"It doesn't seem like a good idea."

Hailey shook her head several times under the light snow while her hand gripped firmly the phone against her ear. Her step was nervous and she couldn't help but snort as she looked at the pub across the street.

"You were fine with it. Why are you doing this now?"

Liz's voice sounded slightly exasperated on the other side of the line and maybe, she wasn't really sure, even amused.

"I'm not seeing a good side in going on a blind date." She hissed.

"It's not really a blind date. You already know his brother."

"No, Liz. You are the one who already knows his brother." She corrected her with anger.

"Yup. And you trust me, so have fun."

Liz interrupted the call leaving her unable to answer her.

Hailey mumbled again as she slipped the phone into a pocket of her coat and dusted off the light snow that seemed to whiten all of Chicago.

It wasn't correct to say that she didn't know Will, she knew him. Just…not so well. She had met him a couple of times when she went out with Liz and her co-workers. He was nice and seemed like a good guy. But, honestly, she wasn't sure she wanted to trust him. And a blind date with his brother was really the last thing she wanted. But Liz had asked her to go - begged her, actually - and Hailey had only accepted because it seemed so important to her friend.

She looked around, now inside the pub, looking for a man she had never seen. She knew he was tall but well, it was really easy to be taller than her - so that wasn't really helping.

Liz had told her that he would recognize her and that didn't really make her relax. She hated not knowing everything. A man, who knows who, maybe at that moment was staring at her - studying her - looking for her weak points and...

"Are you Hailey?"

Her thoughts were interrupted by a man, actually really tall, who was holding out a hand to her with an uncertain smile on his face.

"Sorry, I…Will told me to look for a woman with really, really blonde hair - those were his words and…I'm Jay, anyway."

"Will's brother, yeah." She smiled gently as she reached out on the stool to reach for his outstretched hand.

"I know, I'm late, sorry. I'm never late but I had a problem and…"

"Don't worry. Just arrived." She followed him onto two stools at the corner of the counter and it didn't escape her how his first instinct was to sit down where he could see the door.

"So, can I be honest?" She waited for his nod before continuing, "I'm not exactly a fan of blind dates."

"That makes two of us." He laughed, shaking his head.

"Then why are you here?"

"I can ask you the same, you know."

The tease was quick and…easy, she found herself thinking.

"Yeah, anyway…" He started waving a hand in the air, "Will is…insufferable sometimes. I'm fine, but he doesn't seem to like my way of life. And every now and then I just please him."

Hailey hid the laugh behind her hands.

"My friend knows Will. I'm not sure how it happened but she forced me to go on a blind date and…here I am."

"Well, now you could pretend you're happy to be here." Jay mimicked a hurt expression touching his chest.

"Yeah okay, it could have been worse."

Jay waved a hand with a laugh, "Yeah yeah, I'm pretending to believe you. What would you like to drink?"

"Hmm, a beer. You choose for me."

Jay gives her a lively smile before leaning over the counter to join the bartender.

"So you're a beer girl. I didn't think so."

"Oh, what did you think?"

"Wine girl? You have the face of a wine girl." He nodded confirming his own idea.

"Yeah, no. I'm the 'tonight I want beer and I drink beer' type of girl." She looked at him for a second, "But I have nothing against wine."

"I bet on it."

It seemed too easy to end up in a funny conversation with him. It was just something she hadn't expected.

Blind dates, dating guys - definitely not something she was focusing on at that time in her life. And when Liz had arranged this date for her, Hailey just wanted to get into bed and turn off her phone for days.

But, against all odds, she ended up finding Jay funny and interesting - and him being really handsome, only made her night better.

She was taking their second round of beer from the bartender, when Jay started furiously typing something on the phone. He had looked at his phone several times during the night and she had almost expected him to find an excuse to leave.

"You know, if there's something you need to do, you can go."

"No, it's okay." Jay shook his head and slipped his phone into his jeans pocket.

"I noticed you looking at the phone several times. There's really no problem if you want to leave. Not a fan of blind dates, I remember."

She tried to joke but she had to hide the blush on her cheeks behind the beer.

"I just…I'm on a hard case. But that's not a problem. I'm sorry, I didn't want to disrespect you."

He was sincere - she knew people well enough to understand that he was really sincere.

Or maybe, it was all the fault of his eyes because, honestly, they were really green and she wasn't sure she'd ever seen eyes like that.

Hailey shook her head trying to focus on something other than his eyes, "Case?"

"I thought you already knew. I am a cop."

"Oh, a cop. I should have known."

Jay laughed again, "Oh, really?"

"Eh you know, this whole self-confidence thing."

They looked at each other in silence for a few seconds, before they both burst out laughing.

"No, okay. You chose a corner seat and sat down where you could always see the entrance."

Jay stared at her silently, his eyes closing and opening a couple of times but he stood still the entire time. It was only when she thought she said the wrong thing that he nodded.

"I like being in control, yeah. But you…you are interesting." Jay studied her silently and Hailey held his gaze with ease.

She had learned so many years ago to keep her eyes blank, so she didn't find it that hard.

"Ok, I'm unsure." He looked at her again, "Psychiatrist or psychologist?"

