“Yes,” she said, “She…”

The word was lost in the roaring of the sudden silence as she looked from Jude to the tall stranger beside him. With wide startled eyes, she had a sense of falling while her vision seemed to expand slowly, her perception revealing one staggering feature at a time.

She was aware first of a deep and chaotic blue, with tiny flecks of silver that flashed behind soft lashes. A single lock of hair the color of deepest mahogany rested just above full eyebrows and teased her fingers nearly into action. She could feel each little digit clench with the desire to touch, tease and stroke. Angular cheekbones and a strong nose stood behind a day's worth of stubble.  A jagged scar highlighted one cheekbone, while another, smoother scar, ran the length of a decisive jawbone. Full lips lifted in a crooked grin. It was only when she began to feel lightheaded that she realized she had forgotten to breathe and dragged in a ragged breath.

Amused eyes sparkled down at her … laughing … at her.

Oh my God, she thought mortified, jerking back only to realize that she had somehow taken his hand in hers. Feeling stricken and suddenly awkward she tried to extricate herself from his grasp. Her efforts made no effect and she slowly stopped struggling as she stood looking up at him.

“Hi,” Noah said, so softly that only Grace could hear.

“Hi.”

Lost now, she simply stared up at him.

“I know you . . . I mean . . . you're Noah, well, of course, you're Noah, you know that, but I know that too . . . I mean the picture in the office . . . ” Mortified, she trailed off as she was again overcome by her reaction to him.

He just grinned down at her, with the same crooked smile he had been wearing since she first gazed up at him. She blushed then, and he was completely charmed.

She finally managed to retrieve her hand. Stepping hastily back, she attempted to recover some of the composure that the last few moments destroyed. Taking a small breath she mentally shook herself. She glanced at Jude, and suddenly remembering, slanted her eyes and advanced on him, gaining speed in the short distance before she pounced.

“You,” and with that she poked him in the chest, “took away my office! How could you? I have been trying to hold this place together and you take away my office? William’s got me working on random bits of code; he's taken over my calendar and hired some piece of fluff and teeth to run MY division. He said that you wanted me ‘out among the masses’ where I would do the most good. ‘Inspire the troops’ you said, ‘keep the ball rolling’ you said. I have been waiting,” poke, “for all of this,” poke, “to become clear,” poke, “but I’m in a cubicle working in the dark and she changes my coffee, takes my chair and decommissions my God-damned aliens. Now I’m supposed to be somebody’s freaking idea of a mentor? A mentor! How the Hell am I supposed to work under these conditions?” 

Grace turned her head and noticed Noah staring at her now, the perpetually amused grin still dancing around those lips. God, those lips would be the death of her.

For a moment, she almost seemed to stumble, as she stared back at him. He would have been amused at the goofy way she was looking at him, if he hadn’t still been feeling the shock of her electric green eyes.

My God, he thought to himself. So that’s how it felt. In a fraction of a moment, he knew he was lost. He ceded victory to her in a heartbeat and passed his soul along with it. She blinked and looked away. He shook his head slightly and looked around, dazed, for a moment. Narrowing his eyes as he looked at her again, and remembering his purpose, he stepped forward and held out his hand.

“Noah Jeffries.”

Grace looked down at his hand and held her own firmly behind her back. She didn’t want to touch him. She didn’t want to confirm what she knew, what she felt in that first moment. She didn’t want to admit defeat just yet. Tilting her chin up, she nodded slightly in his direction. Then turning her back on him, she dismissed him.

Noah stood there, hand still held out, baffled at the unexpected reaction. Slowly, he lowered his arm, the tic of the small muscle in his jaw the only outward sign of his slowly boiling temper.

“Now Grace, do play nicely,” Jude chided softly.

“Don’t you tell me to play nicely! I want to know what the Hell is going on, and I want to know right now.” She crossed her arms and spread her feet. The image was almost comical. Noah couldn’t help the tiny tug at his lips as he struggled not to smile at the militant picture she made standing before them.

Jude watched the two of them, noticing that the meeting was been unsettling for both of them. Suddenly, quite pleased with the situation, he decided to give them a little push.

“Grace, I can’t explain now, but I will get to the bottom of this, I promise. However, for now I need you to show Noah around.”

Holding up a hand to halt her budding objections, he waited for her mouth to slowly and stubbornly close again, a sure sign that she was once again listening. “I know that things are confused, but I’m certain we’ll sort everything out.” He paused then, angling his head to look into her now petulant eyes.

Knowing that he had won the battle, he swooped in for the kill. “Please Grace, be a good girl and show Noah around for me? It would mean the world to me if my two closest friends could become friends.” He looked at her steadily, consciously softening his gaze into the look that she had yet to resist.

The silence stretched out uncomfortably and Noah was sure that they were in for another explosion when she suddenly capitulated. Surprised, he shot Jude a look filled with respect and no little surprise. Jude simply flashed him a smug little smile, before quickly changing it back to the more successful hang dog face when Grace once again exploded into motion.

“Fine, but you do me a favor. Go in there and introduce yourself to Ursula the Venomous. Then, you’ll see what I’ve been dealing with. I want my chair back and I want it cleaned. Her highness bathes in some nasty French perfume and it makes me gag. I want my aliens back, too. Oh, and whenever you figure out whatever it is you need to ponder, let me know so I can kick William’s ass before you throw him out on it.”

With that she spun around and stomped in the direction they’d just come. “I’ll be drinking lousy coffee. You know where to find me.”

Then she was gone.

The space was strangely empty without Grace standing in it, Noah thought suddenly.

Jude looked over at him and smiled, clearly in a better mood. “God, it’s good to be home.” He pointed into the direction of the now silent office. “Shall we?”

The two men moved forward, steadily approaching the closed door to the now silent office, each uncertain as to what they’d find on the other side.