Take Two
Chapter 12
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"Is that what you're wearing to dinner?" Piper asked from her spot on her couch. Whitney had stopped by to borrow a pair of shoes from her best friend.
The blonde shrugged. "You hate it," she answered for Piper without having to ask the redhead's opinion. She was able to tell her disdain for the outfit just by Piper's tone.
"You've got that right," Piper answered. "This man wants to take you out and you're wearing that?"
Whitney started down the hallway and stopped at the full length mirror just inside the bathroom. "What is wrong with what I'm wearing?"
"Are you going on a date, or on a job interview?" the redhead asked as she followed Whitney's footsteps. "Because you look like you're going out for a new job."
The blonde rolled her eyes as she ran her hands over her blouse and simple black pants. "It's not fair," she muttered. "You look good in everything."
"Exactly," Piper started. "So we're going to go browse through my closet," she said as she grabbed Whitney's hand and pulled her across the hall into the master bedroom. "This wouldn't have been an issue if you didn't move out."
The cocked eyebrow on her best friend caused her to laugh. "And by the way – it's not a date," Whitney exclaimed as she followed Piper into the walk in closet.
It was like a department store inside Piper's closet. She worked in an office at the hospital, so she had more flexibility in what to wear to work, but also admitted that she had a shopping problem. "You wouldn't be stressing out over what to wear if it wasn't a date," Piper pointed out. "You would have kept with your jeans and Nikes without a problem."
Whitney pursed her lips; why was Piper always right? The blonde watched Piper scrounge through her closet and mumble to herself regarding each piece. "It's a nice restaurant," she bartered. "I don't want to look like a bum!"
"What about this?" Piper asked as she pulled out a hanger with a floral jumpsuit on it.
Whitney shook her head and watched as Piper dejectedly put it back on the rack. "I have enough floral on my body," she mentioned and received a wink from Piper.
The redhead pulled her lip between her teeth and started to move the clothes at a rapid pace. "Got it," she said as she pulled a solid charcoal gray wrap dress from the rack. "This is perfect," she announced. "It's not formal, but not too casual."
She held it up to Whitney's body and nodded. "I'll try it," the blonde replied much to the amusement of her best friend.
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Whitney ran her hands over the wrap dress as she pulled on the door to the restaurant. Piper helped her with a few simple accessories and shoes to complete the outfit before she left the apartment.
"There she is," Derek announced from his resting position next to the hostess stand. A grin took over his face as she stepped all the way into the restaurant. "You look beautiful," he complimented.
"Thank you," she answered softly.
They only spoke sporadically over the three days Derek was out of town due to a fast and furious case. They never really got a chance to address the elephant in the room, and Whitney could tell Derek was unsure of what to do as he stuffed a hand into his pocket.
She cautiously stepped over to him and gave him a hug that he reciprocated fairly quickly. "I was beginning to think you were going to stand me up," he mumbled.
When the two pulled apart Whitney furrowed her brows in his direction, only until she noticed the smirk crossing his lips. "I would never stand you up," she replied. "I had to run to Piper's and we got caught up playing dress up in her closet."
Derek was about to respond when the hostess interrupted the two of them to show them to their table. Derek ushered Whitney ahead of him and followed her through the restaurant.
"You look gorgeous," he complimented once more as they were situated at their table. She bowed her head slightly at the compliment. "And thank you for joining me."
Her lips curled into a smile as she lifted her head once more. "You had me at fancy dinner," she joked.
Derek chuckled softly. "How was work?" he asked, trying to break the tension he was beginning to feel.
"Busy," she admitted. "I hate working nights."
"Did you find out how long that was going to be?"
She shook her head. "Probably until Vegas," she answered. "So it's really only a few weeks, and then I was basically guaranteed a solid day shift schedule starting in the middle of July."
"So we'll have to move from Fridays to Saturdays," he said with a wink.
"For a few weeks," she agreed. She was not going to turn down a night out with Derek.
Derek took a sip from his glass of water and watched the blonde woman across from him. "How long will you be in Vegas?"
Whitney busied herself with placing her napkin across her lap. "We fly out Thursday morning and fly home Monday night." She racked her brain trying to remember the dates. "End of June to July 2nd," she muttered.
"You're missing date night," he joked, and realized afterwards that he let the word slip out.
Whitney never missed a beat and kept the grin on her face. "We can postpone," she said with a shrug. "Or you could join us in Vegas."
The second the words left the tip of her tongue, she quickly pursed her lips. A bright smile took over Derek's face. "I just may look in to that if my schedule allows," he answered.
The smile on his face made her knees feel like jelly. She made a mental note to smack Eliot for putting the idea in the back of her mind. "Don't feel obligated," she quickly covered.
"You never know," he continued. "My work could always make me end up out that way."
The waitress stopped by to take their order; Whitney noticed Derek sneaking quick peeks over at her as she read off of the menu. She took a sip of her water as she waited for Derek to finish his order.
Whitney tucked her hair back behind her ear and took a deep breath. "Are we going to address it?" she asked cautiously. Derek looked up from the table setting and nodded. "Whatever you want to know," she said as she pursed her lips. "I owe it to you to tell you everything."
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