Emily

Emily returned from her break and she still couldn't get the thought of what could have taken place in that elevator out of her mind. When she looked up she saw Aria and Spencer about to enter the room.

"Hey Em." Spencer said, taking a seat next to her.

"Heyy guys" she said trying to act cool, which probably wasn't working.

She didn't even have to ask how they knew where she was. If she wasn't working at her office, working with Caesar would be next on the list.

"We heard you got trapped in the elevator… are you okay?" Aria asked, taking the seat on the opposite side.

Curse you Gems and all of your gossip! Emily chanted in her head.

"Yes I'm fine. I didn't panic just followed basic procedure because I'm just as cool under pressure." Emily said, brushing off her shoulders.

Her goal was to be overly dorky so it would divert their attention from the elevator situation. Based off of their eye rolls and the brief silence that followed she thought it actually worked.

"Good for you, Em", Spencer said while patting her back.

"Also-"

Noo! Emily thought. She could try to change the subject but she knew that Spencer would ask more questions. Spencer always wanted to know everything, even about little things, and there was no getting away from it since she was so clever.

The main reason she didn't want to tell them about what happened with Alison was because she felt like they would only be negative about it. Plus, she didn't want to feel like she had an extra set of parents. She wanted to figure out whatever was happening between the two of them on her own. Of course she still appreciated knowing that they care.

"..were you alone?" Spencer asked.

Emily had to choose between giving short answers and Spencer continuing to ask questions or giving all the information at once. The second option sounded less painful.

"Nope. I was with Alison. It wasn't planned though, we were on two different floors and we both happened to go on break at the same time. We were only stuck for about thirty minutes so it wasn't that long. It did get really hot and she took off her shirt...but she had another top under. It's not like it was just her br...umm yeah that's...yeah."

They nodded in response and didn't say anything.

"No comments?" Emily was surprised they had nothing to say.

She saw Spencer glance at Aria to speak for the both of them.

"Well Em… you know how we feel about her.. and we kinda know how you feel about her. So we don't want you to think that every time you mention her, we'll only have negative things to say… so we'll resort to just listening and letting you figure out whatever you need too."

If she didn't know any better, she would have thought they read her mind.

"You know I love you guys so much" she said, bringing them into a group hug.

"Yeah we know." Spencer replied, smiling.

Alison

Alison was now home. She was in her living room debating how to use the remainder of the day. She decided to look for a new show to binge on Hulu.

After being stuck in the elevator with Emily earlier in the day, she didn't go to the new salad bar. Instead, she thought about asking Emily if she wanted to go with her for tomorrow's lunch break. She knew now would be the time to ask if she was going to.

She took her phone off of the nightstand and went to her messages.

Alison: hey

She went back to scrolling on her TV but in less than three minutes she received a notification.

Emily: hey, how are you

Alison: Pretty good. Looking for something to watch on hulu and you? Still thinking about what happened in the elevator?

Emily: HAHAHA YOU WISH. But I see that someone is.

Emily: Did you text me just to mess with me? Lol

Alison: Partially. I also wanted to ask if you'd like to join me tomorrow for lunch at this new salad bar?

Emily: Hmm let me check my schedule. One moment please

Alison chuckled. She knew Emily only said that to get back at her.

Alison: Awh c'mon Emily. You shouldn't play with a poor woman's heart like this

Emily: Poor woman? Are you saying you're the victim?

Alison: Why yes, I think so

Emily: Say that to my clothes with coffee stains

Alison completely forgot to apologize to Emily for that. After what happened at the party, it slipped her mind but she was glad Emily wasn't angry about it anymore.

Alison: I'm really sorry about that.

Emily: It's alright. Watching you fail to get my attention after multiple attempts made up for it.

Alison's mouth dropped wide open. She never had met anyone, with an exclusion of CeCe, who could give as many smart remarks as she did. Emily was playing her in her own game and she might have been winning. If Alison wasn't falling for her before, this was the icing on the cake.

Alison: Emily Fields, you've left me speechless

Emily: Well I hope you can speak again by tomorrow at 12:30. We have plans don't we?

Alison: We sure do.

Emily: See you then

Alison pumped her fist in victory. She decided to turn off the TV and go straight to sleep in order to be well rested for tomorrow.

Emily

Emily woke up in a good mood. She thought about the conversation she had with Alison last night and smiled. She didn't expect Alison to bring up what happened in the elevator, but her boldness made Emily laugh.

As she was getting ready, she chose to put on a different set of lotion and perfume. Even though it wasn't said between the two of them, she knew this was a date so she wanted to do a little more than the usual. She also added a silver necklace with an infinity on the end to her outfit. She wore an all white jumper with a black blazer with low top converse. She styled her hair the same way because she didn't want to visibly go all out.

She was excited for this afternoon. She had been noticing small changes in Alison's behavior that were for the better. Emily still had her guard up but it was slowly coming down the more her feelings were growing toward Alison.

After eating breakfast, she grabbed her keys and headed on her way to work.

When she entered the building she received more stares than usual from the people around her. She had worn the outfit to work before but it was months ago. Since the weather was finally becoming nice again, her wardrobe was changing.

She went back to her original floor and sat at her desk. She heard the clicking of a shoe heel and looked up. She saw Aria standing by the door.

"Oo la la" she said, eyeing Emily's outfit.

"Thank you. Thank you"

"Me and Spence are going to the Blue Daisy Grille after work. You coming?"

