Chapter 2

It was almost midnight when Claire decided that he and Alex should call it a night. Yes, she was having a good time, but she also missed her daughter and was a little bit tired from all the work that she insisted on doing. Plus she wanted to get up early to do some more work.

"So I guess this is it." Alex said as they were standing in front of Claire's ute.

"Yeah, I guess." she smiled and opened the door.

"Are you sure you want to go alone? I could drive you if you want. That's what a guy is supposed to do on a date anyway." he winked at her.

"Yeah, on a real date." she winked back and got into the car. "Thanks for tonight Alex, you're a great mate."

"You're welcome." he replied and before Claire closed the door, he added. "Oh and by the way..."

"Yeah?"

"You look..." he took a deep breath. "You look beautiful."

Claire didn't know whether to blush or laugh at his comment. She gave him the 'Give it a rest' look, but she did respond "Thank you." and for a second they just kept looking at each other. "Well, it's getting late." she finally broke the uncomfortable silence. "So goodnight."

"Goodnight." he responded and went to get his own car. Claire started the engine, but it took her quite a while until she finally drove away. It sure has been a strange night. Her and Alex on a date. Well not a real date, nevertheless a date. There was definitely something different about the time they spent tonight from what they usually do. Maybe it was the surroundings, the fancy restaurant, the ridiculous in her opinion outfit. She didn't know exactly what it was, but she felt that something weird was happening.

When she pulled up at Drovers she was hoping that everyone was going to be asleep, but of course no such luck. As soon as she entered the house, she saw Tess quietly running down the stairs with an overly excited look on her face.

"Hi mom." Claire sighed. "You didn't have to wait up."

"So, how was it?" Tess asked before Claire even managed to put her purse on the table. She sat at the kitchen table and decided to ignore her sister's question. "Claire?" Tess repeated and sat in front of her.

"Did I tell you that I'm talking to you?" Claire said pretending to be mad at Tess. She still was a little bit, but not to that extent. She did decide to torture her sister a little bit. "Besides what makes you think I will tell you anything?"

"Oh come on Claire." Tess begged. "Please, please, please. Tell me about the guy! Was he handsome? Was he dreamy?"

Suddenly Claire's desire to torture Tess became less and less stronger as she realized that her answered to both questions would be 'yes.' She jerked her head at how ridiculous that was. And of course there was no way she was telling Tess.

"I don't know, but you were the one sleeping with him a while ago, so why don't you tell me!" Claire finally retorted and left Tess puzzled to say the least.

"What?" she asked confused. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about my date. Thanks to your stupid stupid plan I was forced to go on a date with Alex!"

"Alex?" Tess couldn't believe what she was hearing. "As in Alex Ryan?"

"Do we know any other Alexes?"

"I guess not." Tess replied and suddenly burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"It's not funny!" Claire insisted, but Tess couldn't stop laughing. "Stop it!" Claire demanded, but Tess couldn't help it.

"I can't believe I set you up on a date with Alex." she said in between the laughs. "This has got to be one of the weirdest things ever."

"No, that's one of the stupidest things ever." Claire said and suddenly started laughing as well. This really was crazy. Alex Ryan, of all people!

"It just proves that you two are perfect for each other." Claire almost chuckled and sent Tess an 'Are you crazy?' look. "Oh come on." Tess continued. "Of all the guys that you could have met Alex turned out to be your match. Doesn't that say something?"

"Yes, it does. It says that this was a stupid idea and I'm not taking any part in any of your stupid plans anymore." Claire got up and headed towards the stairs. "Goodnight Tess."

"Did you at least have fun?" Tess asked curious. "And didn't Alex get a heart attack when he saw you wearing a dress?" she said jokingly.

"Very funny." Claire meant to sound harsh, but the truth was that she was kind of amused by the whole situation and by this little conversation she was having with Tess. "Like I was saying - goodnight Tess." she said and left the kitchen. Tess caught up with her on the stairs.

"But you will tell me everything in the morning, right?" Tess pleaded.

"There is nothing to tell, Tess." Claire went up the stairs and into her room where Tess followed her. "Alex and I had dinner and now I'm home, end of story. And now excuse me, but I have to change." she put her hands on Tess's back and pushed her out of her room.

"Goodnight Claire." she heard from behind the closed door as she sat on her bed. It has definitely been a strange evening. She hated Tess's online dating idea as it was, but to run into Alex Ryan as her date! She certainly didn't expect it and she didn't know what to think about it. She never imagined herself and Alex in a date scenario. They've known each other for years, they were mates, they've done so many things together. But dating? That's one thing that never occurred to her and it probably never would have if it wasn't for their date tonight. A date that wasn't really a date anyway. So why was she feeling all weird and not herself.

'If I wake up tomorrow and start wondering if he will call me, I'm getting myself checked into a psych ward.' she thought to herself as she began to take off her dress.