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Chapter 9

"Hi, Will," Alicia said, smiling, as she stood up to shake hands with him. Instead, he pulled her into a friendly hug. Diane awkwardly sat down as she watched two of her best friends have a hug. Alicia and Will proceeded to sit down, and as Will picked up his menu, Alicia's glass of wine arrived. She told the waitress thank you and took a small sip. Very nice wine, she thought to herself.

"Already started?" Will asked with a smile.

"I didn't know how long Diane and her mysterious guest were going to be, so I decided to order a drink," Alicia said.

"Mysterious guest?" Diane asked, looking up from her menu.

"Well," Alicia replied, reaching for her wine glass, "When the hostess told me that the reservation had been changed to be for three people, I didn't know who the third person was." She took another sip of wine.

"Hello everyone, how are we doing today?" a waitress dressed in a formal uniform said as she approached the table. Can I get any drinks for you to start? Or would you like to order some appetizers?"

"I'll have whatever she's having," Diane said, pointing to Alicia's wine glass, "And I'll just go straight to main course. I'll have Pasta Primavera please."

"And for you, sir?" the waitress asked Will. "I'll have a Budweiser please," Will replied, "And a Cowboy Pizza please."

"Certainly sir," the waitress responded. "And for you, ma'am?" she asked Alicia.

"I'll have a Fettuccine Alfredo with chicken, please," Alicia said, handing her menu to the waitress. "Thank you," she added.

"My pleasure," the waitress said with a smile. "Your orders should be ready soon," she finished as she walked off to another table.

"So, Alicia," Diane said as Alicia was helping herself to a slice of warm bared from the center of the table, "How are things over at Florrick/Agos?"

"Oh, they're going well, thanks," Alicia replied. "Although, I have a divorce case right now that has been going nowhere for the past weeks. The two of them keep having shouting matches during depositions. We have another one this afternoon, and if this one ends without any more progress, we are probably going to court."

"Sounds lovely," Will said. "Lots of money?"

"Unfortunately," Alicia said as she laughed lightly. "After taking on this case, it seems like divorce is a nightmare when lots of money is involved."

"It is," Will said as his and Diane's drinks arrived at the table. "My sister's divorce from her first husband dragged on for months because they were arguing over how to split the investments. And who was going to get their old cat."

Alicia and Diane both laughed. "They were arguing over an old cat?" Alicia asked in surprise.

"Yeah, apparently they were both really partial to it," Will replied, smiling.

"And who ended up with the cat?" Diane asked, wanting to hear the end of the story.

"It died during negotiations."

Alicia and Diane laughed even harder. "That is sad, but hilarious," Diane said. "So after all the arguing over who was going to get the cat, neither of them got it."

"Yeah, it probably gave up because of all the stress vibes it was getting from its owners," Alicia said. "I remember that my family had a cat when I was little. She was this little tabby cat named Sammy. She suddenly became attached to me around preschool age, and she slept on my bed every night with me for six years until she passed away." Alicia smiled, thinking fondly of Sammy.

"That's sweet," Will said. "I didn't have any pets growing up, though. Both my mom and Josie are allergic to dogs and cats."

"I didn't know Josie was allergic to dogs and cats," Alicia replied, eyeing Will. "What?" Will asked Alicia, afraid that she might suddenly say something mean.

"Oh, nothing," Alicia replied as she buttered a piece of bread. "Josie just tried to give me a piece of her mind and I refused to listen."

Will rolled his eyes. "Of course she did."

"Why do you say that?" Diane asked, curious. Will suddenly gave her a look, and Diane knew that he was telling her to not bring up the conversation they had over beer a few weeks ago. She occupied herself with sipping her wine as she watched Alicia and Will engage in lively conversation. As she watched them talk to each other and make each other smile and laugh, she thought to herself, why didn't they get together at Georgetown? They'd make a great couple. And a great pair of lawyers.

"Diane?" Alicia asked, causing Diane to say, "Sorry?"

"Our food's arriving," Alicia said as her pasta dish was put in front of her. After the waitress had put all three dishes on the table, she asked, "Is there anything else I can get for you?"

