Precursor Date

Disclaimer - not my characters just borrowing. Not related to anything just thought I'd share.

Della opened her door, he could tell from her expression that she was not expecting him. He could also tell she was not entirely displeased to see him.

"Won't you come in."

"Thank you," he replied.

"Can I get you something to drink?" she asked, taking his hat and putting it on the peg in the cloak cupboard.

"I'll get it, do you want one?" he replied.

"Dry and dry, thanks," she replied ignoring the raised eyebrow he gave her before turning to her drinks cabinet.

She went back to her kitchen and kept cleaning up, he brought the drinks in and put them on the table while he topped them up with dry and ice. He took the drink to her and held it out, she wiped her hands on the towel and dropped it on the dishrack on top of the dishes. It was not like her to leave her dishes until the next day. But he could tell they weren't her breakfast dishes. He toasted her by clinking her glass and tipping his head slightly to the side.

"You had guests?" His voice sounded very even to his ears, although part of him raged at what could cause her to leave her dishes until the next day, she never left her dishes for the next day.

"I had a guest," she corrected him.

"A date Miss Street?" he teased her, forcing a smile on his face. Her response removed the smile. She was not looking at him though, she was swirling the contents of her glass, gazing into the bubbling liquid, it really was too early for a drink. Saturday just past noon.

"A precursor to a date, although I'm not that sure what he thought it was. I thought you were flying home on Tuesday."

"What do you mean precursor to a date?" he asked, ignoring her change in topic and thinking if she had a man to dinner in her apartment, he felt affronted. She glanced at him, "Jealous?"

"Damn right I'm jealous," he replied gruffly.

She looked at him in surprise, he winked at her to take the harshness that may have crept into his words. But she frowned at him, "Don't you start!"

"Start what?"

"Lecturing me, telling me how to run my life."

"Hey Kid! What's the matter?" he asked in soft caring tones, realizing how wound up she was. His tone was like a pin prick that deflated the expanding balloon of her anger. She wasn't angry at him not really.

He moved towards her, arms demanding to take her into a hug, she stiffened but then allowed herself to be folded into his embrace.

"Its okay kid."

She only clung to him for moments before pushing away.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked softly. "Come on Della, I'm a lawyer I won't tell anyone." He went through to her lounge room and sat on the couch, drink in hand, knowing he couldn't crowd her no matter how much he wanted to comfort her.

She moved to the door jamb and leaned on it, still swirling her drink around, she had wetted her lips with it but had not really sipped it.

"I spoke to Mama yesterday... she got so mad when I said I was having a man over for dinner. You would have thought I invited him here for ...lewd acts," this last bit was issued defiantly. "She got so upset with me. She started rambling. I made the mistake of telling her that it was alright that I had you and Paul up here all the time. She couldn't even talk and handed the phone over to Papa. He told me he would call me back later."

He watched her sip her drink, one arm wrapped around her body, one long leg wrapped around the other.

"And then my..."

"Precursor date," he filled in for her.

"Yes, " she didn't exactly smile, but her eyes had lost the narrowness that they had since he walked in,"Precursor date who I've known since I was seventeen. Everything was going just swell, he even asked me to the movies on Thursday next week."

"And?"

"I told him that it would depend on work."

"And..."

"Well he asked why, surely I am my own person after five'o'clock. I said that I wasn't when it came to a case, that the client came first." She shook her head, not able to explain why it hurt so much. "He sneered and asked why would a lawyer need a secretary after hours except for ..."

Perry realised he was holding his breath. He forced himself to breath, he wanted to strangle Mr Precursor for hurting her.

"I told him that he ought to explain what he means. Stupid me, I was giving him a chance to withdraw that comment. He gave an ugly smirk, I wouldn't have thought that his face could look that mean. I told him if he thought I was that kind of girl he needed to leave."

"And."

"Well, he calmed down and started to apologise. I held the door open until he left." She sighed. "I'm sick of being judged on what people assume I am. They all think so badly of me."

"What did he say?" Perry probed, knowing her well enough to know she was holding something back. Her face became defiant and she glared at him, but drew a breath, after all they did not have secrets from each other.

"He said I was a fool and that I'd been working for you for four years. That chance of you marrying me after this amount of time were nil. That I should stop following you around like a lost lamb and move on with my life. That I would be lucky for if someone like him still wanted to marry me."

Perry laughed and waved his glass in the air begging for a refill, wanting really to comfort her but not wanting to encroach into her space by standing up and closing in on her. She obliged and returned, she had not filled her own drink but had added another ice cube.

"Did you tell him you had refused to marry me on numerous occasions?" he asked her.

"No. I asked him to leave and apologised for being such a disappointment to him."

He smirked at her, the precursor would have expected to push her buttons and all he found was class and decorum.

"Why do people think that they can have expectations on my life, why are those expectations so different to my character?" she protested. He held out his hand and she took it with only the slightest hesitation. He pulled her in to sit beside him hugging her with one arm.

"You know Della, there is no one else in the world like you. There is only one Della Street and you can hardly expect that being the only one, that you would fit in to the rules, regulations or expectations of the rest of the population."

"But I try,"she murmured softly, letting herself be comforted, resting her head on his shoulders.

"I wouldn't want you to change a single bit," he told her in low tones.

"Why can't everyone see me the way you do?" she asked. He smoothed her fringe back of her hair.

"The people who matter do, baby," he said, then he tapped her lips, "Although, you wouldn't say that if you knew what I was thinking right now," he warned her, she chuckled and pushed herself away from him so she could face him, she touched his cheek and gave him a closed lip kiss on his lips.

He closed his eyes but otherwise didn't move. It was almost a full minute after she stopped had removed her lips from his that he opened his eyes.

"What was that for?" he asked her.

"Well... you said you were willing to be my lawyer, that anything I told you was confidential, that was my payment."

"Remind me to get my secretary to wright you out a receipt," he replied with a cheeky grin.

"Thank you," she said seriously, and she meant, he had laughed off the ugly insinuations of her precursor date, he had allowed her space.

"For what?"

"Ohhh, for being you."

"That is my pleasure. Did you have any other legal advice you need? I'm willing to discuss terms or should we grab some food and drinks and head down to the beach for the afternoon picnic?"

She reached out and took his hand and squeezed it,"A picnic sounds good, particular since I have no other legal questions."

THE END