Chapter Ten
"Yes?" she answers the phone in quite a rude manner, but it's rather late for a work related phone call, even though she is in fact still in her office. But the main reason she loves staying there after everyone goes home is the piece and quiet that gives her the chance to concentrate on nothing but work.
"Diane? It's me, Peter."
She hears his voice and just stares in front of her without actually reacting in any other way. It is a call she expected a week ago, maybe she still counted with it about three days ago, but she has given up on it already. The last time they talked was after the verdict of their common trial when she brushed him off to dine with Will. She didn't think Peter would give up so easily, she kind of owed him that dinner and he still hasn't reminded her of it again.
Oddly enough they managed to stay out of each other's way ever since and about three nights ago she decided to stop caring about why he never tried to take her at her word, why he gave up so easily after he'd been chasing her for so long. It was over before it started, but maybe it was better that way and she managed to convince herself not to care about the whys anymore. And then he shows up to remind her of this whole thing again. She is tempted to be hostile towards him, to tell him to go to hell right away, without listening to him at all. But truth is she's also been feeling guilty for what happened between them and how it happened, so she doesn't really want to put the blame only on him.
"Hey," she says silently and lies back in her chair.
"You still at work?"
"Yes."
"I bet you're the last one in there."
"Probably."
"It's almost ten o'clock, you should really go home!"
"I can't."
"You can't?"
"Because I'm talking to you."
She hears his slight chuckle and is actually happy that the small talk part of the conversation proved to be so easy. She doesn't intend to move on to the serious subject, she leaves this to him, he is the one who called after all.
"I think we should talk."
"Didn't I just say I'm talking to you?" she asks chuckling, but she keeps it short, because she is perfectly aware that his statement isn't part of the small talk anymore.
"I mean we really should talk about what happened."
"I know."
"Would tomorrow night work for you or is it short notice?"
"I'm free tomorrow night."
"Good, we could have dinner, makes it easier to talk, but only if you want to."
"Sure, let's have dinner."
"Eight o'clock?"
"Sounds good."
"I'll pick you up."
"All right."
"Tomorrow then."
"Yes."
"Good night."
"Good night."
As she puts down the phone and turns in her chair to look out the window her thoughts are racing through everything that has happened between them in the last few weeks. Talking to him on the phone wasn't too difficult after all, they managed to have a friendly conversation, she simply agreed to a dinner, he didn't even have to bring up her promise. This dinner is something that is bound to happen, no matter which way it will turn out. She will keep this attitude, give him the chance to explain himself, maybe she'll have some explaining to do too.
She doesn't really know how she wants this dinner to turn out, if she wants to give him a real chance. She is not even sure he still wants something from her or he just asked for a meeting to end things properly between them. The next night will answer these questions and maybe once she gets to know how he feels about all this it will be easier for her to decide on her own feelings.
Note: Thank you again for the reviews! I'm glad you enjoyed the Diane/Jackie moment, I tried to come up with another scene with them for the epilogue, but it's very ooc so far, so I'm not sure it will get posted in the end. I'll try to fix it though.
I agree that Diane could be the ideal daughter-in-law for Jackie, on the other hand they are both strong women who know perfectly well what they want, so it could also mean a constant fight between them. They would play nice for a while, but one bad move from one of them could start a war for sure. :P