What They Deserve

ELEVEN

"What do you mean?" Willow furrowed her brow as she tossed the folders she was carrying onto the polished desktop. "You have got to be joking."

April had caught her coming off the elevators and bounded after her to talk. Or rather explain how she had set Willow's Saturday night up - a blind date with some guy they worked with.

"I'm serious."

Willow gave an exasperated sigh along with an eye roll. April's tone made it clear that she wasn't playing around. She felt as if her friend's intentions weren't for her at all.

"I don't get what your problem is." April looked offended that Willow wasn't happy about the blind date.

Willow shifted her weight from her left and folded her arms across her chest, pushing her lips together to form a thin line.

They had never been in an argument and Willow wasn't sure how to react; her usual response was to back down, to just go along with April. But this time, the woman had crossed a line.

April softened her features and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "I just don't see why you suddenly decided to become a recluse." She rolled her neck along with her eyes.

Willow snorted as she uncrossed her arms, slamming her hands on to her hips, her features expressing how livid she was. "First off, I am not becoming a recluse. That would mean I'm not going out. Second off, it isn't a sudden thing. I told you..."

"This isn't you."

The simple statement threw Willow off. She hadn't expected April's tone to be so gentle. But the initial shock wore off just as fast as it had come. "Don't tell me who I am."

Willow swore she heard a pin drop, it was so silent in the room. Their eyes were locked on one another, waiting to see who would continue the argument.

"I told you that I want to find an actual boyfriend, my match. I want to stop with...with all this." Willow gestured around, trying to make April understand.

There was another silence between them as she let the words sink in. Or at least hoped they had some effect on April.

"Why is it so important to you that I don't settle down?" She hadn't meant to ask the question. But it slipped and she found that she was curious to know April's answer.

"You've never been interested in having a family and all of a sudden you wanna be Betty Crocker." Disdain dripped off of April's words.

Willow cocked an eyebrow. "Betty Crocker?"

April gave a heavy sigh and responded with vehemence. "Okay. Maybe that's extreme. Why don't you just go out with Lucas this one time. I mean, how do you know he isn't 'the man' you're looking for?"

It was clear to Willow that April doubted that it was possible Lucas could be who she was looking for, but some of the fire left her.

Willow gave herself a pat on the back for speaking up and hoped this would be the last time they discussed her want for an actual relationship. "Sure. I mean, I guess you have a point."

April let a satisfied smirk appear and opened her arms as a peace offering, positive she'd won this battle. Willow went into the hug, relieved they had survived their first real argument. She had to admit that while she didn't like it and never wanted to go through it again, standing up for herself felt pretty good.

"Hungry?" April was already pulling up the website for her favorite restaurant on her phone. It was only a block away and they could have it delivered to the office.

"A little." Her stomach rumbled at the thought of food and she started dreaming of what she'd order.

"Stupid question." April passed her phone over so that Willow could order her meal.

After putting the order in, Willow sat behind her desk and began sorting the folders. From the corner of her eye, she watched April lean down to grab one that had fallen to the floor.

"You got a runaway."

"Thanks." Willow took the folder and rearranged the papers inside before sliding it toward the bottom. She worked until lunch came while April thumbed her way through a thick book of architectural photography.

"Oh my gosh. It smells amazing." April chirped, falling into one of the chairs in front of the desk. Willow cleared the space while April pulled the containers of food out of the paper sack.

Deciding that she didn't want to go on a complete blind date, Willow stabbed a noodle and swirled it in the pool of garlic butter sauce at the bottom of the tray before telling her friend to tell her all about Lucas.

"He's new to Houghman and Rye's and is a part of the legal department." April wiggled her eyebrows, shoving a forkful of gnocchi into her mouth.

"A lawyer. Could be interesting." Willow thought about it for a second and shrugged. "Go on. Is he tall, dark, and handsome?"

"Tall and handsome. On the pale side."

Willow snorted as she almost choked on her food. "Pale as in no tan?"

"No tan, blonde hair, blue eyes. It really seems like he should at least have some kind of tan."

"Maybe. How blonde is he? Like dirty blonde or platinum?"

"I'd say like honey."

"Hmm. Sounds pretty. What about his build? Is he muscular?"

April gave all the details she could about Lucas, throwing in his phone number. "But he'll probably call you before you call him."

"You gave him my number?" Willow couldn't help the amusement she felt. While it had irritated her beyond belief a little while ago, April's play at matchmaker was now a bit humorous.

"Of course."

"Well then. Thanks?"

"No problem." April gave her wink as she tore a chunk of garlic bread.

"How'd you meet him?"

"I met up with Mya to go over the final details for the Beijing project. He happened to come in to ask her a question. I totally would have jumped on him if I didn't have Jeff."

"Ah." Willow took a bite of her food. "Why were you going over the Beijing project and not Dylan?"

"He asked me to. I think he had a doctor's appointment. I'm not sure. Wasn't really paying attention." She shrugged as if it didn't matter.

"Ah. Well, once again, thanks?"