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JJ never was a late person. Her attendance in classes and soccer practices were a testament to that. She lived by the phrase, “Early is on time, and on time is late.” JJ supposed it was why she was already at the office before everyone else, including Hotch and Emily, and it never stopped when she transitioned to the profiler role. Only rarely had she ever been late, even after having kids.
Apparently though, she slept through her alarm half an hour after she hit the snooze button, which to JJ’s delight meant she had to get out of bed finally (late), wake up the boys, make breakfast, get them ready, and drop them off to school. She thought that by now she would be used to that, but Henry was in a rather chilly mood this morning, even more when he began shouting at Michael for bothering him.
JJ ran her hands down her face. She did not have time for this.
As soon as she had dropped the boys off to each of their schools (and separating them far from each other, so nobody ended up hurting each other and she could talk to each of them), JJ quickly said her farewells and kissed their foreheads before speeding off.
She would’ve gone to the nearest coffee shop this morning, but all of a sudden, the universe decided to make her morning worse once she saw how long the line was. Shaking her head, she decided to skip the line and go to the office instead. At least there’s some coffee there.
When she passed security and tried finding an available parking spot, she finally got out of her car, slamming the door close and locking it absentmindedly, all the while checking her watch and muttering under her breath about how she was already late. The blonde pressed the elevator button, watching the numbers go by. Slowly, she may add with a roll of her eyes and the doors opened once the elevator stopped. Impatiently tapping her hands on her thighs, JJ waited for the elevator to pass each floor until it reached the sixth floor. She was glad no one else was in the elevator with her because she huffed out a breath. “I’m going to be late.”
As soon as the elevator doors opened, she couldn’t wait any longer and immediately walked out. Her first stop was the kitchenette in the bullpen. She was subtle in her steps towards the kitchenette, so no one could catch her in a rush. A frustrated groan came out when she found out there was no coffee left in the pot. She didn’t have time for this anymore, she had to meet her boss now.
Making her way upstairs, she found the door leading to the designated meeting place already closed. Damn it. Deciding to accept her fate, JJ quietly twisted the knob and cracked the door open slowly. She was met with ears perking and heads turning towards her direction, and of course, the slow turn of the person leading the presentation on budgeting.
JJ stared into familiar brown wide eyes and plastered on a polite smile. “I apologize for the intrusion, ma’am,” she said with a nod.
Emily nodded back and gestured for her to take a seat, but not without raising a sharp eyebrow before turning back to her presentation. When everyone turned their heads back to attention to Emily, JJ shut her eyes as the humiliation quietly settled in, and she sat down on the nearest chair.
After the meeting, JJ was sure she was going to receive a lecture from her boss. The other unit chiefs made their way out the door, and Emily waved for JJ to follow her out and into her office. Once JJ walked inside Emily’s office, the other woman closed the door.
JJ sighed. “Sorry I was late, Henry was-”
She was quickly stopped by a hand holding a small thermos for her. She slowly took it in her hand and sipped, easily sighing once her taste buds were acquainted with the even better and richer tasting coffee.
Emily smiled. “I figured you had your hands tied this morning and that you would kill the person who got the last fill of the coffee.”
JJ raised her cup in appreciation. “Thank you.” The coffee was warm enough for her as she took a few more gulps. Her cheeks turned pink when she caught Emily staring at her with a smile on her face. “I didn’t have time to make any coffee and I remembered we had a meeting this morning.”
Emily nodded. “I forgive your tardiness, Unit Chief Jareau, and I trust you won’t do that again,” she said, putting on her professional voice.
Tilting her head to the side, JJ stepped closer into Emily’s bubble, placing her coffee down. “Is there any way I could make it up to you? Perhaps a candlelit dinner, a bottle of wine…?”
“That sounds a bit inappropriate, Agent,” Emily replied in a low tone, but not pushing her back.
“I think we crossed that line four months ago,” JJ chuckled and stepped back to grab her hands. “I really am sorry, though. There was a lot happening on my way here. But if you don’t have anything tonight, saying all goes well, I was thinking we can go out, just the two of us.”
“Saying all goes well,” Emily repeated and nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”
JJ smiled brightly and turned to open the door.
“Just don’t be late this time,” Emily playfully warned.
“You got it, boss,” JJ saluted with two fingers.