Rating: PG
Disclaimer: The three characters mentioned in this fanfic belong to J.J. Abrams, Bad Robot Productions and ABC. Everything else is mine.
Sydney screeched into the parking lot and quickly made her way out of the car, remembering to grab the roses she bought for Francie from the passenger seat. Straightening up her hair before she closed the door, she frantically made her way through the hustle and bustle of downtown Los Angeles, heading for the corner.
Reaching the traffic lights, she noticed a young boy hysterically pushing the button. Smiling inwardly, she remembered the countless times she had done so. His mother took his hand away from the button and held it firmly in her own. Syd laughed to herself as she watched the boy try to squirm out of his mother's tight grasp.
Finally, the cars began to subside and the green 'walk' image began to flash. The crowd of people waiting by the sidewalk, who at any other time would have seemed completely out of place as a group, began to walk in unison against the ringing noise of the traffic lights.
She turned left at the corner and made her way into the entrance of Francie's new restaurant. She was almost half an hour late, and although she had been late before she didn't want to take away Francie's excitement of opening up her new restaurant.
Francie's restaurant was to officially open to the public the next day but Will and Sydney had made Francie promise to give them a taste of the delights that her patrons would soon experience. At first Francie was reluctant, saying that she would be too tired to prepare a meal for them.
Will and Sydney had argued with Francie for over an hour a few days ago. Will kept reminding Francie that once her restaurant opened it would be an instant hit, and soon it would be bustling with so many patrons that Francie wouldn't even remember her friends, let alone have time for them. Bribing her with cleaning the restaurant every night for a month, Francie had finally given into Will's coercion and agreed to make a special dinner for them.
Sydney smiled again to herself, thinking of how worried and excited Francie was about opening up her own restaurant. She had turned their kitchen into a testing area, forbidding Will and Syd to take anything from or into the kitchen without Francie's consent. After each dish was prepared she would run around the house shoving food into the mouth of every person she came across. She even tried to entice the neighbours into taste-testing by letting the aroma of her cooking drift from the open window of the kitchen and into the neighbouring properties.
Her mouth watering with thoughts of Francie's culinary delights, Sydney tapped her knuckles against the glass door and tried to peek in through the glass.
Will opened the door and smiled at Sydney.
"You're late!" Will motioned for Sydney to hurry inside.
"I know, I feel awful! Traffic was just…" Shaking her head, Sydney walked in and closed the door behind her, hearing the sounds of the sidewalk fade away. She looked around the restaurant, searching for Francie. "She's gonna kill me, isn't she?"
"Are you kidding me? She was about to send out a search party. Seriously. She was about to make me ring the local hospitals!"
Sydney made her way from the doorway to the counter. "Where is she?"
"Oh, she's in the kitchen, apparently the soup was getting a degree below the acceptable temperature." Will looked outside the window, watching people make their way past the restaurant. He was about to turn to Sydney and say something when Francie made her grand entrance.
"Sydney! You made it!" Francie squealed, running up to Sydney and hugging her before Sydney had a chance to put the flowers on the counter.
"Hey you!" Sydney smiled, kissing Francie's cheek and hugging her back. "I'm sorry I'm late, you know how bad traffic can be."
Francie broke her hug with Sydney and the flowers. "Oh, that's okay, I had Will to keep me company," Francie grinned at Will, who shuddered slightly, trying suppress twenty minutes worth of Francie's worrying.
Noticing the look on Will's face, Sydney smiled, exposing her perfectly shaped dimples.
"Are those for me?" Francie looked at the roses Sydney was still holding.
"Yeah I um… wasn't sure what you would make so I couldn't pick a wine to go with dinner and… I saw these and I just thought they would be perfect," Sydney explained, trying to un-flatten the roses.
