The (Non) Date (Ricki)

[Milo Chevalier]

If Joe had been there, more than likely Milo would have gotten a pop on the head. Every thing was obvious, but both Milo and Ricki were completely blind. Naturally, with this dinner, Milo wasn't sure if Ricki would pick up on anything. She scared him like no other woman ever had. He didn't want to mess things up with her. She was far too important to him.

There had only been one other woman Milo had created a candlelight dinner for, but that was another story. Ricki was completely different. Sitting at the table with her felt like this was were he was supposed to be, but of course she didn't like him like that. Did she?

If Milo took a step back and really opened his eyes, he would kick himself and already made a move.

When Ricki commented that she wouldn't mind if he cooked for her every night, Milo smiled at her. It wasn't one of his typical dazzling smile that he would use on every one, no. This one was a little different. It was the type of smile that he only really used around her. What if she really did like him? He was being ridiculous by not saying anything. However, there was also a more frightening questions looming over him, what if she didn't.

"I'd be more than happy to cook for you every night," he said without thinking. Of course, there was a caring like undertone as he replied. It made him happy that she would want him to do so. So maybe she did like him... or she just really liked his cooking. "I think that would be nice finally cooking for someone else rather than just myself usually." That was a loaded statement.

Milo smiled at her again and wiped the corners of his mouth before taking a sip for his glass of wine.

[Ricki Crawford]

For a moment, Ricki allowed herself to imagine what it could be like if they were a real couple. She could just picture him making dinner every night, and then she could give him a neck massage after dinner, right in that spot where he always hunched his shoulders. And then they would lounge together on the sofa, talking softly and holding each other while music played in the background...

It was such a beautiful image that it made Ricki ache inside. Milo was her best friend, and it suddenly seemed so right that she should be with her best friend every day and every night. She should have taken that moment to say exactly what was on her mind, and in her heart. But of course, she didn't. Because if Milo didn't feel the same way she did, then it could ruin everything. Their partnership, their friendship... everything. And the only thing worse than not having that dream come true was the thought of losing moments like this with him.... or losing him at all. Their friendship was too precious to jeopardize, even if it wasn't all she wanted.

"You should cook for the girls you go out with," she said, trying to keep her voice light. "I'm sure they wouldn't be able to resist you once they've tasted your cooking. There's nothing more irresistible than a guy who can cook."

[Oy, I just want to smack her!!]

[Milo Chevalier]

The comment Ricki made almost stung a little. She was not picking up on anything. Milo took that as a sign that maybe she didn't like him like that, or maybe she was testing him out. He didn't know really how to take it. However, the last part of her comment did warrant some sort of hope, but Milo didn't gain too much because he didn't want it to be a let down.

"I don't cook for girls I go out with. None of them have really made it past the first date. I think there was one that made it to the second date, but she didn't make it after that." Milo almost said those girls were not her, but he had to literally bite his tongue. He gave her a half smile.

It took everything he had not to spill everything out. Milo didn't want to ruin dinner. Taking another sip of wine, he poured himself a new glass and refilled Ricki's as well. "Besides, there's only one female that I cook for. I think she's liking American type food the more I cook for her. After all, I can't let her continue to eat disturbingly named British dishes."

[Ricki Crawford]

Ricki couldn't understand why Milo's dates never seemed to get past the first date. Was he just not that interested? Or were these girls just blind and stupid? They'd have to be, to not realize just what a great guy Milo was. But why wouldn't he cook for them? He was such a good cook that it didn't make sense that he wouldn't want to share it with the women he was interested in.

Alarm bells were starting to sound in Ricki's head. She may have been a bit blind where he was concerned, but it just seemed that if he only cooked for her and all his dates only lasted one or two dates, it only followed that he was interested in someone else. Someone that he did like to cook for.

Or maybe he just had a lack of interest. Maybe he just got bored easily and maybe he'd get bored with her if they went out. She couldn't stand the idea of him using her up and tossing her aside like she didn't matter.

