A Meeting

Who: Aaron and Lily
Where: The Bistro near the Alexandrian
When: Afternoon

Lily braved the cold wind to head out for lunch that day, needing to get out of the drafty place. Roy had been able to fix the doors of the mens room and she had stayed late and finished repairing most of the books but she just needed a change of scene. So there she was sitting in the small bistro a block away, careful of the white tea dress she wore, little red flowers sprinkled over the fabric. Out of the assortment of dresses she bought the other day, this one was her favorite. She looked at the plain black shoes she wore. If Maya saw her wearing them, she'd have words to say but Lily didn't mind. She felt good. Her hair gently curled around her shoulders and down her back and she noticed the waiter who brought over her coffee kept looking at her. This was new and Lily wasn't entirely sure how she felt about it.

What she did feel was nervous. The older gentleman sitting a few tables away was reading the paper, the headline screaming about the murder of Moira O'Malley, the continuing investigation of the murders around the city. She wasn't going to lie. It scared her, and Charles would be angry with her for not taking a taxi, even if the Bistro was only a little ways away.

Aaron had been to one meeting in the morning, and was on his way to make another report when he decided to stop for lunch. It wasn't something he usually did. Most of the time he went home, but today he was running all over the place. As soon as he walked in the door, he was glad he had. He'd started to walk past the girl, and stopped in his tracks to take a step back and grin at her. No ring, and sitting all alone. Subtlety and discreet looks were for other guys. Like the waiter. That's why he was a waiter with no date.

He turned slightly so the hickey on his neck wouldn't be so visible. "Hello." Her response would help him decide on his plan of attack.

Lily looked away from the glaring headline to look at the man standing by her. He was fairly attractive and well kept looking and he was smiling slightly at her. Lily shifted a little in her seat, her eyes darting to the newspaper and then back at him. "Uh, hi," she said quietly, in her shy and unsure way. She didn't know really what to do but gave him a small smile. "Uhm, c-can I help you?" Lily inwardly cursed her nervous stutter. She'd have to work on that.

She was shy. Aaron's smile widened and turned sweet. "I hope so. I've never been to this place, and was just thinking it would be great if there were someone to have lunch with me and tell me the best things to order." He hesitated for just a beat. "Would you do me the honor, miss...." Leaving it hanging that way should get her to give her name, and after that, things should move along nicely, right into a lunch date, and probably a phone number.

"Um, Lily," she said, still shy and nervous. She wondered if this was what flirting was. "Lily Mayfair. And you are?" Her brown eyes were big with uncertainty and slight bewilderment. This had never happened to her before.

"Aaron Black." He absolutely loved shy girls. This was a girl who would blush. That drove him crazy. He could fall for a girl like that, and on several occasions, he actually had. This could be the last one, or perhaps just the next one to break his heart. Either way, he was all for it. Aaron remained standing for just a moment, and then gestured at the seat across from hers. "May I?"

"Yeah, sure." He seemed harmless enough and she smiled a little more genuinely, telling herself to calm her nerves. This wasn't some psychotic killer come out to kill random girls. Just a nice guy by the name of Aaron. She pushed an errant curl behind her ear, and bit her lip, deciding to take a sip of her coffee, still unsure of what she should say.

Aaron wanted Miss Lily Mayfair anything but calm. He leaned closer on the pretext of having a look at her menu. "So, what's good? What's the best thing they make here?" He wasn't going for aggressive, which is why he focused on the menu and not her for the moment. It was more about being distractingly close in a perfectly innocent way and smelling of old spice. She was the one having dirty thoughts!... or so he hoped. Aaron was also genuinely hungry and couldn't read well enough to know all that was on the menu. He glanced up, careful to bring his gaze all the way to her eyes without pausing elsewhere. Gorgeous big soft brown eyes.

Lily's face was perfectly pink and she was stiff with nervousness at how close he was. And he smelled good too, which... was nice. And then all of a sudden he was looking into her eyes and Lily couldn't speak. She didn't know what to do. Half of her felt frightened, so incredibly, incredibly frightened and wanted to run as far away as she could. The other half was pleased with the attention, the appreciation she was being given. Lily swallowed, unsticking her tongue from the roof of her mouth and carefully took a sip of her coffee. "Their sandwiches are good," she said, her voice surprisingly calm that she shocked herself. "I usually get grilled cheese a-and chicken soup." Damn, that stutter.

