A/N: Some of you know I've been really excited to share this chapter ever since I finished it. It's special because it's from Will's pov and I really hope you'll love it as much as I do.
Chapter Twenty-Five
"The cake is ready, the roast is in the oven, I can finally catch a breath now," Jo sits on the couch, so Will quickly puts his phone on the coffee table and turns to her.
"You seem exhausted," he makes a caring observation, but when Jo rolls her eyes he already knows he said something wrong.
"I have an hour to relax now. Thank you for the help, by the way, without you it would have taken much longer."
"My pleasure," he smiles and when she returns it he leans in for a kiss.
It was a sudden change from having casual relationships with different woman barely over 20, to cooking together with a woman who isn't only his equal in age. Jo might work as an assistant, but she is definitely a smart woman, not to mention witty and beautiful.
"I hope everything will go well."
"Just don't burn the food and it will be fine," he teases her to ease the tension and gets a pat on the chest in return, "Ouch."
"I only ever burnt the food once, and I obviously don't want to talk about it," she scolds him playfully.
"Sounds like a fun story," he attempts, but knows that it's in vain. When Jo says no, she really means it.
"Nice try, Billy," she calls him what seems to be her favorite nickname for him and as much as he hated it at first, because that's how his sisters call him, it definitely sounds as a form of endearment from her lips, so he's learnt to appreciate it.
"You can't blame me for trying, I like learning new things about you," he tries to flatter her and it seems to work like a charm, because Jo starts smiling.
"New things, like I can burn the food," she replies with teasing again, but her voice sound much softer.
"Any new things," he says, "Which is why I'm looking forward to this dinner."
"Do you think Diane is up to sharing things about you I don't know yet?"
"You know that you just need to ask."
"Where's the fun in that?" she chuckles and he can't resist kissing her once more.
"All right, I think it's time I change into something else," she stands up.
"Too bad, I sort of liked this red apron on you," he tries to sound disappointed as he looks her up and down one last time.
"I can always put it back on later," she offers.
"Maybe you could wear only the apron at some point tonight," he grabs the chance to say something naughty.
"We could arrange that," she winks at him, before she steps away, then he observes how she unfolds the apron, takes it off and throws it on the floor.
He finds himself imagining her doing the same thing when only wearing the apron, but quickly stops his thoughts. They need to sit through this dinner first.
o-o-o
"Anyone needs anything?"
"You should relax, hun, we're all set and the roast is delicious," Lynn intends to calm Jo, who acts like she is in the running for hostess of the year, which Will finds highly amusing.
He doesn't believe she is doing it for her boss, because he knows they have been friends for long years, so the only person she wishes to impress is obviously Diane and it seems to be working.
"Yes, you are a wonderful cook," the praise comes from where Jo needs it the most and Will sends a smile to his partner across the table.
"I was hopeless with the cooking lessons, but maybe you could try with Diane," Lynn makes a suggestion that Diane doesn't seem to appreciate that much.
"Is it your way of telling me you want me to cook for you? Because it's not going to happen," she says in what Will knows as her teasing tone and it brings them all to chuckle.
"It was worth a try," Lynn retreats quickly and he notices how they share a smile.
Seeing Diane on the side of someone she is in a relationship with is completely new to him and since they are sitting opposite from each other he can observe them freely. Of course he never expected them to act like lovebirds in front of them. But he still finds it adorable how they show their affection for each other in ways that might not be caught by a stranger's eye, but he has known Diane for years.
"I need to mention once again how delicious was the chocolate cake you sent me," Diane continues to flatter Jo, much to Will's satisfaction.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it."
Will was the one who delivered Diane's hand written thank you note, that along with the news of
her agreeing to the double date made Jo really happy.
"I'm sure there will be cake tonight as well," Lynn guesses just right, "I smell cheesecake," she adds.
"Caramel cheesecake, your favorite," the hostess replies, making her boss smile, "Will said you'd probably like it too, I wanted the menu to be a surprise," she turns to Diane.
"I do, don't remember ever eating a home-made one though. I think Will might have to watch his weight soon."
"I think he knows how to burn the extra calories," Lynn interferes before Will could reply anything, finding himself as the topic of the conversation all of a sudden.
"I'm making sure of that too," he hears Jo join the group, making the other two women chuckle.
"I'm glad you are all having fun," Will tries to take things lightly and smile.
"Want more wine, honey?" Jo reaches for the bottle and Will drinks up the content of his glass quickly, "Sure, unless you have something stronger," he teases.
"Let's stick to the merlot," she replies with a wide smile, understanding him perfectly.
o-o-o
After the cheesecake is served and praised by their guests just like the main course Jo finally has nothing to worry about anymore, she puts on coffee and suggests that they move to the living room. Diane and Lynn sit on the couch and Will chooses one of the armchairs, thinking Jo would take the other. But she decides to sit on the armrest next to him instead and he doesn't exactly complain about her closeness.
