Patience

Author's Note: This will be a slow burn type of romance/drama with more emphasis on the love rather than sexy times. If you're looking for more of the sexy times this may not be your cup of tea. It has been moved to the romance section since things are heating up between Rob and Belle.

End of Part VI

As I opened the truck door for her to get in, I noticed for a few seconds that she looked like she was trying to regain her composure. I couldn't help but think to myself, surely, she wasn't turned on by that brief moment of me touching her. If it was then I'd have to find a way to do it more. If she was going to be a tease, so could I.

Part VII

It was the Tuesday after the kickball game. I returned to work the day prior to find much to be caught up on despite my getting quite a bit done while I was off. I was doing a field visit Tuesday afternoon and looking over surveillance film from a store theft when my phone started to ring. I unhooked it from my belt clip and saw that it was Belle calling.

"Hi Love, what's up?" I said as I answered the call.

"Robbie the Institute called me today. They want to interview me this week. I told them I needed to talk to you first to see when I could use the Denali. Do you have more field visits this week?"

"There's always a potential for field visits. I'll see if I can requisition a Bureau car. Or if nothing else Joe can give me a ride." I told her. "Call the Institute back and say you're ready to interview whenever they want you to."

Later that afternoon after I got home Belle, and I were sitting on the front porch chatting about our days when two identical cars pulled into the driveway.

"Who are they?" Belle asked.

"I have no idea, but I guess we're about to find out." I said as I stood up and moved to greet the men getting out of the cars. "Good afternoon gentlemen." I said as I approached them.

"Mr. Anderson, I presume." one of the men said as he extended his hand.

"That's right." I said as I shook his hand. "What can I do for you Mr.?"

"Weber." he replied. "I'm Ron Weber and this is James Mason, we're from the Nelson Institute."

I shook Mason's hand as Weber continued, "Admiral Nelson asked us to bring you this Institute car. He said you might have need of it." indicating the sedan that his partner had just gotten out of.

"Oh wow." I said. "We can sure use it. Right now, we've only got my Denali and it needs a head gasket and Belle has an interview with you guys later this week. and I never know when I'll be sent on field visits."

Mason then handed me the keys to the car he had just gotten out of. "Yeah, the Admiral said hopefully before too long both of you would be working for us."

"I'll call the Admiral myself but be sure to convey my thanks to him." I said.

"We will." Weber said. "Well, we'll let you get back to your evening. Good night, sir." I shook hands with both men again before they got in Weber's car and departed.

Belle watched the scene from the bottom of the porch came up to me after the men drove off. "The Admiral is giving us a car?"

"Probably more like a loan." I told her as we walked up to the car that had been left for us. It was a late model Hyundai Sonata dark blue in color.

"I'd say this makes it look like you're going to get the job." I said. "I don't think the Admiral would send you a car if he didn't want to hire you."

I then held out the keys for her to take but she said, "No you use it. You'll need it for your field visits."

"No, I'll use the Denali." I told her. "I don't want you driving it long distances and risk getting stranded until I can get it fixed, not when a clear viable alternative has been dropped in our laps."

As she took the keys from me, I noticed that pensive look was suddenly back on her face.

"What's wrong Love?" I asked.

"No other guy I've been with would have done that for me. They would have left me to figure out my situation. They wouldn't have cared if I got stranded." she said as a tear escaped from her right eye and slid down her cheek.

I ignored the subtle indication that we were already together but filed it for future thought. I used my thumb to wipe the tear off her cheek as I told her, "In my book any man that claims to love a woman wouldn't want to put her in a situation where she could end up stranded and in a bad spot especially when there's an easy alternative like we have here."

Belle then threw her arms around me and said, "Oh Robbie you're too good to me."

I held her for a few seconds stroking her back before saying, "No Love, you're not good enough to yourself." As I stroked her back with my hand, I felt the briefest of quivers and heard a very subtle hitch in her breath. This encouraged me so I kept it up as she leaned harder into me.

After a couple of minutes of holding each other, we let go and I asked, "Better?"

"Much better." she said beaming up at me.

"Hey, let's take this thing out and see what it's made of." I said. She agreed and we both jumped in the car and headed out.

