Thank you to all that reviewed- we hit 300! I'm so happy! Ahaa! Yay! I hope you like this chapter, guys. Prepare yourselves for a lot of fluff in the next few chapters before it starts to get interesting ;) Enjoy!
Finishing off my last lesson plan, I quickly tidied up our lunch: dropping the plates in the dishwasher and recycling the cardboard box it came in. Grabbing my stack of lesson plans I moved to my room to file them and get ready. I heard the shower running as I walked past the bathroom- Will had obviously managed to find some male products. Well, at least I presumed he had. I highly doubted he'd want to smell of my distinctly girly 'Soap and Glory' shower gel.
Stacking my papers and slotting them safely away for when I was next in school I opened my wardrobe and tried to decide what outfit I should wear for tonight. The restaurant was fancy, but not too fancy. As in: not jeans and t-shirt, but not The Ritz either. I pawed through my wardrobe carefully deciding that a dress or a skirt seemed like the best and only options. I didn't really own any trousers that weren't jeans, and turning up in my plain black work trousers didn't seem like a very good idea; I didn't want to turn up looking like a frumpy school teacher on the weekend, doing it during the week was bad enough! I was just looking through my collection of skirts when my phone rang. Remembering to check the caller ID before I answered, I was delighted when I saw Sam's name pop up on the screen.
"Hey, Sam! How are you and Elinor?" I asked, pressing my phone to my ear using my shoulder and continuing to look through my skirts.
"Hey, we're good thanks. How are you and Will?"
"I still haven't forgiven you for ringing the Net, you know. And there is no me and Will."
"Your tone says otherwise, which means there definitely is a you and Will." Not finding a skirt that took my fancy, I moved on to looking through my collection of dresses, finally settling on my trusty black dress. It was elegant, yet still sexy: skintight with a see-through lace back.
"Fine: I'm glad you rang the Net and got him to come back, but we're just friends- nothing more." Taking the hanger it was on, I pulled it out of the wardrobe, pretending to wear it whilst looking myself over in the mirror- it would be just the trick.
"We'll see how that one works out. You're powerless against the pull, Lex, believe me. And it's good, real good once you stop being so stubborn and give in."
"Yeah, yeah, we'll see. What's up, anyway?" I asked as I laid the dress on my bed and began to route around for some shoes. I had a pair of strappy high heels that would go perfectly with my dress- I just had to find them.
"Send me an invite to your wedding, won't you?"
"Very funny, Sam." I replied, scrabbling on my hands and knees to search through the bottom of my wardrobe.
"You know it. So, anyway, I was just ringing up to check if-"
"Aha!" I yelled in delight as I found my strappy black heels hidden right at the back of my wardrobe.
"What's the matter?"
"Sorry, I was looking through my wardrobe for some heels, and I just found them. Do continue."
"Right, so I was just wondering if you were still okay for tomorrow?"
"Oh, yeah, definitely! I can't wait to meet her!" I chucked the heels to the foot of my bed and began rummaging around for my stick-on bra. The strapless design of my dress meant that a regular bra was a no-go, so I was forced to wear a rather uncomfortable, backless alternative.
"Great! How about you come over for five, we were thinking that maybe we could have dinner together? We thought maybe we'd make ravioli, if you fancied that?"
"That sounds absolutely delicious, Sam. Yes, definitely, and five is perfect- just send me your address again would you? It's just I lost the piece of paper I wrote it down on last time."
"Yeah, sure. I'll text it over in a minute. See you tomorrow, Lex."
"See you then." I said as I put the phone down, dropping it on the counter as I continued to search through my underwear drawer. Finally finding the bra in question, I quickly stripped, pulling on a pair of clean knickers, and wandering to the mirror to try and stick on my bra. It was usually quite a struggle- who knew a bra required so much work to get on? I'd just managed to get the first sticky pad attached to me when I heard a voice on the other side of my door.
"Hey, Lex I'm ready." I saw the handle on the door twitch as if it were about to be opened, and I lunged for it, pressing my hands across my chest to preserve my modesty.
"Wait, I'm topless- don't come in!" The handle stopped moving as soon as I spoke.
"Sorry! Sorry- I forgot you'd be changing." I leaned against the door, heart still pounding from the near miss.
"Don't worry, it's fine. What's wrong?"
"Oh right, nothing really. I was just thinking, do you want me to take the dog on a walk before we go? I thought he might need another chance to relieve himself since he hasn't been out since after lunch."
