Chapter 10

"Hi, could you tell me where I could find Michael Vaughn?" Sydney asked the receptionist when she arrived at the dental surgery. Michael didn't know that she was coming, she had just randomly decided to go and visit him in her lunch hour. She wasn't entirely sure what she was going to say to him when she saw him; she just had the urge to see him.

The receptionist asked for her name before buzzing through to Michael's office to see if he was busy. While Sydney waited she looked around the waiting room, wondering if she had done the right thing stopping by. But before she had a chance to change her mind, the receptionist started talking to her again.

"He's in his office. He told me to tell you to go straight through."

Sydney thanked her and then walked towards the office door. Taking a deep breath, she knocked once on the door and waited until she heard him say come in. She walked into the room with a smile on her face, and noticed Weiss sitting on the couch at the side of the room with a hamburger in one hand and a newspaper in the other.

"Hey." She closed the door behind her and stepped further into the room.

"Hi Sydney. What a pleasant surprise." Michael closed over the file he had been reading and stood up.

"I was just in the neighbourhood so I thought I'd stop by…" She shrugged at him, and laughed nervously. I can't believe I just used the most obvious lie on him. He is so going to know that I've made that up…

"I'm glad you did." He smiled back at her. Weiss sat quietly on the sofa watching the two of them.

"I just wanted to see if you were free Saturday night?"

"Yeah I am. What did you have in mind?"

Sydney had absolutely no idea. On the drive over she had been thinking of ways to ask him out, but she had never actually got around to deciding what they could do.

"I don't know. Maybe we could…"

Weiss cleared his throat and stood up, all the attention now on him. "I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you have Mr Clark's retirement party Saturday. You know he will kill you and probably fire you if you don't go…"

Vaughn sighed and looked down at the floor. "I totally forgot. I'm sorry Syd."

She tried to cover up her disappointment with a smile, but Vaughn could tell that she was just as disappointed as he was. "Hey don't worry about. Some other time maybe."

Weiss folded up his newspaper and walked towards the door. Before he left the room he stopped and turned to face them. "You could always go as his date!" He mused and then left them alone to think about what he had said.

Vaughn looked at the closed door, amazed that Weiss had just practically asked Sydney out on a date for him. The room fell silent, both of them waiting for the other to speak. Finally Vaughn broke the silence.

"So you want to go… with me?" He threw her a lopsided grin, his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah I would, if you don't mind that is…"

Vaughn smiled and walked towards her. He lightly ran his hands up and down her hands causing her to smile. "I'd love for you to be there. I just don't want you to be bored." She looked at him strangely, urging him to continue. "Mr Clark is the President of the Dental Association. He controls most of the dental practices in Los Angeles and he's retiring this week and his party is on Saturday. He's quite an old fashioned kinda guy, so the party is gonna be formal; tuxes and that kinda thing. But there'll be dancing and champagne, lots and lots of champagne." She laughed and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"It doesn't sound that boring. At least I'll get to see you on the dance floor."

Vaughn shook his head, his hands moving to rest on her back. "No, I don't do dancing." He looked at her, his head still moving from side to side.

Sydney pouted and pretended to look hurt. "So if I ask you to dance with me… you'll say no?" She teased, hugging him closer to her.

Vaughn laughed and rolled his eyes. "Well I supposed if you asked, I'd say yes. Only because you're special. But if Weiss asks me to dance, I'll be blaming you." He teased back.

"And why would Weiss be asking you to dance?"

"Let's just say when he's been drinking, he likes to dance." Vaughn grimaced as he remembered all the times that Weiss had asked him to dance. Each time had involved Weiss taking over the entire dance floor with his dance moves, while Vaughn watched from the side of the room.

"I have a solution to that problem…" She smiled at him, and he noticed how her eyes were sparkling.

"And that would be?"

She slowly brought her face closer to his, but stopped just before their lips met. "You can just dance with me all night." Vaughn smiled at her and closed the gap between them, placing his lips lightly on hers.

Sydney was just putting in her ear rings when her doorbell rung. She quickly checked her appearance in the mirror and went to answer the door. Michael was standing on her doorstep wearing a black tux and a single red rose in his hand.

His breath caught in his throat as he laid eyes on her. She was wearing a red, strapless dress that hugged her figure, and her hair was curled slightly and left to fall onto her shoulders. He noticed how she didn't wear much make-up, not that he thought she needed it, her face was just left bare and he knew that she was the most beautiful woman that he had ever seen.

"Wow, Sydney you look amazing." She smiled at him and twirled around in the doorway.

"You're looking pretty hot yourself." She laughed lightly as she grabbed her purse and then they left her apartment.

As they walked down her driveway, Sydney noticed the black limousine that was watching on the side of the road. Vaughn noticed her looking at it and began to explain.

"I thought we'd go there in style." He joked. "I hope you don't mind, we're going with Eric and his date."

"No that's fine." She flashed him a reassuring smile as they climbed into the limo.

"Hey Sydney." Weiss greeted her as she took a seat. "This is Abby." He motioned to the brunette woman who was sitting next to him at the side of the car.

"Hi." Sydney smiled at them both as she took a seat. Michael closed the door behind him and took a seat next to her.

Twenty minutes later they arrived at the ballroom, which had been hired out for the party. Once they were out of the limo, Sydney slipped her arm through Michael's as they walked into the building, with Weiss and Abby closely following behind.

They walked into the room and Sydney felt as if all eyes were on them. At first she dismissed this as paranoia but the more she looked around the room, the more she felt like they were being watched.

"Is it just me, or is everyone looking at us?" She whispered to Michael.

"They're only doing it because you're the most beautiful woman in the world." He lightly kissed the side of her head. Sydney blushed at his comment and a smile crept onto her face. They walked further into the room, and Sydney was thankful to find that the attention was no longer on them; people were now watching the other people entering the room.

