Save the Date! (5 page)

When they reached the Harrison's home, Dixon bid Gemma a temporary goodbye and hopped into his own car, heading for home. Despite the Hollywood glamour and mysteriousness people tried to paint the CIA with, Dixon did not live in an extraordinary home. He didn't have fast, flashy cars or girls in sexy dresses hanging on his every word, willing to go to bed with him with a smooth retort with his southern accent. If anything, his life was quite normal even though his job wasn't.

Dixon
Black currently resided ten minutes away from his employer's home, in a gated apartment complex with a beautiful view of a park from his second-story room. It was bigger than most apartments, but that couldn't be helped. In all honesty, he had expected to be sharing this space with someone, with
her
. But, as Dixon knew from personal experience, sometimes life just didn't go as planned, and he had to continue to move on.

He
missed his life back in Atlanta, back as a detective. He even missed the FBI. He missed his partner, Edwin Long, who always flirted with the women whether they were young or old, beautiful or ugly, slim or obese, blonde or brunette. He always managed to amuse Dixon, though Dixon had never been as forward as old Edwin had been. Edwin was the warm charm of the partnership while Dixon was the mysterious and brooding action of the gang.

He really hadn't had all that many friends because of his quietness. It wasn't as though
Dixon wasn't social, of course, but he preferred to listen to people speak rather than participate in the activity himself. People revealed much more than they realized when they weren't aware that other people were listening.

They were the perfect combination, up until the point where his superior, a cold, frigid woman he came to look
to as his mother, merely referred to by the name G, told him he was being loaned out to the CIA for a very important case that involved both bureaus. Edwin was already on another case, already partnered with someone else, and Dixon was on the back of his motorcycle, heading to a new home, a new life.

Of course when he had told hi
s long-distance, longtime girlfriend, Eva Shaun, she was none too pleased. He had actually been planning to propose to her right before he left, in the same way he had described to Gemma a couple of days ago. In fact, he had wanted Eva to leave Atlanta and come to Virginia with him.

But Eva had never been fond of traveling, and she didn't seem excited a
bout leaving her home.

"I can't have a relationship with someone who isn't there
anymore," she had said in her usual, low voice, her piercing blue eyes near rivaling his own but falling slightly short.  “I can’t wait around for you, Dixon.  I’ve done it.  I can’t keep doing it.  I won’t.”

He understood. He didn't ask her to tag along with him if she didn't want to.

Currently, Dixon was standing on the balcony of his apartment, leaning on the banister as his midnight blue eyes stared up at the night sky.

Now that he thought about it, he realized that maybe he should have fought for her
harder. Maybe he should have shown just how important it was to him that she come with him, that he had already leased an apartment with an extra room that could be turned into an art studio. But he said nothing of the sort. Instead, he walked out of her life, and she let him.

I
t was partly her fault too. He left without her and she had let him.

E
ven so, Dixon knew he had trouble with intimacy. Not, of course, with the physical intimacy, but with the actual
feelings
. Eva had always been quite logical herself, and she never seemed to mind. He thought she was the One. She had no problem with his problem. He thought it would work out.

But the more
Dixon continued to think about it, he couldn't remember the last time the two had told each other that they loved each other. Had they even said it at all? Did it matter, even now?

He had been in Virginia
for the past two years now, and he was actually enjoying himself more than he had originally thought it was possible. Brent Harrison was a good boss, he found out, someone he could respect nearly as much he respected G. He actually liked his partner Harvey, even though he was quite different from how Edwin was. Harvey seemed intent on exploring all possible facets of the case before assigning a suspect with charges. It was a completely different way of going about things, but Dixon was intrigued by it only because many other agents tried to put someone away for a crime without fully investigating somebody further.

And now?

Now he was assigned an undercover case, protecting Brent Harrison's twenty year old daughter, someone he found could be quite unnerving when she wanted to be. If anyone managed to elicit some sort of emotion out of the man, it was Gemma. He was aggravated, annoyed, defensive, and… Well, he would never admit it aloud, but he was curious about her as well. He had never met anybody quite like her, and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

He would find out sooner
rather than later, it would seem.

---

Currently, Gemma was lying flat on her back in her vast backyard, her hands placed behind her head, her long fingers interlocked, and her brown eyes fixed on the bright moon above her. The perfectly manicured grass was cool on her skin, and the night was still warm with summer.  The stars were nearly as bright as the moon. The only thing she could hear were the crickets.  It was beautiful, peaceful.

School started in a couple of weeks
– she would start her last semester before transferring to a university in the spring. She found herself to be excited at the prospect of returning, but nervous and even wary at the same time. Soon, though, she would be thrust out into the world of careers, which seemed to be a problem because she had absolutely no idea what she wanted to do with her life.

Which was silly because with Brent Harrison as her father, she could probably do anything she wanted.