"You shouldn't have!" Francie exclaimed, taking the white roses into her hands and smelling them. The intoxicating smell of the white English roses made their way across the air and up towards Francie, who suddenly felt surrounded by a delicate, sweet fragrance. Francie took in a deep breath and remembered one summer she had spent on her uncle's farm. It was the same smell she could feel seeping into her skin. She felt like she was flying high above that farm, floating on a bed of silky white rose petals. "Oh, Syd, they're beautiful."
Will sat on the plush red seat and looked up at the Sydney and Francie. "Are we going to eat any time soon? Francie's incessant complaining about her food has made me really hungry!"
Syd laughed and walked towards the kitchen, thinking she would help Francie set the table.
"Syd? No, no, don't help, I want everything to be perfect. We're sitting in the back room. I'll be over in a minute, I just need to re-toss my penne."
Sydney watched as Francie disappeared towards the kitchen. Will started walking towards the back room and Sydney followed. Pushing aside the plush hanging curtains, Will and Sydney gasped in appreciation at the beauty of the room.
The walls were painted pure white and decorated with photos Will had taken with his black and white camera years ago. Sydney examined one picture of a huge tree and remembered that as the first picnic all three had gone to together. Looking at the picture of that tree she could almost remember the sounds of children laughing as they played catch in the park.
Sydney's gaze made its way to the far end of the room towards a large, ceiling-to-floor window. She realised that although she could see the world outside passers-by were oblivious to what lay beyond what they would perceive as mirrors. She watched as strangers made their way across the window.
"This is amazing!" Will motioned towards the strong oak table, adorned with a white tablecloth. Sydney gasped again as she noticed the place settings, all off-white, complimenting the candles perfectly. The crystal chandelier above them sparkled all the colours of the rainbow and was offset by the light-coloured tiles.
It was then that Sydney realised just how much effort Francie had placed not just on making her restaurant perfect but also on making this night unforgettable for her friends.
"Hey Syd, look at this", Will showed Sydney the placemats Francie had created. Next to Sydney's name was a picture of her as a child. Sydney laughed and looked at Will's placemat, smirking at his 80's-style hair.
"What do you think?" Francie said, walking in and setting the soup in the middle of the table.
"It's perfect," Sydney told her as she took her seat.
Francie poured watercress soup into the three bowls and was about to dip her spoon into the soup when Will stood up and tapped his shiny, stainless steel fork against an empty wine glass.
Sydney quickly grabbed a bottle of wine that was chilling in a bucket and unscrewed it. She poured an equal amount of the deep red liquid into the three wine glasses. Taking her seat, she joined Francie and Will by holding her glass up.
"I wanted to make a toast to Francie, because… well, because you're just so wonderful," Will said, smiling at Francie. Tears began to gather at the corner of Francie's eye.
"Will, you're so sweet, thank you." Francie pretended to play with her hair as she quickly rubbed her left eye of the gathering tears.
Sydney held her glass up higher and looked straight at Francie. "Francie, this dinner is beautiful. You really went all out for this. You're a great friend."
"To Francie!" Will said, and Sydney echoed the sentiment a split second later. They all tasted sweet red wine. A tear ran down Francie's right cheek as she was placing her wine glass on the table, and Sydney leaned on the edge of her seat so she could wiped it away.
"Are you okay?" she asked, looking at Francie in concern.
"I-I-I'm fine", Francie stammered. "I'm just so haa-haa-py". Reaching for the serviette, her hand brushed against the wine glass. The glass wobbled precariously on the white tablecloth.
"Oh, watch out", Will said, scooping up the wine glass.
"It's okay, let me," Francie reached up towards Will. Underestimating the position of his arm she accidentally jabbed him. The wine glass flew out of Will's hand and crashed onto the tiled floor.
"Ah!" Will cried out.
"Did the glass hurt you?" Francie asked in concern, instantly getting up.
"Surprised is all", he said.
Francie walked out of the back room and came back a second later, holding a mop in her right hand and a bucket on her left. Swivelling the mop across the floor in five broad strokes she managed to gather all the shattered pieces of the glass. Sydney scooped up the larger pieces and placed them in a bucket. As Francie left the room to get another glass, Sydney made her way back to her seat.
