Disclaimer: Inception does not belong to me.

Ariadne entered the warehouse warily, looking round. There was no sign of Arthur, and she immediately headed to her desk.

"Ari?"

She jumped. Cobb was standing behind her. "Are you allright?"

"Yes," she muttered, almost defensively. "Shouldn't I be?"

"Well, I-" he fell silent, and turned away. Blinking, she realised that Cobb must already know. She slipped down into her seat, hoping to become immersed in her work before Arthur came in.

The Point Man walked down the sidewalk, his head spinning. He hadn't expected that. He'd expected her to beg, plead...but she'd seemed almost relieved. Relieved that he'd wanted space.

He rubbed his forehead, and checked his watch. He looked up, noticing there was a coffee shop a small walk down the street. He decided he needed to buy some time, before he saw her.

Sighing, he entered. The shop was nearly deserted, but he noticed that the female barista straightened up a little when she saw him. "Morning," she said, neutrally.

He smiled, and leaned forward. "Black Americano, please."

"Oh," she said, suddenly flustered. "Of course."

Arthur leaned back. Suddenly, the day did not seem too bad.

Ariadne chewed refelctively on a pencil as she waited for her most recent designs to load on her Mac. She was thinking about her relationship with Arthur.

Their first date in reality had been a week after the Fischer job. After arriving back in Paris, she'd received a phone call. "Hello?"

"Ariadne? Arthur?"

"Oh!" she'd felt slightly startled. The dinner they'd had together in LA had been wonderful, but after he'd kissed her on the cheek and bade her goodnight, she'd felt she'd never see him again. "Where are you?"

"Outside your apartment."

Slightly stunned, she'd gone to the window. Standing on the sidewalk, smiling, was Arthur. Shocked, she waved.

His voice came through her cellphone. "Going to let me in?"

"Of course," she'd stammered out.

As she'd walked to the door, to buzz in his entrance, she blinked. He hadn't even called to let her know he was in the country. Simply turned up.

She took a step back as he walked in. He looked impeccable, in a light grey suit, and lavender shirt. It was hard to believe he'd spent ten hours in flight. He smiled at her, then frowned.

"What is it?" she asked, slightly taken aback.

"Your couch," he said, shaking his head. "Its jammed right under the window. Its obscuring the light." He looked at her, frowning. "You should put it over there - in front of the book case."

"Oh, but-"

"No, I'm serious." He shook his head. "You're not going to get the most out of this room, otherwise."

"OK." She felt herself being silenced. He smiled, and took her hand. "Let's go for lunch," he said.

She didn't feel she could refuse.

"So, how are you?" she asked, shyly.

He picked up his wine glass. "Oh, busy. Working as usual. But I was in the neighbourhood, and thought I'd drop by." He lowered his voice. "Well, actually I wanted to see you."

She blinked. "Oh?"

"Yes. I couldn't stop thinking about you." He blushed slightly. "You're the best Architect we ever had."

"Oh." Ariadne felt slightly deflated. "So, um, -" she stopped. Any hope she'd nurtured that this attractive, intelligent, and slightly dangerous man had flown to see her was crushed.

He looked at her. "Yes?"

"You see your family in New York?"

"No," he answered, simply.

"Girlfriend?" she blurted out.

"No. It was my wife," Arthur replied, taking a sip of wine.

"Your wife?!" Ariadne almost sqwaked, dropping her fork. Arthur raised an eyebrow. "You sound...surprised."

"Its just-" she swallowed, feeling her face heat up. His wife...he'd never mentioned a wife...but of course, he wouldn't be single...

Arthur reached across the table. The confusion and near misery in her face seemed to touch him. "Ari, I'm sorry. Bad joke..." his voice faltered. "I'm not married, never been married. I just..." he put his wine glass down. "I think I just wanted to see how you'd react."

"How I'd react?" she felt a slight rush of anger. "Meaning?"

"Well, there was the kiss...and then, after we arrived in LA..." his voice faltered. "I thought t first it would be a nice way to end our association. But you were so funny, and so sweet...and I knew I wanted to see you again...but didn't know if you-"

"So you set me up?" her voice was quivering slightly. "Arthur, you-"

"Look, I'm sorry," he said, his voice taking on a slightly hard edge. "But I-"

"No, I'm sorry," she said, beseechingly. "I shouldn't have made a fuss."

He nodded, and leaning over, placed his hand on hers. "Not a problem. But I'm going to be heading back here with the team, and thought maybe we..."

She nodded. "Yes."

His face broke into a smile. "Wonderful."

"Ari?"

She looked up. To her shock, Arthur was standing in front of her. "Morning."

"Arthur!" she blinked. "I-"

"Was asleep?" his voice was slightly mocking.

"No!" she responded, her tone heated. "I was-"

"Well, I stopped off for coffee." His dark eyes swept over her. "Met a girl in the coffee shop."

Ariadne looked up at him, her eyes widening. "What?"

"Yeah. She wants me to take her out tonight."

Arthur turned and walked to his desk, leaving the Architect stricken.

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