TITLE: White Roses (1/1)
AUTHOR: Shoshana
EMAIL ADDRESS: [email protected]
DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT: Anywhere
SPOILER WARNING: Arcadia, Milagro.
RATING: PG-13
CONTENT STATEMENT: MSR
CLASSIFICATION: VR
KEYWORDS: Mulder/Scully romance.
SUMMARY: Scully asks Mulder to a party.
DISCLAIMER: These characters do not belong to me.
FEEDBACK: Would love it.

White Roses
By Shoshana

Friday, 1:30 p.m.

     Scully swept into the office this afternoon in a huff. She was obviously disturbed about something, and I was reluctant to ask what the source of that distress might be. I decided to wait out the storm, saving my hide from a verbal tongue lashing. I didn't have to wait long, she had every intention of letting me know what was bugging her. Thank God it wasn't me.

     "Mulder, there's this pathologist over at the morgue who has been constantly pressing me for dates the last three months. And there's a social function for our local organization this Saturday night. Which I can't get out of attending, and Jason knows that all too well because he has insisted that he take me. So I told him I had another escort lined up so he would get off my back." She paused dramatically, looking me straight in the eyes.

     "And..." I said.

     "How would you like to go to a boring pathologist party on Saturday?"

      My heart raced. How come she'd never asked me before? I was more than happy to spend time with her outside of work, especially as her date.

     "Sure, Scully. I'd be happy to. I'll even behave," I said, smiling suggestively.

     She ignored my grin and said seriously, "Mulder, this is important. I want to permanently get this guy out of my hair. And you know everyone already gossips about us anyway, so it wouldn't do any harm if we showed up together."

     "Miss Scully! I was unaware of such vicious rumors! What have they been saying about us lately?"

     Sheepishly she looked down at her feet and played with the rubber mat underneath the desk. "Oh, just the usual, 'do they or don't they' kind of stuff."

     "Well, let's give them something to talk about then..." I laughed.

     "No Mulder, this is not Arcadia where we were undercover. I want you to behave yourself, be a perfect gentleman. No one expects us to hang all over each other. It's not that kind of party, anyway. It's a bit formal, though you just have to wear a nice suit, that's all."

      "Scully, I was just kidding around. Of course I wouldn't embarrass you in front of all those professional colleagues. Don't give it another thought. When should I pick you up?"

    Visibly relieved, she said "Eight is fine. It shouldn't last much later than midnight. Anyway, I turn back into Dana Scully, tired F.B.I. agent, at midnight. Or maybe earlier, if this party is anything like others I've been forced to attend. Thank you so much Mulder. I owe you."

     "Oh no, you don't owe me at all. I'm sure we'll have a good time, despite being surrounding by working stiffs."

      "Ha ha, Mulder. Find better comedy material before Saturday if that's the best you can come up with."

     So the date and time were set. I was really looking forward to a little R and R with my best friend. It felt good that she could turn to me for such a request, though I wished that I was more sure of her true feelings about me. It couldn't hurt to take her out and try to make her feel special, even on an arranged date.

Saturday, 8 p.m.
 
     I arrived on time, with a dozen white roses. I knew there was symbolism in whether you brought white or red roses to a woman, but I just had never bothered to find out what it was or I would surely remember which were appropriate. She didn't seem to mind at all, breathing the fragrance in deeply and placing them in a pretty crystal vase. She was wearing a beautiful black cocktail dress, cut a bit low, well lower than I'd ever seen her wear. Her hair was curlier than usual, probably from a close encounter with her hairdresser that afternoon. And she smelled wonderful, like lilacs in the spring.
  
     I was really bowled over by how gorgeous she looked, how much attention she had paid to every detail of her appearance. I could only hope that she wanted to look nice for me, despite the true motive of our 'date,' alienating Mister Scumbag, the pathologist. She knew I would never put the moves on her without her express permission. Six years of partnership had certainly convinced her of that. But she looked so lovely tonight, I was feeling shaky in my ever weakening resolve to wait for that assent.
 
     I knew she cared about me, I just wasn't sure how much. Not even in the aftermath of recent events, specifically Philip Padgett. She was still an enigma, some days moody and distant, others refreshingly open and communicative. That would also describe me most of the time, so maybe I was sending her mixed signals, mixed messages, on how much I really cared and how far I'd want this relationship to go. We could probably dance around this till the millenium. I sincerely hoped that by then we'd be celebrating New Year's Eve together, not just verbally jousting with one another.

     We arrived at the function and checked our coats. It was at a nicer hotel in Georgetown and there was table service in a private banquet room. Scully introduced me to those at our table and I felt a bit nervous, but not uncomfortable. I recognized the older woman next to me and asked her where she worked. After recollecting that she had met me on one of our cases, she wanted to know if we had eventually arrested anyone for those murders. We talked shop for ten minutes or so while Scully spoke to the older man next to her, whom she obviously knew quite well.

