Emily looked out the window where the rain beat against it in a constant stream of water. There was nothing like working on a dismal Saturday.

The dreary weather outside matched her bleak attitude. She tried to tell herself it was because of all the work she had to catch up on. Her impromptu trip to New York had left her behind on a few too many cases. Combined with the office event on Tuesday night and a few late nights out, she had a lot to catch up on.

But the truth was she was wallowing again. It had been easy to be cheerful and positive in New York, surrounded by friends and new acquaintances. Griffin had been a breath of fresh air. He had insisted on taking her to dinner, refusing to let her eat in the hotel. 

She surprised herself by agreeing and even more so when she enjoyed the evening. Instead of some swanky steakhouse, he took her to a quaint little Italian restaurant where the waiters knew his name and they ordered food not on the menu. It had been wonderful, talking, eating and laughing. He was a born storyteller and had her fascinated throughout the meal.

The next day, they flew back to Washington together. At the retirement party that night, she took it upon herself to introduce Griffin to his new co-workers and give him a tour of the office. He had not been satisfied with the regular places and insisted she show him the hidden secrets of the building. That was how they had ended up on the roof. Time flew by up there and when they climbed the stairs back to the office, the party was well over. Her companion for the evening had insisted on giving her a lift home.

Griffin was so easy to get along with. Everyone enjoyed his company and he had a way of connecting with people instantly. In many ways, he was the polar opposite of Finn. Open, quick to joke, up for anything attitude. 

When he hinted at wanting to go to dinner the next night at a sushi place Emily had mentioned was a favourite of hers, she took the bait and asked him to join her. He flashed a smile with so many teeth, the sun paled in comparison. It had been another entertaining excursion.

Before leaving town somehow, he elicited a vow from her to get together again for dinner the next time she came to New York. Tempting her with a promise of the best cheesecake on the eastern seaboard for dessert. She simply had to be the judge of such a boast.

Then life in Washington returned to normal. Dinner with her family had felt solemn compared to a week of fresh blood and excitement. It brought her thoughts and mood down. When she woke up this morning, Emily decided to come into the office to keep from brooding.

It had not worked out as planned. Her thoughts drifted to Finn. Always Finn. Back in Washington, reminders of him were everywhere now. Worse, she knew Finn was a cab ride away. And for some reason, she felt this pull to go to him.

Instead, she rooted herself to her chair, concentrating on sorting out her office. Visions of him kissing the woman with the ample chest on the dance floor last weekend helped push away any further urges.

To make matters worse, at some point Lance had been rifling through her desk when she was away, searching for a file. In his usual haphazard way, her brother-in-law had no regard for her organizational skills, chucking things everywhere. Not knowing what file went where her assistant had stacked them all in a neat pile. Sighing she turned her attention to the makeshift tower and putting them back in some semblance of order.

She tried to stay on task, but the gnawing feeling in her stomach would not go away. Despite knowing it would come to no good, Emily found herself logging on to the SAAS file server. Very few people at Simpson, Simpson and Waters had access to the military system and Emily had to use Lance's father's credentials. She felt guilty. In the past, she had used it to track Finn's whereabouts, following his missions around the world. It did not provide much in terms of details. Mostly deployment status and location. Last year he had been in the middle east followed by a long stay in Germany.

One little peak to see if he had any new assignments. What could it hurt?

It hurt a lot. A wave of pain bubbled up, threatening to choke her. Finn had been assigned a mission. Whereabouts; Classified. She understood enough to know that meant dangerous. Today was deployment day.

Her day turned from dark and stormy to downright depressing. The fears of him getting hurt or worse bombarded her senses, making it hard to breathe. She knew it was an overreaction. But anyone with a heart would be concerned about active duty for someone they knew on a good day. This was not a good day.

With a shaky hand, she pulled another file from the stack beside her. Focus on work, Emily told herself. It was all she could do. There was no way to stop Finn. Besides, it was not her place.

Reaching for the next file, her hand landed on an envelope instead. Absentmindedly she opened it, thoughts of combat on her mind. Looking at the first line, her breath caught. Her heart stopped when she skipped to the signature at the end.

The letter was from Finn.

At some point, her heart must have started again, because she could hear the roar of her blood pumping in her ears. She devoured the letter.

Em,

If you are reading this letter, I know there is hope.

These last few weeks have been the best of my life excluding our summer together. Just to be near you makes my world brighter, better. If you were here now, you would tease me about not doing a very good job of showing it. I have been distant, sullen and worse - angry. Most of all, I have been incredibly insensitive and downright stupid. For this, I am so very sorry. You have been nothing but kind and generous. To me, to everyone.

I wish I could say the moment I saw you again I was honest and told you straight away that my feelings for you have never changed. That I don't care about what happened to us back then. That I want to be part of your life. In any way. Friends at the least. But I squandered my chance. And my second chance.

I'm being honest now. Better late than never?

I love you, Em.

Have since the day you walked into the Waterfront bar and every day since. I don't think I will ever stop loving you. No, I know I won't. Even if you reject me now, my love will always be here.

If I'm too late ... well, I'll have to try to understand. Please tell me I'm not. Tell me you could find it in your heart to love me again. Tell me there is a chance for us.

If you can, call me anytime. My cell phone is 866-614-4371. Day or night. I'll be waiting, hoping.

Yours always,

Finn

Had there ever been a more perfect letter in the history of letters?

Probably, but Emily did not care. The note contained two vital facts making her heart soar. First and foremost - Finn loved her. This alone was enough to cause tears of joy to stream down her face, her heart bursting with anticipation at being with him.

The second and almost equally important thing was Finn's cell phone number. She had a way to contact him. Directly.

It took her two tries to get the number right, her hands were trembling with such excitement. With no idea what she was going to say, Emily bounced as it rang. Her stomach flipped when she heard his voice.

"This is Finn Wainwright. I'm in country. Leave a message and I'll get back to you."

She tried to not let the fact she only got his voicemail and its reminder he was leaving affect her message.

"Finn. It's me. Emily. There's been some kind of mix up. I...I love you too. Your words... oh, please please call me back. I love you. I love you."

Hanging up, she tried again. His voicemail again. Part of her was thrilled she could punch in a few numbers and hear his voice. Of course, it was not enough.

Finn Wainwright loved her.

It was everything she ever wanted.

Then she realized she had not given him a number to call her back on. 

Emily tried texting next. Typing allowed her to be a little more rational. Her note explained only now finding his letter, repeated her proclamations of love and gave him every number she had, including the one to her father's condo.

Then there was nothing to do but wait.

No. Enough of her life had been spent waiting. Grabbing her purse and raincoat, Emily sprinted out of her office. 

She had to get to that base.

Hello my wonderful readers. D. L. Croisette here.  Thanks so much for sticking with this story.  Do you think this couple will finally get together this time?

Fun fact.  The phone number above is not really Finn's. :>  But if you call it, you will find yourself talking to the Humane Society's International Office. I'm sure this worthy organization would appreciate any donations you might be able to provide. You can learn more about their good work at www.hsi.org.