Hello and happy Wednesday! Thank you all so much for sticking with me. For all the reviews and support for this story. Sorry I disappeared again. I was trying to finish up my other story, which I did so now, I can focus more on this.

TellYouAllAboutIt: Thank you so much and here you go!

HaileySmith: Thank you and you're welcome! And no, I can't believe it. I miss it.

Dont-Stop- Believin: Yes! Thank you and here it is!

NoName: Aw, thank you so much! I'm glad to hear that and me too! I will and thanks for that!

Fishelle: Me too and I know right!

Guest: Here you go!

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Kickfeaver: Thank you and you'll see.

Enjoy!


When Ally returned to the office, she couldn't get rid of the smile that was gracing her face. Surprisingly, even though it's been a while since her last actual date, she was excited for dinner with Austin. Though most of their meetings have been through work, she could tell that he was a genuine guy and she looked forward to getting to know him better.

Sitting at her desk and pulling out some files out of her huge purse like bag, she was thankful Trish wasn't around to question her mood as she really didn't want to think about it or jinx it. Later that afternoon, Trish returned with an exhausted expression on her face as she fell into to her chair and threw her head back. "Tell me again on how we got roped into the Chapman case?" she groaned.

"First off, there is no we. You picked this case yourself because they guilt tripped you. Though, even I have to admit, it's a good case. And secondly, what's the problem?" Ally lists off, trying not to laugh at her best friend and partner.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's not talk about that," Trish waves off bitterly. "And, the problem is that I've laid out all their options for them and they're still going back and forth. I've warned them on multiple occasions that they can't keep changing their minds but, they still don't get it. This was my third trip visiting them in three days Ally. I've never seen clients this much before an actual trial."

"Oh, wow. These people seen, um, needy," Ally coughs out. "But, that's part of our job Trish. We have to keep the clients happy."

"Hell yeah they're needy. It feels like I'm their only friend," Trish hisses. "And, I know. Curse this job and my love for wining."

Ally lets out a chuckle and shakes her head at Trish's behavior as some things will never change.

The afternoon continues as both ladies are busily working on cases and before they knew it, it was after six o'clock. "Wow, today flew by fast," Trish states, finishing up the last of her typing.

"It really has," Ally agrees. "So, any plans tonight?"

"No, not too much. I just want to go home, drink some wine and relax. You care to join?" Trish wonders.

"I wish. That sounds perfect," Ally sighs, closing her eyes for a second. "But I actually have plans."

"You have plans?" Trish repeats, a huge grin forming on her lips. "Like a date?"

"Yes, I have plans," Ally fires back, slightly offended at Trish's shock. "And no, not a date. Just a discussion about the case from today."

"If you say so," Trish rolls her eyes, not believing Ally's defense. "And, you did win today, right?"

"Of course I won today. I told you I would," Ally smirks.

"That a girl. Well, have fun on your 'not' date. We'll talk tonight when you get home," Trish winks as she gathers her things and walks away.

Ally shakes at her friend, goes back to her work and finishes up a few last minute files. By 7:45, Ally changes her heels to flats and her blazer for a cardigan, wanting to at least look a little date-ish.

At 7:55 a black pickup truck pulls up in front of the building as Ally looks out the window to see Austin. Quickly locking up, Ally makes her way inside the car to see a happy Austin. "Hello Austin," she greets softly.

"Good evening Ally. I'm glad to see you," Austin replies, still grinning as they start to drive off.

"Um, thank you," Ally responds. "I'm glad to see you too. Though, we did see one another earlier this morning."

"I know, "Austin chuckles. "I'm actually talking about right now. I wasn't sure you were going to come outside."

"Why?" Aly questions curiously.

"So, don't take this the wrong way, but I kind of thought that you may stand me up," Austin admits.

"What made you think that?" Ally pushes, to some extent offended Austin would think that of her as that kind of person.

"Because, you give off a vibe that's strictly business. I thought that when I asked you to dinner, you were just being polite. Please, don't take offense to any of this. Over the years, I've come to trust people, but also believe that they're lying. I guess my mind is always in work mode," Austin explains candidly.

"I guess I can't be too upset with your explanation. But, do I really give off that vibe?" Ally inquires glumly.

"You do. I mean, you're respectful, courteous and professional. But, you're not very open," Austin tells her.

"Well, if I am that awful, why did you ask me to dinner?" Ally snaps. "I mean, thanks you for the small compliment, but I can't help or change who I am. And, it's never easy being the new person town."

