Return to New York

Coffee and Tea

Tina sighed and ran her hand through her hair. MACUSA always needed a certain number of people there, especially Aurors, even during the holidays. It was even more important to have people there since they were holding Grindelwald prisoner. Nearly everyone was given about a week and a half off for Christmas and New Years but they had to come into work one day during that week. Tina had been assigned the 29th. She had been working steadily all morning, trying not to get too distracted by the thought of Newt.

Moving to set another finished paper on the much smaller stack of papers, she saw someone enter her office. She looked up.

"Newt!" she said. "What are you doing here?"

Newt blushed, staring down at his hands. He was fidgeting nervously. "I -- uh -- I . . . Queenie," he stammered.

"What?"

"Queenie sent me," he said.

Tina laughed. "Why am I not surprised? It's really nice to have you here but I do have work to do."

"I know, I'm not staying long."

There was a pause. "Why did Queenie send you here?" Tina asked.

"I -- uh --" Newt blushed even harder. "You see, I happened to think of something and before I could push the thought away Queenie was in my room telling me I had better get myself over to MACUSA and just do it."

"Do what?"

Newt's blush deepened again. "I thought I might ask if you wanted to go out to get something to drink once you came back from work. You know, like coffee, or something."

A smile tugged at the corners of Tina's mouth. "You don't like coffee," she pointed out.

"I know, I can always order tea."

There was a moment's pause. Newt glanced up at Tina only to look down again when he saw she was looking at him.

"So, would you like to?" he asked hesitantly.

Tina laughed. "Of course I would but I do have work to do first. Is it okay if I get back to that? I'll be done at five."

Newt nodded, letting out a sigh of relief. "Yeah, that's fine. I'll come back at five. I'm going now." With that, he turned and dashed from the room. As soon as he was out of sight, he slumped against the wall.

She said yes! We're going on a date! Even if she doesn't see it that way we're going on our first date.

Tina had watched Newt make his escape with an amused expression on her face. She leaned back in her chair, still staring at the empty doorway.

Newt just asked me out on a date! she realized. He may not mean it that way but we're actually going on a date!

Tearing her eyes away from the door, she tried to focus on her work. She grabbed another paper and quickly began filling it out as if the faster she worked the sooner she'd be able to leave. Time seemed to drag on slower than ever but Tina was slowly making progress through her stack of papers. When the clock finally struck 5:00, Tina quickly began putting the papers away. Newt reappeared in the doorway a few moments later.

"Are you done?" he asked nervously.

"Yes, of course." Tina grabbed her coat and pulled it on. "Let's go."

Newt nodded and led her out of MACUSA. They found a hidden corner and he offered her his hand. She took it and he Disapparated. They appeared in an alley in another part of New York. Newt offered Tina a small smile then led her out of the alley and along the street. They both realized they were still holding hands but neither of them wanted to let go.