We spent the next hour or so cruising around town taking turns driving. I linked Belle's phone to the android system, and we cranked up our favorite tunes and tested out the car's sound system. Neither of us had driven a Hyundai before but were both very impressed with the cars handling and ride.

***

Two days later on Thursday turned out to be a long hard day for me. Belle had her interview at the Institute and thanks to the Admiral's generosity I didn't have to worry about the Denali letting her down.

A long grueling day of field visits left me mentally and physically exhausted. That in itself was nothing new to me as I was used to long days often running from sunup to long into the night. I was fairing pretty well until I glanced at my G-Shock and saw the date and suddenly remembered the significance of the date. This brought on a wave of melancholy.

The long day of field visits helped my own personal feelings to the side, but going home wouldn't be as easy as it usually was. I'm not going to say that I was dreading going home that day, but I wasn't looking forward to it as I usually did. I knew Belle would pick on my moodiness especially when she would be jumping at the bit to tell me all about her interview.

Sure, enough when I got home Belle was excited as could be and couldn't wait to tell me what had happened at the Institute. I put my best game face on as I grabbed a soda from the fridge, and we sat down in the living room.

"I think the interview went really well." she started off grinning wide. "It was the Admiral, the head of HR, and the VP of accounting in the interview. The VP of accounting, James, asked most of the questions and the Admiral chimed in as needed and made me feel at ease, like he did when I talked to him last week. The seemed really impressed with all the accounting work I've done in a short period of time. They want to talk to me again next week."

I was glad Belle was doing all the talking at this point because interacting at this point would be a massive chore and one I didn't know if I was up for. I knew I would have to face it soon, but I took the few minutes she was talking to try to ground myself as well as take in what she was saying.

After she finished her monologue, Belle looked at me all smiles and said, "Isn't this exciting. I think I've got a real shot at being hired?!"

"Yeah, it sounds great." I said trying to sound enthusiastic but not really succeeding. Hearing my own voice as I said it, I knew I sounded like I couldn't have cared less.

Belle's excitement dropped at that, and she eyed me with concern. "Robbie what's wrong? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, just a bit tired that's all." I said hoping she would drop it. I should have known better.

"Are you sure you look sad?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said as I stood up. "I've got some work to do in the lab." I added before moving in that direction.

"Robbie don't put me off." Belle said. "If something's wrong I want to help you. Maybe I can do something."

I turned to face her as I reached the door to the lab and said in an irritated tone, "There's nothing you can do."

"Ok." she said softly and turned to leave. I was about to turn back into the lab when I realized what I had done.

"Belle wait." I said and she turned to face me again. The look of concern back on her face. "I'm sorry, it's been a hard day and I didn't mean to take it out on you."

She came into the lab and we both sat down on the sofa as she asked, "Robbie what's wrong? You know if you talk about it, you'll feel better."

"Seven years ago, today my dad died." I said somberly.

"Oh, Robbie I'm so sorry. Why didn't you tell me?" she said as she put her arms around me.

"Because it's not your problem." I said.

"Yes, it is." Belle said as she moved back to look me in the eye. "You've always made my problems your problems so the least I can do is help you with yours." When I didn't say anything for a few seconds she continued, "It's ok to admit you're sad over your dad's death. Nobody worth their salt will think less of you. You don't have to be the big macho spy all the time."

I again decided against explaining the difference between a spy and an intelligence analyst and instead decided to just tell the story that had bothered me for seven years now. "It was my last year in the Navy. I was on deployment in the Middle East. I don't know if you remember, but at that time there was all that drama being stirred up in the Persian Gulf and Iran was making waves. Mishaps in the global military communications system meant that by the time my mom's message got to me that dad was already gone."

Belle's curious yet concerned gave never wavered as I continued, "I immediately applied for bereavement leave but due to the situation I was only able to get five days off. The Admiral tried to get me more, but CENTCOM wouldn't relent saying we were on a war alert. By the time my leave was approved, and I'd spent a day and a half in the air, I had missed the funeral. I only had 2 days at home before having to get back to the Middle East and get back to work."

