Consider it a lesson learnt from the Casey Affair. Well, not affair since they never made it further than a handful of kisses and they hadn't even done that until well after his divorce had been finalized. Debacle then. Consider it a lesson learnt from the Casey Debacle. The one that started with her subconsciously pitting Casey against Gordon and ended in the ridiculous epiphany that had been the Dating Plan.
The lesson was a simple one: don't confuse friendship and the occasional playful flirting with romance and don't risk a sure thing on what ifs. That she and Casey had salvaged their friendship and returned to where they'd been before didn't mean that she'd be so lucky a second time.
She could look -- it was her job to keep an eye on everything, afterall. Her job to watch the way the camera framed Dan's face; her job to make sure wardrobe and makeup had him looking his best; her job to notice the grin that lit up his face every time he or Casey had a particularly clever turn of phrase. Well, that last one might be pushing it and the "just part of the job" excuse fell apart when she realized that even off air and out of the studio she noticed when he walked into the room, that she tracked him with her eyes, that whenever he smiled, she found herself smiling too.
She allowed herself the what ifs -- gazing out her office window lost in thought, stealing glances across the bar when she knew Natalie was too distracted (or too drunk) to notice, in bed as she drifted to sleep -- but that was all she would allow. Anything more would mean risking what she had, and that was a lesson she'd already learnt.
Lesson Learnt, Sports Night, Dan/Dana, look but don't touch, G
The lesson was a simple one: don't confuse friendship and the occasional playful flirting with romance and don't risk a sure thing on what ifs. That she and Casey had salvaged their friendship and returned to where they'd been before didn't mean that she'd be so lucky a second time.
She could look -- it was her job to keep an eye on everything, afterall. Her job to watch the way the camera framed Dan's face; her job to make sure wardrobe and makeup had him looking his best; her job to notice the grin that lit up his face every time he or Casey had a particularly clever turn of phrase. Well, that last one might be pushing it and the "just part of the job" excuse fell apart when she realized that even off air and out of the studio she noticed when he walked into the room, that she tracked him with her eyes, that whenever he smiled, she found herself smiling too.
She allowed herself the what ifs -- gazing out her office window lost in thought, stealing glances across the bar when she knew Natalie was too distracted (or too drunk) to notice, in bed as she drifted to sleep -- but that was all she would allow. Anything more would mean risking what she had, and that was a lesson she'd already learnt.