Author's Note: Hi hi hi! I'm alive and sorry! Here you go! Sorry!

Ainsley was utterly exhausted. Forty-five minutes spent talking about your childhood friend who had just been raped would do that to a girl, she supposed. She leaned forward in the unexpectedly comfortable armchair she had been led to earlier and stretched down to touch her toes. Maybe after Rollins and Mr. Barba returned from whatever little chat they were having about her, she would call the shop and make up an excuse to not go into work. Carrie knew Ainsley was meeting with a lawyer today; she wouldn't be too surprised if Ainsley bailed.

She looked over her shoulder to the door and wondered what Rollins and Mr. Barba were speaking about. Whatever it was, she wished they would hurry up. She just wanted to leave and get this whole thing over with as quickly as possible. Originally, Ainsley wasn't even sure she would have to testify, that maybe her little talk today would be enough. It was pretty clear now, however, that that wouldn't be the case.

The whole thing was mortifying.

She had actually really liked the lawyer too, and despite how perfectly inept she had been upon their first meeting, he hadn't seemed utterly disgusted by her. Of course, it would change now. He was going to question her on the stand. She was going to have to answer personal questions about her friend in front of people. She shuddered; he was going to allow the defense lawyer to talk to her in, probably, a really shitty way. God, she hated defense lawyers. Peter's had always been huge jerks – talking about her like she sought Peter out, rather than the other way around. As if a twelve-year-old had the wherewithal to go after a nineteen-year-old. What a joke…

Hearing the sound of a door opening behind her, Ainsley stood up from her seat and frowned in confusion.

"Rollins got a call," the slightly older lawyer explained, closing the door behind him. There was another thing beyond the whole lawyer thing. Ainsley wasn't good with ages, but he had to be at least fifteen years her senior. She'd be a goddamn liar if she said the few silver hairs scattered through his otherwise jet-black hair weren't more than a little appealing. That being said, she probably looked like a freaking toddler to him. After all, whenever Ainsley looked at Beth or Bennett, she felt a thousand years old. And that was less than ten years difference.

"Ms. Reyes?"

Ainsley shook herself from her thoughts and gave a small smile. "Of course, no worries." The two stood silently for a few moments before both started speaking at once.

"I suppose I'll –"

"Shall we –"

Ainsley flushed, while Mr. Barba chuckled.

"Go ahead," she urged him. Just let him kick her out and move on.

"Right," he smirked. Not for the first time she found herself wondering how such an annoying type of smile could be so endearing on the lawyer before her. "Well if you're ready to take me up on my lunch offer, there's a great Italian place around the corner." Ainsley blinked in confusion as he picked up her coat from the back of her chair and held it out.

"Are – are you serious?" she asked numbly.

Mr. Barba gave her a curious smile. "Unless you've changed your mind…you did mention you were planning on coming by at some point." He gave her coat a small shake. "But really, it's the best pesto I've had since my transfer. It would be a shame to miss out," he teased.

"No, I mean, yeah I'm sure it's great…it's just –" Ainsley paused and gave her shoulders an awkward shrug. How was he being so nonchalant about everything?

Mr. Barba sighed and offered Ainsley an understanding look before stepping behind her and helping her into her coat. Slowly, she allowed her arms to make their way into the sleeves before pulling her long hair out to lay down her back. She almost smiled, feeling Mr. Barba's own hands smooth her hair for her.

"It's just that we just spent nearly an hour as lawyer and witness?" he clarified.

Ainsley snorted and nodded her head, turning to face him. "Well yes, Mr. Barba…isn't it – I don't know weird? Or illegal or something?" She figured there had to be some sort of ethical barrier in play here. Then again, she baked for a living…what did she know? But still! They had just been discussing the sex life of one of her oldest friends. How did that not make things weird?

Mr. Barba, however only shook his head, a smile on his face. He really did have a lovely face…Jesus, Ainsley could punch herself. Could she look at him without thinking about how attractive he was for two damn seconds? Luckily, he didn't seem too concerned with her one-track mind. Or maybe she was just better at hiding her pathetic pining than she initially believed?

"That meeting ended. All discussion of the case has also ended – your participation and otherwise. And I hope that you referring to me as Mr. Barba has ended as well…at least until we have to meet again for the case. Because I really am quite hungry at the moment, and if we leave now, we'll beat the lunch rush. How does that sound, Ainsley?"

