Work Text:
“Mister Johnson, I need to tell you something.”
Caroline looked down at her boss, who was sitting at his desk. Her nerves gnawed at her, deep in the pit of her stomach.
Cave frowned. “If it’s about the explosion in the glass wing yesterday morning, I promise I’m gonna get someone to clean it up-”
“What? No, it’s something else.” Caroline sat down in the chair adjacent to Cave, folding her hands in her lap. “There’s something…” She sighed, closing her eyes. “Something bothering me, and I feel I may just explode if I don’t tell someone.”
“Oh, well then, shoot. What’s on your mind, Caroline?”
Caroline took a moment to compose herself, straightening in the chair. She’d practiced what to say in her head a bit before she came into his office, but those darn nerves were spacing her thoughts out. She wondered if it were even sensible to tell him. She was afraid of what he might think of her afterwards. She was afraid of losing his friendship after this, but… she needed to tell someone, and Cave was her best friend. If she couldn’t trust him with this, who could she trust?
Cave was leaning forward curiously now. Caroline supposed there was no backing out of it.
“There’s a person I like. A lot. And… I feel like just need to talk about this person.
Cave blinked. “Oh, is that all? Caroline, you seem so strung out! I thought something bad had happened. Who’s the lucky fella?”
There was dead silence for a moment. Cave narrowed his eyes. “It’s not-”
“He’s, um..” Caroline broke into a sweat, wringing her hands together. The words just didn’t want to come out. She felt like there was a brick wall in front of her mouth. And then, “he’s… not a he.”
Well, there it was.
Cave stared at her blankly, the cogs obviously churning slowly in his mind. Caroline felt her face start burning and she immediately regretted everything.
Maybe she should bolt. Jump out the window and run home.
“He’s not… not….” Cave knitted his eyebrows together and looked out at the distance. He scratched his head. Then, Caroline could see the realization hit him as he turned his attention slowly back to her. “Oh.”
Caroline stood up. “Hey, it was just a joke! Don’t think about it too hard, sir. Sorry for wasting your time.” She plastered a grin on her face and starting to walk away briskly.
“Caroline! Caroline. Wait!” Cave called after her.
“I said it was a joke,” Caroline snapped over her shoulder. She heard him get up from his seat.
“Caroline, it’s okay! Come back!”
Caroline was just about to turn the doorknob. She looked over her shoulder at her boss.
Cave held his hands up. “Hold on! You’re safe in tellin’ me that. Honest!”
Safe?
Caroline trembled. Cave looked very concerned, but not angry. Not disgusted. He wasn’t going to fire her on the spot. Caroline almost felt like crying, but she didn’t.
“So you like the ladies. So what? That doesn’t change my opinion of you in the slightest.” Cave smiled reassuringly. “Besides, you’re pretty damn brave for tellin’ me. That takes the kinda guts that most people don’t have.”
“You won’t tell anyone, right?” Caroline asked quietly.
Cave closed the gap between them and put a hand on her shoulder. “You’re secret’s safe with me. I get what you’re goin’ through right now.”
Caroline breathed out a little laugh, looking down at the floor. “Thank you, sir. It… means a lot. I’m glad I can trust you.”
They hung around in Cave’s office for a while longer. Cave suggested they move to the couch at the other end of the room. He was interested in this new revelation, but Caroline felt bashful about saying much more. She tapped her fingers against the arm of the couch and fixed her gaze on the broken Newton’s cradle on his coffee table.
“Hey, you were sayin’ you wanted to talk to me about this gal,” said Cave. “I mean, uh, you don’t have to if you don’t want to, but I’d sure like to hear about her.”
Caroline felt her face start to heat up. Thinking about the woman stirred up funny feelings in her chest, and through her bashfulness, she kind of really wanted to gush about her.
“Her name’s Francine,” Caroline started. “She works here, she’s one of the scientists. She’s really smart. I first met her a few months ago. I like visiting her at her office a lot, she always asks me to come over during breaks.” Her words spilled out quickly, before she could really control them.
“So thats why you’ve been so absent during lunch lately,” Cave remarked.
“She has red, red hair and she keeps it in this beehive hairdo, it’s so silly, so cute. She has freckles all over her face and she gets dimples when she smiles. She speaks in physics like its her second language and her hands… oh, her hands…” Caroline trailed off with a smile. “She took my hand the other day, you know, just a friendly gesture. I swear I almost fainted right where I stood!”
“That’s adorable,” Cave said.
“I asked her if she wanted to go out bowling this Saturday night, and she said yes. I’m sure she just sees it as a friendly thing, though.”
“I dunno. With her wanting you to visit her so often, and that hand thing she did, she sounds kinda sweet on you, too.”
Caroline sighed, staring off wistfully. “Wouldn’t that be nice…”
They sat together for a while. Caroline was smiling, thinking sweet thoughts about Francine, about the moments she wanted to share with her in the future. She felt all of the tension and apprehension surrounding her feelings melt away, having a friend to support her.
“Cave?” She asked, formalities forgotten at the moment.
“Yeah?”
“What did you mean by ‘I get what you’re going through’?”
“Ah. Well, y’see…” Cave trailed off into a small, nervous sounding chuckle.
“It’s okay if you can’t answer,” Caroline added quickly. But now she knew. She knew why she’d instinctively come to Cave for help in the first place. In that moment he had that same wistful, almost melancholy look in his eyes.
“I might answer you later. Once I figure this junk out,” he said finally, giving her a small smile.
“Alright, sir. And thank you again. For being here for me.”
“Of course, Caroline. I’m here if ya need me.”
And with that, they both went their separate ways for the rest of the day.