As David moved about Penny's cubicle, packing away the items from her desk, Penny sat less than a mile away, unpacking a box of her own.

She knew she was probably being foolish. Why bother with unpacking? She couldn't afford to stay there very long. Compared to her share of the rent in Brooklyn, she'd be paying nearly double to stay in this hotel.

Originally, she had planned to hit the road immediately and fly back home to her parents' house in Minnesota, but she couldn't leave town just yet. She was scheduled to sit for the MCAT exam here in New York City, three weeks from today. She couldn't afford to miss the test.

Still, the thought of the nightly room rate made her stomach clench with anxiety. She couldn't afford it. Not with the mountain of credit card debt she still hadn't fully paid off.

Penny did the math in her head once again. Three weeks, paying the hotel's nightly rate - it would more than double the remaining balance on her card. Assuming, of course, that the credit card company didn't cut her off before then. Exactly how long did it take for a card company to suspend your account for nonpayment? It was irresponsible to the point of reckless - especially now that she didn't have a job.

She sighed. How had she gotten herself into such a mess? The whole point of taking a temp job in the first place had been to save up some cash - not bury herself in debt. Of course, she hadn't considered the unforeseen expenses. Or one unforeseen expense, in particular.

Penny closed her eyes and winced as she remembered the purchase in question. She'd known it was beyond her budget when she handed her credit card to the man at the store, but she hadn't calculated just how long it would take her to pay the balance off. What had it been now? A year? A year and a half? Nearly 18 months to the day, she realized. It had been Christmastime, of course- December 2012- his first month back in the office after three long months away on disability.

It had seemed like such a good idea at the time....

***

December 2022 (18 Months Earlier)

Penny walked into her cubicle and groaned at what she saw. The pile of boxes and gift baskets had nearly doubled in size overnight. Honestly, how many baskets of shortbread cookies and gourmet kettle corn could one person possibly receive?

She grabbed an armful of gifts and carried them over to her desk, glancing at one of the cards as she sat down.

Dear Mr. Powers:

On behalf of your friends at General Electric/NBC Universal, Merry Christmas.

Sincerely,
Jeffrey Immelt, CEO

It went with the territory, Penny supposed. When you're Senior Vice President of Mergers & Acquisitions, it meant Christmas presents from every major multinational conglomerate you ever helped to merge.

She turned on her computer and pulled up the Excel spreadsheet entitled: Schwag.xls.

She'd started the spreadsheet yesterday, once she realized she could no longer keep track of all the gifts inside her head. Ever since David had returned to work last week, her main job had been keeping up with the Thank You notes. Now, she undid the crinkly cellophane wrapping paper tied up with a silver bow and took stock of the yuletide offerings from his friends at GE/NBC.

Chocolate, she saw with satisfaction. Now we're talking. She popped one of the dark chocolate- covered spheres into her mouth and closed her eyes, savoring as the cherry liqueur filling spilled out onto her tongue.

She was already chewing on a second one as she began composing the Thank You note inside her head.

Dear Mr. Immelt,

Thank you for the chocolate-covered cherries. Unfortunately, they all mysteriously disappeared before they made it to my desk, but my assistant assures me that they were delicious.

Sincerely,
David Powers

Of course, she didn't have to handle all the Thank You notes herself. Every so often, he'd swoop in and pocket one or two of the gifts - ferret them away to his office to open up in private. They always seemed to be the ones from the senders with the female names. "I'll take care of this one myself," he'd tell her with a wink.

She shouldn't let it bother her, she knew. She should be glad to see him winking. Not just winking. Walking. Talking. Joking around. Only a few short months ago, he'd been flat on his back in a hospital bed with a breathing tube down his throat. And here he was, all patched up and good as new.

Almost good as new, in any case. The doctors had cleared him to return to work - satisfied with the extent of his physical recovery. They didn't seem concerned about the dark smudges under his eyes. Or the way his mood seemed to turn on a razor's edge - joking around with her one minute, biting some poor unsuspecting intern's head off the next.