"Are you always this hostile and stubborn? I asked you out because I actually wanted to get to know you. I wanted to congratulate you on a job well done today and to maybe be your friend," Austin growls. "I meant what I said and no one's asking you to change. But maybe if you put a little more effort in to venturing outside your office and say hello to your neighbors, being the new girl don't be so hard."

Silence fills the air as things went from good, too bad, too angry within minutes. Austin is gripping the steering wheel to the point where his knuckles are turning while, his fingers are burning in pain and deep down knows he shouldn't have said all that he just did. "Look Ally," Austin starts off, calming his tone. "I shouldn't have said what I did. It was out of line and something I need to work on. I guess you can call that one of my downfalls."

Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Ally breathing deeply and clenching her hands together in her lap. Austin doesn't know what to expect so he braces himself for worse as the night just keeps getting darker and darker. "I'm sorry too," Ally finally says out of the blue and minutes later, slightly startling Austin. "I tend to get defensive when it's not necessary and you can add that to my list of downfalls."

"Don't worry about it. We all have them. Let's just put all that behind us and try to have a good night, okay?" Austin suggests, giving Ally a small smile.

"I like the sound of that," Ally nods in agreement.

For the rest of the thirty minute car ride, silence surrounds the two but it wasn't awkward. It was kind of refreshing.

The two got ushered into a booth in the back of the quiet but beautiful Italian restaurant as red and white wine was placed in the ice bucket up and the end of the table and menus were place in front of them. Austin quickly skims the menu, making sure his item is still on there as Ally carefully reads every option. Minutes pass before Ally finally decides and when she places her menu back on the table, she's greeted and slightly taken back by Austin's stare. Giving her an easy smile, Austin clears his throat and asks, "Found something good?"

"I hope so," Ally smiles back.

"What'd you decide on?" Austin continues casually.

"The Primavera pasta," Ally tells him softy, hoping it's a good choice.

"That's a very good choice. I think you'll like it," Austin nods happily as waiter agrees.

"Yes ma'am, excellent choice. And for the gentleman?"

"I'll have the house lasagna," Austin orders.

"Perfect," the waiter writes down and then pours both Austin and Ally's wine glasses with red wine.

Once they're alone again, Austin takes a small sip and then probes, "So, how are you liking Charleston so far?"

"It's a beautiful place in the people I've met so far are quite welcoming," Ally answers politely.

"Okay, now tell me how you really feel," Austin pushes with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't understand," Ally mumbles.

"You're just saying what you think I want to hear. Granted, I do know the first part of your response was true. But come on Ally, I'm a lawyer too, remember? I know when people are lying to me or holding back," Austin proclaims straightforward.

Ally can't help but narrow her eyes at Austin before taking a sip of wine and adding, "Okay, fine. I'm hesitant to open up to people here because anything I say or do spreads like wildfire. I cannot afford the attention being taking away from my actual talent and job."

"I see," Austin smiles. "And, I know exactly what you mean. I appreciate the honesty."

"Oh, thank you," Ally murmurs. "So, what about you? Who why are you in Charleston? You have a very good record from what I've heard."

"Born and raised here. I'm mean, it would have been amazing to be in a big firm with high-profile cases, but I couldn't turn myself away from here. Along with some other factors," Austin shares, the latter part coming out more quietly.

Ally didn't miss the comment nor the sadden expression on Austin's face that showed for a few seconds before disappearing and quickly replaced by a straight face. "Oh, I see," Ally nods. "And, if you don't mind me asking, was it work or personal?"

"Um, it was more personal. But it kind of ties together," Austin mentions.

"It must have been serious for it all to be tied together. I'm sorry," Ally apologizes sincerely.

"Thank you," Austin whispers. "It's all water under the bridge and long forgotten. And, if you don't mind me asking, what brought you here? Coming from the big apple to a small city must have been a huge change and something not exactly on the top of your list."

"Yeah, you can definitely say it was a change. But something desperately needed. Your mayor and my old boss are apparently really good friends and the second my boss called the mayor, he offered me the job. And, in all honestly, it didn't matter where I ended up. I just needed to get out of there," Ally explains in one breath.

Austin stares at ally with the look of confusion and remorse and when he was about to give a reply, the food comes out and monetarily pauses their conversation.

The two make small talk over the delicious food and perfect pairing with the wines and as they were enjoying their meals, they realized they opened up to one another without meaning to. All this dinner was supposed to be was a simple, polite dinner between colleagues and then suddenly, it turns into their past being resurfaced in a blink of an eye. And that, that wasn't a good thing.

