Chapter 21

Elaina was preparing a light snack in the kitchen while Rob sat at the table griping that he was starving.

"Trust me, you don't want a big meal after going through an adrenaline dump. You'll only bring it up again," she said, her sympathy fading in the face of his grousing.

"And what was Doug thinking?" he complained. "Hitting on my girl. I'm gonna beat seven kinds of hell out of him for that."

"No you're not," she said soothingly. "You know what he's like. You'll threaten him, maybe even scare him a little, but you know I wouldn't have taken him up on his offer anyway. Calm down."

"I don't actually feel so bad anymore," he said when she put the plate of food before him, taking a sip of the hot coffee she'd prepared for him. She sat down holding her usual cup of tea.

"That's to be expected," she said nodding. "Once you burn it off, the effects diminish and your body balances out again. You should be exhausted right now, though."

"Maybe that's a side effect of being your donor," he replied thoughtfully. "If I can recover from blood loss, why not this too?"

She laughed. "There are benefits all over the place, now aren't there?

"You know better than that," he scolded mildly. "You know why I'm with you."

"Mmm," she purred consideringly. "Why don't you go take a shower, and then we can explore some of the other benefits."

Elaina stayed the night, leaving before daybreak on Sunday. Rob spent a relaxing day with his Sunday paper and latte, just kicking back and being lazy.

He did have a stimulating moment though, when on his way out to get his morning treats he ran into Doug on the stairs.

"Hey, dude!" Doug called when they met at the second floor landing. Rob just gave him a flat stare.

"What?" Doug said, showing signs of nervousness.

"Continue where I left off, Dougie boy?" His voice had a dangerous harmonic to it and Doug paled.

"I was only kidding, man," he answered with a waver in his voice. "Just a joke. I wouldn't really do that to you."

Glaring at him a few seconds more, Rob said, "It wasn't funny. Stay away from her."

Doug's adam's apple bobbed twice before he answered. "Sure, no prob, dude. You got it." He turned and hurried up the stairs and away from Rob, glancing over his shoulder until he lost sight of him.

Rob continued on, feeling somehow satisfied with Doug's reaction.

Monday at work, Rob still felt the tension generated by the resentment of Bob's perceived interference. He kept his head down and concentrated on his work, trying to get through the day without creating any friction. Several times he saw Brenda talking with one or another of the women in the office, sometimes quite animatedly.

Despite his desire to stay low-key, he was not going to give up a chance to see Dawn, so he left for lunch just has he had been the last few weeks. He noticed that there was a lessening of the hostility he'd noticed in the morning and hoped it was a good sign.

Lunch was good but lonely. Neither of the women had shown up. Deidra smirked at him.

When he got to work on Tuesday, Rob could feel a difference in the atmosphere of the office. Everyone was more relaxed and friendly as he walked to his office, taking a moment to greet Brenda in particular. The more aggressive females still greeted him brashly but didn't come over to buss a cheek. Feeling in some way cheated, he still felt better about things as he settled in for the day ahead.

Bob knocked and strolled into his office. The men greeted each other, and then Bob got down to the reason for his visit.

"You've got a fan," he said in typically blunt fashion.

"Oh?" Rob responded, surprised. "Who is it? Or are you going to make me guess?"

"Brenda," Bob said simply. "She's been talking you up, getting into it with the worst of the gossipers. You could say she's become your champion here."

Smiling, Rob said, "I see that's working out then. I wondered about the change in the air here."

Rob went on to explain his conversation with Brenda the previous Friday, noting the young woman seemed unaccountably depressed about something.

"She's a really nice girl, but after talking with me, she realized that we were too much alike to be able to date."

"How can you be too much alike?" Bob's benign curiosity was evident on his face.

"I can't say," Rob replied quickly. "It would betray a confidence. Let's just say that we're kindred spirits and have found a confidant in each other."

Bob shrugged his shoulders and glanced away for a moment. Looking back, he said, "Well then, I'd say you owe that girl something for putting in a good word for you. Don't let it go too long."

Bob went to leave, then turned suddenly.

"On a side note, I've noticed she's standing up for herself more now. Good work." Then he left.

Rob went to Brenda's desk before lunch on Wednesday and asked her to join him. Despite being surprised she quickly accepted his offer. They met at the elevator at noon and went down. Rob could feel unseen eyes on them as they left. The couple of blocks to Tony's seemed to take no time at all as the two of them chatted along the way.

Once inside, Rob picked an empty table near the middle of the room, no longer feeling the need to hide on the fringes. He held Brenda's chair for her then seated himself just as Deidra approached their table. She looked back and forth between the two of them with one eyebrow raised. Rob got it immediately.