She smiled nervously, biting back these conflicting and crazy thoughts. "What? You mean you don't like bangers and mash? Or spotted dick? I have to tell you, you're really missing out..."

[Milo Chevalier]

[OCC: Goodness gracious! These two!!!! *bangs head* haha]

If Ricki would have only noticed, she was the only woman who Milo was always around, or at least tried to be around the most. He actually cancelled a date one time just so he could cook for her. Milo, of course, didn't tell her this. Milo went out with her a few times. He counted lunches and breakfasts as going out as well. There should have been a huge alarm going off based on the setting and his actions toward her. However, she didn't notice anything, or at least he didn't think she did.

Hearing the names of British dishes, Milo shuttered and held back a laugh. "How in the world do you Brits come up with these names? They sound dreadfully awful." Milo did love his fish and chips, but that was one of the few. "If only they could come up with different names, I might be open to more dishes." He smiled at her. At the current moment, Milo felt like he could just down the whole bottle of wine himself, but he refrained of course.

Milo wished that there would be a moment that would occur where both of them admitted they had feelings for each other. Naturally, however, that was just a dream. Life would be too easy if just all of a sudden she blurted out the words he always hoped to hear from her.

"I think the American dishes sound a lot better. Plus, you like them, so I think I'll stick with that."

[Ricki Crawford]

"I could educate you on the origin of the name spotted dick, if you wanted," Ricki continued teasingly. "It's a pudding... you Americans would call it a dessert. It's quite good, actually... but I prefer it with currants instead of raisins. I can't say I've ever been a fan of raisins."

This was so much easier than allowing her mind to wander onto crazy and impossible thoughts. Milo was her best friend, and there was nothing wrong with that. Why take the chance of ruining what they had?

"But I suppose you're right... a better name might make it appeal to more people. I can't help it, I didn't come up with the name. And I suppose as long as you're willing to cook American food for me, I'm more than willing to eat it. It beats another night of curry from the Indian takeout place on the corner. And the company is much better, too."

[Milo Chevalier]

"I don't think if I would really want to know the origin of that," Milo said shaking his head. Things did feel easy talking to her this way. Although Milo wanted to kick himself for not saying anything to her. This was crazy. Usually he could be suave and tell her what was on his mind, but when it came to this, he could be a babbling idiot or he'd freeze. One of these days he was just going to have to tell her.

"So it is settled, I will cook more often than I already do for you. I could maybe cook something every other night?" Of course that was asking a lot, or somewhat asking a lot. Milo didn't even put a thought to the fact that she could have been dating someone.

[Ricki Crawford]

Just when she thought things were getting back to normal again, he turned around and said something like that. Why would he want to cook for her that often? Didn't he want to get out, meet women, have fun? But maybe this was his idea of fun. Maybe he didn't want to meet other women because he wanted to be with her.

She nearly dropped her fork at that thought. She looked up at him, searching his face, trying to see if there was something that she was missing. If he really liked her as more than just a friend and partner, why wouldn't he just say so?

There was, of course, another complication. She was sort of seeing someone. It had only been a few dates, but she had promised Edward that she would see him again on Friday. And she wasn't sure how he would feel about her eating dinner with another man every other night, even if that man was her best friend and work partner. And if he actually wanted to be more than that... well, that was what Ricki wanted. And she'd have to find a way to let Edward down gently... but unless Milo made his feelings clear, she couldn't do that.

She should have been direct. She should have come right out and asked him. Normally she wasn't afraid to speak her mind. But when it came to something so important, somehow she couldn't find the words.

"Why would you want to waste your time with me every other night?" she blurted out. It was the wrong question, and even she knew it.

[Milo Chevalier]

Milo thought he saw a bit of hope cross Ricki's face. Of course he could have been imagining it. He thought that he imagined her looking at him somewhat dreamily before but then again that was probably all in his head. He didn't know what to think about her facial expression. It looked as if she wanted to ask a question. Part of him wanted her to ask him if he had feelings for her. Without a beat, Milo would have said yes. However, she didn't ask that question.

