Chapter 5: Playing Her Game

I wake to my alarm at 7 am that rudely interrupted me from my dream. Usually I would try to go to the gym before work and get my work out over with so I wouldn't have to plan my day around an hour workout, but I knew after the late night I had last night I wouldn't give it my all this morning. I decided instead I would go after work. Part of me doesn't want to go at all which is why I usually make myself do it in the morning. I get up to take a quick shower and pin my hair up because today isn't a hair washing day. Ryder stays curled up in bed while I shower in my en suite bathroom; he knows my morning routine well. After getting out of the shower I brush my teeth and go to my vanity to put on some light makeup for the day and do something with my thick mane of hair that looks somewhat professional while also being functional. I'm a big fan of the messy bun, especially on days I don't wash my hair, but I'd rather look professional to my patients. Much like Dr. Reid, people discount my knowledge due to my age. I'm 25 almost 26 and I know what I'm doing. Most people hear speech therapist and think "oh I can talk fine I don't need her help" which is not the case most of the time. As I listen to Taylor Swift and start applying my makeup I see that there's a text from Spencer I missed when I turned off my alarm.

Spencer

Good morning, beautiful. I hope you slept well! :)

Anneliese

Aw thanks, handsome. Good morning to you, too. I slept great, what about you?

Spencer

I slept very well, too. I know you have a busy day ahead of you at the hospital, so don't worry about talking to me but I hope you have a great day!

Anneliese

You too, Spence :)

And with that I finish up my makeup, take Ryder out for a quick walk, and get ready to leave. After crating Ryder and making sure I have my neighbor set up to take him out for a bit while I'm at work I grab a protein bar and rush out the door. I don't usually have an appetite in the morning, blame it on my ADHD I guess, but I know I'll be hungry later so I always have a protein bar on hand. I get in to the hospital at 8:30 am and go to my office to get ready to prep for my patients of the day. I look at the chart and map out what order I'm going to check on my patients making sure I don't make anybody wait too long for breakfast or lunch. My first patient is a 76 year old woman who just suffered a stroke and is having to relearn how to eat as well as how to speak. I have to see her most days to work with her and update her progress, but I can't be there for every meal obviously. I knock on the door frame of Mrs. Betty's room and bid her good morning. I go to wash my hands and glove up and ask her "okay Mrs. Betty are you ready to eat breakfast?" She gives me a half smile on her left side due to the fact they she has facial drooping and muscle loss on her right side. The muscles in her mouth and throat are very weak from the stroke and it will take a lot of therapy before she can get back to normal, if she can that is. I start to feed her her strawberry yogurt and she looks visibly relieved even though just the act of swallowing her yogurt is incredibly difficult. She's not aspirating her food and she's doing a great job eating on her own. We finish up and I tell her she did a great job and I'll see her later. As I'm in my office charting, one of the two other speech therapists in the hospital, Alison, pops her head in and looks at my with raised eyebrows and a smile. She says "I heard you had a date with that FBI agent last night," she wiggles her eyebrows at me and then says "how did it go?" I laugh slightly shaking my head and tell her "you know I really wish the whole hospital wasn't all up in my dating life. It went very well, thank you for taking the time to ask, Alison." She claps her hands and let's out a light squeal and sits in the chair in front of my desk saying "okay, spill! Tell me everything!" "Well we just got drinks at the Pink Lotus. He's very smart and very funny. He held the doors for me and insisted on paying the bill. He walked me to my car and texted me to make sure I got home safe," I told her. She furrows her brows and says "wait you didn't sleep with him?" I roll my eyes and say "No, Alison I don't sleep with guys on the first date. What if he's a serial killer or something?" Alison rolls her eyes and says to me "girl you need to get some, it has to have been years since you last had sex." I lightly laugh and say "yeah something like that." I get ready to go see some more patients and walk with Alison on the way there, thankfully changing the subject.

