TITLE: Love on a Monday Morning
AUTHOR: lillebailey
RATING: PG
CATEGORY: FRR
SUMMARY: This Monday morning turns out a little different for Monica Reyes 
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of them yada yada


Written for the FRR Fiction challenge Aug - Nov 04
*************************************************

At : 06:29 am Monica Reyes awoke as if by clockwork, rolled over to see her 
bedside clock turn over to 06:30 and make the noise she dreaded the most. That 
alarm clock beep meant it really was morning and her bed magically became the 
most comfortable place in the entire world.

She decided to be good andget out of bed instead of hitting that heavenly button 
known as 'snooze'. Just as Reyes was becoming human again, having managed 
to shower, dress and get her first coffee inside of her the phone rang. She 
grudgingly answered it, swearing that if it was some telemarketing person she'd 
give them a piece of her mind. More likely she thought, it would be John 
needing a ride to work.

''Hello''

''Monica?'' the voice questioned

''Yes'' she said trying to hide a yawn

''Its Brad, Brad Follmer''

''Oh, Hi'' she replied, thinking it was far too early to be having a converstaion 
with her ex boyfriend. 

He started to talk again but a little nervously.

''Monica, you see. I was wondering, erm, my car won't start, there's something 
wrong with it and erm I have a meeting first thing and I'm still new here and 
don't really know anybody yet and erm''

''You want a ride to work.'' she finished for him, she couldn't bear to listen to 
anymore of his nervous ramblings and had wondered how he'd managed to say 
all that without taking a breath.

''Yes please'' he answered, eased by the fact that she knew what he was talking 
about. ''If it's not to much trouble''

''It's fine'' Monica concluded, she was a very much a get to the point kind of 
person. ''Just give me your address and I'll come get you. Ooh and your number 
too in case I cant find it.''

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

Half an hour late, Reyes was impressed with the time that she was making this 
morning. She'd  already sorted herself and picked up Brad. He'd been standing at 
the foot of his building, briefcase held like a boy eagerly awaiting his first day of 
school. She'd thought it was ridiculous and somehow sweet at the same time. 
They were well on their way to work, she might even be early.

Things in the car were more than a little awkward though. Ten minutes of 
motoring and neither had said a word to the other, which Reyes found a little 
odd. Was it because they were an ex couple? or because they were agent and 
superior? or something else. Monica betted on all three.

After another five minutes of silence passed, Monica was finding it too painful.

''So, how are you liking it in DC?'' She tried

''Yeah, ok, you know'' was all she got back and he obviously wasn't about to 
embellish on that at all.

Reyes was sure she could feel time slow down on that journey. They'd been in 
the car for what felt like a long painful year and she was struggling for 
conversation ideas. After another minute or two, she went back to old faithful.

''How about that weather huh?''

''What?'' was the only response she got

''You know, the weather, been pretty cold this past few days, they think we may 
get snow by the weekend.''

''Oh.''

I give up, she thought, sick of sounding like the weather guy on the tv. She was 
out of material. The only common ground they had was their past relationship 
and she didn't want to get into that before the second coffee of the morning.

As Reyes made a left turn and headed down the road, she noticed there wasn't 
much traffic about, then realised she was never this early. A minute or so on, 
something wasn't right. Smoke or steam started coming from under the bonnet. 
She pulled over right away and had to snap Brad out of his daze to tell him to 
get out. They made their way to the front of the car and the vapours stopped 
streaming out and with an almighty bang, a huge gush of water spilled onto the 
road from the underneath. 

Reyes could only smile.

''Looks like her waters' have broken,'' she smiled '' do you think we'll get a baby 
car along in a minute?''

Brad looked at her sternly, ''This is no time for joking Monica, what the hell's 
wrong with it?''

''How should I know?'' She snapped, not liking his tone one bit. ''What I do 
know,'' she continued ''is that it's obviously not going anywhere till I get the 
rescue people out here.''

''Oh, great.'' he replied, flustered, ''you know if I wanted to ride in a broken care 
this morning, I would have sat in mine.''

''You can take the frickin bus then next time'' Reyes shouted

While Monica was on the phone, Brad leant against the car checking his watch, 
tapping his briefcase, ruffling his hair and any other fidgeting he could think of.

''When are they coming?'' he asked as she had barely pressed the off button on 
her phone.

''As soon as they can, they said it shouldn't be too long, half hour to an hour 
tops.''

''What?'' he snapped again

'You heard''

''Up to an hour, do you know how late I'm going to be?''

''Well, I'm guessing about an hour late'' Monica answered, really not in the mood 
to be dealing with him.

They sat back in the car to shelter from the cold. Follmer still huffing and 
sighing as they got in.

''You know, you never used to be this uptight'' Monica said

''What does that mean?''

''It means you've been like a spoiled little boy all morning.''

Not intending to but actually proving her point, he gave a huff and settled into a 
full sulk.

As the other cars zoomed by, Reyes wasn't worried. She'd already called work 
before calling the rescue service. There was nothing they could do about it, but 
she would have liked some better company.

Just then, things got worse. It started to snow. It was settling in big flakes and it 
didn't show signs of  stopping.

An hour and a half later, they were still sat waiting. The snow hadn't stopped 
falling and had started to cause problems for other drivers. Brad had looked at 
his watch every five minutes since they got back in the car. Neither had said a 
word. He hugged his briefcase as if it were filled with gold. Finally the 
silence broke.

''What's taking them so long?'' he said with a sigh

''The snow, I expect'' she replied rather indifferently. She'd had enough of Brad's 
mood to care whether or not he missed his precious meeting.