"I'm not wasting my time," he responded truthfully. "I enjoy spending time with you." The last statement was something he blurted out. The words just happened to flow off his tongue with ease. It was the truth after all. "I think you're funny, charming, and a great conversationalist." Milo paused before he went into detail about how she had different smiles and he knew her body language (naturally that was almost every other time than if her body language said that she liked him).

"So I am not wasting my time. I am simply enjoying it with a lovely woman who humors me and that is great to be around. Finding that is not easy these days." Okay, so maybe that was a HUGE hint, but he wasn't sure if she would pick up on it or not. He didn't exactly say he had feelings for her, but that was a big hint, right?

[Ricki Crawford]

Even Ricki couldn't ignore that hint. Try as she might, she couldn't quite think of any other way to interpret what he was saying. But surely she couldn't be right. Surely she was just hearing what she wanted to hear. Right?

But he seemed to be shooting down every one of her excuses, one by one. So unless he was gay--which Ricki was positive wasn't the case--there was only one explanation remaining.

Milo liked her. Really liked her.

She felt her throat go dry and she stared at him blankly for the longest moment, words completely failing her. Shelby and Aislinn had told her that Milo cared for her, but she hadn't believed it... could they really be right?

Abruptly, she dropped her fork and stood up. "I... I'll be right back," she said. "I need to use the loo."

It was the only excuse she could think of. She needed to take a breather for just a moment to sort her head out.

[Milo Chevalier]

Milo felt his heart drop a little. The look she was giving him, her response. Maybe she did catch on to his hint. That was the only reason he could think she was looking at him that way. When she dropped her fork, Milo wanted to crawl underneath the table.

In response to her getting up and heading toward his restroom, Milo he nodded to her. Once she disappeared from the room, he took his napkin off his lap and wiped his mouth. He ran a hand over his face and slumped in his chair. This was not going as well as he hoped. If he wasn't careful, she would try to make an excuse to actually leave and he didn't want that. For a moment, Milo felt a panic. What if she didn't feel the same way? Surely if she did she wouldn't just abruptly excuse herself, right? Maybe Joe was wrong. It could happen.

Milo reached over and downed the glass of wine he had sitting in front of him. He had no idea where this was going. After all, he had no idea if Ricki liked him back. It felt as if his heart was beating extremely loudly since he could hear it in his ears. He anxiously fiddled with his thumbs as he waited on her to return.

[Ricki Crawford]

Ricki practically ran to the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Sitting on the toilet seat, she buried her face in her hands. What was happening? She had to be crazy to be thinking what she was thinking. But what other possible way was there to interpret this situation. Milo was pretty much saying he only liked to cook for her and spend time with her and that he had no interest in having a social life with any other woman.

This was what she wanted, what she had been hoping for. But he was so important to her that she was terrified of what might happen if things didn't work out. And what if she really was hearing things wrong and he didn't like her that way? She'd make a fool of herself, and probably ruin their friendship. She wished he'd just come right out and ask her out, if that was what he wanted, so that she wouldn't have to guess and wonder and worry.

But he hadn't done that, he'd just dropped potential hints that surely could have been meant innocently. And now she was left to figure out what way to take these hints. Should she try harder to draw him out and get him to tell her what was going on in his head? Should she continue to pretend like everything was normal between them? Or should she just go for it, as Shelby kept telling her to do, and just kiss him?

She pictured herself walking into the room, grabbing him, and planting a kiss on his lips. Oh, Godric, she couldn't do that. She wanted to, but just imagine if she was reading things wrong... It could go very badly. But she wasn't sure she could continue to pretend like everything was normal, either. It seemed a little ridiculous to just keep joking around about the differences between Americans and Brits when he was offering to cook her dinner every other night just because he liked cooking for her.

"Pull yourself together, Ricki," she said to herself. This was Milo. Her Milo. There was no reason to be nervous or uneasy around him. She would just have to try to feel him out, to see if she could get him to tell her what she wanted to hear.