She could feel her face grow warm as he continued to smile, waiting for her reply. Finally, she nodded at him and offered up what was probably her first genuine smile since this whole fiasco first began.

"That actually sounds great," she agreed, releasing a breath and tucking a strand of red behind one ear and reaching for her purse.

"Excellent!"

Ainsley watched as Mr. Barba – Rafael, she corrected herself – took his own coat from a closet and returned to her side. After adjusting a scarf around his neck and pulling on a pair of gloves, he placed one hand gently on Ainsley's lower back and guided her toward the exit. He pulled open the door and shot her a wink.

"Shall we?"

"We shall," Ainsley giggled. Jesus Christ…giggling? What was she? Fourteen? Ainsley tried to calm herself as Rafael led her down the stairs and into the chilly air. She could only pray that he was mentally balanced enough for the two of them to carry an actual conversation. Where Ainsley's head was currently, she doubted she would be much use in any real fashion.

Well when you're right, you're right. Ainsley couldn't help but release a small moan as she put another large forkful of pasta into her mouth. She was inhaling the meal before her, much to her own disgust. But damn…Rafael hadn't been exaggerating. This was amazing. After risking a glance at the lawyer himself as she swallowed her ridiculous bite of Pesto Shrimp Pasta, Ainsley immediately regretted her decision.

Rafael was looking over his own meal at her with an amused grin, seemingly on the edge of laughter. Ainsley offered up her own embarrassed smile in return, arching her eyebrows, almost daring him to comment on her eating habits.

She swallowed the mouthful of pasta she had gorged herself with and gave a small laugh. "God, I didn't know I was so hungry," she explained while setting her fork down beside her plate. Rafael only grinned wider and held up both hands.

"Hey, that's why we're here. May I suggest slowing down? Enjoy it, take your time…or else I may start to think you're in a rush to get away from me," he replied before shooting her a quick wink.

Ainsley rolled her eyes and quirked one side of her mouth up in amusement.

"Damn you caught me," she joked. "Although maybe I'm using you for your amazing restaurant recommendations."

"Ah, I knew there was something!" he chuckled, taking a bite of his own meal. Ainsley watched as he gracefully patted the corner of his mouth with his napkin before motioning the waiter over. Before she had the chance to react, both wine glasses were filled.

"It's only 12.30, you realize?" she commented. He only took a another sip from his glass, a smirk on his face. The two continued to eat in what Ainsley thought was remarkably comfortable silence. After a few minutes however, Rafael must have felt a little more conversation was in order. Ainsley, once more, felt relieved he was taking charge of their interactions as she was still reeling from the chaos and stress of the day so far. On the other hand, maybe this wouldn't be her ideal topic of conversation after all.

"So you and Rollins know each other pretty well then?"

Ainsley froze, her fork halfway between her plate and her mouth. Was this turning into a whole new interrogation? Was this lunch date (if it was a date…it was, wasn't it?) turning into some sort of undercover op to lull her into a false sense of security? Ainsley barely had time to consider her next words, when Rafael rushed to reassure her.

"It's just a question, Ainsley, nothing meant by it."

She smiled and gave a small nod while bringing her fork once more to her mouth. Hopefully he wasn't bullshitting her.

"Well, I knew Olivia before Amanda.," Ainsley explained, covering her mouth to keep her chewing in check. After swallowing, she continued. "She's the one who kind of introduced me to everyone. They're a really good group, fyi. I think you'll like working with them."

"It's not really about liking though, is it? We need to work together, and I need to trust they know how to do their jobs, and of course, they'll need to trust me to do the same. It's always hard introducing a new factor into an already established environment."

Ainsley nodded. "Oh absolutely," she agreed. "But honestly, they're great. I hope everything goes the way you're hoping, and even if it doesn't…maybe you won't book it out of here and back to Brooklyn?" She couldn't help but roll her eyes and grin as Rafael's smirk once more lit up his face.

"Don't want to see me go?"

Ainsley tossed her napkin his way and adjusted her hair over one shoulder. "Please," she laughed. "Maybe after spending most of my meals eating pizza and leftover Thai, I like the idea of having someone to give me food recommendations."

"Mhmm, I'm sure that's it," the lawyer replied, folding Ainsley's napkin and setting it before her. Ainsley groaned at the simplistic fold before her

"Oh come on, a pyramid fold? Really?" Ainsley grabbed for the upright, triangular shaped napkin setting and raised one unimpressed brow. While the pyramid may have been a classic, it was also the easiest and most cliché of napkin folds. And after one particularly gruesome event where she and Beth had to punch out five hundred of them in two hours, Ainsley decided she had seen enough of them to last the rest of her life.

