Would You Rather...

Chapter Three

Alice had left around three. She had attempted to help him pick the plates and glasses scattered around his place, the bits of trash and self serve food area he had had set up in the dining room, but every time she bent forward to pick something up he had found himself distracted from his own task and eventually dragged her to his couch. Now he was left to do most of the cleaning by himself, but he wasn't really in a position to complain considering how his morning had gone.

He had had the party catered the first year, not a sit down meal, just waiters carrying around trays of food. It ended up being unnecessary and expensive. In the years since, he paid to have a buffet style snack table set up and a bartender to manage the drinks. The bartender also restocked the food between serving drinks and had done a pretty efficient job. Rafael had made a note of his name to request him again next year if he happened to still be working for the same company. As he examined his homes small built in bar, he decided the ridiculously large tip he had given the bartender at the end of his shift had been completely worth it. Everything had been organized and stored in its proper place, left over bottles neatly arranged under the counter, and every surface wiped clean. The only thing left for him to put away was the small amount of booze the bartender had left out for the few guest that remained when he left, and even that had been moved to the food table to keep the bar orderly.

Normally he would have saved some of the left over food at the end of the night, storing it in Tupperware containers for lazy dinners over the next few days, but since he had been otherwise occupied and the food had ended up sitting out all night he felt it best to throw it away instead. Tonights dinner wouldn't be leftovers anyway.

It was five when he made his way back to his bedroom to shower and change for his date with Alice. Rafael smiled as he pulled his dress shirt from the edge of the bed where she had tossed it after changing back into her dress. It had been a long time since he had been this enamored by a woman he had just met.

He was quietly reading in his office when she knocked on his door. He forced himself to walk slowly as to not seem too eager and glanced through the peephole quickly before opening the door.

"I'm early, I'm sorry, it's an annoying high strung quirk I've developed over the years." Alice said as she walked into his apartment. "I see you finished cleaning once your were no longer distracted."

She was smiling and he couldn't help but smile back, enjoying the fact that he still felt the same nervous energy as before. "I rather enjoyed my distraction."

"I enjoyed being your distraction."

She wasn't in a dress like the last night, instead she wore black pants and a red blouse that was dressy without being too formal. It was perfect since the place he had decided to take her to wasn't exactly casual, but allowed him to get away with wearing a button up with a darker pair of jeans.

"Are you ready to actually go on our date?"

"More than ready." She smiled, taking his hand in hers.

Rafael tugged her closer and kissed her, his hand tangling in her hair as he did. "We should probably go." He breathed, pressing his forehead to hers.

"Are you afraid you'll drag me back to your bedroom if we don't?"

"Yes." He smirked, separating from her just long enough to grab his keys.

Rafael had thought things might be awkward considering they had only just met and basically spent most of their time together without their clothes on, but it wasn't. The conversation had flowed effortlessly. His mind briefly wondered why Carisi and her hadn't worked out as more than friends, but decided against asking about it on their first date.