This decision made, she stood up and flushed the unused toilet (just so he wouldn't be suspicious), and then turned on the sink and splashed some water on her face.

When she was done, she left the bathroom and headed back to Milo. "Sorry about that," she said brightly. "Miss me?"

[Milo Chevalier]

Good Godric she was taking forever in the bathroom. Milo didn't know what she was doing. She could be planning her escape or maybe second guessing everything, even their friendship. Oh Merlin he hoped she wasn't second guessing their friendship. He then poured a little more wine in his glass.

It was so quiet in his apartment (even though there was light music playing in the background) Milo heard the sink turn on and he straightened up in his chair. There was no way he was going to let her see him slumped over. Sitting up, he put a smile on his face as she reentered the dining room. By the looks of things, she wasn't excusing herself for some odd reason. Even if she did, Milo wouldn't have let her leave right then.

His smile grew a little brighter when he heard the brightness in her voice. Of course Milo's smile brightened anyway when Ricki was around. "Oh it's okay," he said waving it off. "I made sure that your food remained warm."

[Ricki Crawford]

Well, that didn't tell her what she needed to know. If she was thinking more clearly, she might have noticed the way his face seemed to light up when she walked in the room, but she didn't really notice that. She was too busy trying look for hidden meaning in what he said. And she found nothing. He seemed casual now, just like he was greeting her at the office in the morning. And he'd kept her food warm for her... well, that was just common courtesy, wasn't it?

"Thank you," she said, managing to keep the smile pasted on her face. She kept her eyes on him as she sat back down and picked up her wine glass. "We should have a toast," she said. "What should we drink to?"

[Milo Chevalier]

Milo was also trying to figure out Ricki. Naturally, he was blind to her. Even if he tried to read her, more than likely he would not see anything. Sometimes Milo thought he saw things that he couldn't have. After tonight, he wasn't sure if his first thought was correct. There was no way that Ricki had feelings for him, right?

"You are very welcome," he replied with a smile. As she raised her glass, he did too. "We should drink, we should drink to a lovely night. You've been able to put up with me for quite some time and haven't tried to hex me to death." Milo grinned. "And we should also toast to the future. Hopefully one day our eyes will open up to what we are and have been blind to."

[Ricki Crawford]

Ricki was going along with this toast, even though it didn't seem to be telling her anything. But she nearly dropped her wine glass at this last part.

One day our eyes will open up to what we are and have been blind to...

Was he trying to tell her something? It certainly seemed like it, and it was almost the very sort of clue she had been hoping to hear. But was she reading too much into it? Maybe he meant something else, something more innocent? The trouble was, Ricki couldn't begin to imagine what else he could mean by that statement.

She drank down a large mouthful of wine, barely tasting it. Her hand was shaking again, and she looked up at him, the wine shooting straight to her head. It made everything seem sort of hazy and blurred around the edges, and she could have sworn that there was something different in the way Milo was looking at her. Or maybe he'd always looked at her like that and she just never noticed.

"Let's dance," she said suddenly. She needed an excuse to feel his arms around her.

[Milo Chevalier]

Milo did catch that Ricki almost downed her whole glass of wine. Maybe he was feeling the effects too of the wine in the sense that it seemed she looked at him differently. He had the same thought she did. What if she had always looked at him that way and he never noticed. Part of Milo wanted to blurt everything out at that moment, but he refrained. That would be a bad idea. He took a fairly large drink of wine as well and raised his eyebrows slightly as she suddenly proposed a dance.

Standing up from his chair, Milo walked over to her chair and gently pulled it out for her. He thought it was the right thing to continue to be a gentleman. He offered his hand to her. They had danced together maybe once before together. That time of course Milo was feeling playful in the office and just grabbed her and spun her around the room. This time was much different. As blind as Milo was to Ricki, he felt there was something more serious about this.

"Alright then," he replied with a smile, "let's dance." Milo still held his hand out for her to take before leading her to the other side of the dining room table so they could have room to dance.