She wondered how much sleep he'd been getting. Not much, she had a feeling. It hadn't been so long since she'd been there in his apartment, late at night, sitting in an armchair by his bed. For weeks after he came home from the hospital, she'd spent most of her nights at his place. Someone had to do it. She couldn't leave him alone there with some sullen home health aide. He needed someone who cared. Really cared. Someone who...

Well, someone who didn't mind snoozing in a chair all night long, shushing him and wiping the sweat from his forehead with a cool compress when he cried out in his sleep.

She hadn't been to his apartment for a few weeks now, and she worried about him at night. Was he sleeping at all? Was he still having the dreams? The lack of exercise probably didn't help matters. She knew he hadn't started working out again. And she knew the reason had nothing to do with his physical condition.

"Enjoying a healthy breakfast, I see."

Penny looked up, startled at the sound of David's voice. She froze guiltily and swallowed the half-chewed cherry in her mouth with one long gulp. "Quality control," she responded, holding out the gift basket toward him. "Here, boss. These are safe."

He looked down into the basket but didn't move to take it from her hand. "No thanks," he said, patting his stomach. "I'm watching my figure."

"You look good."

He only snorted in reply. He squatted down next to the pile of gifts in the corner and began to sift through them.

He did look good, Penny thought, considering what he'd looked like a couple of months ago. The last thing he needed to worry about, though, was his waistline. He'd been thin before the shooting - thin, but well-chiseled. Now, after months away from his regular workout routine, he'd gone from lean and muscular to nearly skeletal.

She bit her lip, wondering if she should say something. She understood, of course. He'd been out running when it happened. It was only natural now that he might be a little gun-shy.

He stood abruptly. She saw him slip a gift-card-sized envelope into the pocket of his trousers. "I'll handle this one myself," he muttered without making eye contact.

He looked so grim. He wasn't even going to crack a joke at her? She'd purposely come to work 20 minutes late this morning, just to give him some material. He'd already passed through the entrance of her cubicle before she called out after him. "David?"

"Yeah." He stopped and turned around.

"Here," she said. She pulled open her desk drawer and handed him a Post-It note with a few handwritten lines.

He squinted down at it for a moment before responding. "Am I supposed to be reading this?"

"That's the idea."

"I see." He nodded seriously. "Sadly, my knowledge of ancient Babylonian does not extend to the written language."

There, she thought with satisfaction. That was more like it. She bit the inside of her cheek to stop from grinning and forced her lips into a pout instead. "My handwriting is not that bad, David."

He raised his eyebrows, glancing down at the piece of paper again. "Is this supposed to be a Christmas list?" he asked her. "For whom, exactly? For you?"

"I've been awfully good this year."

His eyes darted up to her face for just a moment before returning to the list again. "I'm sorry, Penny. You'll have to translate." He handed the note back to her.

She rolled her eyes at him as she began to read aloud. "OK. Tennis racquet, ice skates, golf clubs, ski poles-"

"I'm sensing a theme here."

"-boxing gloves, scuba gear, scuba lessons-"

"Lessons, too, huh?"

"I've decided to take up scuba diving."

He scrunched up his forehead for a moment, studying her face before responding. "Not sure the diving is so good this time of year in the Hudson River."

"A plane ticket to Hawaii would also not be unappreciated."

He cracked a smile at last. "Wow," he said, chuckling as he took the note back out of her hands. "Good to know."

She smiled back. "I've never been to Hawaii."

"Can I come too?"

"I don't know. Do you know how to scuba?"

He laughed again. "Do you know how to scuba, Penny?"

She shrugged. "That's why I need the lessons."

"OK, Ms. Stewart," he said. He flicked the list with the back of his fingernail as he turned and started making his way back to his office. "Thanks. I will take this under advisement."