When Friday arrived, Alice left the hospital at 5 pm and drove home. All day, in between reports and lab tests, she had thought long and hard about what was appropriate to wear to a cocktail party. She didn't have much that was special occasion wear, but she did have a black dress that nipped in at the waist and sat just off the shoulders. She could wear it with that set of pearls and the earring she had bought herself a few years again. It wasn't as if she had had many occasions to wear them. Also, Alice thought, she could blend into a crowd if she didn't wear anything with a pattern or was too outlandish. Not that she had much of anything in her wardrobe that would fit that description.
Alice had a bath and dried her hair. She applied a small amount of makeup and a pink-red lipstick that was not to garish. She sprayed some perfume, pulled on her dress and realised that she hadn't worn this for so long since she couldn't quite pull the zip up all the way. It was on the back and because the dress fell off the shoulder, the zip was at a funny angle. She couldn't fathom how to get the zip up. The last time she had worn the dress was to a function at the hospital and she had arrived early, found Mattie and asked her to pull it up for her. She didn't have anything else that she was willing to wear so she made the decision that she would have to ask Matthew to complete the task for her, when he arrived.
Alice was just finishing putting her earrings and necklace on when the doorbell rang. Right on time. Alice picked up her small clutch bag, checked that she had her purse and keys and lipstick, and headed to the door. When Alice opened the door, Matthew stood open mouthed: she really was beautiful. The delicate jewellery, her hair neat and freshly washed and her dress. Well, that was a dress he'd be dreaming about for some time to come. When he didn't say anything, Alice became nervous "Matthew? Matthew? Is everything ok? The dress? Would you like me to change?" Matthew stepped across the threshold and took her hand and looked her in the eye when he said "you look beautiful Alice. Truly you do." Alice blushed and asked him to come in for a minute so she could grab her shawl and bag. As she turned around Matthew said "Alice, your zipper?" and he pointed to the back of her dress. "Oh, yes" she said. I couldn't quite get it to the top. Would you mind?" Matthew stepped towards her with a certain amount of trepidation. He reached for the zipper to pull it up and in the process, he briefly touched the skin on her back. He shivered at the feel of her under his fingers, however brief it was. As Matthew pulled the zipper up, Alice felt his finger gently touch her back. She froze for a moment and then felt her face blush at the thoughts that were running through her head. Put them away, she thought to herself. Alice turned around to look at Matthew and said "thank you" and as she did, she could see a blush sweep across his face. She really hoped that he was thinking the same things she was but she didn't want to hope too much. Alice grabbed her shawl and bag just as the taxi peeped it's horn. "Shall we go?" Matthew said. Hesitantly, Alice nodded and just then, Matthew placed his hand on her lower back and said "it's going to be fine.
They arrived at the party in good time and although there were a few awkward glances, no one said a thing to Matthew or to Alice. As promised, they had a few drinks while people came up to Matthew and asked how he was and mentioned the odd police related matter, but generally the evening passed without event. When someone came to speak to Matthew, he introduced Alice as Dr Harvey and explained what she did. He explained that they worked together in some cases and, ever time, he said how vital she was to the investigation. Alice knew he was over-exaggerating but she couldn't help but blush every single time he said it. It hadn't been as bad as she though it would be and as she went to say this to Matthew, her stomach growled so loudly, it was difficult not to hear it; even over the noise of the chatter from the party. Matthew looked at her very red face and said "I think that's a sign we should go and get something to eat!". "I'm so very sorry" Alice said "I was trying to finish everything up so that I could leave on time. I might have skipped lunch." Matthew looked at her and said "Alice, that's not good for you. You are a doctor. You should know that better than anyone." She looked so embarrassed but before she could say anything, Matthew said "come on. I seem to remember offering fish and chips." They said their goodbyes and wandered along in to the town to the fish and chip shop. They took their dinner to the bench opposite the shop and sat in silence as they ate their dinner. "Thanks for coming with me tonight Alice. I hope it wasn't as bad as you thought and I hope we can do it again sometime." Alice looked at Matthew and said "it really wasn't that bad. I almost had fun" and with that, the two of them burst out laughing. They walked back along the road to find a taxi to take them to their respective homes and as they did, they seemed to edge closer to each other. By the time they reached the taxi station, they were so close that their hands were almost touching. Almost. Matthew offered to go wither then back to the Blakes but as Alice pointed out, they were in opposite directions and she would be fine on her own. As she got in the taxi, Alice said "thank you for dinner, I very much enjoyed it" and as he thanked her for joining him, Alice wished he would lean in and kiss her. He didn't, much to Alice's disappointment.
When she arrived home, she thought about the time that she had spent with Matthew, how he had been so kind to her and said such nice things. She felt so comfortable around him, not the same as with Jean and Lucien, but something different that she couldn't quite explain. Jean, Lucien and Matthew had shown Alice a side of life she never thought possible for her. She was awkward and antisocial and could be extremely abrupt sometimes, but for some reason or other, they had brought her into the fold and never seemed to judge her harshly, as others had done in the past. The three of them had turned into such good friends to Alice, and the more she thought about it, the more she came to realise that perhaps Matthew was just being kind; being a friend. He never seemed to want anything more from her. Alice was sad and disappointed at the thought but really, she had three great friends and it would be selfish to want more. Alice got washed and changed into her pyjamas and went to bed.