Chapter 10

"Would you like something to drink?" Cyrus offered.

"No thank you," Irene said pacing the room. 'What am I doing here?' she contemplated.

"Why did you come over?" Cyrus asking the question for her. Irene stared at him for a moment before looking down at her feet.

"To tell you, why I've been avoiding you," Irene said quietly but Cyrus heard every word.

"If you are going to tell me, you might as well look at me straight in the eye," he cupped her chin with his hand. Cyrus then took her hand and led her to the couch where they both sat down. Irene took a deep breath.

"I don't want to lose you as a friend," she finally confessed. Cyrus stared at her weirdly.

"Avoiding me isn't exactly helping that purpose," Cyrus pointed out.

"As much as I did not want to admit it, my own feelings for you were growing."

"Oh," was all Cyrus could say.

"And when I have feelings for someone, I tend to let it all out. But I thought if we did pursue a relationship, I got scared that we would not last long, break up and have those awkward moments when we have to work together and not be friends," Irene admitted. Cyrus stared at Irene in amazement wondering how does she think so far ahead with the pros and cons and rationalizes.

"How do we know if we don't dry?" he asked with a twinkle in his eye.

"Well I am the type of person who likes to be in control and know the expected outcome."

"Sometimes you have to let fate decide and just believe in it." He then put his arm around her. "We can always take things slow and not rush things, Cyrus said gently. "I can't say much for the future but like every couple, we will face obstacles but we will get through them."

"Ok," she said with a smile. Cyrus then leaned over and kissed her softly. Once he pulled away, Cyrus was happy to see she was still smiling.

"There's a new Italian restaurant that just opened near Hudson, would you like to have dinner with me next week once I'm done with exams?"

"You're not supposed to do that." Cyrus suddenly felt worried he may have made a wrong move and panicked inside. "You can't ask a woman out after you kiss her."

"Oh I see. I didn't know that."

"It's ok. I like to break traditions."

A few nights later, Cyrus kept checking himself before heading out the door. He kept brushing his hair, adjusting his tie, collar and changing his shirt until he finally convinced himself he looked fine. On his way to Irene's apartment, Cyrus stopped by the flower shop to pick up a bouquet of dozen roses.

"Is this for the same woman?" the flower shop owner asked with a grin for Cyrus had been a frequent visitor to the shop when he was sending the flowers to Irene as a secret admirer.

"Yes it is," Cyrus answered happily. "Only this time I finally asked her out and she said yes."

"It's about time." Cyrus then paid the owner and returned back to his car. He soon reached her apartment and headed up to her door after parking his car. He pressed the doorbell and a few minutes later, Cyrus was greeted by a figure of beauty. Irene wore a ebony colored cocktail dress with a shawl wrapped around her shoulders that complimented her body. She wore her hair down in loose curls.

"Wow," Cyrus said breathlessly. "You look amazing."

"Thank you," Irene smiled.

"These are for you," Cyrus said handing her the roses.

"Oh how lovely! Thank you." She smelt the roses embracing its sweet scent. "I'll put them in water, then we'll leave." Cyrus nodded and smiled and followed her in. After placing the flowers in a vase, Irene grabbed her purse and they headed out for the restaurant.

"What do you mean there is no reservation under Cyrus Lupo. I specifically made one reservation dinner for two on Friday night at 7 pm. The person on the phone assured me a table has been reserved," Cyrus argued trying to stay calm.

"I'm sorry sir but we have no reservation under that name, the hostess repeated and re-checking her laptop.

"Is there any table available?" Cyrus asked.

"Sorry Mr. Lupo, we are booked for the night." Cyrus sighed in frustration not believing this was happening.

"I apologize for the mess," he said looking at Irene. "I just wanted tonight to be perfect."

"Cyrus, it's ok," Irene said placing a hand on his. "Why not we order some take out food? We can have it back at my place."

"All right," Cyrus said wishing he'd think of that first. He really wanted to treat Irene on a special night instead of her coming up with a solution to a problem. The hostess feeling bad about the mix-up assured their food would be delivered in less than an hour. 'At least a potential disaster was somewhat averted,' Cyrus thought. However, once they stepped out of the restaurant, the sky began to down pour. Cyrus immediately took off his jacket and wrapped it around Irene, covering her head. He took her hand and they ran to the car. Cyrus quickly opened for her, the passenger door first before heading to the driver's seat. While driving to her apartment, he quietly cussed to himself for not bringing an umbrella as the rain started pouring harder and harder hitting the windows of the car. Fortunately, Cyrus managed to park the car close to Irene's apartment door. They hurried inside and Irene took off his jacket and handed it back to Cyrus.

"Oh your dress is ruined," Cyrus said seeing part of her dress was still soaked despite the cover up.

"Not really, " Irene smiled. "I think your jacket kept it significantly dry. Besides it's easily washable." Irene turned on the lights to a dim brightness. She lit some candles and placed them on the coffee table.

"I'm going to change into some dry clothes," Irene said and headed into her room. Cyrus loosened and took off his tie and unbuttoned his shirt a bit. He then heard the door bell ring and saw it was the delivery person from the restaurant. After making a payment, Cyrus took the food and set them on plates he found in Irene's kitchen. Cyrus then placed the food on the coffee table just as Irene came out.

"Oh good the food is here. I am starving," Irene exclaimed. They then sat down on the floor of the living room and started eating. To Cyrus's relief and satisfaction, the food tasted delicious. "You know I am glad tonight turned out the way it did," Irene said after a while.

"You are?" Cyrus asked looking up at her.

"Yes, I'd rather have a quiet intimate dinner at home with you then in some crowded noisy restaurant," Irene admitted. "Besides tonight was kind of exciting and romantic."

"What do you mean?"

"Well when the rain started to pour, the way you immediately wrapped your coat around me and rushed us to your car, I thought it was a brave move."

"I wanted to make sure you did not get wet."

"And very thoughtful," Irene said placing a hand on his. Cyrus smiled in response. The evening turned out to be more joyous. They both found they shared an interest in music, theatre, traveling, books and helping people. After finishing dinner, Irene made coffee while Cyrus washed the dishes. Once Cyrus was done, they brought the coffee back to the living room. Cyrus and Irene were about to continue their conversation when Cyrus's phone started to beep. He sighed knowing it was a call to the crime scene just when the night got perfect. He looked up at Irene and she nodded with an understanding smile.

"I'm sorry."

"I know," she said softly. He drank his coffee down and gave Irene a quick kiss on the cheek before saying goodbye and rushing out.

Moments later, Cyrus and Kevin finished up examining the crime scene and were writing up the reports so far when Cyrus got a text. He picked up his phone and read the message.

Cyrus,

I had a gr8 time tonite. I hope we can go out again soon.

Irene

Cyrus smiled and closed his phone.