Throwing out half of her closet and laying it down on her bed unpleased with anything wasn't like her. This was their second attempt at dinner, the first he had to cancel because of work. The second time he invited her to a 'thing' for work and she couldn't figure out what to wear. Will had called to tell her that she should dress warm and comfortable. So the grey sweater and the jeans with a pair of heeled boots would have been nice. But it was too comfortable for a Town Hall speech that she was going to sit through. She could wear a pair of suit pants, but she wanted to look like an everyday person. Not someone with money.

Her phone rang and she was convinced it was Will canceling so she left it. As she continued to look through her pile of clothes the phone continued to ring. It was starting to get one her nerves. She picked up a black sweater, a black pair of pants that were a cross between jeans and something fancier. She'd wear heels to go with it and a coat for the drop in temperature that she knew was coming. The phone rang a few more times before she leapt over to the side of her bed and picked it up.

"Hello?" She asked, out of breathe. She had to shower and got change.

"Karen?" Grace. "Karen can you hear me?"

"Yes Gracie." She sighed. Karen took the phone with her as she pulled the cord over the pile of clothes and into the bathroom. She slid open her shower door, turned it on, and walked out of the room. The room was going to fill with steam in a few seconds.

"Where did you put the sketches of the bar room from the other day?" She was yelling. No doubt somewhere with really bad reception.

"They're in the top tray on your desk." Karen said. "Grace listen I need to go and get ready for something tonight. Can I call you back later?"

"Yeah yeah."Grace said, yelling loud enough for Karen to pull the phone away from her ear and still capable of hearing her clearly. Karen hung up the phone, shed her clothes, and jumped into the hot shower.

Her hair was curled and being unruly. She didn't like not having some sort of control over it. But when she got out of the shower and saw she had nearly twenty minutes to get to the building and to get dressed she let her hair go, knowing it was going to take that much time if not more to have it dried and straightened. And she picked the grey sweater and dark jeans with heeled boots. She was on time. And it was because there was a car waiting for her .

She was hustled into the speech through the back door and was sat in the front row. Like a celebrity. She hadn't seen Will yet and she doubt she would until he walked out. On her way in she was handed a program that was detailed in what was supposed to happen that night. Dinner didn't seem like it could be involved, but with what she heard from Grace, Will liked to surprise people.

Karen stood outside the same door in which she came in and waited for Will. It was where she was instructed to wait when Will was finished.

"Ma'am do you want your coat from your car?" Karen looked up and nodded. In the time she had from when they stopped to get into the school, she didn't even think about her coat. Being in a room full of warm bodies she never got cold, in fact she had to pull up her sleeves to get cooler. "He should be coming out any second now."

"Thank you," She said taking the coat from the man and slipping into it. "Does he do this often?"

"Making speeches?" Karen nodded. "Yes ma'am."

"You know you don't have to keep calling me ma'am." She informed him, finishing up the buttons.

"It's apart of the job ma'am." He informed her, pressing at his ear. He leaned back and swung open the door where Will appeared at the end of the hallway walking towards her. He looked up and saw Karen standing there looking over her shoulder. She turned towards him with a smile.

Will stepped out into the cold and smiled at Karen, putting a hand on Karen's arm. "You all ready?" Karen nodded. "Hey Rory,"

"Good Evening Sir," The man said. "You're car should be here any minute."

"Thanks Rory," He turned to Karen and smiled. "Did you find everything okay?"

"Yeah." She smiled. "Who is Rory?"

"Security." Will said. "He follows me everywhere I go. Kind of like Secret Service, but he's more of my bodyguard."

"He wasn't at your parent's party."

"He was. He looked like everyone else there." Will pointed out. "He's supposed to melt in with everyone else."

"Yet he's in a suit and tie now."

"To look professional." Karen nodded. The car pulled up and the tired screeched to a halt. "You ready to go?"