"Oh come on, that's pretty good, if I don't say so myself," Rafael protested.

"Philistine," Ainsley scoffed, a small smile lining her mouth. Rafael shook his head with a grin as she unfolded the napkin and started reshaping it under his steady gaze.

"Don't you think that's a little harsh? I'm a lawyer, not a napkin…master."

"Hey you brought this on, Mr. Hot-Shot Lawyer – trying to impress a girl who bakes and caters for a living. I've been folding napkins professionally for over a decade…you're in my domain now," she proclaimed, hands working skillfully on their task. Ainsley could feel Rafael watching her and willed herself to keep from blushing. She figured she was failing spectacularly, but she remained focused on her task.

"There!"

With careful fingers and a proud smile, Ainsley carefully placed the skillfully folded water lily between the two of them. "Ta-da!"

She watched as Rafael gently lifted the napkin and gave an impressed nod. "Okay…I'll admit, that's pretty fantastic."

Ainsley nodded. "These take me awhile. You should see Kimmi go at it – one of my employees" she clarified quickly. "She only moved here for school like two years ago – spent the first nineteen years of her life in Japan. She could have busted like five of these suckers in the time it took me to do the one." If Rafael thought it weird for her to brag about an employee, he didn't show it, for which Ainsley was grateful. She adored her girls.

"You must run a pretty tight ship?"

Ainsley shrugged in response. "I don't know – I mean they know my expectations; I give a lot of leeway with scheduling and time off – artistry too. No one's taken advantage yet," she smiled brightly.

"Well, I'm sure you should be very proud. From what I saw, I mean," he said, returning her smile.

Pleased with his assessment, Ainsley allowed the conversation to turn to other topics, happy to learn more about Rafael's work and answer his questions about her interests as well. By the time, they finished lunch (and dessert at his insistance) Ainsley was already practically gone on the older lawyer. It was almost embarrassing how much she was 1enjoying his company after only a couple of meetings. It didn't escape her mind, however, their mutual connectional involving Jocelyn. She would be lying if that fact didn't sour the outing slightly.

"Ainsley?" Her head shot up as Rafael worked to get her attention.

"Sorry!" she replied, shaking her hand and tucking a wisp of hair behind one ear.

"Not a problem, I was just saying that it's probably time to head out." Ainsley started to protest as he signed for the bill that must have come while she had been lost in her thoughts.

"My treat," he assured her. "Consider it payback for the free muffin from your bakery."

Ainsley gave him a disbelieving look. "That was a three-dollar banana nut muffin," she argued. "This is what…how much?"

"Honestly, Ainsley," he laughed, standing and moving to her side to pull out her chair. "I invited you. This is how lunch works. You invite me somewhere and you can pay."

Ainsley pursed her lips and sighed. "I'm going to hold you to that," she promised, allowing him to help her into her coat once more. As she adjusted the hat on her head, she nearly missed his response.

"I hope so.

After lunch, booking a wedding event, and finally succeeding in teaching Beth and Lettie how to make a proper swiss roll without any cracks, it had been shaping up to be one of those elusive perfect days. Ainsley was ready to settle in for an evening of reading and television. Of course, however and as per usual, the universe had other plans.

Ainsley frowned as she walked though her front door and felt something that wasn't hardwood flooring beneath her feet. There before her lay a plain brown envelope. She froze, immediately knowing from whom it had come. After years of the same envelope appearing at her home, at school, and even once at her favorite bookstore, it was hardly an unfamiliar sight.

Slowly, Ainsley bent down and picked up the envelope, jaw clenched. It took every bit of strength within her not to start sobbing at the sight of the photographs within. There in her hand had to be at least a dozen pictures of her from lunch. There she was laughing, there playing with her hair, there was even a closeup of her hand brushing Rafael's as she took the water lily napkin from him.

Taking a deep breath, Ainsley walked calmly to her kitchen and placed the pictures on the counter top. Without a second thought, she pulled out her phone and dialed.

"Amanda?" she greeted, her voice shaking. "Hey – I'm sorry to call so late, but…something's happened." She paused and nodded, despite knowing Rollins couldn't actually see her. "Yeah, I need you. He's back."