Ok, so I thought I'd write a Halloween story. Cos I had this really odd dream and even while I was dreaming I caught myself thinking: "Dang, you must NOT forget this, this'll make an excellent Halloween story for SMK!" So I started writing it down. And it's turning out to be longer than I thought. This is why I'll be slow with posting updates - I don't have the whole story written, yet, and since I'm gonna take part in National Novel Writing Month, I won't be able to continue working on it during November.

So - just a short chapter today, right on time for Halloween! More to follow soon! :)

"You are destined to be together forever."

"Uh - what?"

Francine looked up at the old woman - though the term "crone" might have been more fitting - who had seemingly materialized out of thin air next to the table at which she and Beaman were sitting. Everything about the woman's appearance screamed 'gypsy:' her clothes, the red scarf tied around her head, the large golden hoops dangling from her ears, the golden bangles around her wrists jingling softly when she moved her arms. Francine was sure she hadn't seen the gypsy enter. She would have noticed since she sat facing the entrance.

The woman gave her a toothless grin.

"You two; you are destined to be together forever. You believe Mama Fortuna. She knows."

Francine opened her mouth to tell her to go bother someone else. Politely, of course because even though she didn't believe in the power of gypsy curses, she knew more than enough about the principle of self-fulfilling prophecies to be on her guard. But the woman obviously was done because she laughed - cackled, actually, which got her quite some looks from the other tables and the counter - turned and left through the door.

Beaman shook his head and blinked.
"What was that?" he asked.

Francine shrugged.
"Probably Lee's idea of a Halloween prank."

Of course, Lee would have noticed she and Beaman were spending quite a little time together recently, and not just on their assignments. It had started with 'just drinks, that's it' at Nedlinger's after an important assignment had gone spectacularly right. As in: The whole Agency knew about it and even Smyth had been duly impressed. So Francine had to accept Beaman's request to go to Nedlinger's to celebrate. All the others had been there too, after all. Perfectly harmless.

At some point, they had moved on to drinks every Friday. No dinner, though, because that would have been too much like dating and Francine was determined to keep her private and professional lives separated as much as possible. When you didn't, things could get messy pretty fast. And besides, Beaman wasn't exactly her type.

Or so she kept telling herself.

She had to admit, though, that he made up for much more interesting company than many of the men she usually went for. There was less bragging, for example, about things like 'my house, my yacht, my Porsche,' and more real conversation. He was pretty smart, actually, which was great because she didn't have to be careful to not say things that went right over his head.

Of course, someone trained to notice things - like Scarecrow - would have noticed them leaving work together every Friday. It wouldn't be very hard to find out where they went. And it was only a question of time until Lee would start to tease her about Beaman.

"He's a little early", Beaman pointed out. "Halloween isn't until Monday."

"Well, Halloween weekend starts at midnight, which is in …"
Francine checked her watch.
"One hour? Gosh, I really should be going home!"

They had been sitting here and talking for five hours.

"What, already?"
Beaman gave her that disappointed look of his that always reminded her of a kicked puppy. Sometimes it worked but today it wouldn't.

"I have to be at the Agency early tomorrow. We're starting the Great Annual Review and I promised to help."

"On a Saturday?"

Francine shrugged.
"Tradition. We always start it on Halloween Saturday so we have it all finished by New Year's Eve."

And it might not be such a bad idea to spend less time with Beaman. She seemed to be growing a little too fond of him recently; looking forward to Friday night a bit too much.

It was all about balance… You had to keep the right balance. Let people get too close to you and things would probably end in a disaster. Keep them at too huge a distance and you couldn't work with them properly. Especially not when you were supposed to work together as a team.

As far as Francine was concerned, she and Beaman had found that perfect balance. They were just close enough to be a good team but not too close like, for example, Lee and Amanda.

Fortunately Beaman was smart enough not to suggest certain things or hint at others. And of course she, too, knew better than to do or say anything that might tip the scales one way or another.

They finished their drinks. As usual, Beaman insisted on walking her to her car and waiting until she had started the motor. Francine had told him again and again it wasn't necessary but he insisted, claiming it was more for his peace of mind than her safety and besides, it was only polite, wasn't it?

By the time she arrived home at her apartment, she had completely forgotten about the old gypsy.

The next morning, she was surprised to find Beaman waiting for her in the Georgetown foyer.

"Mr. Melrose called me," he said before she could ask what he was doing there, "he said he wants us in his office."

Francine nodded.

Looks like I might not be helping with the Annual Review after all …