"Oh, yes please, Will- that would be fab. I completely forgot that he'd need a walk before we left!"
"I'll take him round the block if that's okay? I just don't want us to be late. We need to leave in half an hour."
"Yeah, that's perfect. I'll put his dinner out for when you get back. Have you got a key?"
"Er, no.."
"Hang on, give me a sec to finish sticking my bra on!"
"Sticking?"
"My dress's back if made of lace; you have to wear a stick-on bra as otherwise your bra straps would be visible." Boys: completely clueless.
"Right.. No, it's okay, don't worry; just tell me where they are."
"There's a little dish on the table by the door. I usually put them in there, and I think I dropped them there on the way in. Failing that, try the dining room table." Mind, they could be anywhere. I was prone to leaving my keys in ridiculous places: the bread basket, the DVD stack, the fruit bowl: any of those were just as likely.
"Okay, I'll have a look." I heard him move away from my door and into the lounge. Sighing in relief, I returned to the mirror to continue sticking on my bra. At least if I had it stuck on I could throw my dressing gown on over the top and be able to help him search for them. Carefully, I managed to stick the second pad in place, meaning my bra was now safely secured.
"Found them. I'll be back in a bit, okay?" Will hollered from the lounge.
"Okay." I replied, hearing the door slam shut as I did so.
I had twenty five minutes to get ready, and so, for that reason, I decided to keep it simple. I wrestled my way into my dress quickly, breathing in as I zipped it up, already regretting having pizza for lunch. Slipping a long, dangly necklace over my head, I moved to my dressing table to begin to get ready. I decided to leave my hair down and loose, sliding a pair of simple diamond studs into my ears, and adding a lashing of mascara and coating of lip gloss to complete the look. Slipping on my shoes, I grabbed a black clutch for my phone and purse to go in and a black blazer to slip over my shoulders in case I got cold, before appraising myself in the mirror, not that there was much I could do- we had to go in ten minutes no matter what I looked like. Precariously, I made my way through to the kitchen to sort out Monty's dinner, wobbling on my far too high heels. I was just laying his dinner down on his mat when I heard the door open. I turned, seeing Monty scurrying towards me, and Will's eyes glued to my bum. I stood slowly, blushing and turning to face him.
"You look gorgeous." He walked towards me.
"So do you." I said, drinking him in. He was wearing a long, sleeved navy shirt and a pair of black trousers: simple, but utterly stunning. "So the stubble's all gone, then?" I asked as he came closer, running my hand along his chin.
"Yeah, all gone."
"It's a pity, I liked it."
"Really? I'll have to remember that next time then." He took my hand in his and brought it up to his face to kiss it gently. "You ready to go, beautiful?"
"Yeah." I replied, grabbing my purse and blazer from the counter. "Good to go handsome." He kissed the shell of my ear and led me out of the door.
XXX
We took Will's car to the restaurant as he said he'd stay off the alcohol, allowing me to have as many cocktails as I'd like and not worry about driving home. I couldn't argue with his logic: a fast car and a pass to drink whatever I wanted. Who would say no to that?
We arrived at the restaurant at twenty past seven, pulling in to the already busy car park, and searching for Rach's car.
"I can't see them." I said after glancing round. "Do you want to go inside and wait there until they arrive?"
"Sounds good." He replied, getting out of the car, and coming round to open my door and help me out. I stumbled a little as he helped me out, landing against his chest.
"Sorry." I whispered, looking up at him.
"Don't be sorry- I like it." He grinned, wrapping his arms around me and drawing me closer. We inched closer together, our lips nearly touching, when-
"Hey, guys! I hope I'm interrupting something." And with that the moment was lost as Rach and Dan appeared just at the wrong time.
"Third time lucky?" Will muttered to me. I squeezed his hand and laughed, remembering our earlier failed kiss.
"Maybe." I replied with a wink, before turning my attention back to Rach and Dan.
"Hey guys!" I said greeting them both with a kiss on the cheek, and introducing them to Will once more, even though Will had already met Rach before. He shook hands with Dan, and we headed inside, Will keeping a hand on my waist. We were still a little early, so we sat on some sofas by the bar whilst we waited for our table with our drinks. Rach and I had gone for a pitcher full of our favourite: 'Sex on the Beach', whilst the guys were both on soft drinks. We were seated a few minutes later in a booth. Rach and I were sat opposite each other, with the our respective partners on our other side.
