"Kyle, I'm really sorry about this," Rachel said, as she sat next to him in the car.
"It's not your fault," Kyle said, "I'm sorry things went this way, I wanted to share a romantic evening with you."
"You did?" Rachel said.
"Yes," Kyle said, "Dinner at the club, maybe some dancing and you look really beautiful."
"Maybe we could go somewhere else for dinner?" Rachel said.
"Every other place is probably packed and booked by now," Kyle said. Sighing, he continued, "Maybe we should just call it a night."
"I have an idea if you're up for it," Rachel said.
"What's that?" Kyle said.
"Feel like going for a drive?" Rachel said.
"Rachel, where are we?" Kyle said, as she diverted him onto a dirt road.
"Just a little further up here," Rachel said. Kyle drove on, until Rachel said, "Okay, stop here."
Looking around Kyle said, "We're in the middle of nowhere."
"Exactly," Rachel said.
"You lost me," Kyle said.
"Just follow me," Rachel said, getting out of the car.
Kyle met her around the front of the car, as she leaned against the hood. "What's going on?" he said.
"Look up there," Rachel said, pointing to the sky.
Kyle did as he was instructed, his eyes meeting a view he didn't expect. "That's a lot of stars," he said.
"I know," Rachel said, "Isn't it beautiful?"
"It is," Kyle said, taking her in his arms from behind, "The stars aren't the only amazing thing out here tonight."
Rachel smiled and said, "It's so magnificent and peaceful."
"No one to interrupt us or kick us out," Kyle said.
"It's like we're the only two people in the world," Rachel said.
"Works for me," Kyle said.
Rachel slightly laughed as she turned to face him. "We're only missing one thing."
"Which is?" Kyle said, anticipating a kiss.
"Music," Rachel said, "We never had our dance tonight."
Kyle put a finger up as he pulled out his phone. Sifting through his music until he found a slow song. Pressing play, he smiled at her as he took her back into his arms and they danced. It wasn't long before, Rachel rested her head against Kyle's shoulder and he held her closer. They swayed to the music, not a word spoken between them, none were needed. Rachel lifted her head, as Kyle leaned in, they shared their first kiss together. Neither of them realized the music had stopped as Rachel snuggled close to Kyle. After several seconds Kyle said, "Rachel?"
"Um?" she said.
"Where did the stars go?" Kyle said.
Rachel looked up, as rain started to pour down on them.
Taking her hand and grabbing his phone, the two dashed for the car. Kyle was fumbling trying to open the passenger side door, when he stopped.
"Kyle!" Rachel said, in urgency.
"Are you kidding me?" Kyle yelled.
"What's wrong?" Rachel said.
"I locked my keys in the car!" Kyle said.
"Now what?" Rachel said.
Kyle tried the back door and found it unlocked. "Here, get in," he said, ushering her into the car ahead of him. Pulling the door closed, Kyle rested his head against the back seat. They were both soaking wet, as Kyle looked over at her and said, "So, is the romantic night I promised you, or what?"
Rachel couldn't help laughing.
Resting their heads against the back seat, looking at each other, Kyle reached over and linked his hand with Rachel's.
They were both quiet, until Rachel said, "What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking how beautiful you look, even soaking wet," Kyle said.
"Well, that rain drenched look is pretty sexy on you," Rachel said.
"Is it?" Kyle smiled.
"Definitely," Rachel said.
"In that case…" Kyle said, engaging her in another kiss.
"You know," Rachel started, as Kyle continued to kiss her, "We really should…get out of these wet clothes." Kyle whipped his jacket off as Rachel undid the top button of his shirt. Kyle quickly undid the rest, fighting with his wet shirt, that wasn't coming off. Rachel pushed his shirt off, as Kyle stole another kiss and lay her down on the back seat.
"Are you sure no one called to cancel?" Lauren said, as she and Phyllis waited impatiently in Billy's office.
"Just another example of the disarray in this company," Phyllis said.
