Part 3

"Nahla, stop for just a moment, please." Jace said after a moment, reaching behind him to untangle Nahla’s arms from around his neck.

Nahla giggle when she saw the little red mark she had left behind. Removing her hand from his, she lightly touched the spot. "Oops, it would appear I’ve marked you." She giggled again.

As much as Jace was enjoying the moment, he had a feeling there was going to be hell to pay when she realized this wasn’t the dream she thought it was.

"As much as I’m really enjoying having you here, I really have work I need to complete. Why don’t you head home and I’ll pick you up in a couple hours for dinner." He asked, hoping it wouldn’t hurt her feelings.

"Ok, but only if I get a good-bye kiss before I go."

Jace framed her face with his hands, more than willing to comply with her request. He leaned in slowly, taking her lips in his, lightly nibbling on her lower lip. Nahla was in sheer heaven, why was it always in dreams that the best kisses took place.

Breaking away first, Nahla stood to find herself a little unsteady on her feet. ‘Boy,’ she thought to herself, ‘that man knows how to kiss’.

"So I’ll see you in a couple hours?" Nahla turned around to ask.

"Yes. I’ll call you if anything changes." Jace said, taking her hand and kissing its’ back. "Now get out of here so I can get my work done."

Nahla blew him a kiss as she sauntered out the door.

Jace took a deep breath and raked his hands though his hair, not relishing the moment she learned that their encounter had been very real, and not a dream.

"The ringing of the phone caught his attention. "Hello?"

It was Madeline. "Jace, could I see you in my office please?"

**********

Nahla left Section and headed back to her apartment at CLHQ. Looking at the clock she realized she had just enough time to sneak in a nap before Jace picked her up for dinner. It didn’t occur to her that people didn’t take naps when they were dreaming.

The moment her head hit the pillow, Nahla was out like a light for the night. The agent had done what it was supposed to do, sending its’ taker into a period of sleep while the remaining effects of the drug wore off.

The next thing Nahla heard was the phone ringing. Glancing at the clock, she was dismayed to see it was only 7 a.m., and she wasn’t due in to work until late afternoon. Reaching for the phone, she barely grumbled a "hello".

"Nahla, I need you to come in." Madeline said from the other end.

"Now?" Wondering what catastrophe would require her in DRV at such an early hour.

"Yes, now. Be in my office in an hour." And with that she hung up.

Returning the phone to its cradle, Nahla rolled over to bury her face in the pillow. She would have fallen back asleep if not for Merlin deciding he wanted attention, and breakfast.

Sitting up on the edge of the bed, Nahla was disconcerted to see that she was wearing street clothes. ‘Now that’s odd, I know I put my pj’s on last night.’ She also didn’t know where she had picked up the denim shirt, it wasn’t her own and it wasn’t one she had seen before.

Not being fully awake, she had yet to remember her "dream", so she made her way into the bathroom to get ready.

********

Arriving in Section, Nahla made her way to Madeline’s office.

"Please be seated Nahla, thank you for coming."

"You mean I had a choice?" Nahla quipped. Then catching the look in Madeline’s eye, "Sorry, not awake yet."

Madeline didn’t respond but just sat there, observing Nahla with her dark brown eyes that gave away nothing.

"Nahla, what day is it?"

Nahla was slightly taken aback by the question that seemed to come out of left field.

"Thursday."

"Excellent. Can you tell me how you spent your day yesterday?"

"It was my day off, so I spent it at home doing some much needed cleaning." Nahla answered.

Madeline seemed to ponder her next question. "Do you remember any dreams from last night?"

Nahla had to think a moment, it was rare that she remembered her dreams. "I’m sorry Madeline, I don’t really remember anything."

Madeline then turned to her computer, turning its’ monitor so that Nahla could see it’s display. "I’d like you to watch something."

For the next ten minutes Nahla sat in utter silence watching an abbreviated version of yesterday’s activities. The "dream" from the previous night came back with alarming clarity.

"I don’t understand." Nahla whispered.

"In yesterday’s mail you received a new CD you had purchased. Unknown to you, I had the shipment intercepted before it reached you."

"But why?"

Ignoring her question, Madeline continued. "The surface of the CD was coated with a new psychotropic agent we’ve been experimenting with. Your body took the agent in through your skin when you handled the disc. Then as you played it, you were subjected to subliminal messages that led you to believe that when you awoke the next morning you would believe that Section was completely empty."

"Why me? Didn’t you have enough fun sending me to that mountain retreat?" Nahla answered, anger clearly evident in her voice.

"Don’t take it personally, Nahla. You were chosen because your chemical make-up showed that you would be highly susceptible to its effects. You should feel proud. With your assistance, we feel that the agent is almost ready for *public* use again our enemies."

Nahla didn’t feel anything close to proud. She felt betrayed and violated. How was she going to face anyone in Section, especially Jace.

Seeing Nahla’s obvious upset, Madeline allowed her to take the day off to gather her thoughts and pull it together. Nahla left Madeline’s office and exited Section as quickly as possible, wanting to avoid as many people as possible.

