Chicago Love ✔️

Chapter 59: Reunited, Together

For the rest of the afternoon, Alex allowed Hailey to focus on her job in continuing to investigate the case. He hung out in the break room, playing games on his phone, glancing out once in a while to admire her as she worked away through the file on her desk.

There was a small period she had to leave to go interview a potential witness, as well as talk with someone that may be able to get them a lead closer to the suspect. It didn't bother Alex one bit as he was comfortable where he was, and was not alone in the district thanks to Kevin and Kim still being there. Now had it been Adam left behind, that may have been nerving given his remarks earlier.

With the day having surprisingly gone by fast, it was time for them all to leave, as Hailey was done what she was going to do for the day. The meeting was set-up with the potential suspect with a fake buy with their lead at 10am, so nobody needed to be at the meeting spot until 15 minutes prior. That meant Hailey had the next 12 hours minimum to enjoy her time with Alex without any issues.

"I know he came this way to spend time with you and you want to enjoy that," Hank had told her as she got ready to leave. "So if I don't necessarily need you tomorrow, I will text you beforehand. We may have enough with us all in-place." 

Part of her wanted to be upset. She always wanted to included with the team. She wanted to be involved in solving the cases and doing the right thing. She wanted to be considered a valuable member of the group and very important person to be there. But him stating they could do it without her made her feel a little unappreciated.

However, the other part of her was excited. How could she argue about getting a chance to spend time with Alex? This is what it was supposed to be about and why he came to see her. It was all about taking advantage of the time he had off to spend together, and for him to get to see where she grew up. If she was working a buy, would that really be happening? 

It also began to open the door for the future in realising this may be what happens down the road very soon with her not being part of Intelligence's work. If they could do this without her, maybe leaving was an okay thing in knowing they would be okay. Perhaps this may be something to let happen and consider how it plays out moving forward.

It wasn't something she was going to let influence her thoughts right now, though. Instead, she wanted to focus on these next 10 hours to start and taking advantage of each of those minutes with the man before her.

She had thought about taking him straight back to her apartment, and allowing the fun to commence that she knew they both wanted upon the reunion together. It would also be a good way to forget about the comments, and doubts that had entered their mind. 

However, instead, she figured it would be nice to allow him to be out on the town with her for a proper return to Chicago. It was why after grabbing some pizza, they made their trip to Molly's to share some drinks together - just like their first night.

"Herman, look whose here...." Gabby comments as she watches Hailey take a seat at one of the tables with Alex across from her. 

She hadn't forgotten about the first night the pair had come in separately, and wound up sharing a bottle of alcohol together. Truth be told, it was one of the rare occurrences of that happening in the bar so it was certainly memorable. She also remembered being skeptical of the conversation, perhaps worrying about Hailey a little in thinking of dangers of a one night stand due to emotional overkill with everything that had happened. It was why she was hoping the pair had returned for the right reasons together.

"The first drink has to be on me," a male voice breaks through, catching Hailey's attention as she couldn't focus on what Gabby and Herman any longer, debating as to the conversation they were to have about the sight before them. Instead, she looks towards the brown-haired husky man standing before them. She couldn't help but smile as Adam set down a pair of beers before them. "I was a total asshole at the district for that comment, and I'm sorry. I see Hailey as a little sister, and I was trying to look out for her in being worried about a potential fuck up here. I wanted to make sure the intentions were for the right reason, as I didn't want to see her get hurt again. That's why I said the comment in making sure her intentions were right in what she was doing. I didn't mean to be offensive or a jackass. I still don't know whether you're the right fit for her, and I'm sure that won't come until we make sure all the intentions are for the right reasons. But I shouldn't have been blunt about that and given you a chance." 

"Apology accepted," was all Alex said as he popped the top off the bottle and took a sip of the liquid. Perhaps he was focused on the drink in hopes it would erase everything that had re-entered his mind. He had forgotten about the doubts and such since the conversations with Erin and Hailey. This was supposed to be a fun night out. Why was he back to thinking about this again? 

"So when am I bringing the bottle over for you to split?" Gabby asks as she is the next to make their way over to their table after her conference with Herman about the sight before her initially. Hailey couldn't help but chuckle in remembering how that came about that night, as well as the initial puke at the condo and what it led to. It obviously ended off on a great note and had grown even better from there. Did she want to repeat her experiences again? 

"I think we'll pass tonight as we're taking it easy," Hailey confesses, earning a nod of approval from the bartender. Though the glances between Hailey and Alex weren't lost on Gabby as she stood there. The chemistry was not lost on her, as the bottle had been the magic trick that night.