Billy quickly entered the office, saying, "Ladies, I apologize for the delay. Therefore, not to waste any more time, let's get started."
"I thought Kyle was joining us for this," Lauren said.
"So did I," Billy said.
"Meaning?" Phyllis said.
"I am a little embarrassed to admit it, but not surprised to say, I don't know where Kyle is this morning," Billy said.
"Coming right up," Tessa said, as she dealt with the morning rush at Crimson Lights. Sharon arrived watching Tessa pouring coffee's and filling orders as fast as she could.
"Tessa?" Sharon said, "What's going on?"
"The morning rush," Tessa said, "I don't know why everyone decided they wanted to come here today."
"Well, where's Rachel?" Sharon said, "Isn't she supposed to be working today?"
"That is the question of the day," Tessa said, "Rachel decided not to show up today. I have no idea where she is."
Kyle and Rachel were asleep in each other's arms, in the backseat of Kyle's car. Kyle stirred and opened his eyes, smiling as he realized Rachel was still with him. Kyle closed his eyes again, but quickly opened them, noticing the rain had stopped and it was daylight. He reached for his phone, trying not to wake Rachel. Checking the display and noticing the time, he sighed, "Oh, perfect."
Rachel woke, Kyle smiling at her. "Good morning," he said.
"Morning," Rachel smiled, groggily, "Wait, what time is it?"
"It's late," Kyle said, "We're both late."
"Oh," Rachel said, sitting more upright. Looking at Kyle she said, "Did that really happen last night? Did you and I…?"
"Sure did," Kyle said. Noticing Rachel was quiet, Kyle said, "Are you regretting what we did?"
"No regrets," Rachel said, stretching her arms across Kyle's shoulders and linking her hands behind his neck. "It was really amazing."
"I'm inclined to agree with you," Kyle said, "And as much as I would like to stay here with you all day…doing amazing, we should probably get going."
"You're right," Rachel said, "On the other hand, we're already late."
"True," Kyle said.
"And we're already going to get in trouble for it," Rachel said.
"Unfortunately," Kyle said, "We still should…"
"Do we always do what we should?" Rachel said.
"Not always…" Kyle said, laying her back on the seat again.
"Still no sign of Rachel, I see," Sharon said.
"I'm starting to get worried," Tessa said, "She left here last night on a date. Maybe something bad happened."
"I hope not," Sharon said, "But she would have called if she was really sick and couldn't come in."
"Short handed today?" Billy said, approaching the front counter
"We're getting worried, that Rachel never showed up for work today," Sharon said.
"Well, that would explain it," Billy said.
"What?" Sharon said.
"Kyle never showed up at work today either," Billy said, "The way they have been fascinated with each other lately, I assume they are together right now."
"They had a date last night," Tessa said, "Maybe something did go wrong, if they're both missing."
"I'm sure they are fine," Sharon said, "Maybe they had car trouble."
"All night?" Billy said.
"The has to be a logical explanation," Sharon said.
"Maybe they had an accident, maybe they're on the side of the road somewhere…" Tessa fretted.
"Maybe they're walking in right now hand in hand," Billy said, as they saw Rachel & Kyle arriving.
Entering from the patio, Rachel & Kyle stopped in their tracks when they saw, Sharon, Billy and Tessa watching them.
"The firing squad," Kyle said to Rachel.
"We are so in for it," Rachel said
Giving Rachel's hand a reassuring squeeze, Kyle led her towards the others.
"I ought to fire your ass," Billy said, complete disapproval on his face.
"I'm sorry I'm late," Kyle started.
"Late?" Billy said, "You've practically missed the whole morning. You missed the Fenmore's meeting."
"The one with Lauren and Phyllis?" Kyle said.
"That's the one," Billy said.
"Seriously, I thought that was tomorrow," Kyle said.
"It was, we moved it…." Billy stared.
"We moved it to today," Kyle remembered, "I'm really sorry."
"Rachel what's your excuse?" Sharon said.