********

Taking the back entrance into CLHQ, Nahla went straight to her apartment. Locking the door behind her, even the welcome she received from her cats Cleo and Merlin didn’t lift her spirits.

She had never been so humiliated in her life. Just remembering the images of herself sitting on Birkoff’s lap, interrupting Rita and Michael in his office and then later grabbing his leg, and exploring the men’s locker room made her cringe. She didn’t even want to think about the slack that she was going to take for her actions.

Not turning on any lights, Nahla walked to the far side of the room and lay down on the carpet floor in front of the fireplace. Lying on her back, the silence in the room was almost audible. Closing her eyes, she replayed the events of her meeting with Jace in her mind.

She was terrified of what he was going to think of her now. He had been so patient with her these past months, taking things at a pace she was comfortable with. Now that was completely blown to hell. How was he ever going to accept things going back to the way they were after she had literally attacked him?

A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. Not yet ready or willing to face anyone, Nahla ignored the summons.

Jace stood in the hallway outside Nahla’s door. No one had seen her since the day before and it had him worried. He had seen her leaving Section that morning, but having seen the look of upset on her face he decided not to approach her until later.

His meeting with Madeline the day before had thoroughly pissed him off. She had been monitoring Nahla’s activities throughout the day and wanted to speak with him about how he had disobeyed her direct order of no interaction. Not to mention he had gotten her little speech about not letting offices romances get in the way of his Section’s duties.

It took all he had not to jump over the desk and throttle the witch. He was getting tired of seeing her use good people for her little experiments, especially when that person was someone he cared about. Taking a moment to collect himself, he didn’t want to chance Nahla opening the door to face his anger.

Receiving no answer after a second knock, Jace went in search of North. Approaching her office door, he was relieved to see it was open. Popping his head inside, he asked for permission to enter.

"Hi Jace, what can I do for you?" she asked.

"I need the master key to Nahla’s apartment."

Part 4/End

"Well that’s not just something I go around handing out you know. The only reason I even keep a spare set is for emergencies."

"I wouldn’t ask if that wasn’t the case. I really need to speak with Nahla and she’s not answering her door."

"Maybe she’s not home?"

"No, she’s home, I’m sure of it. She’s hiding from everyone, including me."

North sighed. "I heard about Madeline’s experiment, does this have anything to do with that?"

"Partially - but there’s something else that is for her and I to discuss."

North was curious as to what that other issue was, but knew now was not the time to ask. "My advice, Jace, is that you let her be. If she is avoiding you, let her approach you first. You may do further damage without intending to if you push it too soon."

Jace had to give a little smile at the truth in her statement. "Perhaps you’re right, but would you do me a favor and keep an eye on her?"

"Of course."

***********

A week had passed and Jace had still not heard from Nahla. After making a few inquires he learned that she had been reporting into work as scheduled, but was refusing to speak with anyone. In addition she seemed to slink in and out of Section like a ghost, avoiding anyone and everyone.

Concerned, he returned to North for help. Arriving at her office, he found North was there along with Sherry and Brenna.

"Hello ladies, have any of you spoken with Nahla recently?" he asked.

Brenna and Sherry replied negatively, but both had been out on missions for the better part of the week. North had caught glimpses of her entering and leaving the house, but had yet to speak with her.

"She’s still avoiding you?" North asked.

Jace sighed. "Yes, and I don’t know whether to be worried or mad. Frankly I can’t help but feel she’s blowing the whole incident out of proportion."

"What incident?" Sherry asked.

"Jace, you can explain on the way up to her apartment, I thought she would have come to speak with you by now." North said as she grabbed her set of skeleton keys.

The trio arrived on the top floor where they knocked first to see if anyone was home. After several attempts North inserted her master key into the lock.

Inside, Nahla was laying on the couch in the dark when she heard the first knock. The past week had been hell. She missed Jace terribly, but still didn’t feel she had the courage to face him. Things at Section didn’t help matters any. Although she had tried to stay out of the limelight, she hadn’t been able to dodge all the snickers and looks.

She sat up in disbelief as she heard a key in the door, did no one respect her privacy anymore??

A voice came from the darkness alerting the trio that someone was indeed home. "You know, there’s a reason why doors have locks."

"Nahla, we were worried about you." Sherry began.

"It’s no big deal what happened, we’ve all had our embarrassing moments before," Brenna said, trying to do her part to help.

"NO BIG DEAL?? WHAT.." Nahla began only to be interrupted by Jace.

"Nahla, please calm down, we’re only trying to help."

"Jace?" Nahla asked, in a much quieter and almost fearful voice.

Jace turned to Brenna and Sherry. "I appreciate you wanting to help, but I really need to speak with her alone."

Sherry started to protest, but Brenna stopped her. The two removed themselves to the hallway, shutting the door behind them.

Brenna spoke before Sherry could say anything. "Don’t worry, we’re not going anywhere." Brenna then led Sherry across the hall to her own apartment, leaving the door wide open in case there was trouble.