~Spencer's POV~

I sit in the bullpen at the BAU, still stuck on the same page of paper work that I started on when I got here hours ago. I hope none of my team notices but I'm quickly disappointed and hear Derek say to me from his desk "hey pretty boy, why haven't you turned in any paper work today? By this point you would usually be on book number 3 after having finished before all the rest of us." I shake my head and just say "I'm just a little distracted is all." I feel Derek still staring at me for a few seconds longer and he says "ohhhh I see, are you still thinking about that pretty speech therapist?" I try to hide my face and my microexpressions, but I'm too late. Morgan stands up from his seat walking over to me and says "look at that blush! You definitely are still crushing on her. Why don't you ask her out? I could tell she definitely likes you. Especially since you said she didn't want MY phone number. I mean come on." I try to look away quickly and then I hear Emily chime in from her desk in front of mine saying "oh my god, he already did!" I can't help my blush creep further across my face, giving me away. Morgan pats me on the back and says "there you go pretty boy! What did she say?" Before I can respond Emily chimes in saying "wait didn't she refuse to give you her number until after you were fully discharged?" I nod my head saying "Yeah after we got back from that case in Canada I decided I had to see her so I went to the front administration desk and told them I needed to see her. They weren't going to let me see her and it's a huge hospital. Luckily I had memorized the phone extensions for the hospital phone lines and was able to watch the woman up front type in the number for the second floor nurses station when they finally found her. I tried to leave to go get her and they stopped me at first. I decided to flash my credentials saying she was a key witness in an open investigation and they let me go. I tracked her down at the second floor nurses station and finally asked her out." Morgan claps and says "that's how it's done. But why didn't you ask Garcia for help? I bet she could've helped you track her down a lot quicker." I say "yeah I thought of that but it felt like cheating at her game she was so obviously enjoying. I don't understand why she's making this process more difficult than it always is" Emily then says "you know it sounds like she may be making it hard on you so you have to prove to her you actually want her for her and not for her body or something like that. She seems like she's almost trying to self sabotage, but not quite, by playing hard to get. Like if she makes it more challenging on you maybe you'll abandon the chase and she won't get hurt." I turn around to ask JJ's opinion who has been sitting there quietly the whole time and she says "yeah that could be it. If she's been hurt in the past it may be hard for her to convince herself to open up to you until you somehow prove to her you're not some douche bag player." I respond with an incredulous scoff "I am not a player! Why would she think that?" JJ looks at me with soft eyes and says "oh, Spence, we know you're not a player. It's just a lot of guys act nice in the beginning and then break a girl's heart or lose interest and ghost after so long if she's not giving them what they want." Emily nods along, confirming JJ's statement and says "yeah men really suck sometimes." The bubbly Penelope Garcia walks up, the sound of her chunky heels signifying her arrival to the conversation and asks "ooh what are we gossiping about all huddled up over here, hmm?" JJ smiles and says "it looks like Spencer has a new girlfriend." Garcia gasps and I quickly set the record straight "she is not my girlfriend. Yet. We went on one date so far. It went well and I really don't want to mess it up." Penelope squeals with excitement and pulls up a chair in front of me and says "okay tell me everything, Boy Wonder." I feel the rest of the team listening as I give every detail of the date straight from my eidetic memory. "She seemed very nervous the whole time but she smiled and laughed so much with me I think it helped. I didn't try to push it any further because I knew she was more careful than sleeping with a guy on the first date because she drove herself. She let me kiss her though when I asked so that has to be a good sign." Garcia giggles and says "believe it or not, lover boy, asking for consent is so hot to most girls, even if that wasn't your reason for asking." My eyebrows shoot up and I say "really?! I was just trying to make sure she was comfortable." JJ chuckles and says "yeah Spence, that's why it's hot, it shows that you care about her well being and not just what you want." I turn back to look at Morgan who is just nodding in agreement. He laughs and says "works every time." Emily then asks "so do y'all have another date planned?" I nod my head and say "yes, we are going to the Smithsonian air and space museum this weekend if everything works out with both of our schedules." Morgan looks at me and says "keep her if she enjoys going to museums, dude." The girls laugh and we all return to what we were doing before the conversation. Morgan looks at me one last time and says "kid, I think you're doing everything right. Don't stress too much about it. If you really want a relationship with her then go at her pace and wait for her to open up to you." I nod and can finally push Anneliese to the back of my mind and finally get some work done for the first time all day after talking everything out with my team.

AN: this is honestly just a filler chapter, but I think it turned out very valuable and gives a lot of insight to the characters. Thanks for reading!