This was not my fault! I try to be friendly and Mr. Big Shot has to misinterpret everything and make a big deal out of dinner."

"Ok, last night was a lot more than dinner. "

Cindy felt her face flush. "Well I didn't intend to be more than dinner! All I wanted was-" she quelled the surge of frustration, "All I wanted was a bit of petty revenge. The guy spent all week making my time at work miserable, and I saw a change to return the favor. I got fortunate and made him squirm during a meeting. I never could have planned on… all this."

Libby put her hand on her friend's shoulder, "Well, you've got all this, babe. Do you really want to be friends with someone like that?"

Cindy didn't respond. She certainly didn't want to be friends with the stuck-up cretin who assumed he time was infinitely more important than hers, who thought his life meant more just because he owned his own company and could buy and sell hers. But she had wanted to get to know the awkward nerd from Texas who cared about his parents, respected her business acumen, and was willing to spend an evening listening to Sheen's bad jokes just to spend tie with her. But she was starting to think that that man was just a fabrication of her mind. A desperate hope that there was maybe one less jerk in the world.

She just shrugged.

Libby didn't push the matter. "Well, try not to dwell on it for now. C'mon and get up. I would have made you breakfast, but there is the issue of our pantry containing only bread flour and dog kibble."

"I'll get dressed and head to the market. Don't you have purses to sew?"

Libby muttered something obscene and left the room. Cindy slowly rose from the blanket nest and grabbed something resembling an outfit from the dresser before heading to the bathroom. She was not sorry for what had said last night. It was his own fault for… letting her get carried away with their actions.

Her only error was mistakenly thinking for a moment that they could be friends.

They weren't friends. Jimmy kept forgetting that the woman he had met less than a week ago was not a lifelong friend who knew all the intricacies of his life. She was practically a stranger… who knew all the intricacies of his life. Sure, she was fun to be around, and could be nice when she wasn't plotting his total destruction, and she made him feel…lighter. Like he didn't have a million piled up responsibilities waiting to crumble around him.

But right now, all he felt was shame and distraction; the two things he had been avoiding by breaking off whatever that was. He eventually gave up trying to work and crawled into bed at two am. Sleep didn't come easy, so when the alarm sounded at it's usual six, he absentmindedly hit snooze. When he did eventually rouse at ten, the realization that he had forgotten to call his mother the previous day hit him like a semi truck. He always called home on the first and third Friday evening of the month (it wasn't like he ever had plans), but the revelry and subsequent disaster had distracted him. He grabbed his phone and hit the speed dial while pushing back covers.

His mother's overly perky greeting made him wish he had brewed a pot of coffee first. "Hello sweetie! It's wonderful to hear from you."

The sincerity in her voice made him cringe with guilt. "Hi mom. Sorry I didn't call last night-"

"Oh, it's alright dear. I know how busy you must be with the contracts and all."

He hesitated for a moment before saying, " Actually, I went out with some, er, colleagues last night."

"Well how wonderful! I always thought a boy your age needs to spend time with friends."

Jimmy rolled his eyes, grateful that she couldn't see him. "Yes, well, how are things at the diner?"

She went on about pie spices and how his dad had taken up wood carving, so now the house had become overrun with wooden duck decoys. He told her about the various regulations he had to work around and how there was a mountain of paperwork on his desk at all times.
Then, for reasons we wasn't quite sure about, he asked, "Mom, would you guys like to come up for the holidays?"

"What?"

"Well, it's just that I haven't seen you all in a while and I think you'd really like to see the fall foliage and my office."

"I like the level of priority there dear, but I'll have to check into our finances and-"

"Mom, you know I can have you flown out here."

Her voice grew stern, "James Isaac Neutron, we've talked about this. I don't want you spending unnecessary money on us. We can manage."

He groaned at her stubbornness. "Mom, it's not a big deal. Why do you always butt heads with me on this matter?"

She paused for a moment. "The parents are supposed to take care of the child. Not vice versa. You've already spent more money on me than I'm comfortable with."

"Mom, please just let me do this for you. Money is no big deal for me; I might as well spend it on my family! I wouldn't have it if you guys hadn't worked so hard to put me through school. I really want to see you."

That gave her pause. "W-well, I suppose I could speak with your father about the matter. But I won't have you pay for our lodgings!"

