We Get Along

Things had been going on well. Had Sofie allowed her heart to feel, she would have actually fancied Jake Collins by now. The man was intelligent, hard-working, and sensitive. Unfortunately, Sofie was focused and cold. Her polite nature had been enough to show a mutual interest, but the real kicked was how interested she seemed by him. He had probably never met a more attentive listener, nor a woman so interested in what he was doing.

It was their third official date now, and the season were getting colder. Sofie was used to the Russian climate but she tried to downplay her heritage as much as possible, so she had pulled on a coat over her dress for the occasion. Her hair had been pinned up behind her, curls falling around to frame her face. She was the very picture of innocence and sweetness.

She arrived at Eli's and said, "Jake Collins." The waiter nodded, saying, "Yes, he's right this way." Like him- he would never leave her to wait for him. Sofie smiled politely at the waiter and followed him to the table where her date was waiting.

This was their third date and Jake figured he shouldn't wait to ask her anymore. He really liked Sofie, she was smart, kind and sweet. He'd invited her to eat at Eli's for their third date and he had gotten their a tad earlier as he'd always accustomed to do. Jake never liked making anyone wait for him, especially not someone like Sofie.

He smiled as he saw a waiter leading her to the table and he stood up. "Hello Sofie. You look lovely today." he told her, smiling. He tried his best to not seem nervous, although he was - just a little bit.

He stood as she approached and she smiled, reaching for his hands and squeezing them pleasantly, before leaning up to place a kiss on his cheek. In public, she tried to be a little more refined, usually restricting contact to holding hands and kissing on cheeks. She was much to focused on etiquette and manners to allow for anything more public, but she did enjoy being seen with Jake. He was attractive, after all.

"Thank you, Jake," she responded, releasing him to sit across from him. Immediately a waiter was on them and she ordered the usual. "Tea please." She smiled up at Jake, opening her menu as she said, "I'm really pleased to see you again."

Usually Jake was always rushed and only work was on his mind, it wasn't like he had an easy job like some other people he knew. But whenever he was around Sofie, all of that seemed to change. He was calm and he was able to keep the work he had to do off his mind while he was with her. Of course, it distracted him from it all,which meant he sometimes had papers piling up, but that he didn't exactly care about. He usually got it done pretty quickly, but it was nice to get a distraction from it all. And he was glad that she was his distraction.

With the waiter there waiting to take their orders, Jake looked down at his menu and glanced at Sofie, before turning to the waiter and saying, "I'll have the beef tenderloin." He turned back to Sofie as she spoke and he smiled at her. "I'm glad to see you again as well." he said.

After Jake ordered, she quickly ordered the snapper, handing the menu back to the waiter and thanking him with a small smile and gentle nod. She turned back to Jake, smiling pleasantly as he spoke. She took a sip from the glass of water that had been placed there earlier and set it back down.

"So," she said, carefully lacing her fingers together. "How has work been today?" She longed for the day that the barriers broke and he really began giving her the dirt of work. He had opened up a little, but she wanted more. Who were the alcoholics? Who was stealing from the Ministry? Who had a hasty divorce and a covered-up pregnancy? She needed all the information she could get.