"No, this is great, thank you," Diane said, and the waitress smiled and carried her tray and stand away. "Bon appetit," Alicia said as she put her fork into her pasta. "So what were you thinking about? You were quiet for a while."

"Oh, just my mind thinking about some meetings I have later today," Diane said, trying to sound convincing. Not, a part of Diane's mind told her.

All three lawyers finished off their main courses in between some laughs and conversation. After looking at a desert menu, Alicia decided to order a slice of chocolate cake to-go. "Zach and Grace will love it," she explained. Diane and Will smiled. Diane then left the table to go to the restroom, leaving Alicia and Will at the table.

"Alicia, can I ask you something?" Will asked cautiously.

"Of course!" Alicia exclaimed. "Fire away."

"Have you ever thought about where you want to be in ten, say fifteen, years? Who you would want to be with? Who you wouldn't want to be with?"

Alicia was caught off guard. "Well, um," she began, trying to think, "I really don't know, Will. I know I want to be happy, and I know that I still want to have you and Diane in my life. Zach and Grace will be adults by then, which is a bit crazy to think about," she said, smiling at the thought of having grown-up kids. "Will, I honestly don't know where I'm going to end up in a decade or two. But I am sure of one thing. I want to be happy and make the most of life. What about you?"

"I want to be happy too," Will replied, "And still have you to talk to."

"Will, I can assure you that you can still talk to me as long as we friends," Alicia said, smiling. Before she could say anymore, her to-go chocolate cake slice arrived with the check and Diane returned to the table. Alicia reached for her wallet to put her credit card in the folder, but when she looked up again, the black folder was already gone. "What happened to the check?" she asked. Diane had missed it entirely as well – she had her wallet in her hand as well. "Will?" Alicia asked, bemused.

"I'm paying for lunch today," Will said. "Because I am with my two best friends, and I want to celebrate being able to go back to work."

"Alright then," Diane said, smiling to Will and Alicia as she and Alicia put their wallets back in their purses. After Will signed the check, all three of them stood up and walked out of the restaurant. Once they were outside, Alicia hugged Diane and said, "Thanks. This was really nice."

"Thank you for joining me," Diane replied.

"And thanks, Will," Alicia said, succeeding in getting Will's attention, "You were a great addition to our lunch." Alicia looked at her watch and realized that she had to get back to her office. "I've got to go, my deposition starts in less than an hour. Take care."

"Bye Alicia," Will said, followed by Diane saying "Bye!" Diane and Will proceeded to walk in the opposite direction towards Diane's car. Once they were both seated inside, Diane looked across at Will. "You two seemed to have a great time," she said.

"We did," Will replied. "I hope you did too."

"Of course I did, It's always fun to catch up with Alicia and all things Florrick/Agos. It's interesting that we can talk casually about that now, isn't it? When we were so mad at the beginning?"

"Time makes all the difference," Will replied. "I've learned that through all my medical stuff the past two months."

"I'm sure," Diane said. She pulled out of the parking spot and headed for LG.

That evening, Alicia got a call from Zach as she was about to leave work. He and Grace had elected to stay with Peter for one more night so they could hear more about the State Dinner that was coming up. Peter and Alicia had agreed that they were both old enough to come this year, so Zach and Grace were naturally very excited.

Alicia got into her car and realized that the slice of chocolate cake from lunchtime was still in her car. And that Zach and Grace would not be eating it tonight. She didn't want to have it sit in the fridge for a day.h

Will collapsed on his couch with a bottle of beer, happy that he could relax. He was quite tired even after spending a single day back at work. Guess the doctor was right about taking it easy, he thought to himself. After about twenty minutes of watching the news, a knock sounded from the other side of his apartment door. He walked over and, after looking through the peephole, opened his door to find, to his surprise, Alicia.

"Hi, Alicia," he said slowly, "Is everything alright?"

"Oh, yes, of course," she said casually. "I'm actually by myself tonight and I was wondering if you wanted to have some cake."

"Cake?" Will asked, suddenly remembering that Alicia had ordered some from the restaurant earlier (as she pulled it out of a paper bag). "Split it with me?" she asked.