Once their plates got cleared from the table, Austin finishes his wine and turns his attention back to Ally, wanting to finish their earlier conversation. "Ally, I'm sorry you had to leave New York. I don't know what happened, nor am I asking; but if you're in some sort of trouble or need a friend to talk to, know that I'm here for you. Wow, that sounded really cheesy, sorry," Austin offers in a caring manner.

"Thank you Austin, truly. That means a lot, no matter how cheesy it was, Ally giggles. "And, I do appreciate your, um, assistance, but you wouldn't want to get involved with me. I am the trouble. It's best for the two of us to just stay colleagues."

"Of course. And, what? I don't believe that for a second," Austin retorts in all seriousness as if he could read Ally without even knowing her.

"Believe it. I have this bad aura where hearts break and bad things follow," Ally blurts out before covering her mouth in humiliation.

"Hey, that's nothing to be embarrassed about. Those things happen to the best of us. It's just how life goes. And, I'll let you in on a secret: you and I are in the same boat. That shit happened to me too," Austin shares.

"Oh, I'm sorry. But you and I aren't in the same boat. The situations may be similar but they're not the same. Trust me," Ally counters.

"Okay, they may not be, but nothing is worse than thinking you're in love with a person and then finding out that all that time they were just using you," Austin hisses.

"What happened?" Ally asked intrigued and sadden before realizing she was diving way into the personal side of things. "Sorry, you don't have to answer that.

"No, it's fine. I mean, I don't talk about it for obvious reasons, but there's no point in hiding it," Austin sighs before revealing. "So, I was engaged a few years ago to a girl named Piper. We were high school sweethearts and so in love with one another it was crazy. My career was going back-and-forth from having a lot of good cases to not having any for weeks. Piper didn't understand why I didn't have case after case after case so I brought up the idea of moving someplace else. Somewhere I could branch out and really make a name for myself. But she, she didn't want to leave her hometown. This is our home and comfort zone and we decided to just settle down, buy a house, start planning our wedding and I tried to make her happy. I bought her gifts, loved her more and more each day and gave her all I could. But all I could wasn't good enough. Months before we were planning on getting married, I come home to find boxes upon boxes stacked in the living and I knew it was over. She told me she wouldn't be trapped in a small town. That she was destined for bigger and better thing and that I should have seen it coming. She expected so much from me and wanted my fame to help her out. She also told me that I wasn't going to make it as real lawyer because I was too soft. She said everything on her mind and then left and my life. That day was one of the worst days of my life and the town found out about the news within hours."

"OH, Austin. That's terrible," Ally cures out. "You didn't deserve it. No one does. Piper's wrong, you know. You're an amazing lawyer and one of the best I know."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to lay it on so heavy right now. It just felt right to talk about it to you. Thanks, Ally. I've never met someone so considerate without them really knowing the person. And, everything happens for a reason," Austin smiles.

"Yeah, that's just who I am. And, don't worry about it. Mine's pretty heavy too. And, is something you'll never hear about," Ally informs him seriousness in her voice.

"Now, I find that to be total unfair. I just told you my sob story. At least give me the spark notes version," Austin proposes.

"Okay, first off, you didn't have to tell me. You did that on your own. And mine's not something easy to talk about. All I can say is that your heartbreak and view on women is how I view men," Ally says in no louder than a whisper.

"Wow, that must have been some heartache. I'm sorry. But, on the bright side, we don't need any of those people," Austin declares firmly.

"I couldn't agree more," Ally grins as Austin pays the bill and the two of them leave the restaurant felling a new sense of comfort with each other.

The ride back to Ally's office was filled with light chatter about previous cases and the people they had to deal with and as they were talking with such ease, it felt like they've been friends for years. "Thank you for tonight, Austin, I had a really great time," Ally praises, leaning over to kiss Austin's cheek.

"You're welcome and I'm glad. I did too. And Ally, maybe we could do this again some time?" Austin wonders.

"I would like that. Goodnight Austin," Ally beams.

"Good. And, goodnight Ally," Austin waves before the door closes.

Austin watches Ally walk behind his truck to a white car and once she's inside, he takes off with her following him. Once the two cars are gone a phone call was made with some very important information. "Hello?" a deep voice answers.

"Hey boss, the date just ended and it seems that the two of them are getting along just fine," the caller shares.

"Prefect. This is going to work out just how I planned," the deep voice replies, smirking from ear to ear.


And, there you go folks. Please R&R and let me know that you think.

Until next time,

Missy xx