     Couples had started to dance to the band, which played old standards, mixed with a few contemporary tunes. I was zoning out, having exhausted conversational avenues with my friend next to me. I was curious about this Jason guy. When was I going to get a look at the amorous pathologist who was chasing after Scully? I didn't have to wait long to find out, he came over to ask her to dance. I had envisioned him as a ugly geek, but this guy was a Robert Redford look-alike, tan and athletic-looking. This was the guy? I was actually surprised that Scully hadn't gone out with him, he looked so normal. Unlike her dark, brooding partner who often showed up at her apartment unshaven, unwashed and desperately seeking her help, her conversation, or just her shower. Here was a chance for her to date a guy who would give her a white picket fence with a two-car garage.
  
     Scully politely refused, saying that she had reserved the first dance for me. I sat there in shock, wondering where that came from. Jason, conceding defeat, ambled away to choose his next victim from among the crowd. I looked around the room and saw that there were other eligible men, men I could have seen Scully interested in. Why hadn't she ever dated them? Were we out of town that much, had I really ruined her social life? I knew I'd be jealous if any of these men had romanced her. I had been trying to adjust to that possibility in my own psyche, not knowing or believing she would ever get involved with me.
  
     I was trying to forget whatever Padgett had said about Scully already being in love. He had written such unreliable trash about her that I wasn't ready to accept anything from him as God's honest truth. I also wasn't willing to probe my partner's personal thoughts, as I have when I've profiled criminals. It wouldn't be fair to either of us, disrespectful to her, and agonizing to me, if only because I might create false hopes that she reciprocated my deep feelings for her.

    Scully turned to me after a few minutes of uneasy silence and said, "Well, how about that first dance, partner?"
  
     I was so lost in the ozone that I had forgotten to ask her to dance. I apologized profusely for making her wait, and guided her out to the dance floor, which was now crowded with fifty or more waltzing couples. Thanking my mother for ballroom dance lessons, I remembered enough to fake it around the room. I was more anxious about being in close proximity to Scully's alluring figure than my ability to foxtrot. She looked beautiful, as I never get tired of saying to myself. I had noticed earlier that she'd worn shoes I'd never seen before, open-toed and shiny black, allowing me to see peach colored polish on her toes. I had tried not to stare then, and it was hard for me to keep my eyes off her now. She smiled at me with confidence, radiant and unworried.
  
    I was still pondering why she had rejected all these guys as marriage material when the music switched to a slow dance. I thought, 'Oh well, this is over,' and dropped her hands slowly. She grabbed mine back and said with a tender laugh, "Oh no, you're not getting away from me that easily!"

    Though startled, I did as I was told, and pulled her into my arms and against my chest. She seemed very relaxed. She was drinking and I wasn't so the wine must have been getting to her by then. She was getting to me, intoxicating me with her smell, her touch, and her pure blue eyes. I don't think I'd ever seen her eyes that blue before, even in the dim light of the ballroom.

     Fortunately for yours truly, the band took a break. My senses, so full of Scully and her breathtaking beauty, had influenced my groin and were giving birth to a hard-on. I wanted to sit down in a dark corner and wait this problem out. I got my wish when Scully led me over to a secluded corner to have another white wine. I decided to ask her about all those eligible bachelors. "Scully, why don't you date any of these doctor types?"

     "Oh, I don't know. They're really very boring people. If I didn't work with you as an F.B.I. agent, I'd probably be pretty boring too."

     "Well, I'm sure they have other interests than their jobs. Jason seemed like a very nice fellow, very handsome, too."

     "He's just not my type, Mulder. Too all-American jock, too perfect, too good to be true. I have to thank you, though. I think he's given up on me after seeing you."

     "Me?"

     "Yes, Mulder. He realized what a handsome partner I have and seems to have given up the chase."

     "Young lady, I think you've had way too much to drink tonight. I don't think you realize what you're saying anymore."

     "Yes I do, Mulder. And if you don't dance with me again, I'll be forced to spell it out for you in no uncertain terms. So either you do so now, or I'll have to find another partner, dance partner, that is."

      I couldn't argue with her. I couldn't really speak actually, stunned by her candor. All I could do was take the glass from her hand, set it down on the table, and take her in my arms, dancing to the music in our secluded corner of the ballroom. When she started nibbling at my neck, I pulled back from her, locked our gazes, and said, "Scully, as your partner and best friend, I feel obligated to tell you... I'm not going to behave like a gentleman if you do that to me..."

     She giggled and said, "I'm not expecting you to, Mulder." She looked at me intently and asked seriously, "Mulder, do you know anything about the language of flowers?"

     "No, should I?"

     "Well, you brought me white roses today... Usually... they signify 'purity of mind,' but that's the modern meaning that's been foisted on us by the floral industry. Good for selling more red roses, I guess. Anyway, traditionally, they've meant 'true love.'" She grinned and poked her index finger at my chest for emphasis now, "And 'you' brought me white roses today... If you don't mind, I think I'll interpret them any way I want to, if you're agreeable to that..."

     I smiled shyly and pulled her back into my arms. Then I whispered to her softly, "I'm so very agreeable to that, Ms. Scully."

fin