From: ScullyK8@aol.com Date: Sun, 12 Sep 1999 11:05:11 EDT Subject: Lunch Break Source: direct Title: Lunch Break Author: Kate G. Setting: In season 6, right around Milagro/The Unnatural but before Field Trip Rating: G...WARNING...Fluff ahead. Disclaimer: Scully and Mulder are not mine. They are just out to play for a while; I'll send them home before it gets dark. Au Bon Pain and all their delicious foods are not my creation either; they are just my lunch. Wendy's, McDonalds and the HardRock Cafe are not mine either, I just borrowed them for a minute. Classification: H, a little UST Authors Notes: This story was based on a lunch that I had when on a trip to DC last week. There really is an 'Au Bon Pain' across the street from the FBI Building. And sick, demented me could only sit there and think... "I bet Mulder and Scully would eat here all the time for lunch!" Enjoy! Feedback: That would be so kind! Mail me at ScullyK8@aol.com Archive: Gossamer, anywhere else, let me know. Thanks. Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Lunch Break Kate G. June 1999 33, 34, 35, 36... Mulder stared at the ceiling in the office and counted all the pencil holes , bored out of his mind. He looked up and out of the window above him and watched all the dust floating in the air. The old boxes piled outside of his office door got dull looking after he stared at them for about 1 minute. Then he looked across the desk to where Scully sat typing diligently on her laptop. They had been working for over 7 hours now and she had not gotten up once, not even to take a bathroom break. Mulder wondered in his head. "How do you do that, Scully?" "Huh, what?" she replied looking up, her fingers momentarily paused on the keyboard. "I said, how do you do that? Sit there and just type and type when I am bore d out of my mind!" "Well, Mulder, when one has the attention span of a toddler, one tends to lo se focus easy. Besides, Matthew is nearly 2 and his ability to stay focused on a task has surpassed yours already." She told him, smirking and getting back t o her typing. "Scully, I am truly hurt by your comment! I thought that I was doing pretty good. I was sitting here, being quiet. Not working, yes, but still being quiet so you could work. And just for that comment, I am not going to get yo u anything to eatwhen I go out," he shot back. He made a big production of pushing in his chair and reaching for the door, but either she was ignoring him or she was too engrossed by the work to notice. Mulder just sighed and left the office to get them some lunch. They had been there since 6am and all she had eaten was half of a cream cheese bagel. The other half lay behind her laptop, out of view to her but directly in the lin e of fire for his boredom. It turned out that soggy bagels make great pseudo hoop s for tiny wads of paper that he had pretended were little basketballs. He stepped out of the nearest employee entrance and into the harsh daylight. The sounds of the city at lunchtime assaulted his ears. He looked to his lef t. Wendy's and McDonalds offered him some tantalizing treats, but he knew that Scully would probably make fake puking noises when he entered with the bags. Out of his eyesight, but directly behind the building was a Chines e place that had great take-out. Unfortunately, they had eaten that yesterday for lunch. Directly in front of him and across the street was the HardRock Cafe. He knew that you could order to go there, but he had not called ahead, so th at was out. He sighed again as he realized that lunch today was going to be wussy sandwiches from Au Bon Pain, the "French" cafe across the street from HardRock. He actually liked the food there, but the portions were so small that it took him triple of whatever Scully had to fill him up. He started across the street. Inside the "cafe" Mulder stared at the menu. He knew exactly what to order Scully. A turkey sandwich on Foccia bread, mayo on the side. He ordered one for her and the same thing only three more for him. An iced tea for him and bottled water for her completed his order. The lady behind the counter handed him his bag and he was about to leave when the site of a certain cookie made him stop and stare. It was an almond flavored sugar cookie, according to the sign in front of it . But it was not round, it was heart-shaped. Each cookie had either a 'X' or an 'O' stamped on it. Mulder remembered seeing Scully smile fondly at this type of cookie the last time they were in there together getting lunch. Why he remembered that he wasn't sure. "Sir, is that everything?" The lady behind the counter asked him, looking anxious. He could feel the line pressing into his back, getting angry because they were hungry and in a rush for lunch. He made his decision in a rush. "No, give me one of those almond cookies. And, um, wrap it in that purple tissue paper." He watched as the lady absently reached for a cookie. "No! Not that one, give me one with a 'X' on it." He could hear the guy behind him laugh. He turned and glared at the man as the lady took his money. Mulder shot him one more death glare and sprinted out the door and back to the basement office. Scully was nowhere to be seen when he came back. Her laptop was still on, so he guessed that her bladder had finally got the better of her. He put her lunch down beside her computer and pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled her a quick note and left. Scully came back from the bathroom to find a white bag with the 'Au Bon Pain' written on the side sitting beside her computer. Then she saw a piece of purple tissue paper with a small note on top of it. She opened the note and started to read. Scully- Even though you were mean to me, you still have all of my... (this is the part where you look in the tissue paper...) -Mulder PS. I am down at the Reflecting Pool. Please join me if you can pull yourself away from the computer. Scully put the note down and grinned at the cookie in front of her. She carefully folded the tissue paper back around the heart-shaped cookie. She opened her briefcase and slipped it into the protective pouch part. Smiling broadly, she picked up the remainder of her lunch and started walking towards the Reflecting Pool. THE END...or is it? Continued in Late Lunch : )