Emily
Emily was sitting at her desk, waiting for the upcoming photoshoot later in the day. It was extremely last minute, but she was excited knowing the celebrity coming in. Because of connections Hannah got Kim Petras to come in to be interviewed and photographed.
Another thing Gems specialized in was supporting LGBT artists and entertainers, which was a plus for Emily.
"Knock Knock." Caesar said while knocking on the side of the door.
Emily smiled at her unexpected guest. "Caesar! What brings you here?"
"It's time I take you up on us hanging out more outside of Gems. And with that being said…"
Caesar reached in his pocket, pulling out a somewhat crumpled rectangular piece of paper that resembled a coupon.
"I have a couples coupon for the bowling alley near the pier on 12th avenue."
Emily lightly snorted, holding in a laugh.
"That's great for you and Matt but you know I don't have a… partner."
Caesar furrowed his eyebrows and pouted his lips.
"Soo what are you calling this one over here?" He said sarcastically, tilting his head in the direction of the office next to them.
"Well she's… umm…. I would say she's-"
"Oh hush, sweetie." He said trying to forget how hard it was watching Emily try to explain.
"Let me give you a hand" he whispered, while backing away.
Without any time to react, Emily had already heard Caesar call out Alison's name. He walked back into her office with Alison trailing a few seconds behind.
"Hello. I'm Caesar, nice to meet you.", reaching a hand out for Alison to shake.
She shook his hand, "Hey, I'm Alison...but you already knew that."
Caesar looked at Emily mouthing the words "I like her already". Emily stretched her eyes at him and was glad to see that Alison was looking at her, so she couldn't see what he said.
"Any plans for tonight?" Caesar questioned, leaning on the side of the wall.
Alison shook her head side to side, patiently waiting to find out why she was there.
"I have a couples coupon for bowling tonight and I invited Emily and…" Caesar gestured to Emily, forcing her to finish the sentence.
Both of them were facing Emily, who was now feeling smaller the more their eyes pierced into her.
"And I...we.." She said using her pointer finger to shift between her and Caesar, "we wanted to know if you could..attend?"
Alison smiled, followed by her pointer finger and thumb pulling her chin while looking up in thought.
"Question."
From Alison's facial expression, Emily knew it would be something clever or slick.
"Yes."
"Are we a couple for the couples coupon or a couple without the coupon or something else?" Alison asked, smirking, bothering Emily just for the fun of it.
Emily wasn't prepared to hear that, but she didn't want Alison to have her too flustered, especially in front of Caesar, who looked more interested in the answer than Alison.
"Do you want to go or not?" Emily tried to keep a straight face but her cheek bones were rising.
"Love to." She responded slowly, opening and closing her hand as a fancy goodbye. She left the room with Emily and Caesar in silence.
"Okay. I really like her" Caesar said laughing.
"You can have her." Emily said jokingly.
"No way. First, Matt would kill me. Second, I don't swing that way. And third, that's allll you hun."
Emily rolled her eyes. "Bye Caesar," shooing him away.
"You are very welcome and see you later!", he teased, bowing his head and exiting the room.
Emily sighed deeply. How do I do it? She thought to herself.
Alison
Emily, Caesar, and Alison were getting off the elevator, walking toward the exit. As they left the Gems building, Caesar stopped in front of a man on the side of the building.
"Hey Matt," he said, pecking his lips and turning to Alison and Emily to introduce the man next to him.
"This is my husband, Matt. Matt this is Emily and Alison." He gestured to the both of them. Matt was very handsome. He had caramel skin with green eyes and a warm smile. He was taller than Caesar by at least 2 inches and wore a light blue button up shirt with jeans and dress shoes. It was a questionable fashion statement in Alison's eyes but she ignored it.
They greeted each other and began walking to the bowling alley in pairs.
"How did the shoot with Kim Petras go?" Alison asked to start a conversation.
"It went really good! She was so sweet and we got to talk after the shoot. Ugh! She is so pretty and talented and underrated."
"I'm glad to hear it went well. I see you're a fan, so it's good you had a nice experience. Plus, you weren't the only one who met someone who's pretty and talented... Kim did too." Alison gushed while lightly nudging Emily's arm.