"Yeah. I'll meet you guys there."

"Alright see ya." She raised an eyebrow before leaving which made Emily giggle.

Time was going so slow for Emily. It felt like 12:30 would never come. On the other hand, she was a little nervous. She didn't see Alison in her office when she passed her door to go to the restroom.

What if she didn't show up? Emily thought. She didn't want to overthink so she quickly tried to clear her head.

After joining a project one of her co-workers asked her to take part in, she lost track of time. She heard a knock and when she looked up she saw Alison leaning on the side of the door. She was also wearing black and white. Her slacks were black with a white long-sleeved shirt tucked in.

"Good afternoon." She said with a warm smile.

Emily looked back at her computer and saw that it was 12:29.

"Woah, you're here a minute early. Couldn't wait any longer?" Emily asked sarcastically.

Alison bowed her head and snickered.

"I guess I could leave and have you wait for about 3 more hours."

Alison was referring to when she left Aria, Spencer, and her at the party the day they met. This time Emily's jaw had dropped and her and Alison began laughing uncontrollably.

"Low blow, Alison, Low blow." She said in between her laughter.

Alison put her hands up in defense, "Hey, you started it.", she said suppressing her laugh.

"How did you guys even get back?" Alison asked.

Emily cringed at the memory that flashed in her brain. "I'll tell you on the way there." Emily got up, headed to the door, and her and Alison were on their way.

Alison

"He did not call himself a sexy beast." Alison was almost in tears from laughing.

Emily shook her head, "He sure did."

A few moments later, they were now in the salad bar. Alison noticed that pretty much everything was white. From the chairs to the walls and the workers uniform. "Shape it" was in big green letters, painted on the wall in script with a large menu under it. Thankfully, there were only two people ahead of them in line and only about five people sitting.

"What made you want to try the food here?"

"Well there are a lot of small restaurants and shops downtown that are so underrated and if I come across any I really enjoy, I like to spread the word so they can get more attention. I may not bring in hundreds of people, but let's say I get five people to go and they get five people to go and so on...it definitely helps."

"That's really nice of you." Emily said, smiling at her.

Alison's heart sank as Emily looked at her. She unintentionally held her breath from nervousness and noticed she was next in line. As she walked up she was able to breathe again and look at the menu with Emily behind her.

"Welcome to Shape It. What kind of salad and shape would you like?"

Shape? She lightly furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

After looking at the menu, Alison chose to play it safe. "Can I have a Caesar salad in ...diamonds please." Alison paid for the meal and found a place to sit for the both of them.

When Emily ordered her food she sat in the seat across from Alison. Once Emily sat down, Alison's number was called. As she got her food she saw that her container was plastic in the shape of a diamond.

Both of the women had received their food and were about to eat.

"Of course you got hearts." Alison said with half a smile and Emily stuck her tongue out.

It turns out it wasn't only the container that was a diamond. The lettuce, croutons, and other topping were shaped that way. It was the same for Emily. Everything was heart shaped.

"What do you think?" Emily asked Alison.

"I'm pretty sure this place is meant for people who can't eat without taking a photo of their food. Although I do think the heart salads could be used as a romantic gesture."

Emily nodded in agreement.

It was time for Alison to learn more about Emily. "Enough about me... I never got to ask you about how you got into photography. Please do tell."

She watched Emily take a huge breath which made her question what was coming.

"It wasn't until I was in my early teens. My dad had passed away and I was torn. One day, I was with my mom and there was a camera in the window of this store. Something inside me told me I needed that camera. So for about 4 months I saved every dollar and with the help of my birthday being within the same time frame I was able to buy it. I took pictures of everything that made me happy and put them on my walls. When my family came over, my friends, everything. It kind of sucked me out of my negative mental state. And helped remind me to appreciate the little things."

Alison was at a loss for words. "Wow..that's...wow", she said shaking her head in disbelief. "You are so strong to have changed your mentality at such a young age. That is so amazing."

"Thanks." She smiled in return.

As the time went by they talked about multiple topics. Alison was having a great time. She wished they could stay for the rest of the day but sadly they had to head back. As they were walking Hannah, their boss, was brought up.

"So how did you get into Gems?" Emily asked innocently.

Alison's heart stopped for a second. She hoped that Emily wouldn't ask her this question but she knew that if she did, she couldn't tell the truth. The truth was she blackmailed Hannah's husband, Caleb into getting an interview with her. She didn't want to lie to Emily but she didn't want to mess anything up with her either.

"I went to a well known arts school with a major in photography and my professors sent in some fantastic recommendations to Hannah."

Emily smiled, "That's so cool!"

Alison could only smile back because she felt bad for being dishonest.

As they entered the building, while Emily was talking, Alison could see Paige on the opposite side of the lobby. Someone was talking to her but she was staring at her and Emily.

Alison didn't know much about Paige. Thanks to her gossip-lunch table (which now had less gossip because she began to stay out of mostly everyone's business) she knew that Paige had feelings for Emily. It didn't bother her since it was clearly one sided.

Alison stared back at Paige and before their eye contact would be broken by the wall next to the elevators, she gave a smile and a wink with the eye facing Paige. She couldn't be nice all the time.

Authors Note: I hope all of you are doing well. Thanks to being in quarantine I have the time to update and make the chapters a little longer. Be safe guys and even though this kinda sucks you can use this free time to do things that you've never had the chance to before:). Thoughts/Comments appreciated.