[Ricki Crawford]

Ricki’s hand was shaking as she placed it in Milo’s large, warm hand. To her, his hand seemed steady, but hers was so shaky she wouldn’t have noticed any difference in his. He knees felt like Jell-O and she wasn’t even sure she would make it to the open space on the other side of the table before they would give out on her.

This was crazy. She had to be losing her mind. This was Milo. Her Milo. What reason would she possibly have to be nervous? But she had never really danced with him before, and she was suddenly realizing what a big deal it actually was.

This was a date. Somehow, she wasn’t sure how, but it had become an actual date. Maybe that was Milo’s intention all along, or maybe something had changed in the last 20 minutes. Ricki wasn’t sure what it was, and maybe it didn’t matter. But the only thing she could be sure of at that moment was that this was not just a casual dinner with a friend. The energy in the air was different, heavier, almost charged. And it scared the hell out of her.

Ricki shakily put her arms around him and began to dance, though how she remained upright she wasn’t sure. It just felt so good, so right, with his arms around her. If this was a date, Ricki decided to just let things happen. After all, it all might go back to normal tomorrow.

“This is nice,” she said softly, leaning her head against his chest.

[Milo Chevalier]

Milo placed his hand on Ricki's lower back as they started to dance. Her hand felt small in his hand, but it also felt like it fit perfectly. He was sure of how he felt, but what about her? She had not decided to leave. Could that fact be that she just did not want to have a disruption in their work relationship or something along those lines? Milo wanted so badly to tell her everything but he couldn't allow the chance for rejection. He could hear Joe's voice in the back of his mind that he was just over thinking everything. She did like him and he was a fool for not seeing it.

Fool or not, Milo tried his best to remain guarded. Of course, the thought about remaining guarded also brought up a memory that Joe told him. If he honestly wanted to be truly happy, then he would have to let go. He would have to be a little vulnerable and just go for it. Sighing, Milo knew Joe was right, but he would not tell his friend that. He did not want to see the smug or the 'I told you so' look on Joe's face.

It was undeniable the feelings and the charge in the air. Milo, in all of his blindness, knew something was going on. He couldn't necessarily describe it. He knew, however, that it could not be too much of the wine. Milo allowed his arms to be around her waist as he held her closer to himself. The smell of her shampoo felt intoxicating, like a drug. It filled his nostrils and he loved the scent. He rested his cheek against her head. He knew what he needed to do but he was nervous.

"This is nice," he whispered in agreement. "We should do it a lot more often." To Salazar with whoever she had gone out with. Milo did not like to share Ricki, at least with other males. Very softly, without a thought, he gently placed his lips on her temple. He kissed her temple very lightly but did not make a big deal of it. Milo was afraid if he did, she would run out on him. Instead of making a scene of what he just did, he returned to rest his cheek against her head as they continued to dance.

[Ricki Crawford]

This couldn’t be real. She had dreamed this moment so many times, surely this was just another dream. Nothing else could explain how she felt so good in his arms. Or maybe she had been drinking too much wine. Never mind that she had barely even had a glass, there had to be some kind of rational explanation for all of this.

Or maybe…

No… it was just wishful thinking. But this was starting to feel more and more like a date by each passing moment. What if Milo was trying to tell her something? What if he was trying to tell her that he loved her? But if he did, surely he would just come right out and say it, wouldn’t he? They were work partners, best friends. Surely they could tell each other anything. And yet, she knew perfectly well that she had been keeping her own feelings for him locked up inside. She was a hypocrite, and had been lying to him all along.

Still, even though her mind was working overtime, her body was acting on its own accord, relaxing into his arms. It felt like she belonged there, like this was the home she had been searching for her entire life.

A whisper-soft touch brushed against her forehead, and she closed her eyes, letting him kiss her. Wait… was he kissing her? It felt like a kiss. But if he was kissing her, then surely…

Her eyes flew open and she looked at him, wide-eyed, realization and hope dawning in her face. “Milo?” she breathed, not even sure what she was asking. She turned slowly, moving to face him better. She needed to see it in his eyes, to see if the look she’d long been hoping to see was there.