Chapter 1 - The Date

She sat on the elegant couch with her legs stretched out on it. The glow from her tablet screen illuminated her face in a light blue wash. Her fingers quickly tapping on the screen. She stared so intently at the screen she didn't notice that some on her black curly hair fell out of the messy bun she put her hair into, nor did she notice the door to her apartment opening. She jumped up when she heard the door close, causing the tablet to slide onto the couch. She grabbed her katana, which rested by the side of the couch and made her way to the entrance of her apartment. As she approached the entrance she heard noises of someone in the apartment. Then she heard keys hit the counter in her kitchen. There was only one person who had the keys to her apartment. She immediately leaned the katana against the wall.

"Arthur, you're early" the woman teased as she entered the kitchen. The tall young man stood there at the fridge, his dark brown eyes and short combed dark brown hair could not hide his loving smile.

"Is that why you are not ready?" He asked looking her up and down. She looked down at herself, she wore an oversized t-shirt and black leggings and she noticed the cold of the floor seeping into her bare feet.

"I'll go change" She said as she left the room and walked to the bedroom.

"Caitlyn don't take too long" Arthur yelled after her as he put away some groceries.

In her room Caitlyn changed into a beautiful red evening gown and matching high heeled shoes. When she entered the living room she saw Arthur standing by the couch with her katana in his hands.

"Why was this leaning against the wall and not in its holder? Did you think I was him?" There was concern in his voice as he spoke.

Caitlyn held back the tears wanting to burst out from behind her eyes as she nodded her head. Arthur could not see her cry, he would worry too much. Arthur hugged her tightly as she quietly nestled her head into his shoulder.

"He doesn't come here, remember? This is the one place you have all to yourself." Arthur whispered as they stood in the center of the room.

"Do you want to stay here tonight?" Arthur asked reassuring her as he grabbed her shoulders and looked into her emerald green eyes.

"No, I have been looking forward to tonight." Caitlyn replied with a smile and a glimpse of happiness returned to her face.

"Ok, let's go" Arthur kissed her on the forehead. He handed Caitlyn's her tablet and she slid it into its grey cloth case. Caitlyn grabbed her black leather purse as they exited the apartment.

A few minutes later they were seated at an expensive upscale seafood restaurant.

"Any ideas about a new job?" Caitlyn added in her normal upbeat tone as she sipped her glass of white wine.

"Cobb is working on it." Arthur responded after finishing a bit of his salmon dish.

"We need to tell him, we cannot be sneaking around like this." Caitlyn said in a serious tone staring at Arthur, "He needs to know. What if something was to happen when we are down there?"

"He has his secrets, we have ours" Arthur said as he hailed a waiter for their check.

"But the thing is we both know his secrets, even if he doesn't know that we know" Caitlyn remarked as they got up.

"What time is it?" Arthur asked

"a few seconds until 12:15" Caitlyn said as she checked her watch.

Their 3 hours had come to an end too fast. They had stayed at the restaurant longer than they expected, which at this point should be expected. Arthur and Caitlyn could talk for hours and hours without having a silent moment.

"Ready?" Caitlyn asked looking at Arthur

"Nope" Arthur replied over his breath. He then grabbed her by the waist, pulled her closer to him and kissed her on the lips. Caitlyn wrapped her arms gently around Arthur's neck and closed her eyes.