As I finished my narrative, I felt myself choking up and tears starting to run down my face. Belle wrapped her arms around me as she said, "Oh Robbie I'm so sorry." I sat still for a few minutes after that my head resting on her shoulder letting myself rest and the tears flow. It was actually quite comforting and cathartic letting all this out after seven years.

Once I moved off of Belle's shoulder she asked, "What happened to your dad?"

"Heart attack." I said. "It was basically out of the blue. We knew he wasn't in perfect health and that his cholesterol was a bit high, but we figured as long has he took it easy he would be fine."

Mirroring my gesture from days prior Belle used her thumb to wipe the tear streaks from my face as she said, "Oh Robbie I'm so sorry. I remember your dad coming to visit you when we were in school. He always seemed like a kind laid back man."

"He was." I said. "He hardly ever raised his voice or got angry. Along with that gentle laid back nature was a mind that was sharp as a tack. Mom always said I got his intellectual mind and discipline. He had been in the military too, but that was before I was born. It was part of what made me join the Navy when I got out of school. In a way I was following in his footsteps."

"Your dad would be proud of you." Belle said giving me a caring look.

"Thanks Love." I said as I wrapped one of my arms around her and kissed the top of her head. Then another impulse hit me. "Let's get some fresh air. You up for a trip to the park? We can walk around the lake."

"That sounds wonderful." she said grinning.

We spent the next couple of hours walking around the lake at the park. The temperature had thankfully dropped so it wasn't too hot or humid. It was like old times again when we were students with nothing to worry about but term papers and final exams. We talked about my dad and a myriad of other topics as they came to mind. Finally, when my stomach started to growl, we decided to make for the exit. In the parking lot I noticed a hot dog stand that I hadn't been to in ages.

"Hey Love, this guy sells really good hot dogs. You want one?" I asked.

She looked a little skeptical but said, "Ok sure."

As we walked up to the cart the owner gave us a big jovial smile before saying, "Well I'll be damned, Rob. What's going on with you? It's been ages since you've been over here to see me."

"What's up Frank?" I said as we shook hands. "I know it's been a while, but you know how it goes."

"Yeah, I know." Frank said before seeing Belle and saying, "Say who is this beautiful woman?"

"Oh, I'm sorry this is Belle and old friend from my college days. Love, this is Frank who sell the best hotdogs in the Capital." I said.

"A girl like that deserves to be taken somewhere nice, not my little raggedy hotdog stand." Frank said laughing. Then looking at Belle he said, "Tell him to take you somewhere nice for dinner."

Belle giggled before saying, "He has. But this is perfect for tonight."

Frank smiled again saying, "Ok if you say so. What will you have?"

"Four hot dogs all the way and a couple of root beers." I said.

As Frank made our orders he said, "All jokes aside it's good to see you here with someone. I always thought you spent too much time alone and working. It looks like she's been good for you. You look more relaxed than you normally do."

Belle and I both grinned as I said, "I will admit Belle has spoiled me. Normally she cooks, but today I needed some fresh air after work, so we ended up walking around the lake. We were about to head home when I saw your cart over here."

"Robbie has spoiled me too." Belle said as I finished. "I don't know what I'd do without him."

Frank handed us our orders and I paid him as he said, "Sounds like you two have a pretty good thing going. If I was you two, I would keep it that way."

Neither Belle or I knew what to say to that. "Thanks Frank." I finally said. "I'll try to get over here more to see you."

"You say that every time man." Frank said. "Good luck to you two."

Belle and I found a park bench and quickly dug into our hot dogs. It was actually kind of amusing watching Belle eating a greasy chili dog. "Oh my God you were right these are the best." she said. Thankfully Belle decided not to eat like a tease except to lick the chili off her fingers as needed.

We finished eating and dropped our trash in the nearest barrel. As we walked toward the Denali I said, "Belle."

"Yeah." she said looking at me curiously.

"Thanks for making me feel better. If it weren't for you, I'd be sulking in my lab for the next two or three days when I wasn't at work."

"Oh Robbie. I want to be there for you, like you've always been there for me." she said.