"We were together and we lost track of the time," Rachel said.
"I had car trouble," Kyle said.
"We were really worried about you," Tessa said.
"Don't you have a phone?" Billy said, "You can't call someone and say 'we're fine but we got held up and we'll be late'?"
"Sorry," Kyle said, again.
"Furthermore, why are you here and not at the office?" Billy said
"You're here too," Rachel said.
"Unlike the love of your life here," Billy said, gesturing to Kyle, "I was at work all morning."
"I was dropping Rachel off at work," Kyle said.
"You felt the need to walk her inside?" Billy said.
"Not only that," Kyle said, "I wanted to get a coffee and something to eat. I'm famished. We both are."
"We didn't even have anything to eat last night," Rachel said.
"Didn't you go out to dinner?" Tessa said.
"We went," Rachel said, "Then Victoria felt the need to kick us out."
"The restraining order," Billy said.
"Yes, she was having dinner with her lovely parents," Rachel said, "She threatened to call the police if I didn't leave."
"So we left," Kyle said, "Drove around for a while."
"Rachel, you realize how serious you're absence this morning is," Sharon said.
"Sharon, I apologize," Rachel said.
"We were very busy today and I had to cover your shift for you," Sharon said, "I did a lot of work to get you this job, so you could re-enter the community. I have to report to the authorities that you are here and doing your job and not causing any trouble. If I tell them you were absent today, without notice, because you were on a date, you could be in serious trouble."
"Sharon, please don't do that," Rachel said, "I'll stay late, work a double shift."
"If you are going to work for me, I need you here on time, working, not spending time with a boyfriend!" Sharon said.
"It's partly my fault," Kyle said, "We lost track of time."
"I promise it won't happen again," Rachel said.
"You're right, it won't," Sharon said, "Because if it does, I will be forced to notify the authorities because you will be relieved of your duties here."
"Kyle, I hope you can take time out of your busy schedule to come in to the office today," Billy said, "Before you no longer have an office."
"I will be there soon," Kyle said, "And I will stay late to catch up on everything."
"Within the hour," Billy said, leaving the coffeehouse.
"I should get going," Kyle said.
"Yes, I should get to work too," Rachel said.
"Last night was really amazing," she whispered to him.
"Sure was," Kyle said, pulling her into a kiss.
"A-hem," Tessa was beside them. She held an apron out to Rachel.
"I'll see you later," Kyle said, stealing one more kiss on her cheek, before heading to the patio exit.
"Okay, okay," Rachel said, taking the apron from Tessa.
Crossing the patio, Kyle heard someone call his name. Turning around he saw Lola sitting at a table smiling at him.
"Lola," he said, "I didn't see you."
"I know," she said, standing up, "You were lost in your own world."
"What do you mean?" Kyle said, fearing she had seen him with Rachel.
"You must have had something on your mind," Lola said.
"Lots of stuff going on," Kyle said, adding, "At work."
"Don't take this the wrong way," Lola said, "But you look exhausted."
"Yeah, I didn't get much sleep last night," Kyle said, "It was just one of those nights."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Lola said, "I'm glad I ran in to you, I was hoping we could get together tonight."
"I would love to," Kyle said, "But like I said, I'm extra tired. I don't think I'd be very good company. Besides, I have to work late to meet those deadlines."
"Also you might want to check with your other girlfriend," Lola said, "I wouldn't want to mess up your dating schedule."
"What are you talking about?" Kyle said nervously.
"I saw you at the club with her last night," Lola said, "Don't deny it."
"Okay, yes, I was there with her," Kyle said, "We planned to have dinner."
Lola gave a frustrated laugh and said, "Have you been dating other people the whole time you and I have been going out?"
"No, it wasn't like that," Kyle said, "Since Rachel and I live in the same house…"
"You live together?" Lola said, cutting him off.
"Not that way," Kyle said, "She's a friend of the family and she needed a place to stay. She went through a rough time and I thought it would be nice if I took her out to dinner."