He turned to Brenda with a smile. "Brenda, this is our usual waitress, Deidra." Brenda nodded diffidently to the waitress.

"Deidra, this is Brenda," he said, turning back to her. "She a coworker and a friend." He raised his own eyebrow returning her challenge.

She had just opened her mouth to respond when she closed it again. Rob felt a small hand land on his shoulder.

"Hey there, Rob," Dawn said, coming into view. "I see you have company today. Can I join you, or are you conducting business today?" Dawn's eyes had taken in Brenda's attire and she saw dowdy business casual.

Rob replied by standing and taking Dawn in his arms for a hug and a chaste kiss. It seemed to be a day for eyebrows as Dawn's winged up at the nature of the kiss. Rob grinned back at her.

"Dawn, I would like for you to meet Brenda," Rob said smoothly. "She a friend from work, and I thought she deserved a lunch out." Dawn nodded.

Facing Brenda, he said, "Brenda, this is Dawn." He turned to look Deidra in the eye. "Dawn is a special friend of mine."

Rob didn't know if he'd ever seen a black woman blush before, but he was sure he had now. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dawn blush a little too and look away. Deidra acknowledged the hit with a nod, then asked if she could get them anything.

They all placed drink orders and Deidra left, promising to be right back for their food orders. Meanwhile, Rob had held the seat for Dawn and returned to his own.

Dawn immediately set about making Brenda comfortable, assuring Brenda that she hadn't interrupted anything. Dawn commented that it wasn't like they planned to meet each day, it just seemed to work out that way. In his own defense, Rob pointed out that Dawn frequently skipped lunch because of meetings, Dawn nodding her agreement.

Rob explained about talking with Brenda at work, leaving out the more personal details of their discussion, and of how she was his defender from the gossip hounds. Rob told Dawn about how his coming to lunch more often had opened him to pestering by some of the women at work for dates.

"So what's it like working with our Rob here?" Dawn cajoled after their food arrived. "He a tough taskmaster?"

Brenda giggled with her eyes lighting up. Rob considered her smile and realized she was actually quite pretty, once she stopped trying to hide from the world. Dawn must have seen that too, because her next words were to ask about the way she dressed.

"Girl," she said, "We gotta spice it up a little. You'll never find a man looking like this."

"Oh, I couldn't," Brenda stammered, and they were off to the races, with Dawn working her over until she agreed to a make-over.

"Just, just not too much at once, okay?" she stammered out. Dawn agreed, smiling kindly. After scribbling a number on the back, she handed Brenda her business card, telling Brenda to call her later. Rob smiled, remembering another business card.

After lunch, Rob kissed Dawn good-bye after making sure she would be coming to lunch tomorrow. She reminded him that tomorrow was Thursday and he would see her Friday. He walked with Brenda back to work, noticing the sky was clouding up and thinking they might get some more weather soon.

Back at work, they went their separate ways. Rob saw several of the others heading to her desk as he got to his office. Shaking his head, he wondered if Brenda was going to get any trouble from the others. He lifted his phone and dialed Bob, alerting him to the potential problem. A few minutes later, Rob heard him out in the office, haranguing everybody to get back to work and leave the gossiping for later. Bob gave him a quick glance through the door, but otherwise didn't acknowledge him.

Lunch on Thursday was with his mother. Their relationship was still tentative and nothing of substance was discussed. For the first time in memory, Patty's name didn't come up in conversation.

Dawn made an appearance after all, to pick up a lunch order, but she didn't come over, preferring to throw a kiss in the background.

Friday was interesting.

The dynamic of the workroom floor had changed again. It seemed that Brenda was on the ascendancy. Her lunch date with Rob had given her a certain cachet since she was the only woman there who had ever managed that much.

There was some grumbling in the ranks related to the talk from last week, but Bob put paid to that by stating that Brenda had earned a special consideration for something she'd done for Rob, something none of them had thought to do. Rob iced the cake by stating emphatically that he and Brenda were not dating and they would remain friends outside of work. Brenda vehemently concurred.

An anonymous voice called from the back of the room. "What did she do that we didn't?"

"She understood," was all Rob said. He left the room to disgruntled mutterings, Bob following close behind.

"I don't understand this," Rob griped. "I know I'm nothing special. Why this overwhelming interest?"

"You've always been aloof from the games here," Bob replied. "You were the one no one could get to. Suddenly, you're out there, available, and they want to try you out." Bob shrugged. "It'll fade in time. It already was until you took Brenda to lunch. Don't worry, it'll go away in time."

He chuckled. "It's your own fault, you know."

"What? How?" Rob asked sharply.

"By keeping yourself to yourself, you became a man of mystery."

Rob had found a discrepancy in his latest project and became completely immersed in his work to the exclusion of all else, even the time.