*************

"Do you mind if I turn a light on?" Jace asked. Not waiting for her to answer, he cautiously made his way to the nearest end table - flooding the room with light. Nahla sat on the far end of the couch, her feet tucked up underneath her.

"Nahla, why have you been avoiding me?" he asked, moving to sit on the opposite end of the couch from her.

She didn’t say anything in response; her shoulders shrugging was his only indication that she had heard him. Her eyes were downcast, concentrating at some spot on the carpet.

"Does this have anything to do with what happened in my office?"

He knew he had assumed correctly when her face turned an extremely bright shade of red.

"I’m sorry." She said so quietly that he wasn’t sure she had actually spoken.

"Sorry? For what?"

"For the way I behaved that day, I can’t imagine what you must think of me." Nahla said, closing her eyes against the embarrassment the memories brought.

"Nahla, I’m afraid you have me a little confused. What was so bad about what happened that you felt you had to avoid me?"

"I’m afraid. Afraid of what you’ll expect from me after what I did."

Jace sat there for a moment, letting what she said sink in, before he spoke. "Nahla, do you remember what I said to you that night in the park? That we would take things at a pace you were comfortable with?"

She nodded her head.

"And now you think that’s changed somehow?" he asked.

"Yes. Things always change after that first step. Once the first move is made, there’s no turning back, you have to go forward. There are expectations, and when those expectations aren’t met, things get ugly. And I’m not ready to deal with those expectations."

"Correct me if I’m off base here, but I think I’m hearing echoes of your past here. Why are you judging me by someone else’s action?" His voice showing slight signs of anger.

"Are you telling me that since that afternoon, you haven’t thought about progressing things further along?"

"I won’t lie to you, yes I’ve thought about it, but there is such a thing as self-control. I would never ask for more than you were willing to give."

"But you’ll be upset when I’m unwilling to give anything. You’ll be lying if you deny it. Can you honestly tell me you’re willing to go back to square one?" Nahla’s voice rising in anger as well.

By now the two had risen from the couch and were standing on either side of the coffee table, squaring off as if getting ready to engage in a boxing match.

His silence gave her the answer she was waiting for. "I really think you should leave, Jace. I’m sorry things had to end this way, but maybe it’s for the best. You deserve someone who can give you what you want."

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing, how had things gotten blown so completely out of proportion? He was trying to be patient, but his anger was about to get the best of him.

"So you’re giving up, just like that? Is that what you did with the last guy? Things got a little hot under the collar, so instead of facing up to your fears you just turned your back and ran?"

Hot tears filled Nahla’s eyes, Jace’s words were striking way too close to home. "Please, leave."

Jace angrily walked to the front door, opening it before he turned around and spoke. "As much as it pains me to say this, why don’t you grow up a little Nahla, I’m not the monster you seem to think I’ll become. I’m not like the others." With that he left, slamming the door behind him.

Nahla sank to the floor, her heart shattered.

****************

Brenna and Sherry heard the door slam, and rushed out into the hallway. Jace had already disappeared down the stairs so the duo went over and entered Nahla’s apartment. They rushed over to her, asking what was wrong, and trying their best to comfort her.

It was several minutes before the tears subsided. Brenna went to get a cool washcloth while Sherry sat next to Nahla on the floor.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Sherry asked quietly.

Nahla gave a quiet little hiccup. "I think I just threw away what may have been the best thing to ever happen to me."

"Threw away? What do you mean?"

Sherry then spent the next few minutes quietly listening as Nahla replayed the conversation. She then got up and retrieved a box of Kleenex from the end table. "Here, blow your nose."

Brenna joined them on the floor, handing the wet washcloth to Nahla. "Wipe your eyes too, you look a fright, no wonder he stormed outta here like that." she said, trying to lighten the mood a little. It only served to bring a fresh batch of tears to Nahla’s eyes.

Sherry eyed Brenna, "Nahla, you know she didn’t mean it like that. But I do have to agree with him about one thing, you did kind of blow things out of proportion."

"I know." Nahla said quietly.

"You know? Then why did you tell him it was over and that he needed to leave?" Brenna asked.

"He was right. I did the same thing to him that I’ve done to every other guy. I got scared and I ran."

"So you don’t want things to be over between the two of you?" Sherry asked.

Nahla shook her head. "No, but I’ve messed things up all but good now."

Brenna smiled at Nahla’s innocence. "So you think because you’ve had a little spat that he’ll want nothing more to do with you?"

"More or less."

"Good grief girl, you underestimate the power you have over that man. I seriously doubt that things are as bad as you think. Now don’t get me wrong, you’ve sent a blow to his ego and he’ll be grumpy about that for awhile, but you mark my word, things aren’t over just yet." Brenna said with a smile.

Sherry agreed with Brenna. "It’s going to take some work on your part, but if you’re willing, we’ll help you get him back, right Brenna?"

"Of course! That’s what friends are for! Now, enough of the tears. Group hug, then we have plans to make."

Nahla smiled and hugged her friends with everything she had. "You two are the best!"

"Of course we are!" Brenna’s answer had all three of them laughing.

The End

This story ©copyright Nahla, November 2000