Rafael Barba Oneshots

Change Of Pace

It had been almost four days since you and Rafael had seen each other. Rafael had a tough case he was working on, all his free time taken up by briefs and prep, while your own job was pulling you in five different directions. There had been short text messages exchanged - 'How is it going?', 'I miss you', 'I love you', 'Dinner?', 'Maybe tomorrow, sorry' - and you had shared a few equally brief phone calls - no time for FaceTime - but that was the extent of your contact. It seemed like an eternity since you had seen each other, and the work, it seemed, wasn't slowing down any time soon.

However, you had a breather, a small gap in your busy day, and you needed to see him (hell, you needed him in another way, but you would take just seeing him). So, you took your chance and headed to his office building, hoping you would catch him. Even if it was just five minutes, hell, you'd even take thirty-seconds at this point - anything was better than nothing.

When you arrive, Carmen is manning her post at her desk, and she senses your presence (then again, part of her job is to know who is going to be walking through Rafael's door before he does), immediately lifting her head from her work. You can tell she was about to wave away whoever it was, but then a smile breaks across her face. You give her a small smile in return and wave. "Just me," you say in a small, quiet voice as you step up closer to her desk and point to the door. "Is he in?"

She nods her head once in response. "Thank you," you say softly, before she returns to her work.

You knock on the door once, letting him know someone is coming in, before pushing the door open. "What is it, Carmen?" you hear him say as you enter, and you turn your head toward his voice to find him behind his desk, computer open, attention focused on the screen before him. He is slightly hunched over, but he still looks breathtaking to you here in his office, his home away from home. He's wearing his three-piece grey suit today - you can see the vest hugging his form oh so nicely, and you catch a glimpse of a light pink tie tucked neatly underneath it. A few thoughts run through your head, but you force them down - this is his office, and he's too professional to let that happen.

You take a split second to admire the view before moving to shut the door behind you. "Not Carmen," you say, smile pulling at your lips, and that gets his attention. His head snaps up from behind his computer, and his beautiful emerald eyes land on you. You can see the surprise in his eyes as you take a few steps toward the desk.

"Cariño," he says as he pushes himself out of his chair, and moves quickly around the desk.

"Hey Rafi," you say, the words coming out like a sigh of relief just before he's wrapping his arms around you, and pulling you close. Instantly, your arms circle around his neck, and you let out another sigh, eyes falling closed as you bury your face into his shoulder. You breath in his cologne, the scent filling your nostrils, as his warmth envelops you. You begin to feel the tension in your shoulders subsiding as he buries his head into your neck, his warm breath against your skin as he lets out his own sign of contentment. You feel yourself smile into his vest.

A few moments pass in silence, the two of you lost in your embrace, before you begin to feel Rafael pull away. He doesn't go far, only moves enough so he can look at you, and his hands rest on your hips, fingers gently pressing into your skin. "Everything okay?" he asks, and you can see the concern filling his eyes. After all, you don't really "drop by" his office.

The two of you have only been dating for eight months, and had just begun to let people know you were dating. You two agreed it was better to move slow - you had moved too fast in your last relationship and that turned out to be a mess you weren't eager to repeat and Rafael had his own reasons. It was a process, but you both agreed it was the right course of action. So, stopping by the office was a rare, ridiculously rare, occasion.