Chapter 3: The Date

Gumshoe trudged down the sidewalk. When the restaurant where Maggey worked came into view, he stopped in his tracks and slumped. It might be worth it to just go home and pretend he forgot about their anniversary.

If only he hadn't told her about the tickets.

It just made so much sense at the time. Why waste all that time in line and spend money on tickets if Maggey had other plans? So he'd called her and asked, and she was so surprised and delighted and had no other plans at all, and best of all, she was ecstatic when he told her they had tickets to see The Only Girl for Me.

Then he actually went to buy the tickets.

And they were all sold out.

He didn't tell her. He didn't have the nerve. Part of him hoped he would wake up the next day and find the tickets magically in his mailbox.

But he didn't, and it was time to go see Maggey and break the news to her. Maybe she would take it well. Maybe her excitement was just an act for his sake. They'd have a good laugh over the whole thing and go do something else.

Who was he kidding? Maggey would hate him for the rest of his life.

He forced himself to walk forward, but he stopped when the restaurant came into view. Those trees and flowers Maggey tended spelled out his doom. And there she was at the entrance, with a huge smile on her face. Waiting for him.

"Hey, pal," he said, without any spirit in his words.

She beamed even brighter. "This is going to be so much fun!"

Her happiness made it even worse. Then again, maybe it was the job that put her in such high spirits. She loved her new work as a gardener, especially since no one suspected her of murder.

Yet. With Maggey, there was always an unspoken "yet."

She saluted him, even though he was off-duty and she didn't work with him anymore. "The Only Girl for Me is supposed to be the funniest comedy of the decade! I can't wait to see if that's true."

"About that…" He shoved his hands into his pockets. "I…" He braced himself. Better just get it over with. "I… I didn't get the tickets, pal." He squeezed his eyes shut.

When no outburst of sadness and anger exploded from Maggey, he opened one eye. Impossibly, she was smiling. He opened the other eye. It was a real smile, not a hallucination. In fact, it was a grin.

Maggey held something up. "Guess what these are, pal!"

His jaw dropped as he stared at the tickets in her hand.

"That's right, we're still going to see The Only Girl for Me."

"But…" He scratched his head. "How'd you get tickets?" He frowned. "Don't tell me you had so little faith in me you bought your own, pal." Never mind that the lack of faith was justified.

She laughed. "No, actually, it was the weirdest thing. I was getting my stuff together after my shift when this couple walked in, and the guy said…" She cleared her throat and deepened her voice. "'If that idiot actually has tickets, do whatever you want with these.' Then he just gave them to me!"

"Wow!" He laughed. "Talk about a miracle!"

"I know, right?" She lowered her voice. "What kind of weirdo would give away tickets to The Only Girl for Me?"

"Someone who just wants to brighten another person's day!" He beamed. There were still good people in the world after all. "Can you point him out for me, pal? I want to shake his hand and tell him how much this means to me!"

"Sure." She led him back inside the restaurant and scanned the tables. She pointed. "There he is."

"Where?"

"Right there!"

It wasn't very crowded in that area of the restaurant, most likely because Prosecutor Blackquill was there. Gumshoe craned his neck. Maybe someone was hiding behind a tree.

Nope, no one behind the tree.

"Where?"

Maggey rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, pal, he's dressed from head to foot in black. How can you not see him?"

He gaped at her and then looked back at Blackquill.

Nope. Not a chance.

"Hey, pal, we're going to miss the play if we don't hurry up!" He grabbed Maggey's arm and dragged her out of the restaurant.

"Wait, what happened to shaking his hand?"

"I'll wait until tomorrow." He laughed. "That way, if I don't have a hand afterwards, I can miss work instead of the show!"

#

Juniper peeked over the top of her menu to watch the couple leave. "That was a wonderful thing you did, Simon."

He smirked. "Oh no, not at all. I've just played a horrible prank on the theater."

She laughed.

"I'm being perfectly serious. We may have doomed the premiere."

It was hard to tell if he was joking or not, so she turned her attention back to the food selection. Warmth rushed through her. She wouldn't punch Thena, after all. Simon was no Apollo, but he'd taken her to a beautiful restaurant instead of a crowded theater and still found a good use for their tickets. She studied him over the top of the menu. As pale as he was, and with his ragged hair and those streaks under his wild eyes and the feather in his mouth, he took some getting used to—a lot of getting used to, actually—but after a while, he stopped looking like a demon. He was actually sort of handsome.

She blushed and averted her gaze. There was no reason to start thinking things like that. One date was fine, but that was it.

