The Hot Canary (A Brian Quinn Fanfic)

Part 11: Must Be a Joker Thing

When Nova arrived at the TruTV network building, just like last time she went to the front counter and told the lady behind the desk her name and her reason for being here. She said that she had an appointment with Pete McPartland and that he was expecting her in about twenty minutes and she knew she was early. 

As Nova was waiting for the woman to check her records, she felt someone tap on her shoulder. As she turned around, at first she didn't see anyone, and then out of the corner of her eye she caught Joe trying to dodge her. "Hey sweetie, how are you? Good to see ya" He said in a very friendly voice as he leaned in and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. 

"I'm good! How are you? It's so good to see you too!" Nova replied warmly as she returned the gesture. "Great! You here to drop off the pictures?" He asked, glancing down at her bag with a smile. 

"Oh yes! Yes I am, Oh! Wait a second" Nova said excitedly as she began to dig through her bag. "Here, this is for you" She said, pulling out his flash drive and handing it to him. "YES! Thank you so much! I've been DYING to see these pictures! I told my wife all about them and she can't wait to see them either, I know you got some amazing shots!" Joe said happily. 

"Yeah, sorry it took me so long, I just wanted them to be perfect ya know?" 

"No worries, I'm sure it was worth the wait" Joe replied. The lady behind the desk interrupted them to tell Nova where the meeting was and that she could head up there now. After thanking her, Joe offered to walk Nova up, hooking his arm around hers to lead the way. 

"So, I'm gonna be nosy, how are things going between you and Q?" He asked, being very straight forward. 

"Me and Q? They are great, I guess. We just saw each other a few days ago and we have been texting back and forth a bit. He's such a nice guy...I think I'm really starting to like him" Nova said, feeling a little funny talking about Q to Joe like this. 

"Ohh that's great! Yeah, he can come off a little rough around the edges but he's really a big softie. I'm happy things are starting to work out between you guys, maybe one of these days we can all go out and do something" Joe suggested. 

"Really?" Nova said, blinking at his statement. "Yeah of course! We all think you're great. Me and the guys were just saying that we hope Q don't screw things up with ya, I think you could be really good for each other" Joe said confidently. 

Nova was taken back by his words. "Well, I think you guys are great as well. Thank you for saying that, it means a lot coming from you. As for Q, I can't really say yet if things will work out, everything is still pretty new but I don't know, I kinda feel like we are on the right track" Nova said honestly. 

Joe put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in with a squeeze and warmly said "He would be an idiot to let you get away."

Nova smiled as they began to approach the room that she had to be in. She really liked Joe and aside from her feelings for Q, he was starting to become her favorite Joker, and not just on screen. He was so genuine and kindhearted, he always made her feel welcome no matter what the situation was. He had such an energy that made her feel comfortable and she was hoping that whether or not things continued to blossom between her and Q, they could still be friends. 

"Well, I guess this is it" Nova said nervously as she looked back and forth between Joe and the door. "You got this sweetheart, you will do great, come by room 402 when you are done, I'll be there with Murr and Q. We're working on something for the show but we'd still like to see you, hee hee I know Q would. You can give them their thumb drives and let us know how it went" Joe said, giving Nova a wink. 

Nova agreed to stop by and Joe gave her another hug and a kiss on a cheek and reminded her to relax and then left Nova to her meeting. Nova took a deep breath and opened the door, not at all prepared for what was on the other side.