There's No Turning Back

|| Back to Lianne's P.O.V. ||

"Congratulations, to the new editor." I heard someone giggle behind me and I glanced back, seeing Grace standing in the doorway of my new office. I grinned back at her and set the box that I was carrying, down on my new desk; the box contained some supplies and other things that I always have with me in my old office/desk/cubicle.

"Thanks Gracey." I said sweetly, in a little child's voice as I took the glass of red wine that she handed me. I let out a giggle after taking a sip, thinking of how ridiculous it seemed of us to celebrate over a promotion and trying to ignore the silence the best that we could like mature adults.

"You're so wonderful." she sighed, before letting out another giggle, "You totally deserve this." she stated as came over and leaned against the mahogany desk. I shrugged to myself, sitting down on the rolling office chair made of black leather. I turned myself side to side.

"I like to think of it as the same job I had before, only, I'm not sitting in an oversized box." Grace bursted out into another fit of giggles, finishing off her wine. I softly laughed along, shaking my head at the fact that she could find almost everything to be hilarious. I'm not that great of a jokester.

She calmed herself down and made a movement with her finger, as though she finally remembered the real reason why she came in the first place besides for congratulating me. "Oh yeah! I was supposed to tell you that you have a call waiting on the line for you." she winked at me and I rolled my eyes, having a good guess at who she was referring to.

"It's always polite to keep people waiting on the line for five minutes, Grace." I said to her sarcastically, and she stuck her tongue out at me. "Just get out already so that I can answer it." I rushed her out of the room and closed the door behind her. Placing my glass of wine down, I picked up the phone, pressing on the flashing red button.

"Hello." I placed the phone to my ear, my voice a soft, high pitch. I intended on making it that high.

"Took you long enough." David's laughter came on the other line and I giggled along.

"Sorry; Grace got a little carried away from her simple task of delivering a message." I rolled my eyes to myself, shaking my head and glancing over towards the door. The big see-through glass mirrors provided a view of the employees walking down the hallway, and a view of some of them working in their cubicles.

Grace was leaning on the outside of Fred's cubicle, grinning at me innocently. My hand swatted in the air, signaling for her to go away before I looked away, staring at the box that sat next to me. "So, what's up?" I asked him.

He chuckled, "I heard about your promotion --"

"Already?" I interrupted him but he ignored me and continued on.

"And I wanted to congratulate you. Yay!" he cheered on his end and I laughed.

"Thanks..."

"So, um, anyways," he cleared his throat and I waited, "I-I was wondering if you'd like to grab some dinner tonight?" he sounded nervous and I giggled at that.

"David, you're acting like it's our first date," I informed him, "Of course I'd like to."

He let out what sounded like a nervous chuckle, "Of course; I knew that. I was just making sure."

"Sure you were." I said to myself, barely audible for him to hear.

He playfully scoffed, "Just be ready to leave in ten minutes; I'm coming to get you so that you can get home, get changed, and then we can leave." I glanced at the clock as he spoke, and noticed that it was almost six in the afternoon. The boss had even given me the okay to leave work for the rest of the day even though I originally retire at eight. But, I guess David had already known about that, somehow...

"Alright; I'll see then, Hun."

"See ya." I heard him make kissing noises on the other end before he hung up, leaving me laughing inaudibly to myself.

"Someone's got a dateee." Grace sang, running on her tiptoes into my office with a giddy smile on her face. I rolled my eyes.

"You knew about this."

"No I didn't." she replied with a straight face.

"Either way," I shrugged my shoulders, "You're too gossipy and nosey."

I walked out of my room, taking each step slowly and softly. I tried to hide my annoyance with the constant clicking of my black high heels against the porcelain tiled floor that echoed throughout the apartment complex. David had told me to dress nicely tonight, and that he had a surprise for me, so I thought heels and a dress of some sort would suit the situation.

A bark echoed through the house and I bent down to be ground level with Mallory, the white Maltese puppy thatDavid Petey Lianda had gotten me many months ago. I quickly petted her a few times, not wanting to get white dog hair all over my black dress, and threw her a doggy toy to distract her.