He rolled his eyes again, "Mom, you can just stay here at my apartment. There are two extra bedrooms that I'm not using. Maybe you could help me decorate the place? It is a little bare." That last part was an outright lie. He had purchased the floor three years ago and had yet to furnish anything completely except his workshop. Even the bedroom lacked more than a bed, chest of drawers, and desk. If anyone asked, he would just tell them it was a minimalist aesthetic, but no one had been in his apartment save for the housekeeper. And Elke wasn't much for conversation.

"Well… I would like to see this company that keeps you so busy."

He hesitated, "Of course it keeps me busy, it's a start-up. It takes time for a corporation to really take off. You know what it's like owning a business."

That made her scoff, "Jimmy that diner hardly counts. You have people running every aspect of it for me! I'm basically just an over-paid greeter who sprinkles sugar on top of the deserts."

"I just want you and dad to be happy in your retirement."

"Retirement! We're barely fifty! We didn't need to retire."

"You were working too hard! It was all too much," he was trying hard not to yell into the receiver.

"That wasn't your decision to make!" She composed herself, "Son, we know how much you care for us, but what you really want is to be able to control everything."

"That's… ridiculous," he lied.

"You bought me a business so you could control what I do each day; you started your own business immediately after school so you could be your own boss; and now that you have money to back your endeavors, you're trying to control everything else."

The accuracy of the statement stung.

She continued, "The work was tough, but it was worth it because we know it was going to give you a bright future. Granted, your father didn't like scrubbing the cars of at the dealership, but he liked selling them. He's bored out of his mind now, and driving me crazy. And as much as I appreciate you hiring me a maid, it makes me terribly uncomfortable."

"I just wanted to make sure you had time to enjoy yourselves."

"And what about you? Are you enjoying yourself?" She countered.

"I enjoy my work very much. We're making great strides in the field of new tech-"

"Jimmy, you know that's not what I meant. I'm eternally grateful that you have such a good work ethic, but it's become an obsession. I feel like you use your job as an excuse to avoid reality."

He wasn't expecting this from his mother. The audacity of her suggestion that he used his very important position to avoid unnecessary things was ridiculous. Who did she think she-oh no. For the second time in twenty-four hours, Jimmy realized what a terrible mistake he had made.

"You know mom, you might be right."

"I-what?"

""It's possible that maybe this one time I was wrong about something."

She burst out laughing, "James Isaac Neutron, I don't think you've admitted to being wrong since you were four years old. What's made you so receptive to criticism all of a sudden?"

"Let's just say I've been receiving a lot of it lately."

"Not at work?"

"No, in a more… let's say personal setting."

"Oh? One of these colleagues you've yet to tell me about?"

He was not about to fall for her innocent tone. "How about you talk to dad, and get back with me on flight dates. Maybe see if Carl would like to come. I'm sure he'd like to get out of the house."

"Alright sweetie. Have a good day. I'll talk to you soon." And with that she hung up.

As much as it pained him to admit, his mother was correct. His business did require much of his free time, but not all of it. And he was fortunate enough to be well compensated for his struggle. There were plenty of people whose lives comprised of hard work and still struggled to get by. Like his parents…and his friends. Well, potential friends. He might have shot himself in the foot there. Which was a shame, because he did like the group. Especially a certain blond member, who was most likely plotting his demise at this moment.

Was becoming friends with her a good idea? Probably not, but neither was trying to create a company at age twenty, and he had been successful with that. Still, he got the feeling that getting Cindy Vortex to forgive him was going to be a whole lot more difficult.

"You know Cindy, if you're really this desperate for cash, I could hire you to babysit this weekend." Maria waved as the blond entered the stockroom.

Cindy did not match her friend's joking tone, "I'm just going to work here through the holidays. I've already put in my notice."

It had been three weeks since the incident with Jimmy- no, Neutron, and it had been just as awkward as anyone could have predicted. Her work with the company had mercifully finished a few days ago. They had managed to create the façade of professionalism whenever they had to speak, but now she was free from his looming presence. She's had practice working with unpleasant co-workers before, but this was a new kind of torture. The worst part was that she kept imagining that he lingered in the boardroom, as if debating whether or not to say something to her. But that was probably just in her mind, along with any camaraderie they had shared. But now she could resume normal life, and after the New Year she wouldn't have to pour coffee for rich jerks ever again.