"Aww. Thanks Alison." Emily smiled looking straight into Alison's eyes, causing the butterflies in her stomach to flutter.
"It's the truth and.. you can call me Ali."
Emily nodded. "You can call me Em, too. And Ali?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't think being so nice is going to stop me from beating you badly in bowling."
Alison started laughing. "Oh please, if anything I'm being nice so when you eat my dust it'll hurt less."
Emily giggled, "Wanna bet?"
"You know I love a challenge."
Emily walked in thought. And after a while her face lit up.
"Okay, I got it. The loser has to plan a mystery date."
"Sounds good to me. It's on." They shook hands and continued to walk.
When they arrived at the bowling alley, it was fairly crowded and the majority of the lanes were being used. Caesar led them to the counter and they split the cost of the games. Thanks to the coupon it was 50% off. They got their shoes and settled down in the seating area in front of their lane.
"Ladies, just a heads up." Caesar said, getting their attention.
"Matt has been attending bowling tournaments since the age of twenty-one. With that being said he will be winning the game, so it's a fight for second place.
The two women laughed.
"Noted" Emily said smiling.
They were in the eighth frame and Matt had already hit triple digits for his score. Second place went to Alison with about a thirty point gap between them, followed by Emily then Caesar.
"Feeling nervous, Fields?" Alison asked, taking advantage of her twelve point lead.
"Not at all. The game is not over yet."
For the eighth and ninth frame they both had spares. The point difference had remained the same and it was now Alison's turn for the final frame. She took a deep breath and aimed for the middle to the best of her ability. After she rolled, there was one pin standing in the middle of the alley.
They all clapped for her but Alison could see the sneaky grin on Emily's face. It was truly just them going against each other since Matt was obviously going to win and Caesar had too many drinks to actually apply himself. They both knew if Alison missed the pin, Emily would have a chance to beat her.
When her ball came back onto the rack, she took it and stared at the pin. After a deep exhale she went for it and the bowling ball was headed toward the pin. Alison froze, hoping it would stay straight but she could see the direction of the ball heading to the left. The bowling ball reached the end of the alley missing the pin by at least two inches.
Alison sucked her teeth and began walking back to the seats.
"Aww. You're feeling nervous DiLaurentis?" Emily asked with a disingenuous look of concern.
Alison shrugged and Emily chuckled. She grabbed her ball and stood in place for a few seconds. After a while she swiftly rolled the ball and it made its way down. When the first pin was hit, it was a complete domino effect and all pins were knocked down. Emily jumped up and down and Caesar ran to her to celebrate alongside her. Alison's mouth was slightly opened, but she quickly closed it and gave a look of approval and clapped.
When the game was over, Emily had a six point lead over Alison. Emily was soaking in her victory.
"Wait didn't you say I was going to eat your dust because it's feeling like the opposite way right now?" Emily said smiling.
"Whatever, you've won this one. But, I also won too."
Emily's face filled with confusion, "And how is that?"
"Because this means I get to take you out."
"Smooth. Real smooth." She punched Alison lightly on the arm.
"Thank you. Thank you."
A few minutes later they were all in front of the building, saying their goodbyes.
Caesar was leaning on Matt's shoulder with his eyes closed.
I'm going to take this one home. You ladies get home safely!" Matt said while helping Caesar into the taxi.
"Bye girls!" Caesar yelled to the both of them.
They both waved and said goodbye before the taxi door closed and drove off.
Both of their cars were parked near Gems so they started walking back.
They exchanged words here and there but the silence was never awkward. Alison was holding back, but she wanted to ask Emily for her hand to hold on the way back. Her previous uses for PDA only were for showing off or proving a point, but she only wanted to be closer to Emily. Her feelings for her were increasing by the day and she wanted Emily to know she wasn't the Alison she first met.
She took a breath and looked at Emily, "May I?" She asked, holding out her hand.
Emily looked at her hand. She had a surprised expression for a split second but she put her hand in Alison's shortly after.
"Of course."
They reached Emily's car first and Alison waited until she got in the car. When Emily turned on the car, she rolled down the passenger side window.
"Text me when you get home."
"Will do. Goodnight Em."
"Goodnight Ali."
Emily drove off and Ali walked down the block brainstorming ideas for the mystery date for her.