Gibbs looked with disdain at the empty coffee cups littering the table in front of him. In the last two hours or so, he’d downed 5 coffees.
As the cups began moving, he looked up to see a waitress collecting his cups. The waitress smiled at him, asking in a voice full of humor, “Would you like another coffee?”
Gibbs nodded mutely and saw the flash of confusion cross the waitress’s face
“Are you serious?” she asked, a bit unsure
Gibbs looked around the coffee shop then back at the waitress, “Yeah,”
The waitress nodded and walked away to do his bidding.
Gibbs stared at the table, as if it held all the answers. Suddenly his vision began to blur and his sinuses blocked up. With embarrassment, he belatedly realized he was crying.
He swore to himself silently and frustratedly swiped away the tears that had fallen. He hadn’t cried since … well, he couldn’t remember the last time.
Taking a deep breath, he tried to reason with himself, telling himself that he was being stupid. It’s not as if Tony ever really liked him, it was his own construction of fantasy. But why Tony? He was straight, damn it!
Gibbs wiped his face again, trying to dry his face and look normal. Subconsciously, he thought of a reason why his face was wet and red. His face was hot with embarrassment as he thought that everybody in the café was staring at him, judging him to have a weak character.
Straightening up and looking around, he found everybody was engaged with other business and weren’t all staring at him with their mouths hanging open.
Sighing in relief, he cleared his throat and went back to his thinking. What was he gonna do now that he’d made a fool of himself? It’d be impossible to continue working with Tony. The younger man would forever be shoving it down his throat, reminding him of his failures and of this cruel joke.
“Your hot black, extra strong coffee, sir,” a voice on his right told him, setting down his large takeaway cup
Gibbs looked up at the waiter, hoping his face didn’t give away his sorrow and desperation, “Thanks,” he mumbled
“Are you okay, sir?” the waitress asked
Gibbs withdrew his eyes from the waitress’s and silently cursed his eyes for giving him away, “Yeah,” Gibbs responded, “I’m fine. How much do I owe you?”
The waitress quietly inspected his face, then told him, “Well you don’t look it,” she patted his arm, “The coffee’s on the house,”
“Thanks,” Gibbs replied, blinking hard a few times as his eyes threatened to well up again, almost as if the waitress’s sympathy had made his grief worse. Gibbs summoned his energy and gave the woman a small smile, which saw her on her way away from his tables, leaving him to the growing darkness in his mind
Gibbs brooded over the situation for a while longer, thinking over different possibilities. Eventually, he stood up and collected his half empty cup of coffee. On his way out he saw the waitress give him a small smile, which he returned with a nod of thanks.
When Gibbs returned to headquarters, the last thing he expected – although in hindsight, he should’ve thought of – greeted him at the entrance to the elevator, Abby the hurricane.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Gibbs thinks over the repurcussions of his actions
Chapter End Notes:
sorry for the huge delay, lots of stuff in rl going on now and haven't had the time to do much of anything... anyway on with the fic
i know gibbs is a bit ooc here, but i think even if he drank however many he'd had today - which i think is about 14 at the mo - he'd prob act strangely
i know gibbs is a bit ooc here, but i think even if he drank however many he'd had today - which i think is about 14 at the mo - he'd prob act strangely