"You were both very dressed up for a simple dinner," Lola said.
"Like I said, I thought it would be nice for her," Kyle said. Reaching across the table and taking her hand he said, "You know I want to be with you."
Lola paused, before she said, "You are always good to a friend in need. I apologize if I jumped to the wrong conclusion."
"I can see what you must have thought," Kyle said, trying to cover.
"You left the restaurant rather abruptly last night," Lola said.
"Unfortunately we were asked to," Kyle said, "I'll tell you about it next time I take you out."
"You want to take me out and talk about your date with another woman?" Lola said.
"Point taken," Kyle said, "Are you and I okay?"
"We are," Lola said.
"Good," Kyle smiled, "I hate to do this, but I am about to be fired as it is. I need to get to work."
"You're working too hard," Lola said, "You need to take care of yourself."
"I am," Kyle said, "Can we meet another time?"
"Of course," Lola said. Stepping closer to him, she said, "Until then..." She drew him into a kiss. Afterwards she gave Kyle a smile, which he returned.
"Bye," he said. Kyle left the coffeehouse, glancing back at Rachel and Lola, hoping one would not find out, he was also dating the other.
"You finally made it in," Tessa said, to Rachel.
"I'm sorry, I was late," Rachel said.
"You should be," Tessa said, "I was really worried that something had happened to the two of you."
"I didn't mean to make anyone worry," Rachel said.
"You're forgiven," Tessa smiled, "So, how did your date go anyway?"
"Hard to say," Rachel said.
"What does that mean?" Tessa said, "The way you two walked in here and that kiss he gave you before he left, tells me that things went well."
"Things were great, to low, to amazing," Rachel said.
"Sounds like a story there," Tessa said, "What did happen after Victoria made you two leave the club?"
"You heard what Kyle said," Rachel said, "We drove around for awhile."
"Again, you're holding out on me," Tessa prompted.
Rachel couldn't hide her smile.
"There it is," Tessa said, "Talk."
"After we left the club, we did drive for awhile," Rachel started, "Then we went to this place I told him about. Somewhere, with no distractions and millions of stars. We stood there gazing at them, he held me in his arms and it was breathtaking. Kyle found some soft music and we danced under those stars. That's when he kissed me for the first time."
"Oh, that sounds so romantic," Tessa said.
"It was," Rachel said, "Until the rain started to pour down on us."
"No…" Tessa said.
"Kyle, had locked his keys in the car," Rachel said, "So we were getting drenched when he discovered the back door was not locked, so we jumped into the back seat."
"And then what?" Tessa said.
Rachel shrugged her shoulders, "Not much," Rachel said, "He held my hand and he kissed me a little."
"And that's it?" Tessa said.
"Well, we eventually fell asleep, after we made out for awhile," Rachel said.
"When you say made out you mean…" Tessa said.
"We went all the way," Rachel smiled.
Tessa's mouth dropped open as she stared at Rachel.
"Hello ladies," Mariah said, approaching them, "I'm curious, how was your date?"
"They went all the way," Tessa couldn't help herself from answering.
Mariah looked and Rachel and said, "You mean you and Kyle…" she paused and then exclaimed "Sex?" Mariah's vocal surprise penetrated the room.
Rachel momentarily covered her face as Mariah awkwardly looked around the room. People were looking as she quietly said "Sorry…"
Turning back around Mariah leaned against the counter, briefly resting her forehead in her hands. "Apparently it went well," Mariah said.
"It was really amazing," Rachel gushed, "I feel like Kyle and I are meant to be together."
"I'm happy that things are working out for the two of you," Mariah said.
"Thank you for all your help with the dress and everything," Rachel said.
"My pleasure," Mariah said, "I'll get it back from you later."
"There's just one little problem," Rachel said.
"What problem?" Mariah said.
"The dress…" Rachel started, "We got caught in the rain and it got really wet and it has a little bit of a…rip in it."
"How did it get…" Mariah started, "Never mind. I don't want to know."