I heard someone clear their throat and I abruptly stood up, straightening my dress out. I tried to regain my balance as I looked up at Cheyenne, my face burning with heat.

"Going on a date?" she asked, a hint of teasing was in her voice.

"Maybe." I muttered, looking around; it showed that I was clearly uncomfortable with her teasing.

She giggled and rolled her eyes, "Don't worry, I know about it. Let's do a check." she stuck her tongue out at me and signaled with her fingers for me to turn around in a circle. I groaned, turning around in a quick circle as she stood back and observed me, pretending to think hard.

When the pause became a long wait and I had still yet to receive a reply from her, I started to worry. I looked over my outfit myself, wondering if it was too simple or too much for the occasion - since after all, she does know what he's planning...

I've decided to straighten my hair quickly after he had dropped me off after work, just leaving it down and simple. I used a simple bow pin to keep at least half of my hair from falling into my face. The dress I wore was a simple black one, with this shoulder straps and a crinkled bodice; it ended just above my knees, which revealed quite a bit of the white leggings that I wore underneath to be that much warmer. My heels were simple, about four inches high with two long ribbons used as a strap when tied together.

"Is it too much? Or too simple?" I asked her, feeling the anxiety but she just grinned.

"Nope; it's just perfect." I studied her face; she knew it all along but she had taken the time just to work my nerves.

I was about to open my mouth to comment to her about it when a knock came on the door. I squinted my eyes at her and she grinned once again, shooing me away. "Go on; you look fantastic." she mouthed, ushering me away to the door quickly. She yanked the door open, gave me a kiss, and quickly waved at David before running off.

I looked back at David out of the corner of my eyes, uncertain of what to do at the moment. "So..." I started nervously, "Excuse her." I quickly stepped outside before he was able to react and come inside, shutting the door behind me. I didn't want any chance to notice if Cheyenne was spying on us or not.

He laughed at my behavior and took my hand in his, lacing our fingers together after I had placed my keys into the small purse that I carried. "You're so silly sometimes." I heard him mumble out and I felt my face burn once again. I was glad that it was dark outside, being nearly 7:30.

We walked in silence towards the elevator, not bothering to take the stairs in my heels. The only sound heard was the clatter of my heels against the cement and our breathing as we stood outside of the metal elevator doors, waiting for it to come up.

"You look gorgeous tonight." he smiled down at me after the doors opened and we had stepped in. He pulled me closer to his body by the waist, not allowing me any time to finally take in what he was wearing for the occasion. I felt him place his face near my hair, taking in a breath, before placing his lips on top of my head. I tilted my head back to look up at him and he placed his lips upon mines - just short and simple.

"Thanks." I whispered and took him by the hand once again, guiding him out towards the parking lot and letting him lead us to his car. I took the time to take in his appearance.

His hair was left the way it usually always is, along with a thin layer of eyeliner. He wore his usual black attire - a black dress shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, black skinny pants, and his usual converses. To top it all off, he had his white tie with him. I smiled to myself.

"You look handsome." I complimented him, just as we reached the car. He pulled me into a tight embrace, and I took in the scent of his light cologne. He continued to nuzzle his nose into my hair once again.

"But I bet you're the star tonight." he whispered, before pulling away with a grin and opening the passenger side's door for me. I got in without another word except for a smile, and waited for him to come around to his side.

"So, where are we going tonight?" I asked once he got into the driver's seat.

"Just out to dinner," he glanced over to me, his eyes glistening in the moonlight, "And then to the beach or the park; it's your choice." he smiled and I thought it over.

"How about both?" I asked with a hint of hope.

He chuckled and shrugged, "Fine with me. I think there's a park close to the beach in walking distance." he said and I nodded. He reached over for my hand and I gave it to him, watching as he re-laced our fingers. He kept one hand on the wheel and kept his eye on the road as we made small talk all the way to the restaurant.