There was no way she could concentrate on the menu. She set it down. "I'll just have whatever you're having."

"Suddenly shy, Woods-dono? I thought you would be more at ease here."

His expression was impossible to read, and she shifted in her seat. Not for the first time, she thought about how nice it would be to have Thena's ability. At least it could give her an idea if he was angry, or sad he made her uncomfortable, or just saying things to mess with her.

"It's very nice," she said.

He looked off to the side, and she stared down at the table. Maybe they should have gone to the show. At least there they wouldn't be expected to talk to each other.

But then the detective and the gardener wouldn't have gotten their tickets. They looked so happy together. If only she was on a date with someone she could talk to as easily as those two chatted to each other. They were probably having a wonderful time.

#

Gumshoe was having the worst time of his life.

He propped his chin in his palm and glared at his ticket stub. He got the day off, got a date with Maggey, and got tickets to The Only Girl for Me—and their seats were at opposite ends of the theater.

Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable.

Life just wasn't fair.

He jumped to his feet and stared in the direction of her seat. Great, he couldn't even see her anymore. What was he supposed to do, watch the play alone? It was no fun if he didn't get to be with Maggey.

He slumped in his seat again. Prosecutor Blackquill probably did it on purpose. Some sort of sick joke, no doubt. A guy just couldn't get a break in such a lousy world.

"Hey, excuse me, pal, gotta get through here!"

His head snapped up at the sound of Maggey's voice. She pushed her way through the rows of crowded seats until she reached his row and plopped down in the seat next to his.

"Maggey? What are you doing? I thought your seat was over there."

She clenched her fists. "So what, pal? That's just a number. Besides, if someone comes looking for this seat, I'll just tell them to take mine. What's the difference?"

He grinned. She had a point.

Life was pretty awesome.

#

At 4:30, Athena made her way to the theater, more than a little nervous. It wasn't that she didn't trust Trucy, but the young magician sometimes had an odd perspective on life, and there was no telling who she might think was a good match for her.

But she had to look on the bright side—no matter what her date was like, the play was bound to be excellent.

A few people stood outside of the theater, but they seemed to be a group. They were whispering amongst themselves, something about whether it was worth going into the theater when the unluckiest people in the world were in the audience, whatever that meant.

One person sat alone at a table, so she took a deep breath, strode toward him—and stopped. "Apollo?!"

He jumped up and stared at her with wide eyes. "Athena, what are you doing here?"

Oh, so he didn't know. That was right, he was out when Trucy gave her the ticket, and he seemed so preoccupied later, they decided not to tell him. "Well, I'm supposed to be meeting someone here for a date."

His jaw dropped. "Seriously? You set me up on a blind date with yourself? Wouldn't it have been easier to just ask me?"

"What?" She started to laugh. "Wait, you think that—" She shook her head. "No, I honestly don't know who Trucy paired me with."

He sat back down. "Well, I'm starting to think I'll have to watch the show alone. You did tell my date 4:00, right?"

"Yes." She wrapped her arms around herself. It wasn't like Junie to be so late. If anything, she was usually early. Maybe something happened to her.

"She isn't impatient, is she? I mean, I arrived a few minutes late…"

"No, she's very patient."

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "In that case, clearly she's not coming."

Athena sat down across from him and pulled out her cell phone. "Maybe something came up." She dialed Junie's home phone number and waited.

Nothing.

She bit her lip and looked at her phone in dismay.

"Does she carry a cell phone?" Apollo asked.

"I don't think so."

He frowned. "Well, maybe she just decided she'd rather not come."

"…Maybe."

Junie had to have guessed it was Apollo she'd be meeting. She wouldn't have just changed her mind, and certainly not without saying a word. If something bad happened to her, Athena would never forgive herself.

"You don't really believe that, do you?" Apollo had his hand on his bracelet. "You're afraid something happened to her." He frowned. "Is there anything I can do?"

Do?

Of course. It was stupid to just sit and worry.

Athena jumped up. "She has to be around somewhere! Come on, Apollo, let's go find her!"

#

"All right," Blackquill said, after they ate in silence for a while, "do you have any idea what was going through her mind when she set this up?"

Juniper flinched, but he was only saying exactly what she was thinking. At least he didn't seem angry about it. "I have no idea," she said.

"Never mind. I know."

"What?"

"Nothing."

Juniper frowned at him.

"Nothing was going through her mind." He smacked the table and laughed. "I would hazard a guess she was completely brain-dead at the time."