After a while he even pulls her into his lap, which comes naturally to him and isn't left unnoticed by the other women.
"Look at you, domesticating bachelor number 16," Diane jokes and they all start laughing.
"He even helped me preparing the dinner," Jo replies, clearly enjoying the compliment.
"Why did you have to mention that? I wanted you to have all the glory," he says with a smile.
"Isn't he perfect?" Jo claims and they share a quick kiss, making sure not to embarrass their guests.
"Perfect?" Diane snorts, "That's news to me," she adds laughing and the others join in.
"At my old firm the managing partners were always at each other's throat," Lynn remarks looking from Diane to Will. "But you two are like an old married couple. How come?"
He isn't sure which of them should answer the question, so he peeks at Diane, who gives him a silent go.
"We didn't exactly start out like this," he replies the first thing that comes to his mind about the time he joined Diane and Stern on the top of the firm.
Diane's laughter suggests that she doesn't mind him mentioning the 'bad times', so he feels encouraged to go on.
"We were always at each other's throats, competed for clients and cases, trying to prove who is better. Until the Larson-case," he glances at Diane, offering her to continue, because she is the better story-teller from the two of them.
"Larson's account was 8 million a year," Diane takes over, "So Stern assigned his case to both of us. The competition was still on, we tried to outdo the other, and never agreed on anything, because we couldn't stand if the other was right. One time the client caught us arguing and he threatened to fire us. He went to Stern and he was furious. He called us to his office, yelled at us, as if we were two naughty children, told us to fix whatever was going on, then left and locked the door. He slipped a note in that said we can't leave until we promise to behave as adults from now on."
Will notices that both Jo and Lynn are already laughing. He still can't find this story funny, no matter how much time has past. He hated Diane at that moment and the last thing he wanted was being locked in an office with her, but things turned out for the best in the end.
"How long were you locked in?" Lynn asks.
"An hour or two, maybe. He forgot to close his liquor cabinet, so it wasn't all that bad," Diane chuckles and Will finally joins in, "We started drinking and talking and it turned out he isn't such a bad guy," she glances at Will with a smile.
"I finally met the real Diane, and as it turned out, she wasn't half the ice queen I'd thought she was. She can be imperfect, and I liked that side of her much better."
"And even though Will was still a bit green, I had to realize that he was already an amazing lawyer. What he lacked in experience, he made up in enthusiasm. When I saw him argue in court, when he was really fighting for the client, it left me in awe, it still does."
"I want to see you in court," Jo declares and Will tries to play it cool, but he definitely enjoys the praise, especially in front of his girlfriend.
"He's much better when he has someone to impress," Diane replies and she and Jo share a smile, that makes Will smile as well.
"But I assume there are still occasional fights?" Lynn brings them back to the previous topic and Will again silently asks Diane's permission to answer that she grants with an almost unnoticeable nod.
"Like in every family," Will replies, making Diane smile, "I know we are called the mommy and daddy of the firm behind our back."
"And Stern is the grandpa?" Lynn asks chuckling.
"Something like that," he joins in.
"We fight, then we drink and laugh about it, it's never too serious," Diane explains the way their relationship has worked during the last years.
"And we try to keep grandpa at arm's length," he adds still chuckling, making the ladies laugh.
"My dad and Jonas Stern are old friends," Lynn remarks and Will sees how Diane is caught off guard by the statement.
"Oh dear god."
"Oh you have nothing to worry about, he has only told him good things about you."
"Can we please not talk about what your father knows about me?" Diane requests with a nervous smile Will knows all too well and he finds himself imagining Diane meeting her in-laws for the first time.
"You're so cute when you're nervous," Lynn teases and Will shares a smile with Jo, watching the two interact.
"Where is that coffee?" Diane quickly changes the topic and while Jo jumps up to check on the coffee Lynn leans closer and whispers something to Diane's ear that Will is unable to hear and unfortunately Diane's face doesn't give away anything either.
"Hon, could you come and give me a hand, please?"
They hear Jo's voice and Will mumbles an apology and rushes out, leaving Diane and Lynn alone.
"How can I help?" he enters the kitchen, while Jo's pouring coffee in the pot."
"I'm all set, I just thought we should give them some privacy."
"And this way we can have some privacy too," Will smiles due to her thoughtfulness and steps behind her, but waits until she places the pot on the tray, and only puts his arms around her afterwards.
"I thought you're able to wait until they are gone," Jo chuckles, but she doesn't seem to mind his embrace at all, because she leans against him.
"I am, of course I am," he insists, but places a kiss on her nape nevertheless.
She turns around in his arms with a wide smile on her face.
"Tonight couldn't have turned out better."
"I agree," he nods, "Told you everything will go well."
"Yes you did."
"So I hope you have the red apron ready for tonight," he reminds her of their previous conversation playfully and silences Jo's chuckle with a kiss.