The restaurant was some hole in the wall place a little out of the way from Manhattan. She hadn't been there before and from the looks of it she didn't think she would ever eat there. At least from what it looked like outside. But the inside was very cozy and very pretty. Italian red and green. She walked in and was attacked with the smell of garlic. It wasn't too much to make her nauseous just enough to make her want something with garlic.

They were ushered to the back where they were sat in a booth. The lady handed them menus and walked away leaving the two of them to it. Karen flipped open the menu and hid her face behind it. This was why she didn't want to go out on any sort of date with him. She didn't have anything to say to him. The speech he made was boring and she didn't think it flattered him at all. But who was she to say.

"What did you think of the speech?" Will asked, as if reading her mind. She put the menu down, closed it, and thought about it for a second.

"I thought it was good. The language was good." Karen said. She looked at Will through her eyelashes to gauge whether or not he believed her. And from the look he was giving her, he didn't. "It wasn't written by you and I don't know your stand on education, but kids need teachers who teach not teachers who come in and babysit kids. They need someone to actually tell them the reason why two plus two is four and not three or five. And they need someone to tell them that the reason why the sky is blue is because seventy five percent of the world is water and the sun's rays bouncing off the ocean makes the sky blue." She sighed. "What?"

"You're good."

"Good at what?"

"Speaking." Will pointed out. "What did you go to school for?"

"Art History." She said.

"Kids don't like going to school anymore. They go because they have to." Will said. "The teachers are tired of going to work and teaching kids who don't want to learn."

"Its because the teachers that they've come in contact with seem like they don't care. So why should they?" Karen told him. "I liked school. I liked my teachers because they cared. So why not have teachers who really want to teach in schools."

"They don't make nearly enough money for them to care about these kids."

"There are people who spend the time to go to school to become a teacher for nearly nothing. They do it because they want to. They go to schools and teach other kids because they want them to like school as much as they did. They are the ones who should be recognized. Not the opinionated people who have become bored and make barely forty thousand dollars a year for babysitting."

They had argued about education all through dinner, barely having enough time to order their food. Will helped Karen into her coat and guided her outside. The car still hadn't come up to the front yet. Will had seen Rory leave when Will asked for the bill and handed it back to the waiter. This was the longest time they had gone without saying a word to each other. Karen was done arguing. She wanted to go home and she wanted a really hot bath with a lot of bubbles. Frilly and frissy was what she needed.

"Karen look – "Will said placing a hand on her lower back. She turned to him. "It was someone elses's speech and I was just there to recite it. Kids need someone to look up to, to change their life and be proud of what they learn. And they need a reason to go on with their education rather than stopping it completely because they had a baby the second they stepped out of high school."

"Why did you let me go on like that?"

"You're good." He said. "And-" The car pulled up to a stop and Will opened the door allowing Karen in before him again. He was grateful that the car came when it did. He was about to do something he was going to regret and it was too early to regret anything he did. He wanted to spend more time with her. He made a mental note to ask Grace more about her.

They parked in front of a large apartment building. The car door flew open and Will got out and offered his hand. She took it and let it go when she finally had herself together enough to walk up to the front door of the building. She turned and smiled at him. She hadn't noticed how hazel his eyes were. At least under the lights of her apartment.

"Do you want to come in?" Will nodded and Karen opened the door, walking in before her.

Karen guided him to the top level, unlocked her door and slid it open, revealing a wide-open space that was her home. He stepped in to it behind her and closed the door. Everything was spread out but it seemed to work for her. The couch and the living room area was on the other side from the kitchen. It was nice.

"I'm not going to stay but I wanted to do something." Karen tossed her coat down on the couch as she listened to Will. He approached her calmly and reached for her face.

She didn't have enough time to put her hands up to push him away, but the contact with his lips and hers, she wrapped her hands in his coat pulling him close. This was not how she thought the night would end. Not with his hands buried in her hair and she'd like there to be more, but – no. Karen pushed Will away and placed a hand to her mouth. She shook her head and turned Will sighed and backed away towards the door. As she heard the door open and close, Karen couldn't help but smile. She was giddy. And she didn't do giddy.