"So, first a toast to you two." After everyone had sat down. "To your engagement, and the many hours I'll be spending being dragged around bridal boutiques with Rach before she decides which dress she wants." I'd become all to familiar with fussy brides after helping Savannah arrange her wedding. Although every girl says she won't become a bridezilla, I definitely thought otherwise.
"Hey, cheeky! I'll have to find another chief bridesmaid if you carry on!" Rach said jokily, kicking me under the table lightly with her foot as punishment. "But thank you." She raised her glass. "To the future." We all echoed her sentiments, raising our glasses and clinking them together, before looking through the menu. The waitress came to take our orders a few minutes later, her eyes lingering over Will for a tad longer than could be considered courteous.
"Oh, I meant to ask, how was training on Wednesday?"
"Yeah, I didn't make it in the end. It was Dan's birthday, so we celebrated, didn't we, honey?"
"We certainly did, sweetheart!" He replied with a broad grin. I suddenly remembered exactly what Rach had planned for Dan's birthday after our little shopping trip, and tried to change the subject.
"What did you guys do?" Will asked innocently. I put my hand over Rach's mouth before she told him exactly what her and Dan got up to in no uncertain terms. I'd heard far too much about their sexcapades over the years, and I didn't need to hear anymore tonight.
"It's more like who, Will. You really don't want to know. Rach has a habit of oversharing, and you'd need counselling." I told him, looking back at Rach who was grinning innocently. Cautiously, I removed my hand, wary of what was going to come out of her mouth next.
"Let's just say you'll be grateful that I've given Alexis very similar outfits and leave it at that, Will." I groaned at that and Will blushed.
"You are terrible, Rachel!" She cackled at that.
"You can counsel him, Lex. Your degree will come in useful after all!"
"Your degree was in counselling?" Will asked curiously.
"Yeah. Well, I did counselling combined with education and psychology. It comes in handy now. More so with helping people recover after they've come into contact with Rach, than with the kids, mind." She stuck her tongue out at me for that.
"Yeah, yeah, Anderson. Anyway, Will, Alexis said you met at a funeral. How did that work?"
What? Will asked in my head.
She doesn't know I'm a savant, so I had to stick with my back story. I told her we met at my Great-Uncle's funeral, not at the convention.
"Rach, I've already told you about this. Honest, there's not really much to know."
"Yeah, we met at the wake, and haven't looked back since." Will hedged nervously. This truly was the worst back story I'd ever conceived, but it was the only way for me to be allowed the time off school to be able to go.
"Well, it's unique, anyway." She said with a smile.
"Definitely one to tell the grandkids." Dan added with a laugh. "So Will, what do you do?" He asked, thankfully changing the direction of the conversation before we both tripped up on the lie.
Dinner passed extremely quickly: the four of us got along really well together, and my stomach hurt from laughing by the end of it. Will had definitely gotten Rach's seal of approval, especially after she made him recount his heroics from last Sunday- even Dan looked ready to swoon. After Will paid for our half of the dinner and my drinks, despite my aversions, we both bade Rach and Dan farewell and headed off home ourselves. I dozed off for most of the journey, only waking up when we'd arrived and Will was shaking me gently to wake me, before helping me out of the car to my flat.
"You okay if I come and see you tomorrow?" He asked as he walked me to the door. "I've got to go back down to head office tomorrow night for the rest of the week to finish up, so I won't be able to see you otherwise."
"That would be lovely, we could take Monty for a walk in the Peaks or something if you wanted?"
"That sounds great. If I get here for ten would that be okay?"
"That would be perfect."
"Right. I'll see you then, then."
"I'll see you tomorrow, and thank you for tonight."
"You're welcome." We stood there awkwardly for a moment, neither of us sure what to do or say.
"Goodnight then, I'll let you get in."
"Night, Will." I said, turning to let myself in.
"Wait!" I turned to see Will running towards me. "I can't let you go in yet. Third time lucky, remember?" I smiled, knowing exactly what he was referring to.
"Let's see then, shall we?" I asked as he slipped his arms around my waist, and I looped mine around his neck.
"There's no one here to interrupt this time, is there?" He asked me. Our faces were pressed close together- our noses nearly touching.
"I don't care if there is." I replied, bringing our lips together.
It was the perfect ending to our evening, and as I slipped into bed that night with a smile that just wouldn't leave my lips, I couldn't help but wonder if Sam was right. Maybe this whole soulfinder thing wasn't so bad after all.
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