"You already knew." She hissed, "Will told you, admit it."

Jay laughed, laughed out loud. A laugh that moved her more than it should have.

"No, I swear to you. I didn't know! So tell me!"

"Psychologist…" She chewed the word between her teeth, "How did you do it?"

Jay shrugged indifferently, "You've been watching me all night."

"Well, it seems I'm on a date with you."

"Ah, no." He waved a finger in front of her face, "You watched how I gestured, where I put my hands. You waited patiently for me to answer you. And that indifferent face - you didn't fool me for a second."

"You - you know my job…"

She realized she said the wrong thing when she saw the way he stiffened on his stool. She had seen many cops having therapy, so she assumed that he too had to attend. But she didn't know why, there was just something about him that…she was sure there was something else underneath, something else he obviously didn't want to talk about.

"Sorry, I didn't want to…" She reached out to touch his arm, but before she could really touch it he jerked away.

"I have to make a call, sorry. Can you wait a minute?"

He didn't even give her time to nod that he'd already disappeared into the crowd with his coat on and she had nothing else to do but look at the place he'd just left empty.

The more the minutes passed the more she felt stupid.

He could just, maybe, tell her that he would go away. He didn't really need to ditch her like that. She hadn't been so rude and she hadn't insisted on his life so much.

Maybe there was a reason why he was still alone, if Will didn't like his way of life - as he said. Maybe he was unable to share his life with anyone.

He had seemed so sincere all night and now she was feeling twice as stupid as she was at that moment. After nearly twenty minutes sitting alone, she left a bill for the bartender before leaving the pub.

She noted with a hint of joy that the snow still hadn't stopped and, after putting her hat on her ears, she crossed the street.

The snow crunched under her boots with her every step and, like every time, she found the noise incredibly relaxing. Chicago had this magical atmosphere, under the snow, that made her happy every year. She waited for the day of the first snowfall like a child.

"Hailey!"

Faster steps than hers approached her and Jay barred her way with his arms out.

"I'm sorry! I know, I had to make…"

"…a call, you said so." She nodded at him smiling closely, "After twenty minutes I thought you went straight to work."

"I'm sorry, really."

"It's okay, you already said that. Anyway, it's late and I'm working tomorrow, so…" She made a sweeping gesture towards the street before passing him.

"I can drive you home. I parked nearby!"

His words were much faster than the rest of the night, he seemed almost…worried.

"I live two blocks from here. I'm fine walking."

Hailey stopped after a few seconds, missing his footsteps behind her. When she turned, she saw him standing in the middle of the street, his hair already white with snow.

"I'm sorry, Hailey. I'm sincere. I didn't think it would be but…it was a good night. I didn't want to ruin it."

Something passed over his face, just for a second, but long enough for her to notice. He was regret, maybe.

"It's fine. You can take me if you want - but let's walk." She added immediately after starting to walk again.

Hailey smiled into the scarf when another couple of steps began to creak in the snow beside her.

"I actually made a work call." Jay sighed after a few minutes of silence.

"Yeah, I believe you."

"But it lasted less than twenty minutes."

"Believe that too." Hailey laughed at him briefly.

"It's just that…there are things I don't like to talk about."

Hailey slowed in her footsteps and turned slightly towards him, "I'm okay with that. It was supposed to be a good night, nothing demanding."

Jay nodded slowly, the snow was falling in big flakes all around them and the silence was so deep it didn't even feel like they were still in Chicago.

Hailey slowed down in front of her place and, for the first time in a couple hours, a slight nervous began to slide down her spine.

"Well, it was a…"

"…good night, yes." Jay laughed stopping at her alley, "So, I was thinking. I might call you, can I?"

"Call me? So would you like having my number? " Hailey giggled.

"Yeah. I mean, you know, professionally. "

"Oh, professionally."

Jay smiled slowly, brushing snow off his hair, "Maybe not just professionally."

"Maybe not just professionally." Hailey slowly repeated his words, pretending to evaluate his offer, "Yeah, you're right. You know, professionally, you never know."

She fished a business card out of her pocket and slowly handed it to him. His gentle smile was still there and Hailey hold back from rolling her eyes. He was so…damned cute.

Jay looked at the business card between her fingers before reaching out and taking her hand - the little sheet tight in their palms.

"It was nice meeting you."

"Yup."

They looked at each other in silence for a few seconds before they both burst out laughing.

"Okay, this is getting weird." Hailey pulled her hat down over her ears feeling Jay's gaze on her.

It was strange, it was great. It was…new. Jay was something new. Quiet and fun at the same time, he seemed to be something other than what he wanted to make people think of himself.

"Good night, Hailey. I hope to see you again, in one way or another."

His hand was warm in her — it was really warm, despite the cold of that night.

"Good night."

Hailey walked away slowly and when the door closed behind her, she told herself that maybe yes, maybe that blind date hadn't gone so badly.

Hi guys!

I've been working on this for a while now and I'm really excited to you guys read it!

It's something different, yeah. Hailey not a cop is strange to write, but always interesting.

She being a psychologist opens up a number of possibilities which I honestly love to write about.

Talk soon, H :)

My angel, always one-cpd.