Even under the circumstances, that was mean. She opened her mouth to tell him so, but coughed and fiddled with the edges of her shawl. No way would she tell the Twisted Samurai he was being a jerk. His gaze burned into her, as if he was waiting for a reaction. Instead, she tried to eat, even though it was hard with him staring like that.

After a moment, he shook his head. "On the other hand, Wright-dono's daughter is a little strange. Perhaps this is her idea of a joke."

"Wait, what?" She set down her fork. "Trucy was involved with this? But it was Thena—Athena," she corrected herself, embarrassed at the thought of using her nickname in conversation with him, "who gave me my ticket."

"Cykes-dono was in on it, too?"

Maybe there were things neither of them knew about Athena, such as her secretly having a horrific sense of humor. No, that wasn't fair. He wasn't that bad.

"Well," Juniper said, "what do we have in common?"

He smirked. "Let's get the obvious out of the way first. We might be the only two people in the city who passed up a chance to see that absurd comedy on its opening night."

"And we both like this restaurant."

The look he gave her was more appraising than anything else. "We also both arrived significantly early."

"And we're both in the legal profession!"

"Hmph. That's right, you plan to be a judge." He narrowed his eyes. "It should be interesting to see how you preside over a trial."

She drew herself up. "I won't let you intimidate me in court."

"Is that a challenge?" He leaned across the table toward her. "Challenge accepted, Woods-dono. I will come to our first trial with a sharpened blade."

"At least you can't call me Your Baldness," she said, although a slight cough disturbed the calm façade she intended to present.

"No, I'll have to come up with a different name for you."

She narrowed her eyes. "What will it be? Something about my cough, right? Your Coughiness? Your Sickness?"

His mouth twitched, and he slapped his hand against the table as he laughed.

Her earlier judgment of his laugh as "evil" was too harsh. There was a wicked glint in his eyes, no doubt from the thought of ruthlessly cutting down a rookie judge, but she found herself wanting to laugh with him in spite of it.

She leaned forward, just as he had done a moment ago. "I'll bring my own blade to court, then."

"You wouldn't dare face me in combat."

Before she'd registered the absurdity of her thoughts, she picked up the knife from beside her plate. "Wouldn't I?"

"Hmph. You look like a child playing at war."

So that was how it was going to be. "We all have to start somewhere." A wild idea entered her mind. One didn't spend years as Hugh's best friend without learning to handle a few insults and respond in kind. "Or…" She held out her knife like a sword. "Are you afraid to face me? Maybe you're—" A cough cut her off, and she got a hold of her crazy thoughts. He was not Hugh, he was the Twisted Samurai, and calling him a coward would be hazardous to her health.

She glanced at his silverware, and another cough escaped her as she imagined the chaos that would ensue if he decided to take her up on her challenge. The thought of Simon Blackquill joining her in a silverware battle was at once hilarious and terrifying.

He followed her gaze. "Not a chance, Woods-dono." He leaned even closer. "But we will duel someday."

His face was about an inch from hers, and her breath hitched. A confusing rush of emotions bombarded her, from nervousness to excitement, and she pulled back. Despite the conversation, he didn't look angry at all. Her heart pounded in her ears and she tried to ignore her quiet hope that he was serious about that duel.

That was a crazy thing to hope for. No sane person would want Blackquill coming after them with a sword. She shivered. Somehow, though, he made her think it would be all right.

Maybe Thena's friendship with him wasn't so inexplicable after all.

"Perhaps we won't have to engage in battle very often," he said. "But if our swords meet, do not back down from me, and never try to conceal the truth."

"It's a deal."

Was—was there a hint of a smile, a genuine smile, on his face? No, it was impossible. Blackquill was many more things than she expected, but he was not a smiley person.

Even so, she couldn't keep her own smile from growing. "That's another thing we have in common, isn't it? We both believe in the truth."

"Yes, we would be having quite a different conversation if you were one of Aristotle Means's pets."

A shudder ran through her, and she shrunk in upon herself. That terrible trial. She didn't want to think about it or Means ever again. Blackquill probably wouldn't understand, so she turned away from him. The view over the restaurant wall calmed her. It was a beautiful evening. The trial was in the past. She was safe, and there was nothing to be afraid of.

Red hair caught her eye, and she frowned. "Is that Thena?"

Blackquill followed her gaze. "It is. And it appears that Justice-dono is chasing her."

Her heart skipped a beat at his name, and again when she saw him. Apollo looked exhausted, but he ran down the street after Thena.