His smile never wavered as he took note of the stiffness and the stutter. Aaron really didn't want to scare her. He routinely beat on guys who liked to intimidate women, though he did put a little scare into one now and then, when it suited him. He sat back in his seat to give her some space without breaking eye contact. "That sounds perfect for a cold windy day... My treat, for the favor." Yes. That made it a date. Sort of. He gave her his best boyish sweet grin, just to make the offer irresistable. And to make sure she knew he wasn't going to hurt her. Well... he wasn't going to chop her into bits or anything. One day she might cry and throw things at him. But he was getting ahead of himself. "I insist."

"I really can't let you do that," she said, still blushing. He was so nice. "It's kind of you to offer though." She smiled more warmly at him, pearly teeth and all.

The waiter came over then, the one who'd been watching her off and on earlier. "Are you ready to order, Miss Mayfair?" he asked.

"My usual, please, Bradley. And Aaron...?" She looked over at her new companion.

She was blushing. For him. It was like a drug really, and he wanted more. She probably didn't know what the waiter was doing by speaking to her, and not even looking at him, but he certainly got it.

"I'll have the same, please, Bradley." He tilted his head, in such a way as to better emphasize the hickey on his neck, since the waiter was on that side, and the girl on the other. "Lily sold me on it." The smile he gave the man was slightly challenging, holding none of the sweetness of the one he gave Lily. Of course, when he turned back to her, his expression was as innocent and sweet as an angel's. "Anything else?" When Lily had given her answer, Aaron would turn back to Bradley, "That will be all for now. Thank you, Bradley." That's right you bean pole... make me a sandwich...

Lily gave him a bright, warm smile and looked at Aaron. "He's a sweet boy and he's doing so well for himself. I used to tutor him when he was little." She frowned a little then, feeling old all of a sudden.

Aaron leaned in a little, again, not being aggressive, but speaking confidentially. He lowered his voice, "I think he's got a little crush on you." Destroy the competition. No matter how insignificant. The waiter with his little looks and smiles wouldn't have bothered him in the least had he not spoken directly to the lady and ignored him.

Lily's eyes widened a little and she furtively glanced in the direction Bradley had gone to. "What? No!" she looked back at Aaron, confused and unsure. "Bradley's just a nice boy." How were you supposed to know if someone had a crush on you anyway? It was clear to Aaron that Lily... was unaccustomed to the knowledge of detecting crushes and flirting. "Why would you think something like that?" Aaron was just playing with her. This whole socially interacting with the opposite sex confused her.

"He's a boy. And you're beautiful. Can't really blame him. He keeps looking your way, and when he came over... only had eyes for you and barely noticed I was here." His tone was light. "Be easy on him. It's just a schoolboy crush to us, but to him... he'll meet a girl his own age soon enough and be over it, but he doesn't know that."

Lily's face went from pink to almost red at the seemingly off-handed compliment he gave her and she looked demurely away, occupying herself with her coffee. Her toes curled in her un-stylish black shoes. "I've been told that," she said softly, almost too quiet to hear. Did he mean it? He sounded like he did but now she felt unsure of his intentions. Or was it that since she was dressing differently, she looked nicer?

There was a real blush. It just about made him melt. In that moment, Aaron would have taken on the world for her. He titled his head, trying to meet her eyes with a playful flirty grin. "You should be told that often." Even if she didn't mean the part about being beautiful, that's the part he meant. And if you're easy on the kid, it'll give me hope to be let down easy for my crush."

"You're crush?" Lily asked blankly, confused once more. Did he have a crush on somebody? She frowned at him, a slight, pinched look on her blushing face. She took a sip of her coffee to buy herself some time, then decided then that a change of subjects was called for. "So what do you do for a living, Aaron?". The pinched look vanished and she put a smile on her face, looking at him in innocent curiosity. The idea that he might already have an attraction to her made her confused and uncomfortable but those were the results she wanted, right?

He gave her a hopeful look, and then a slightly pained one when she frowned, but he went with her change of topic easily enough. "I'm in collections." He'd answered that question a time or two, and that way of doing it generally worked better than saying he was in the kneecap business. "And you? What brings you to this part of town?" He wondered about her. She was his age at least, and probably slightly older. Had she been raised in a convent or something? Most girls who were this naive and blushy were still in their teens. It didn't take him long to decide he liked it more from a full grown woman.

"I work at the Alexandrian," she said with a slight smile, grateful that he went with her change of topic without any kind of fuss. "And I do some work at the schools. Busy work, really." Her lack of life bothered her but she didn't share it with Aaron. She kept it simple. She needed a more interesting course of work. Like... secret agent. Or something.