"My dad actually liked you. I'll be damned if I know why..." I said in a deadpan voice. A few seconds later when my remark registered, I got a playful punch in the arm for my insolence.

We both started laughing as she said, "Well I know you're feeling better now. You're back to being a smartass."

"You're the one who wanted me to feel better." I said smirking. She made to swat at me, but I anticipated her move and caught her hand in mine. But instead of pulling it back right away she left it in mine. I squeezed her hand and with my other hand used my finger to trace the back of her hand. I noticed a look of deep affection on her face as held her hand and again noticed the briefest of quivers go through her body and her breathing get a little heavier. After probably a minute or so I let her hand go deciding that was enough teasing for one day.

"You ready to go home?" I asked.

"Yeah." she said a little breathily and looking slightly crestfallen.

Back at home I ended up back in the lab since I really did have some work to get done. After about 2-3 hours of solid work Belle appeared at the door in her night clothes. Thankfully or un-thankfully depending on how you look at it she had quit wearing the tight pink nightshirt. She was now wearing a long baggy pale blue t-shirt that while not as form fitting still looked incredibly sexy on her against her tanned skin. The bagginess also did nothing to hide her lack of a bra as her nipples were pressing against the front. I felt more stirring in my shorts.

"Hi Love." I said smiling.

"It's late come to bed." she said sweetly.

"I'm almost done I'll be along shortly." I told her. I looked back at the monitors on the desk and worked a bit longer before noticing she hadn't moved. "You're not going to leave me alone until I come, are you?"

"Nope." she said sweetly.

I saved my work as I said to her, "One of these days I'll learn how to say no to you."

"No, you won't." she said with a sly smirk on her face. I knew she was right as we got into bed, and she cuddled up to me.

***

I was at my desk the next day inputting data into the main crime database when my phone started to ring. I looked down at it and saw it Belle calling.

"Hi Love, what's up?" I asked as I answered it.

"Robbie, Wells just called me saying he wants to meet with me this afternoon at 3. He says there's been some developments in my case. I don't suppose you could go with me."

"I can't make any promises, but I'll try to get out of here a little early." I told her. "Luckily I don't have any field visits today I'm just working on getting the crime database up to date."

"If you could be there with me, I'd really appreciate it." Belle said to me. "You know how he can be."

"I'll try my best Love, but if I can manage it, I'll probably have to catch up on things tonight. So, if I can make it, you'll have to let me work tonight and not pester me to come to bed." I told her saying the last bit playfully.

"Ha ha." she said. "You fell asleep faster than I did, so it seems like you needed to stop."

We shared a laugh before I told her "I'll let you know if I can make it."

As I hung up with Belle, I noticed Joe had appeared and sat down at his desk. "What did the wife want?" he asked in his usual sarcasm. Joe had taken to playfully calling Belle my wife.

"Wells called her and wants to meet." I told him. "She wants me to be there if I can make it for moral support. You know Wells is prickly at best most of the time."

"I can't believe I'm going to say this, but if you want me to finish this up for so you can go I will." Joe said.

"No, you don't have to do all of that. I can take it home with me. You know I don't feel right leaving my work for others, especially since I've been off." I told him.

Joe reached over to my desk and picked up part of a pile of reports and moved it to his own desk saying, "I'll do some of it for you. It sounds like your wife doesn't like you working late."

I laughed a little before saying, "Yeah she'll stand at the door of my lab and won't leave until I go."

"Sounds like she really does care about you." Joe said. "She wouldn't care how much you worked or if it wore you out if she were just using you."

"Our relationship is changing. I can feel it and I'm pretty sure she can too. Now it's just a matter of who's going to make the first move." I told Joe. "It's like we've been playing a game of chicken but so far each of us keeps turning at the last second."

Joe chuckled before saying, "Geez you two are weird. It's like you both have some sort of tease fetish. Just go for it already."

"I know you think I'd be jumping at the bit after nearly 20 years of longing for her." I said. "But now that the opportunity seems like it's right in front of me, I'm hesitating. I guess it's the classic too afraid to risk what we've got to see if there's more. And I'll admit part of me is still skeptical since I'm the complete opposite of who she's been attracted to since I've known her."