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“Jonah,” Amy sighed, “Can you just tell me what it is?” They were at the store late because Amy had to finish paperwork and Jonah decided to wait with her.
“Why tell… when I can show? Come here.” He took hold of her hand and lead the way to Glenn’s office.
“What are we doing here? You do remember these doors lock after a certain time, right?” She let him take her all the way to the small door that was located behind Glenn’s filing cabinet. “The tunnels?”
“The tunnels!”
“Are you seriously cutting into my work time so we can come back here?!” Amy was flummoxed by his intentions and reasonings. If their coworkers knew that he’d stayed with her, well, they would start more rumors than they already had.
“It’s worth it, I promise. All you have to do is trust me.” Jonah’s countenance was reassuring at least, she thought.
“What is up with you?” She asked as she followed him down the familiar passage.
“Nothings up, I’m acting the way I usually act.”
“Ok then tell me what we’re doing in here.”
“Amy. You’ll see.” Jonah smiled as she groaned and rolled her eyes. “Now, come over here.” He motioned for her to get closer to him as he came to a slowing halt.
“Jonah what are you-“ She stopped talking as soon as he stood behind her and placed his hands over her eyes.
“Now keep walking, and I’ll guide you to where we need to be.”
Carefully, she took her first couple steps; as if she might compromise them if she went any faster. His proximity was almost intoxicating for her. His scent surrounded her and tucked her in like some sort of cocoon. She barely noticed when they stopped walking.
Removing his hands from her eyes he exclaimed, “Ta da! How do you like it?”
Amy looked around at the recall room; only it didn’t look like the recall room. It was dimly lit with a table for two in the middle and a vase filled with wildflowers. “What…”
“Happy Valentine’s Day,” he interrupted. “I figured y’know since the divorce, and the working late, and Emma being with Adam, that you deserve something for yourself.” Her face was nondescript and devoid of any discernible reaction.
She looked at him then, as he was analyzing her, and his breathing hitched as an appreciative smirk spread on her face. “You’re not my boyfriend,” she says.
“I know.”
“So why’d you do it?”
“You remember my first day here?” He pulls a chair out for her to sit.
“Oh yeah,” Amy begins to remember. “A moment of beauty.”
“I only did that to impress you.” He took his own seat and pulled out a picnic basket from underneath the table.
“Oh really, you don’t say?” She was teasing him, and god did it make his heart bang like a doldrum.
“The real moment of beauty was seeing your face.” He thought he said too much but he didn’t care. Valentine’s Day was probably as good a time as any to express how he truly felt.
“Wow… very corny. Also very flirty.” She folded her arms in front of her chest and awaited his next move.
“May I interest you in a can of Cloud 9 brand ginger ale?”
“That would be delightful . I’m assuming you also brought food?” She opened her can and took a long drink.
“Ok don’t judge, this was the best I could do given my resources.” Jonah pulled out two Italian pressed sandwiches that he prepared himself.
“You? Made this?” She sank her teeth into one of the sandwiches and sighed with content. “I don’t know how you managed to make Cloud 9 products taste good, but you did.”
“So not a bad date huh?”
“Oh, a date! So was this your way of subtly getting me to go out with you?”
“Uhh yeah that’s pretty much been the goal since day one. I even asked Garrett if they allowed supervisors to date employees.” The sheepish smile on his face told her that he was telling the truth. It felt nice to be sought after, she thought, after years of feeling invisible.
“Noted,” she replies. “Let’s just hope the rest of them don’t find out about this. They would never stop talking about it.”
They fell into a comfortable silence as they enjoyed each other’s company. Amy was appreciative for his thoughtfulness, she had to remind herself to tell him that later. Jonah was just happy that she didn’t shut him out like she did when they came back from the tornado. This was his chance to show her that yes, he does like her and he probably will never stop.
Soon he was making her laugh and for a moment he couldn’t think of a sound that he enjoyed hearing more. She started raving about a new video game she bought, one where the only mission is to kill things. He liked this new hobby of hers- it brought out a youthful side in her that he missed and hoped he would get to see more of.
“We should go,” she finally said.
“Oh yeah, right. The automatic locks.” They stood and began the walk to the parking lot together.
“You know I’m going to have you clean that up later, right?” Amy lightly and playfully bumped into his arm.
“Oh of course. You wouldn’t be you if you didn’t.” He looked at his feet as they walked, afraid that if he looked at her directly he would falter.
When they reached the parking lot Amy stopped to look up at the dark cerulean sky. Her mind flashed back to that first day- to that moment of beauty. It was sweet, really, the solicitude that he had for her even then. That’s why when she decided to kiss him, right there in front of the store, she knew it wasn’t a mistake.
“Happy Valentines Day,” she said. “I don’t think I ever said it back.”
Jonah stood there dumbfounded. It wasn’t like they hadn’t kissed before but this time it was different. “Uh… thank… you…” Before he could say something more articulate she had already made her way to her car.
“See you tomorrow!” She called out to him.
“See you,” he said to himself, not loud enough for her to hear. So maybe Valentines Day wasn’t so bad after all.