Except, of course, live in the dormitories at her college. Apparently, it was cheaper to live at home and her parents could keep a watchful eye on her. Not that she would do anything she would regret, but many wanted criminals who knew about Gemma Harrison's existence used her by means of threatening her life. Gemma wasn't aware of many of the threats (though they were all quite credible), but she didn't mind living at home anyways. Her parents were never there, so she normally had the house to herself.

Well, that was before Code Blue became her temporary, fake fiancé.

Goodness, she did not like that man. He was cold and indifferent, as though he didn't care about anyone but himself. Even when he did smile, it still looked icy, calculated… Was the man even capable of having fun?

Though, she had to admit, he was quite handsome. She could do much worse when it came to the physical appearance of her fiancé.

But she wanted Troy. She always had. Ever since senior year of high school…

She smiled at the thought. Tro
y, to her, had always been perfection personified. And he seemed to genuinely like her in return. At least, that was what she had thought. He was always so sweet when it came to her; how was she not supposed to fall in love with him? But with Dixon blocking her from ever developing such a relationship with the quarterback of the football team, the whole prospect seemed absolutely impossible now.

How long was she supposed to pretend, anyways? How long until Tony got another girlfriend he stayed with for a meager couple of months before finding a new one? How long until Gemma was allowed to take control of her life?

She cocked her head to the side while keeping it firmly resting on the grass. She had always liked the particular love quote that said despite the distance between two people, they were always looking up at the same moon. It comforted her to know that no matter what happened to her, Troy looked up at the same moon as she did.

Was she in love with him? She couldn't exactly say. She had never been in love with somebody before, but she liked him very much. That still counted for something, didn't it?

Gemma thought it did.

She sighed softly through her nose, reveling in the warmth the night offered. She didn't like admitting it, but she did have fun with Code Blue whenever the two were together. She smiled, rolling her eyes at such a thought, but it was true and she knew it.

For a moment, she wondered where he was, what he was doing. Did this whole fake marriage ruin any prospect of a relationship between him and some woman? She bit her bottom lip, hoping that it didn't.

Did the man even believe in love? He seemed rather cynical on the whole matter, if she did say so herself.

Oh well.

And then, she idly wondered if he was looking up at the moon just now. Not like it mattered, but the thought was still there nonetheless.

Don't forget to check your schedule! I think you have something planned for today!
Love, Mom
.

Gemma frowned upon reading the neatly-scripted note. It was too early for her mother's excitement, even if it was only through handwriting. She sighed through her nose,
relenting her original disposition, and trudged over to her desk before plopping into her chair. Currently, she was training her body to wake up early in preparation for school. Gemma always preferred taking morning classes so that by the time she had finished, she still had the afternoons and evenings to finish homework, hang out with friends, and other normal college activities.

However, such a practice required her to get up early even on the weekends so as to not throw her schedule off. Today was Saturday, and the time was 8:23am. And already her mother was reminding her of a required, menial task that had to do for her fake wedding. It would seem to Gemma that her mother was more excited about planning a fake wedding than she had ever been (or at least that Gemma had remembered), and Gemma wondered if Carlene would feel similar
ly when her daughter actually got married.

What if she's worse?

No.
Gemma let out a controlled breath, her eyes closed.
Don't even allow yourself to think about such things.

The planner that had been given to her by her very ecstatic mother was lying on the
table. Gemma had yet to crack the thing open, afraid to look at what was actually written in there. However, she knew she needed to, so she took a breath and forced herself to look. now was a particular time where she needed to do so, and so she did.

Gemma searched for the date and when she found it, she found her eyes had narrowed on their own accord. Written in her mother's delicate scrawl was
Benedict Park – 3:00pm. A walk with Dixon. Remember your camera!

She vaguely remembered how her mother had mentioned this particular facet of her duties but wasn't expecting it to show up so soon. At least she had some to relax and get her mind situated around her current predicament.

Okay, maybe they could take a brisk walk, snap some shots, and be done with it by three thirty. That was possible, wasn't it? And she highly doubted Dixon would mind spending a short amount of time with her.

In fact, Gemma suspected it was the one thing they had in common; the fact that both weren't exactly susceptible to this whole façade they were putting on. Yes, she knew it was necessary for her protection and that it was
Dixon's job, but that didn't mean that either of them had to like it. She as hell didn't and she highly doubted he liked it as well.

No matter. They were both in the same boat. She just hoped it didn't
topple over due to the fact that they weren't exactly fond of each other.

"Now," she murmured under her breath before gently wiping away the sleep in her eyes. "What to wear today?" She smiled mischievously. "But more importantly, what to eat for breakfast?"

Gemma lounged around most days. She loved the weekends, especially when her parents were out doing one thing or another. She would put on movies she absolutely adored and make a home out of the couch, eating baked barbeque Lays and keeping her pajamas on. She didn't have to please anybody with her attire or attention except herself. Currently, her attention was fixed primarily on the abs of Gerard Butler, currently gracing the flat screen television in nothing but a loincloth and a dangerous scowl etched over his chiseled features.