"Alexandrian.... the library?" Library and schools. Like a teacher or something, he guessed. "Beautiful and smart." This compliment wasn't followed by the same playful grin he'd been wearing for most of their time together. It was true, so he simply said it. He knew where to find her, but it was the library. And she was a smart girl. There was a brief conflict between the two heads, and the one that got used more often won. He was definitely going to be looking for her again.

"Uh, yeah. The library." She went beet red again at his compliment. "It's mostly just me there so I'm always there at some kind of hour." Was that something she should've said? She was careful not to let her eyes stray over to the man who was still reading the newspaper. Before she could continue, a different waiter brought over their food and left just as quickly. "I like it though." Sometimes. "It's quiet." Quiet. Of course it was quiet. It was a damn library.

Aaron smiled at the waiter, out of more than just politeness. "Thank you." He dipped his spoon in his soup and stirred it a little as he looked back to her, admiring the fresh blush while it was still there. "Excitement is easy enough to find. It's good to have a place to go that's quiet."

"I suppose," Lily said softly, feeling awkward and unsure of what to do but really, she doubted she'd ever see this man again. As if he'd come looking for her. "Do you have much excitement in collections?" she asked him with a little more energy, taking a bite of her sandwich so she wouldn't have to talk.

He tried his soup as he considered his answer. Had to be careful getting into details of the job. "Some days are more exciting than others. I meet all kinds of people. Get to help them help themselves sometimes." Yeah... he was a real giver like that. "So you tutor kids, huh?" He looked over his shoulder at Bradley, briefly, giving the kid a smile across the room. "Like that little guy there?"

"All school ages," she confirmed. "Help teach kids how to read, work with them on their math and history. Anything really." She took a few mouthfuls of her soup, relaxing a little in her chair. "Mostly it's reading and writing to the younger kids. A lot of parents don't give their children the attention they always need. For the older ones, well..." At that point, the "weakest" had been weeded out. "They need more help with their math and stuff."

"It must take a lot of patience." He didn't think he'd be able to go over things again and again with people. If you broke a guy's fingers one at a time, and he got the lesson, usually. No going over it again because he knew next it was going to be an arm or a leg. It inspired people to do things that they had insisted they were not capable of. He glanced at Bradley again, briefly, and wondered if math could be taught the same way.

Aaron was trying to avoid wolfing the food down the way he had Beth's pancakes. When he was home for lunch, or grabbing a quick meal while working, speed was more important than table manners, and often there wasn't anyone around to be offended anyway. He watched Lily and imitated her pace. "You were right about this soup. It's very good. Next time I come this way, I'll have to come back. If I'm lucky, maybe you'll be around to tell me what to order again." It seemed she was a nervous thing and might faint or something if he outright asked for a date, so arranging to run into her again seemed the best course of action. He knew where to look, so it wouldn't be difficult to go by in a few days.

Lily shrugged. "Everything here is good. You don't need me to tell you what to get." She didn't realize what he was doing, attempting to fish for a date. "I don't usually come in and sit down like this." She didn't. Usually she just picked up her order and went back to work but she was just itching to get out that day anyway. "And next to learning to read, numbers are just one of those things you either grasp quickly or you don't." The curriculum at St. Anne's was harder. That was one of Lily's few clear memories she had before living with her grandmother and so the curriculum at the public schools were just easier.

At first the thought flickered through his mind that he might have been shot down...Nah. "If next time I come around, I ask you to come in and sit down, would you?" Lily wasn't great at catching hints, so he was asking for a date, but not making it specific. He didn't really know when he'd be back around with all that was going on. He did know he wasn't ever going to let this woman know he was one of those who didn't grasp reading very well and didn't get math beyond telling time, counting money and simple addition and subtraction. He couldn't even read the title of the only book he owned. It was a big book. He used it to prop up the window in his room when it got too stuffy. There was more to life than reading big books. Hell, he busted up plenty of pencil neck guys who thought they were smart. Not smart enough to keep from getting their arms busted, were they? That made him feel better. "I might not need you to tell me the best things to order, but I want to sit with you while I eat it, if that's alright with you."

She eyed him almost warily for a moment, trying to judge if he was just pulling her leg and making fun of her, but Aaron sounded incredibly kind and sincere and she found herself nodding. "Okay," she agreed, lips quirking up in a quick smile. "That sounds nice." She didn't blush this time, but she still felt a little nervous, a little out of her depth.

Aaron leaned forward as she kept him waiting for an answer, visibly a little nervous himself. It was only partly feigned. When she finally agreed, he let out his breath and visibly relaxed, a slightly silly boyish grin spreading across his face. "I don't know when I'll be back this way, might be a couple of days or maybe a week or two, but I'll come look for you. We have a date!" He was genuinely pleased with her answer and took too big a bite of his sandwich, eating about a quarter of it at once, without thinking about it.

