Chapter Two

Locked in Turnabout...

"I'll have the usual, danke," Klavier ordered, and turned to Ema. "And I would like a coke." Klavier furrowed his eyebrows. "I bring you to a fancy place like this, and you order coke." Ema shrugged. "Pretty much." Klavier stared at her hopelessly then turned away. He knew from all the girls that admired him, to never push a girl and don't try to flirt with them. Klavier liked Ema, but he wanted to know if the feeling was mutual. Something about her was different than the other girls who would do nothing but swoon over him.
"Here's the coke, and here's the usual for my man..." the waiter put down the drinks and slapped Klavier on the back. "Thanks, man." Klavier slipped the waiter a 10. Ema glanced at the waiter as he walked away. "You come here often?" Klavier nodded. "A man needs a time away from work every once in a while ja?" She stared at the tablecloth and sipped her coke. Usually, at work there were other people there to talk to, but now they were alone. There was a long silence that passed between Klavier and Ema. Klavier didn't mind the silence. It gave him time to glance at Ema once in a while.
"Ich weiß nicht, was ich sagen soll …" Ema looked over at Klavier. "What!" Klavier looked up, realizing he said it out loud. At least it was in German. "My apologies, Fraulein.. sometimes I speak German without noticing." Ema wondered how one could speak a foreign language and not notice, but she didn't say anything. Ema was about to say a rude remark, then looked at the fop. He seemed decent when he wasn't trying to flirt with her. Klavier actually looked... "Why are you smiling, Fraulein?" Klavier peered curiously at her. "Sorry, I was thinking of something else." Klavier didn't want to prod her, but he was awfully curious. Why was she smiling? After Klavier noticed Ema smile, he wanted to see her happy face again. It wasn't often he got to see his fellow detektiv grin.
"Well we better get going! It's almost lunch time!" Ema suddenly got up and grabbed her stuff. "Nein, detektiv, we have much time. Let's have lunch here." Ema stared down at him and reluctantly set her stuff down again. "I assume you are hungry, ja?" Klavier peeked up at her from his menu. "Fine. As long as we eat fast, though." Klavier nodded his head and directed his attention back to his menu. "You are free to share it with me, Fraulein." Ema grumbled. Reluctantly, she leaned closer to Klavier so she could get a better look at the menu. I bet he thinks he's so clever.

"I assume you're paying, because I didn't bring my wallet," Ema said, trying to get a reaction out of him. Klavier grinned. "Of course. A gentleman always pays on the first date, Fraulein." Ema's face flushed. "This is not a date." Klavier chuckled. "Ah, Fraulein. You amuse me so. I am only joking." Ema stared down at her hands again. She overreacted as usual. Time passed by like hours, until the waiter came. Klavier ordered for them both. "I assume what I ordered suits you, ja?"

"How would you know?" Ema scowled. She looked over at the order, surprised. I guess he does know. "Lucky guess," Ema said. They sat for a while in awkward silence, until Ema broke it. "We're going to go back to work right?" She blurted out. "Ja, I was already planning that." Ema's face started burning up. "Oh... I knew that." The food came out after what felt like eternity.

"Finally. I'm starved." Klavier knew better than to ask why she didn't eat the bag of Snackoos in her hand. "So... what else do you do... besides hanging out at bars and messing around with guitars?" "she asked teasingly. Klavier grinned. "I don't always go to bars, Fraulein. I just go to entertain my dates, ja?" "Dates? What dates?"

"Here's the bill. Pay up a good tip, y'hear?" The bartender grinned and passed Klavier the bill. "Danke, man." Ema threw a Snackoo at Klavier. "WHAT DATES?" Klavier laughed. "Why so curious, Fraulein? What piques the sudden interest?" Ema's face flushed. "No reason. I'm just surprised you actually hang out with girls instead of shopping like a good fop would." Klavier laughed. "Nein, detektiv." Ema wasn't satisfied. But... why do I care? No. I'm NOT caring.

Ema ate her food quickly, while Klavier ate his slowly, which annoyed Ema. If he would hurry up so they could leave, that would be nice. "You must be hungry. Should I call Herr Waiter to bring you something else?" "No." So much for trying to make Fraulein happy.

"Are you almost done?" She had scarfed down all of her food already, and she wasn't in the mood to be waiting for a fop. Ema had lots of work to do, thanks to him, and he would give her the favor to at least let her have time to do it. "Ja. Give me one moment to pay." Ema's face flushed at the memory of him joking about the bill and this being a date.
Klavier paid the bill and gestured for Ema to follow him back to the car. "I'm coming. Wait for a second, will you?" Klavier almost laughed. "Was it not you a few moments ago telling me to hurry?" Ema pressed her lips together, realizing this, and ignored the comment by grabbing her things.

Ema quickly got into the car and looked out the window once again. The less she saw of the fop, the better. Outside, there wasn't much to look at. Trees, cars, and houses passed by. The drive back to the office was much longer then usual. "Klavier..." Ema said suspiciously, "The drive to the bar didn't take this long." Klavier realized something. "Fraulein, I believe I have made a mistake... out of habit I have started to drive home..." Ema noticed it was starting to snow. "And I think a blizzard is coming..." she said slowly. Klavier kept driving. "Detektiv, our best option is to continue going to my house. The office is far away... and blizzards are dangerous. The faster we can get to a safe place, the better." Ema stared at Klavier shook her head. "I don't want to stay in your house! Who knows how long we'll be stuck in there with a blizzard?" "It's fine, Fraulein. Right when the blizzard is over, I'll take you home."

Ema dug her fingers into her hair. "Ugh... this has got to be some kind of messed up nightmare."

"Hot tea? My home is your home, Fraulein." He handed it over to Ema. Ema stared down at the tea skeptically. After all, it was the fop who made it. Who knows what kind of poison could be inside? Klavier laughed. "It's just tea, Fraulein." Ema rolled her eyes. "I can see that. I'm not stupid. This is a detective you're talking to." She took a sip of the tea reluctantly. Klavier grinned and sat next to her on the couch.

"The power is out due to the blizzard, isn't it?" Ema asked, noticing the lit candles and dark atmosphere. Klavier nodded. "Apologies are sincerely mine. I did hope you would have time for your work." Ema squirmed uncomfortably in her seat. Did he have to be so nice when she was purposefully trying to make a statement of being angry? "Well it's the work you gave me." "Ja, and I will allow you to turn it in late." Ema rolled her eyes. He treated her like she was the student and he was the teacher.

Klavier slipped his arm around Ema casually, and Ema "casually" excused herself to use the restroom. He smiled. This isn't over.

Author's Note: Okay, now we're starting to move along. How long will the blizzard last? Assuming they're staying indoors, they might just get at each other's throats. Or the exact opposite. This is 100% spontaneous writing with QTrain (collaborating and writing spontaneously... that's something really hard to do). So even WE don't know how this is going to turn out. Continue reviewing and guessing, because your guess is as good as ours... (We'll definitely use guesses in our story if we find them clever). :)