Wrongful Conviction

Moments Like This

"Lover boy send you some daisies?" He chuckles, but when he goes to take the card, she's quick to stuff it in her pocket and paint on her best smile.

"Yes actually, they are." She cheers, tossing them into her tashcan before she does anything else.

"If they were from your lover boy, why'd you toss 'em?" He asks, brows furrowing together in concern. Giving a shrug, she heads to her room to put on a nice dress for the party.

"I can't tell you who they're from." She coos sarcastically, giving him a run for his own money. He could keep secrets from her, but she on the other hand, she would spill the beans eventually. Doing his best to ignore the itching burn that something is wrong, he follows her as she wisps around her house giving him a tour as she goes through.

"This is my room, I'm gonna change really quick." She giggles as she disappears into the room and quickly dresses into a little black dress and some Lita boots to match. Quickly she applies some light makeup and Peter watches from the hall, chuckling all the while she puts on her makeup.

"You're ready to slay this thing, aren't ya?" He asks, giving her a gentle pat on the back as they begin out the front door. He stops her quickly, before snagging the corner of the paper that pokes out of her purse.

"Give it back!" She nips, grabbing it from him easily, as he let her, and he shut it down. Figuring it was going to be easier than arguing, he would just wait until she told him what it said. The only thing he knew for sure was that it rattled her deep and wounded her. It scared her. Acting quite odd all the way to her office, he watches as she puts on her bravest face and tells him he'd better act kind.

They get to her office and she and Peter make their quiet entrance, but when her super bubbly coworkers see the brute strength and oozing manliness standing next to her, they flock to her; much like seagulls to a piece of bread in a parking lot. Giving a laugh, she pulls Peter along with her to find her boss.

"Aisleigh! Hello, how are you? And you found yourself a real life friend?" He and Aisleigh both chuckle, as she hears the joke, but Peter stands attentive to her; he never leaves her sight or her side the whole time. In another life would've been the fiance, and he would've married her, they would've stayed on the island and made a life for themselves; his heart gives a painful response to his thoughts and he figures he should tell her.

"Hey, afterwards we need to talk. Okay?" He whispers in her ear to keep from everyone hearing him. He is a convicted felon, a prisoner, his life stolen from him by a injustice system. They'd rather blame him than go the extra mile to find who actually did it.

"Oh, you wanna tell me?" She barks, eyeing him with a look he knew too well. He gives a deep chuckle, pulls her close to him and presses a kiss to her temple.

"If you keep it up it'll be a secret forever." He murmurs, giving her a low chuckle and patting her shoulder. "You got a bogie on your six." He whispers, and she lets out a beautiful laugh as her coworker Carolanne starts to approach her.

"Hey! What's the deal with him?" She nods to Peter like he can't hear her, though she couldn't whisper quietly to save her life.

"This it Peter, he's my best friend. We've been friends since we were about ten years old." She smiles, patting his hand. He gives a nod and heads to get her another drink while she and her friend have a moment to talk about him. His eyes are locked on her, watching her talking and listening to her coworker, following her movements and her body language. She begins to get very uncomfortable and he notices immediately.

"Hey, what's up?" He asks, leaning over and rubbing her shoulder with a gentle squeeze. "You okay?" His deep voice rumbles in her ear low and gentle. She nods and gives a sweet smile.

"Carolanne this is Peter. Peter this is Carolanne." She gives him the most hungry look he's ever seen, and takes a seductive step closer to him. Easing them both back, he chuckles softly.

"Look, you seem really nice." He starts, low and gentle. "But this is the only person I can love." He smiles, patting her shoulder. She gives him a shocked look and her mouth goes dry; he never would say things like this. He especially wouldn't say these things in front of a potential 'good time'.

"Oh yeah?" She looks up into his eyes to find only these twinkling amber orbs shining back at her. After another few minutes, everyone gathers around the tables to listen as the manager speaks. Peter's eyes trail to the decorations on the walls, the cream colored drapery that hung on the walls, or the soft lights against the back wall.

"Aisleigh! Come on up here." The man cheers her on as she turns cherry red and plays with the hem of her dress. Peter stands her up and nudges her towards the front of the room. "Aisleigh, you are one of the best employees I have ever had the pleasure of working with, I just wanted to congratulate you on your promotion. I'd like you to take the office right next to mine as Head of Marketing and Web Design of our fine company." She feels the tears well in her eyes as everyone starts to clap for her. She nods in acceptance as she cries happy tears. She never thought she would get the promotion considering Carolanne was much better looking and much more appropriate for the job. As she makes her way back to the table, Peter scoops her up into a hug. Giggles erupt from her as he swings her around, kissing her cheek chastely and nuzzling her face.

"I'm so proud of you." He whispers, gently putting her back on her feet.

As they start to leave her house to head home, she tosses the notecard from the flowers into a city trash before they start back for Waimanalo. Opening her door for her, Peter breathes out very slowly and leans down near her face. His eyes meet hers and his minty breath washes over her face, sending chills down her spine and catching her breath. When he finally stops to think, he realizes he's so close that their shallow breathing is brushing over her lips, and her breath over his. The very ends of their noses make the slightest touch. Shaking his head, he presses his forehead to hers lets out a long breath, eyes closing to rethink what he was about to do. Without a word, he gets in the car and buckles. He wanted so badly to kiss her, to finally kiss her again after so long, like craving nicotine and finally taking a hit of a cigarette. It would feel so good, but he couldn't. It didn't feel right. Not yet.