At the word 'date', Lily did blush. A date? Really? That's what he thought it was? Then... did that mean she had a date with Jesse? But, she reminded herself, that had going horribly wrong and Jesse more likely than not would not show up because she was a raving mad woman. The memory of it made her grimace -- inwardly, for Aaron's sake so he didn't get the wrong idea -- but this was a little different, right? Well, there was no set date or time. This was more of a casual promise. And Lily was much too used to seeing her "street kids" wolf down cookies and hot chocolate to really pay Aaron's bad manners any mind. "I-I guess," she confirmed, a little uncertain and actually a little pleased. She would not have been able to do this a week ago and Lily was a bit proud of herself.

He realized he'd stuffed his mouth, and swallowed in a gulp, which caused a knot in his chest that required half of his drink to wash down. He did manage not to swipe at his mouth with the back of his hand, though. "Well, we sort of have a date. We will when I come around again. And you have to let me pay today. What sort of example would it be to Bradley?" Yeah... think of the children.

Lily looked at him, confused. What did Bradley need an example for. "I can't let you pay for me," she protested. "Really. Maybe next time?" If he wanted to pay for her that much. Men paid on dates. She understood that, but this wasn't a date.

It bothered him. It really did. He never went dutch. Even with girls who were just friends. "Please?" Aaron wasn't going to try more than this last time, because beyond that it would just get creepy, but his ego really didn't like going dutch. And even though Bradley wasn't really a threat, he wanted the kid to see him pay. It was a bit soon to get territorial, or at least most people would think so, but not Aaron.

And it was starting to bother her. Lily wasn't sure if she was taking it the wrong way or not, but, "I feel uncomfortable letting someone I just met buy me things." She said it firmly, letting him know that she didn't appreciate the needling. "I appreciate the offer though, it's nice of you." She gave him a soft smile to try alleviate any sting from her words, but the persistence made her a little wary.

He'd never had much trouble getting women to let him pay for things. Aaron sighed a little, childishly disappointed. "Okay.. next time." He smiled just a little, both in response to her smile and because there would be a next time. "You want dessert?" He perked up more at the thought of sweets, and looked at her hopefully. Maybe she'd let him pay for that, since it was his idea, but he wouldn't ask. It was clearly starting to piss her off. Maybe her convent school had some of those manly women teaching it that said girls were supposed to be independent. Aaron had learned not to discuss that subject with women, because even the ones that didn't really agree with them didn't agree with him either.

Dessert sounded nice but, "I actually have to be getting back to work," she said. "But thanks." She really did have to get back to work and while Aaron was very sweet, she felt uncomfortable around him. Not a lot, but enough that she was hesitant and nervous. She stood up, reaching into her purse for a few bills to pay for her meal and set it on the table. "Next time I'll let you pay for me." Since he seemed so adamant about it. "It was nice meeting you."

"I guess I'm just old fashioned about some things." He gave her a flicker of a smile as he set money next to hers to pay for his own food and cover the tip. Sometimes that old fashioned sense of things and his need to protect and possess just got the better of him. "Would it be too forward of me to ask if I could walk you back?... With all that's going on in the city the past few days..." He gave a significant look to the man who was still reading the paper.

Aaron couldn't read well, but he knew what it said. His tone and posture were less dominant and more concerned than before. He didn't honestly think she was in danger. No more than any other random person in the city, anyway. He did want to spend just another couple of minutes with her, though. And of course, there were bad things happening. It might be a comfort to her to have someone there... maybe. Or maybe he was going to blow it here.

Lily looked at the newspaper as well. He sounded incredibly sincere, he was nice but still there was just something that made her nervous and she didn't know why she was feeling nervous around him. He hadn't done anything that seemed strange to her, but she was still doubtful. "No, I'll be fine. It's only a minute." It really was. "But thanks for the offer." She pulled on her warm red jacket and shouldered her purse. "Have a nice afternoon, Aaron."

Aaron ran a hand through his hair and smiled at her, though he was, again, disappointed. "Next time, maybe." He held the door for her, at least, as she walked out. "You too, Lily. Be careful." When she'd walked away, he glanced back in at Bradley. If he ran across the kid elsewhere, he might toss him in a fountain or a trash can, or maybe just shove him into something. He was frustrated and feeling aggressive and oddly needy. He lit a cigarette, loosened his tie, unbuttoned his shirt and sat on a park bench letting the wind whip his hair around.