''We could have walked there by now'' 

''Go ahead if you want to try'' she snapped.

 He opened the door, got out and slid straight on his backside on the freshly 
fallen snow.

Monica burst out laughing, she couldn't help it. The way his limbs were all over 
the place as he struggled to get his compsure again.

Unamused, he patted his obviously new suit and got into the car, complaining 
like an old woman.

''Look at the state of this, I'll never get it dried before work, and that sidewalk 
has pulled some of the stitches and..''

''Oh will you quit it Brad,'' Monica shouted ''You sound like your mother, you're 
not the first man to fall over, but maybe the first to be completely void of 
humour about it.''

He was a little stunned by her outburst, Reyes rarely got angry.

''I'm sorry,'' he said quietly ''It's just that today was an important meeting.''

Monica looked out of her window and willed herself not to answer, she knew 
she'd shout again, and she honestly didn't want to. A few more moment passed 
and they were both gazing out their windows. The longer Reyes stared into the 
falling snow, the more she felt bad for getting angry with Brad so fast, and was 
afraid she'd hurt his feelings. Brad wasn't normally like this, she knew that. 
Maybe it was easier for her when he was being annoying. A distraction from the 
other kind of awkwardness that the situation presented. The ex - couple kind. It 
wasn't easy to be stuck in a car with the man she once swore was the love of her 
life, who had been in her bed, seen her body, known her character, flaws 
included.

It certainly didn't help that when she had first seen him in DC, she knew her 
feelings for him weren't yet resolved.

He had been the hardest guy to get over she had known. Monica wasn't sure if it 
was the length of their relationship or the fact that they had been so close that 
had been the hardest to cope with. Part of her felt guilty. As much as she'd 
shared with him, she never told him her most serious flaw, until he found
out for himself.

Reyes was a hardworking person in her professional life, who always had a no 
quit attitude. When it came to her personal life, she could see a distinct pattern. 
She always ran away from her problems, literally. Moved towns, states and even 
countries, thinking that a new location would bring new opportunities and help 
her forget the past without having to confront it. Brad had only found this out 
when she'd bolted for New Orleans after their relationship ended.

Now she'd moved to DC and found herself in a new situation, her past had 
turned up in her new  place. She would have to confront it, or high tail it to 
Mexico. With a broken car, that wasn't an option right now.
*****************************************************

After more time passed, Brad had stopped checking his watch and clutching his 
case. Reyes notices he looked more gloomy than agitated now. She felt guilty 
about being so short with him earlier.

''You've probably missed your meeting now'' Monica said softly, trying to sound 
sympathetic.

''I know'' he quietly replied.

''What was your meeting about? I'm sure you can get the notes from somebody 
else.''

''It wasn't that kind of meeting.'' he gave with a sigh ''It was my appraisal with 
the director, I've been in DC for three months now.''

''Oh'' She said, and started to understand his nerves a little, but still thought his 
reaction had been over the top.

''Well everyone has those, I'm sure they'll just say you're doing fine and send 
you back to your office.''

''You don't understand Mon, it was an appraisal to decide if I should stay in DC 
or be transferred elsewhere. It was me who asked for the assignment here.''

For a second, Monica was speechless. Brad loved working in New York, he was 
one of the best agents there and he knew it. 

''Why did you want to come to DC?'' She asked quietly

''Just you know''

''No, I don't know, why would you leave New York and all you had there to 
come to DC where you don't know anyone and haven't established yourself?''

''You'' he answered

''What?'' she asked a little startled

''You!!'' he nearly shouted, making Monica suddenly sit up straight. ''I came to 
find you.''

''Why Brad?'' 

''Because I love you'' he finally admitted. '' I didn't stop loving you just because 
you left New York, ok I was really pissed you left unannounced, and for a time I 
really thought you'd come back.''

She just looked into her lap

''But you weren't coming back. You never do, do you? You just run all over the 
country escaping the guys you leave behind.''

''What?, How did you?''

''I've always known that Mon. I always knew it wasn't your job that kept you on 
the move. I guess I just gambled that you wouldn't bail out on us.''

''But I did'' she said softly 

''I know, and I know you had your reasons, and all of those reasons were my 
fault. But I'm here because I love you enough to follow you wherever you run. 
How many of the other guys did that?''

There was a pause

''None'' she sighed ''Why didn't you tell me when you got here?''

''I needed time, to secure things here, my career, make sure I could stay.'' 

There was a silence that seemed to last forever. He was afraid that he'd scared 
her and should have kept his mouth shut.

In the end she said the only thing that she was thinking, she was thinking it so 
much that she couldn't even think of a lie or an excuse or a way out of the 
situation.

''I still love you'' she said

''You do?''

''Yes. All those other times, all those other guys, they were easy to forget once I 
moved, but not you.''

''Have we got a chance to try again?'' he asked

At this she started to sob and he moved over the seat as much as he could to hug 
her.

''Aren’t you afraid I'll just run away again? I'm not exactly reliable''

''No, I'm not.'' he smiled at her ''Because I'll follow you wherever and do 
whatever it takes to make you understand.''

She put her arms around him and suddenly felt the warmth of his chest against 
her head as she had done so many times before.

''So?'' he asked, ''what do you think? we got it in us for round two?''

''Yes'' she answered, smiling and crying at the same time.

She kissed him and all the love and chemistry came back so fast she felt like 
they'd never been apart, except this time was different. It was more honest and 
open. Even though she hadn't known it, he really did know and understand her 
like nobody else did.

''There’s just one problem'' he added

''What?''

''I may not be able to stay in DC.''

She hugged him tightly and simply and sincerely said 

''I'll follow you wherever.''


The end