"Maybe they're on a date." Her face heated up. Nothing in the scene outside suggested they were on a date. It was a stupid guess, and she wasn't sure where it had come from. Pain ran through her heart at the thought of Apollo being attracted to Thena, but she also felt inexplicably relieved.

"Objection!" Blackquill slammed the table. "If their date involves him chasing her across the city, I may yet have to cut him down!"

"Apollo wouldn't hurt her," she said, horrified. She hesitated. "I mean, if he did, I would help you, of course."

He snickered. "Justice-dono would get quite a fright if the two of us burst out of here with drawn swords." He smirked. "Or silverware, in your case."

Across the street, Thena stopped and looked around. Apollo caught up to her and huffed for breath. They both scanned the surrounding area.

Juniper ducked and motioned for Blackquill to lower his head as well. "We don't want them to think we're spying! Besides, look at them. They're fine. I don't think we need to attack just yet."

"Hmph." He leaned so he was out of sight. "True. It appears the only real danger is that of Justice-dono suffering cardiac arrest."

"Especially if he sees you glaring at him."

After a few minutes, Thena took off down the sidewalk again. Apollo slumped and then followed at a slower pace.

Juniper giggled and came out of hiding. "What in the world are they doing?"

"Playing some sort of nonsensical game, from the looks of it." Blackquill straightened in his seat. "They can do what they wish, as long as he does not harm Cykes-dono."

She smiled. "There's another similarity between us. We're protective of our friends."

"You are correct." His voice was quiet. "In fact, we both confessed to a murder we didn't commit, to protect someone else."

Her breath caught and she stared at him, shocked. "But I thought you thought I was a fool for my confession!"

He gave her a level look. "Whatever I said or thought at the time doesn't change the fact that I did the exact same thing seven years ago."

"I don't think I could do what you did," she whispered. "I confessed to protect them… I would have taken the conviction to protect them… but I don't think I could have kept it up for seven years, especially if I was to be—" Her throat closed on the last word, and she looked away.

"Executed?" he finished. "Hmph. Well, we both seem to be alive, Woods-dono, so let's not dwell on it."

For the first time, a note of discomfort weaved through his words. A shocking idea occurred to her, and she put her hand over her mouth. Was it possible that Simon Blackquill, calm and unshakable though he seemed, had been scared those last few days before his execution date? Impossible—and yet, she couldn't shake the thought.

He never fought his conviction. She blinked away sudden tears. If he'd been afraid, then what he did for Thena was even nobler.

"Juniper?"

She jumped. Her first name sounded strange in his deep voice. "I-I'm all right." She offered him a weak smile. "Was that another similarity between us, Simon? 'We're both alive'? If it's come to that, maybe we should give up."

"I thought perhaps I offended you by comparing our actions."

That smirk of his was starting to thrills through her. He had better stop it, because she was far too well-grounded to fall for someone over something so silly.

Fall for him? Fall for Blackquill?

Impossible.

"Why would that offend me?" she asked.

"I'm not the best person to be compared to," he said. "I'm sure you wouldn't want to make your courtroom debut with the nickname 'The Twisted Flower Girl.'"

"F-flower Girl?"

He smirked—Juniper's heartbeat raced—and shrugged. "You don't like that one? Perhaps my blade has become dull. Allow me to sharpen it and try again."

She yanked down the brim of her hat to hide her deep blush. He was teasing her.

"My apologies, Juniper. I'm…not very good at this sort of thing."

When no snarky conclusion, arrogant disclaimer, or subtle insult followed his apology, she met his gaze in shock. He was sincere.

"I'd, uh, accept your apology if I knew what you were apologizing for," she said with a laugh.

His expression remained serious. "You became trapped on this date with me, and I freely admit I'm not the most pleasant of company." He glanced away. "Prison changes a man. At times like this, I wish I could still be the Simon Blackquill of seven years ago."

"But I like you this way!" she blurted. Mortified, she covered her mouth. "I mean…" She blushed until she thought she was on fire, but she managed to compose herself. "No, I meant what I said." Impulsively, she reached out and touched his hand. Somehow, she'd imagined his skin would be cold. It wasn't at all. His warmth radiated up through her fingers. "I'm having a good time."

Her sincerity startled even herself. She was having a good time. A good date. With Simon Blackquill. She laughed, and tried to stop in case he thought she was laughing at him, but then she let herself laugh anyway, because he was Simon Blackquill, and he was crazy, and he didn't seem nearly as scary as he did before.

And on his lips, there was definitely the hint of a smile.