A/N- I made a few edits to this chapter; some of it seemed sort of rushed to me.

Chapter Six


TWO MONTHS LATER

It was nearing the end of another long day at Almaelou. Rose was tidying up her desk, in a hurry to get home.

"Ms. Alvarez?"

She glanced up; Mr. Peterson was standing in front of her desk, looking unusually anxious (more so than most days, anyway).

"Is there something I can help you with, Mr. Peterson?" she asked, straightening a mess of papers into a pile.

"Will you– I– I was wondering if you'd have dinner with me," he stammered.

"Of course," Rose agreed, without looking up. "What is it you want to talk about?"

Mr. Peterson was taken aback. "I'm not sure I know what you mean..." he said slowly.

Now Rose was confused. She stopped her paper sorting and gave him a look. "At dinner? Don't you mean to be discussing work?"

"Oh! I... well..." Mr. Peterson tugged at his collar and looked away, refusing to meet Rose's eyes. She frowned. Rose couldn't see why he would possibly be so embarrassed about talking business over dinner, unless...

"Mr. Peterson," she said slowly. "Do you mean this to be a... a date?"

There was a long pause; finally his hand dropped to his side and he gave the smallest of nods, as if he were embarrassed by having to admit his intentions to Rose.

Rose didn't know what to think. A date. Albert was asking her on a date. He wanted to spend time with her outside of the office, he...

He was her boss. Handsome as he was, she and Albert still worked together. Did this mean he wanted a relationship? He wanted to date her? It was odd, realizing he saw Rose as more than just his secretary. What if it all goes wrong? Rose thought. What if we date and it turns out we can't stand each other? What if...

"I... I'm sorry," Albert mumbled, interrupting Rose from her thoughts. "I shouldn't have said anything, I–"

He shook his head and started to turn away. Rose acted without thinking; she reached across her desk grabbed Albert's wrist, anything to keep him from walking away. His eyes were back on Rose immediately, and they were wide with shock.

"Ms. Alvarez–"

"I didn't say no," she told him, releasing his wrist. It wouldn't hurt to give it a try, Rose thought. Besides, she didn't even want to think about how heartbroken her shy, soft-spoken boss would be if she had said no; she had already seen how his face fell and his shoulders drooped when she hesitated to answer. She might as well go to dinner with him, at least once. Mary's going to love this...

Albert frowned, still looking uneasy. "But–"

"I would still like to have dinner with you."

That was when the beginnings of a smile appeared on his face. "You would?"

Rose smiled back at him. "Of course, Albert."

She could swear she saw him flinch ever so slightly when she called him by his first name. Rose sighed heavily.

"Is it all right if I call you Albert? At least when we're outside the office?" she added when it looked like he was about to protest.

A long moment passed before he nodded, looking hesitant. "If you really want to, Ms. Alvarez."

Rose just barely succeeded in holding back a groan. She settled for rolling her eyes as she quickly wrote down her address for Albert.

"Here," she said, handing him a scrap of paper. "My address. I can be ready by eight if that works for you."

"I– all right," he stammered. "Eight then?"

Rose gave him a curt nod and then a grin before gathering up her things. "I'll see you tonight, Albert. Eight o'clock." With that, Rose turned on her heel and hurried out the door.