"They must be waiting for Mr Clark to arrive." Weiss noted as he walked past them, over to the bar with Abby on his arm.

"Can I get you a drink?" Vaughn asked.

"Yeah, I'll have a glass of champagne." He placed a quick kiss on her lips before walking off into the same direction that Weiss had done seconds before.

Sydney started to wonder around the room, admiring the dresses and jewellery that the women were wearing. They all looked like friendly people, and some people even smiled and said hello as she walked past. She was stood at the side of the room looking around her, when she felt an arm wrap around a waist and a glass of champagne appeared infront of her.

"Thank you." She took the glass off him, and slowly sipped it.

"So you bored yet?" He joked, drinking some champagne.

Sydney laughed and turned to face him. "How could I possibly be bored….you're here!" She winked at him causing him to laugh.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

She nodded. "You should. It may be the only one you get!" She teased and downed the rest of her drink. "Let's dance."

Vaughn's mouth fell open as he looked at the dance floor. "But we only just got here!" He protested, hoping that he could put off dancing for a little longer.

"But there are already people dancing…" She told him. She was right; the dance floor was already full of couples dancing to the slow music that the band was playing. "And besides," she took a step closer to him and whispered in his ear. "I just caught Weiss looking in this direction…I'm pretty sure he's going to ask you to dance." She lied, taking the champagne glass out of his hand, and replacing it with her own hand. She put the glass down on the nearest table and dragged him towards the dance floor.

Sydney placed her hands around his neck, his hands resting on her hips. She smiled at him as they slowly moved in time with the music.

Vaughn glanced over at his friend and saw that he was in deep conversation with Abby. "You made that up about Weiss didn't you." He looked back at Sydney and noticed her cheeks reddening slightly.

"Kinda." She giggled and rested her head on his shoulder.

They continued dancing like this for a couple of songs before Mr Clark arrived in the room. Everyone stopped dancing and began to clap and cheer. He was quite a tall man, with brown hair that was beginning to go grey in some areas. He looked like a friendly enough man, but from what Michael and Eric had said about him on the way over, Sydney knew otherwise.

Mr Clark walked around the room and thanked various people for coming. Vaughn took this opportunity to lead Sydney away from the dance floor and they went to sit with Weiss and Abby.

The four of them started talking, and Weiss was in the middle of a story when Mr Clark walked up to them.

"Dr Weiss and Vaughn. Thank you both for coming!" He smiled at them as he shuck both of their hands.

"Thanks for inviting us. It's a great party." Weiss replied.

He nodded and then focused his attention on the two women at the table. "And these lovely ladies would be?"

Weiss smiled at him as he introduced Abby. "This is my date for the evening, Abby McAdams."

"And this would be…"

"Sydney Bristow." Sydney interrupted him, holding out her hand for Mr Clark to shake. "Michael's girlfriend." She glanced at Michael and smiled, silently hoping that she had just said the right thing. She searched his face for some kind of reaction, and was relieved when he smiled and put his arm around her shoulder.

"How nice." Mr Clark replied and excused himself before walking up to another group of guests.

Weiss and Abby went to dance, leaving Sydney and Vaughn alone at the table. Sydney took another glass of champagne and began to play with the bottom of the glass. "I'm sorry about what I said there, it just kinda slipped out." She continued to look down at the table.

"Hey I'm not complaining. I'd love to have you as my girlfriend." He gently moved her head so that she was facing him. He gave her a smile before leaning forward and kissing her.

After the party ended, the four of them climbed back into the limo. The car pulled to a stop outside Sydney's house. Sydney leaned across the seat to whisper to Vaughn.

"You want to come inside?" She leaned back so that she could see his face. They stared at each other for a couple of seconds and then Vaughn nodded his head.

"Yeah ok." Sydney smiled and grabbed his hand. "Weiss, you guys take the car." He smiled at his friend and followed Sydney out of the car.

She opened the door to find that the apartment was dark and quiet. Francie and Will must have already gone to bed…

She walked into the living room and switched on the lamp. "Can I get you a glass of wine?"

"Yeah sure." She smiled and walked into the kitchen, returning minutes later with two glasses of wine. She handed one to him as she sat beside him on the couch.

"I had a great time tonight Michael. It wasn't as boring as you made out!"

Vaughn laughed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah only because you kept dragging me onto the dance floor." She playfully nudged him in the side and took a sip of her drink. "But I had a really great time too."

She smiled and placed her glass down on the coffee table, taking his off him and doing the same. She turned to face him, her hand slowly moving down his cheek. He leaned forward and kissed her as Sydney removed his tux jacket. The kiss deepened as they fell back onto the couch, and Sydney started to undo his shirt buttons when the living room light was switched on. They both jumped up to see Francie standing in the doorway, her face red with embarrassment.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry." She brought her hand up to her mouth, ashamed that she had just walked in on them. "I came to get a glass of water and the lamp was on…

"It's ok Fran." Sydney reassured her as they got up from the couch. Francie walked into the kitchen feeling bad for what had happened.

"I should get going." Michael picked his jacket and put it back on. Sydney sighed and nodded.

"Ok. I'll call you tomorrow." She kissed him goodnight and showed him out. Once he had left Francie returned from the kitchen, a sad expression on her face.

"Syd I'm really sorry. I feel so bad."

Sydney laughed and gave her friend a hug. "Don't feel bad. It's ok, honestly." She kissed her on the cheek. "I'm going to bed, goodnight!"

She walked towards her bedroom and closed the door. Falling back on the bed, she sighed and closed her eyes. She thought about everything that had happened that night and how the night hadn't exactly ended the way she had planned. She finally found the energy to get changed for bed and she was soon fast asleep.