"You're such a klutz sometimes", Sydney said, smiling at Will. "Does she seem really nervous to you? I feel like I need to hold her hand for the first hour of opening tomorrow, but I've got work."
"She seems really happy though," Will replied. He played with his fork. "I feel bad now."
"Will, it's not your fault."
Francie returned with a new wine glass and sat down. "Sorry guys," she said, motioning for them to have their soup. "I'm just scared, tomorrow's a big step for me."
"Hey, look at me", Syd looked straight into Francie's eyes. "You're amazing, Francie… you succeed at everything you do! Tomorrow will be great."
"Yeah", Will chimed in. "You and Syd are the successful ones. Look at me, couldn't even make the Boy Scouts."
Francie laughed. "Why not?"
"All those lessons freaked me out. What to do if you're being mauled by a bear, lost in the woods, selected to do the vacuuming… just the thought of actually being in that position scared me."
"Vacuuming? You're kidding, right?" Sydney laughed as she took a sip of wine.
"Maybe you should've been a girl scout instead." Francie smiled. "I remember my cousin was a girl scout, and she always gave me the left over cookies." Francie sighed as she reminisced. "I always wanted to redo the batter."
"What about you Syd? Ever go to the girl scouts?" Will looked across the table towards Syd.
"I uh… no, I didn't," Sydney replied, thinking of Project Christmas. She felt a knife twist inside her and tug at her heart as she realised while other kids were avoiding chores and baking cookies she was learning how to thwart interrogation techniques and diffuse bombs.
Francie sighed and looked over at will. "Boy scouts, huh? I think you should've gone to the girl scouts. You would've looked great among all the perfect little girls."
"Hey, hey, hey! Is this about my long hair as a kid again? Francie! You're impossible!" Will's blue eyes sparkled as he laughed in frustration. "Seriously, I would've just poisoned their cookies."
"You can't treat food like that!" Francie burst out, mockingly slapping Will's arm. "Think of all the people who will eat the cookies."
"Now you're just invidious," Will said, sticking his tongue out at Francie.
Sydney laughed and looked over at Francie "hey girl, are you gonna take that attitude?"
Francie stared in mock-shock at Will. "Just what do you think you're doing now! Hiding behind your thesaurus! You're such a kid."
Sydney momentarily looked outside the window and watched people walking. The sun was beginning to set but the sky wasn't a dazzling array of red, orange and yellow. Drowning out the continuing conversation between her two best friends, she looked at the clouds that had gathered across the sky. She could barely hear the crackle thunder, she guessed it was far away. She watched as cars stopped at traffic lights and people proceeded to walk. For a split second it looked like they were coming towards her.
She knew they couldn't see her from outside but it was getting darker now, and Francie's restaurant was brightly lit. She felt as if she was stripped bare, all these people wondering past, walking towards her, looking at the mirrored walls knowing on the other side it was a window, and Sydney wondered for a split second if they could see her. Despite the streetlights she could barely see them now, and the possibility of them seeing her was frightening. She didn't want to be seen, she wanted to have this moment to herself.
"Syd? Ready for the main course?" Francie tapped Sydney's shoulder gently.
"Sure, what are you making?"
"It's a surprise," Francie said, in a look of absolute enthusiasm and child-like glee. "Will, can you help me?"
Will started to make a face at Sydney, mocking Francie, but was stopped short when he realised Francie was glaring at him. He quickly walked out of the room with Francie.
Sydney turned to look at the window again. Rain was slowly sprinkling out of the sky now, and Sydney watched as it gathered in a small puddle on the sidewalk, shimmering under the streetlight.
Taking a deep breath she watched as the rain continued to splatter. She could hear Francie and Will laughing somewhere far away.
Another raindrop fell.
Sydney turned away from the window and got up from her seat. "Let me help you," she said, walking towards the voices of the people she loved most.