Chapter 1

Tim got out of his car and walked to the restaurant. He had chosen an italian cantina. Nothing too exotic, the likeliness of Madeline liking the food would be greater.

They had agreed to meet at one o'clock. He had arrived ten minutes earlier, he entered the restaurant and sat at a table next to the window. A waiter came over and he said he was waiting for someone to arrive.

Ten minutes later he saw her car pulling over to a parking space in front of the restaurant. It took her about three minutes to finally exit the car. When she did she stood in front of the restaurant for about a minute, before shaking her head and entering.

Seeing how hesitant she was made him a bit anxious. More like ' more anxious'.

When she passed through the door he stood from his chair. She walked over to him, in her usual clothes. Old jeans, T-shirt, today it was red and old converses, the difference is that she didn't have her backpack.

" Hi. " She said, standing shyly in front of him, hands in her pockets.

" Hi. How are you? "

" I'm great. How are you? "

" Great. The kids? "

" They're great. "

" Good. "

They stood in awkward silence for a moment.

" Please, sit. " He said, motioning the chair next to her and getting back to his chair.

She sat and the waiter approached with th menus handing one to each and leaving again.

They looked at the menu, going over the options. Tim kept glancing over at Madeline, and he saw that she was slightly frowning at the menu, especially when she looked to the right side of the pages.

" So, you know what you want? " He asked, wanting to break the silence.

She looked over the menu one more time before closing it and placing it on the desk.

" I'll just get an spaghetti and meatballs. " She said, looking around, which appeared to alert the waiter that they were ready to order. " You? "

" I'm not sure. I'll just have the same. "

The waiter approached.

" Do you know what you'll want? " He asked.

" Yes, two spaghetti with meatballs. And water for me. " Madeline said, giving him her menu back.

" A coke for me, thanks. " Said Tim, giving his back too.

The waiter left to get their orders, they were quiet for a moment, before Madeline taking a deep breath and looked at him.

" So, tell me about yourself Agent McGee. "

" There's no need for this agent thing. Just Tim. "

" So, tell me about yourself, Tim. "

" What would you like to know? Where should I start? "

" I don't know. Thanks to the investigation, you know pretty much everything there is to know about me. I know almost nothing about you. "

" Almost? "

" Well, I know what little was enough to find you. Why don't you just start talking? I won't mind listening to things I already know. "

" Okay. Well, I have a younger sister, her name is Sarah. "

They sat, and when the food came, they ate. And she listened while he spoke. She barely said a word. But she watched and listened closely to everything he said. Not missing a word.

He told her about the members of his family, just the bare bones nothing too deep. About some of his childhood. His studies. His job. It was hard, he was not good in speaking about himself. By the way she always brought the conversation back to him, he figured she was the same way.

They sat for about two hours, until they asked for the check. The waiter brought it over and both of them immediately took their wallets out.

" Please, I got this. " He said, reaching for the check.

" I'll just get my share. "

" No, don't need to worry. I'll get it. Is no problem, I was the one to pick this place afterall. "

" I'm paying for my share, Tim. " She said, looking straight in the eyes.

He was not changing her mind, he could see it in her eyes, so he agreed. But it pained him to see that after taking the bills from her wallet, the only one left was a bill of five.

" Well, I guess, I'll be going. This was...nice. " She said, standing up. " Bye, Tim. "

He stood too, and they walked out of the restaurant.

" We should do this again. Maybe next week? " He said.

" I have your number. I'll call you when I have the time to meet. Is a bit hard to get free time. You understand, right? "

" Sure, I do. Single mom, full-time job. I understand. "

" So, bye. "

" Bye. "

She walked to her car, got in, turned on and drove away. Not pausing of looking back. After she was gone, he finally walked to his car, and drove home.