Sara was feeling on top of the world as she got into her car to drive back to her apartment. Mary was such a great friend. A year ago when Sara had shared Michael with her, Mary had been great. She never knew how people were going to react when they found out she was THE Michael Scofield's girlfriend. Mary had just listened to her story and didn't judge. At the time, Sara had needed that more than anything.
Over the last year, Mary had listen to her tell about her visits to see Michael at the prison and the Saturday pizza nights at Lincoln's. Sara remembered the long discussion explaining Lincoln and LJ. It had almost taken as much explanation as Michael had. But the fact was they had included her as part of their family. She was important to Michael so she was important to them. She didn't know what she would have done without them while Michael was behind bars. The visits were always too short. His lawyer had managed to negotiate private visitations, however, the guards usually refused to remove his cuffs since he was considered an escape risk. She had cherished those few times when the guards had let his hands free and he had been able to hold her close. She could see why her friend didn't understand about tonight.
When Michael was finally released, Lincoln had helped him find a small apartment not far from where he and LJ were staying. Michael had insisted he needed some time to get back on his feet. It had felt as though he was keeping his distance from her and that had hurt. Although he had kept her in his life and included her in all the family gatherings, he had kept everything casual. He had made no attempts to take their relationship any further than hugs and goodbye kisses at the end of the evening.
It had taken Michael a while to find a job. When he announced at their weekly family gathering three weeks ago that he had finally been offered a job, the simple pizza feast turned into a celebration and had cause Sara to be late for work the next morning.
Then when Michael dropped her off at her apartment last Saturday night he surprised her by asking her to have dinner with him on Friday. She hadn't understood what he meant at first. They usually had dinner together more often than not during the week. When he realized she was confused by his proposal, he had given her one of his shy smiles and reminded her he still owed her that dinner he had promised her in Fox River. She hadn't known what to say. She had almost forgot about that exchange with all they had been through since but Michael, of course, hadn't. She had met his eyes and said "that sounds nice" and he had flashed her a smile that nearly stopped her heart. He had given her a short kiss goodnight and left her at the door.
She knew she was probably over reacting but every night they spent together ended the same. Michael would drop her off at her door, kiss her goodnight, and tell her he loved her. He never asked to come in or turned the kiss into something other than a goodnight. Michael Scofield was a gentleman. It was one of the things she loved about him. But if she had anything to say about it, tonight he would not be going home.
Her thoughts brought a smile again as she drove. Michael never failed to surprise her and maybe after tonight she would surprise him too. After all they had been through together, he was still true to his word and was taking her to dinner. Tonight was the perfect night to move things forward in their relationship. She knew it would sound silly to anyone else but she had been waiting two years for this.