Maria seemed to sense the agitation, and responded, "Well, I will miss you. Be sure to stop in anytime you want and restock the whipping cream."

Cindy laughed despite herself. She hauled the crate into her arms and headed for the door. She was just contemplating how nice it would be to not have work start at five am, when an unwelcome face greeted her at the counter.

No. it couldn't be.

Customer service training be damned, she marched over and with a deadpan expression, resisted the urge to say, "Welcome to Moonbeams coffee. What the hell do you want?"

James gave an awkward wince as she slammed the box down.

"How may I help you today, sir?"

"Uh, how about a pumpkin latte with extra whipped cream?"

His sheepish grin was met with a glare. He handed her a ten-dollar bill, and put the change in the tip jar as she set about steaming milk. The chill in the room was far colder than the brisk fall weather outside.

He waited for her to hand him the cup, but she set it on the counter and walked away. He noticed the absence of her scrawled writing. He was almost disappointed to see she had not abused his name in another clever fashion.

"So, is this mine?"

She didn't turn around, "Do you see anyone else here?" It was the sweet spot in between commute rushes, and he had planned the visit accordingly.

"Well I wasn't sure, since my name's not on it."

She was at the counter in two steps, with venom in her eyes. "You're really going to do this? What are you, eleven?"

"I'll have you know, at age eleven I was far more mature than you're acting now."

She was just about to let him have it, when another female employee ran into the room with a panicked air.

"Cindy! Didn't your break just start? Why don't you go outside and enjoy some fresh air?"

The enraged blond stormed out of the building, not bothering to put on a coat. The other woman took her place behind the counter. "Do you need anything else, sir?"

"Yes," and he followed out the door.

He didn't have to go far to find the shivering blond. She scowled when he approached. "It's not enough for you to make me miserable at my real job, now you feel the need to come here? What the hell do you want from me?"

"I just want to talk to you."

"You haven't spoken to me about anything other than work for three weeks. You have my business card. You have my email address. What made you think it was appropriate to come here?"

He shrugged, "In hindsight, it was not my best plan, but I just sort of assumed you wouldn't respond if I attempted anything other than face-to-face communication." At her silence he continued, "I'm right, aren't I?"

She glared back with a bitter smile, "Oh course Mr. Neutron, because you know what's best for everybody." Her tone became sharper, "Did you really come here to prove your superiority once again?"

"No, I came here to apologize," he hesitated, "But… but I'm not doing a great job of it, am I?"

The silence stretched between them.

"You could say that again," Cindy crossed her arms, but he could see a faint smile forming at the corners of her mouth. A bitter wind cut through them. He removed his outer jacket and offered it to her. She hesitated for a minute before accepting it.

He sighed, unsure how to go about all of this, "It has come to my attention that I maybe, sometimes, possibly use my work as a way of avoiding uncomfortable situations."

She stared at him for a moment, as if to judge his intent. "Yeah, well, I suppose I maybe, sometimes, possibly don't react well in certain situations."

"Well, I don't know about that," she glared at his grin, "but I definitely didn't make it easy for you to be civil."

"I know it's not easy being the head of a major company, Neutron. But I don't like being reminded that your life is more valuable than mine."

"I realize that. My intention wasn't to make you feel lesser than me."

"Intent really doesn't matter when the result causes damage."

He smiled, "That was pretty good, can I use that in my autobiography?" She didn't laugh. "Because I'll certainly have an entire chapter devoted to the evening we spent together. I don't think I've ever enjoyed myself as much as I did then. It was the first time I ever really felt accepted."

She gave a smirk. "What, the millionaires club's not accepting application?"

"Cindy look, I'm not great at making friends. I've spent the majority of my life being surrounded by people that hate me because of my age and precociousness. It's hard to realize when people genuinely like me."

"And what makes you think I like you?"

"You wouldn't still be here listening to me if you didn't."

She raised an eyebrow, "Forget your autobiography, save that one for a rom-com script."

"I told you I wasn't good at this."

This time, the smile she gave was genuine, "Being sincere is a start. It's a nice change of pace from the people I deal with at work."

"What, the defendants?"

"No, all the liars who claim to like black coffee."

They both laughed.

She handed his coat back. "So, now what?"

"I don't know," he smiled, "I get off work at seven. What happens next is up to you."

FIN