𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐧 |~𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝚁𝚎𝚒𝚍~|

Chapter Seventeen

I sat in a restaurant, across from the man I knew as Jordan Greensay. We had just ordered our food and were waiting for it to get there. 

Jordan smiled and clasped his hands. "I just have so many questions." 

I laughed and tucked a wild curl behind my ear. "Well, I'll do my best to answer them." 

He took a deep breath and seemed to think for a minute. "Ok. First of all, where do you work?" 

"I'm a profiler for the Behavioral Analysis Unit in the FBI."

"Oh, you're an agent?" 

I nodded. "Yeah. How about you?"

"I'm actually still in school. I'm trying to get a Master's in psychology to be a Social Worker for children." 

"That's really cool!" 

"Mhm. What is your PHD in?" 

I smiled and blushed a little. "Well, I have one in criminology and one in psychology." 

He raised his eyebrows. "You have two degrees?" 

"Four, actually. I have Bachelors in philosophy and mathematics." 

He seemed speechless. "Wow. How old are you?" 

"Twenty-five." 

He nodded. "Oh. So, what made you so busy over the past few months?" 

"Um, well, I kind of got shot. I was in the field." 

He raised his eyebrows at me. "You got shot?" 

I nodded. "Yeah, right in my lower lung." He looked dumbfounded. "I wasn't so bad off as my coworker. He got abducted by the unsub." 

"Oh my God is he okay?"

"I mean, as okay as you can be after getting abducted and tortured." 

"Wow. That must be a crazy job to have." 

I nodded. "Yeah. Right now I'm not supposed to be in the field; I'm still healing."

Just as he was about to say something, our food arrived. I thanked the waiter and took a sip of the wine he had just placed on the table. 

We talked a little more as we ate. I could tell he was still extremely impressed by me. He was intimidated, too, though. He seemed to feel emasculated by the fact that I was much smarter than him. 

Just as we were about to finish our food, Jordan shook his head and smiled at me. "I still can't believe that you were shot." 

"Yeah. I have a pretty nasty scar." 

He gave me a suggestive look. Right as I was sipping my wine, he said, "How about we go back to my place and you can show me that scar?" 

I spit out my wine in my cup and choked a little. I didn't really know how to reject him. He seemed like a nice guy, but he was a little eager. Just then, my phone started ringing. I picked it up, hoping that I was being called on a case. 

"Hey, angel!" 

"Garcia, hi! Do you need me to come in?" 

"No, I was just checking to see if you ever called that boy back for a date! You really need some lovin." 

"Oh that sounds bad," I said. "I'll be there soon." 

"What? What are you talking about? Wait, you're on the date right now, aren't you?" 

"Mhm." 

"Oh, no, no, no, you are not getting out of this without telling me what happened!" 

"Yeah, I can be there in fifteen minutes." 

"Does this mean you're coming to my house." 

"No." 

"Hey! You are gonna tell me all about it, you hear me? If you won't come to my house, I'll go to yours! I know where you live!" 

"Ok. I will. See you soon." I hung up on her. 

Jordan looked at me with a frown. "I assume that means you have to go?" 

I nodded. "Yeah. I'm really sorry. It's bad." 

"What is it?" 

"It's supposed to stay confidential," I said as I gathered my things and stood up. 

"Wait, let me walk you to your car?" 

"Ok." 

He walked me outside. Before I knew it, he was leaning down to me for a kiss. I gave him a hug, turning my head so he couldn't reach me. Then, I got in my car and drove away. 

When I got to my house, Garcia was there, waiting for me in her car. I pulled into my driveway and laughed when she got out of her car. "Garcia, you know its against protocol to just show up at my house uninvited?" I wasn't being serious; I wanted her company at the moment. 

"Delaney, what happened? What did he do?" She pestered me with questions while I was walking up to my door and unlocking it. Once I let her inside, she stopped with the questions for a moment. "Oh my God, your house is so little and cute!" 

I laughed. "Thanks, Garcia." 

"Ok, tell me, please, how did it go?" 

I shook my head. "He was too eager." 

"What does that mean? What did he do?" 

"I told him about my scar and then he asked if I wanted to go to his place so I could show him the scar, and that's when you called me." 

"Oh, wow, you found a bold one." 

"Right? And then, when he was walking me to my car, he tried to kiss me, but I just hugged him instead." 

"Okay. That's reasonable." 

I nodded. "I didn't like him that much. I could tell he was frustrated at the fact that I had 4 degrees more than him and I was younger than him." 

"Oh that's not good." 

"Yep." 

"Well, that's okay. You'll find somebody else." 

I rolled my eyes. "I don't need someone." 

"Angel, I don't need to be a profiler to tell that you're lonely." I shifted my glance to the floor and bit my lip. "Sorry. I'm sorry. That was too far." 

I shook my head. "No, its ok. I'm just... I'm scared." 

"Scared of what?"

I shrugged and sat down next to her on the couch. "I don't know. I guess, after all we've seen, there's just so much that can go wrong in any given situation so I've learned to be not much of a risk taker." 

She nodded. "I get what you mean. But, don't let paranoia hold you back from living your best life." 

"Yeah. I know. Its just... hard. Sometimes." 

She nodded and put her arm around my shoulders, giving me a hug. "So, do you have any nail polish?" 

I furrowed my brow. "Why?" 

"We're having a girls night!" 

I laughed. "No, I don't have any." 

She nodded and reached in her purse. "That's okay. I have some." 

I smiled. "Can I get changed into more comfortable clothes first?" 

"Yes, please, do." 

That night, for the first time in a while, I actually had a lot of fun. It was really nice to just be able to relax and feel normal for once.