CLANDESTINE : Spencer Reid

06

            The weekend is over before I know it. It was cold, but Bastien managed to drag us all around the park. We went rock climbing together, and went canoeing, and hiking. I need another weekend to recover, but instead, I'm forced back to work. I bring one of the books by David Rossi to read on the subway. I get so caught up that I almost miss my stop. It makes me smile. I like the routine of not having a routine.

In the office, I make my coffee less obnoxiously, and then I get to work. The others are at their desks already by the time I return.

"How'd your hot date go?" Morgan asks as I sit down.

"You mean the cabin retreat with my siblings for my brother's birthday?" I ask. "Great. Really sexy, being trapped in a cabin with my sister's obnoxious boyfriend. Too sexy, actually."

He laughs, "I should have asked what your plans were."

"Well, you didn't," I say.

I punctuate my sentence by putting the mug on the desk while I sit. The sound is louder than I had thought it would be, the thunk dull and heavy. The office is busy, bustling, and already I've got a headache.

"You can't hate us as much as you pretend to," Morgan grins. "No one can hold that much anger without getting a wrinkle. You're using your mug gift from us."

"From Dr. Reid," I correct.

Dr. Reid looks up at me past his computer. He offers a curt nod, his lips pressed tightly together. It's the best reaction I could hope to get from him, I think. At best, he's cold, and worst, he's overly familiar. While he might dress like many of the academics I know, with buttoned up cardigans and collared shirts with ties underneath, and horned rimmed glasses pressed tightly covering his eyes, he's not like them that much. Then he pauses.

"David Rossi," he points to the book I left next to the mug. "His use of psycholinguistics while investigating the Scarsdale Skinner is incredibly fascinating. One of his books discusses the case, and I have a copy of it at home if you want to borrow it tomorrow."

"I'm good," I say.

"Reid, most of us can't finish a book in ten minutes," Morgan reminds him.

"I'm good because I have a copy," I say. I don't actually know what the other book I have is about, but it feels like an easier way to exit the conversation.

"Do any of you ever work?" Agent Gideon asks, walking through the bullpen.

The two of them stop talking. I'm able to avoid most conversations for the rest of the day. Tuesday is much of the same. Garcia and I eat lunch in the breakroom together though, which is a nice shake-up in my routine.

"I've never seen that kind of stew before," Garcia says, pointing to my lunch. Her eyes are wide.

"My roommate is from Côte d'Ivoire and she loves cooking," I say. "It reminds her of home."

"I love making soup," Garcia says. "Is it vegetarian?" When I nod, she grins. "Ask her if she'd let me have a copy of the recipe."

I look down at her lunch. She has brought a wrap, and she has yet to take a bite.

"What's in that?" I ask.

"Avocado, mozzarella, and pesto," she says. "It sounds better than it tastes."

I offer her my container. She actually gasps.

"If I am a damsel in distress then you are my knight in shining armour," she says.