She was in love with that man.

Actually, she was in love with many of them, but Gerard Butler would always be her favorite.

At two o'clock, Gemma forced herself to shower and to look somewhat decent for her scheduled rendezvous with her fiancé at the nearby park. She decided to leave her hair down, as she usually did, and slipped on some low blue jeans, a tight t-
shirt that brought out her brown eyes, and flip flops. There was no reason to dress up. It was only Code Blue.

It would appear that he felt the same way because he was merely in a T-shirt that fit his form quite nicely without appearing too tight. It was a grey color that could appear to be blue. Or maybe that was the fault of
Dixon's own eyes. Jeans also occupied his outfit for the day, with a thick, brown leather belt wrapped around his waist, and tan boots on his feet. His copper hair was slightly messy, as though he literally rolled out of bed ten minutes ago, threw on some clothes, but did nothing about his hair.

When Gemma saw him, she felt her heart stop for a moment before doing a little flip.

Nerves
, she told herself.
Just nerves
.

Really?
a coy voice asked in her mind.
And what, exactly, do you have to be nervous about
?

Thank God Benedict Park was filled with tall trees that provided tons of shade or else she’d be sweating through her T-shirt by now.

"There you are," Dixon said upon seeing her, his low, crisp voice taking her out of her thoughts.

She blinked once, letting his simple statement sink in before nodding a couple of times. "Yeah," she murmured before running her fingers through her hair.
  A light breeze pushed stray strands in her hair. "And could we try and get this over with as quickly as possible?" she added, hoping her voice sounded convincing enough to resemble annoyance.

"Why?" he asked, his blue eyes twinkling with deviousness. "You have a date or something?" And then, taking Gemma completely by
surprise, started laughing at his own joke.

A couple of kids ran across a grassy field, attempting to fly a kite.

She paused for a moment, her eyes zeroing in on his smile. It was always quick and rare, and for whatever reason, Gemma felt as though she had to capture it and memorize it in case she never saw it again. The skin by his eyes crinkled and his lips were pulled back over straight, white teeth including two canines. He looked absolutely mesmerizing.

"Oh, ha
ha
," Gemma muttered, crossing her arms over her chest and looking away. But she couldn't help but look back at him, seeing the remnants of the smile still touch his face. "You know," she said, her voice gentle and more serious. "If you smiled a lot more, I'm sure you would probably be married by now. Either that, or in a long-term relationship."

The tone of her voice caused
Dixon to take a second look at Gemma. He particularly favored long hair on women, and Gemma's went to the middle of her back. He also liked the fact that she left her hair down. She looked incredibly stunning when it was messy, untamable, and fell into her face just so, giving him the perfect opportunity to curl it behind her ear.

Not that he ever would, of course. But the idea still rang true.

"What about you?" Dixon asked, cocking his head in order to look at her at a different angle. "Were you really planning on getting married to this Troy fellow? Are you really in love with him, or is this some kinda infatuation?"

Gemma furrowed her brow. "You tell me," she said. "You already seem to be sure of the answers to your questions."

"Well, come on!" Dixon said, clear annoyance in his tone. "You girls throw around love like it's the latest slang term. Do you even know the meaning of the word? Have you actually said it to someone you really loved?"

"I have never told someone I didn't love them when I didn't," Gemma told him firmly. "And just so you know, men like you don't seem to say the three words
enough
. Do
you
even know the meaning of the word? Have you actually said it to someone you loved? Or did you think that they knew it already? That you didn't have to say it." Dixon opened his mouth, but shut it abruptly and quickly looked away. "Oh, and just so you know, not that it's
any
of your business, but I don't even know if I want to get married."

Dixon
looked at her doubtfully, raising a brow as he regarded her with his normally icy gaze. "I thought you had your whole life planned out with Troy," he stated. He didn't want to ask the question, but his tone gave him away.

"
Geesh, it's just one of my many fantasies," Gemma said with a roll of her eyes. "But, it's like you said. I don't know the meaning of love. I've never been in real, true love so I'm not going to say that I'll ever get married. I mean, I would like to, but how am I supposed to know if I'll stay in love for the rest of my life? And I'm only twenty years old." She snorted, causing Dixon to press his lips together and hide an amused smirk. "Please. I'm a lot more realistic than you think I am."

"Then what do you want?" he asked her, incredibly curious as to what her answer might be.

"I don't know," she said with a wistful smile and a light shrug. "But I want to explore." She glanced over at him for a moment before fiddling with the string from her digital camera. "We should probably start taking these pictures…"

"Right,"
Dixon said. "Because you have a date." He smirked again.

Gemma gave him a dry look. "Why don't you just shut up and pretend you love me enough to fool the camera?" she mumbled.