From Hatred to Chaos to Love

C H A P T E R - F I V E

It had been three weeks since Alyssa Torres' first date with Julian Black.

The whole date was perfect, Julian was perfect. He seemed to be the perfect man - he was very polite and considerate.

Alyssa had pulled out the most date-like dress that she owned which was a knee-length red dress with slits on the side of the legs that showed her tanned skin and matched it with gold, three-inch heels. Putting on the dress was odd for her - it had been a while since she had gone on a date or worn a dress. She was surprised that she actually had a dress in her closet. She didn't open her closet much further than the tank tops, jeans, and leggings since those were her go-to outfits.

Alyssa had left her hair down, curled it, and applied minimal and barely noticeable makeup.

She had just finished applying her most fragrant perfume when a knock sounded at the apartment door. It was exactly eight p.m. She walked from the bathroom, her heels clicking lightly on the dark brown wood-plank flooring. Pulling open the door, she reveals Julian standing in a black suit, the buttons of the suit jacket undone to show the white button-up shirt.

Julian hands her a bouquet of blue rose and white lily flowers.

"I need to grab my bag and then we can go," Torres says after the two adults greet each other and thanking the man for the flowers.

Julian nods as she leads him into the apartment kitchen, setting the flowers in a vase of water

"Sounds good," Julian smiles as Alyssa sets the flowers in a vase next to the first one. She grabs her golden handbag from the counter and leads the man over to the door.

When she turned around to lock the door, the man took the time to check out the woman.

"You look absolutely stunning, Alyssa," he mutters, causing the woman to turn around and smile at him.

"Thank you, you look very nice yourself," she responds. She hadn't failed to check out the man when she'd opened the door to let him in.

The two head down to the garage level of the apartment, conversing as they went.

Julian opens the passenger door of the car for her and she slides in, allowing him to close it after she gets situated on the seat and pulls her seatbelt on.

A second later, Julian climbs into the driver's seat, starts the car, and pulls out of the concrete garage.

"I saw you leave the apartment around five, where did you go?" the man asks after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

"To get a drink with a colleague, he needed to talk about some personal things that we had in common," Alyssa answers, remembering her conversations with Kelly Severide, the one in her office at Firehouse 90 and the other at the cozy first-responder bar Molly's which was owned by Christopher Herrmann, Brian Zvonecek also known as Otis, and Gabriela Dawson, all members of Firehouse 51.

"Like what?" Julian asks, clearly curious.

"Childhood things, he and I were in the academy together and we learned a lot about each other. His dad is a retired firefighter."

"He?"

"Yes, he. I have male friends, Julian. What are you jealous?" Alyssa teases.

"I mean, I was sort of hoping that I wouldn't have any competition but I think I can handle it," Julian answers with a smirk. He looks over at Alyssa, winking, before turning back and focusing on the road.

"You don't have any competition, trust me," Alyssa laughs. "There are no romantic feelings between Kelly Severide and me. It is purely coworkers. We're not even friends."