"Gerald!" Leah waved excitedly as his car pulled up to the curb outside of the building they would be dining in that night. It had been a while since she had seen him, so she was obviously excited. He was an older man, just turned 50 a few months before. Salt and pepper hair that he kept well-styled and combed back, with a dark manicured mustache and beard to match. He was fit for his age and sharp as a tack. She'd fallen head over heels from him basically the first time they had spoken.

His driver pulled over and let him out, and the man stepped from his car with the grace of a leopard. He was dressed to the nines in a fine black suit and a silk tie.

"Leah." She restrained the urge to run over and hug him. He'd always been iffy with public displays of affection, especially with the height difference between them. He 'had an image to keep' and all that. "You look good tonight. No heels?"

She smiled, lips a deep ruby red, and lifted the bottom of her dress a little to show slim strappy shoes with just the barest of a heel on them. "Just a little, Darling~! I felt more like flats tonight."

He hummed his approval and offered her an elbow. The restaurant was on the 4th floor of the building, so once they were passed the doorman and the elevator, they'd be able to check-in.

"Isn't that a dress you've worn before?"

"Hm? Oh, this? Yes, it's only of my favorites." She plucked gently at the black silk-chiffon fabric, "I just love what it does to my figure!"

"I bought a new suit for the occasion. The least you could have done was picked out a new gown. You didn't forget about this, did you?"

Leah balked, "What? No! I just really like this one! I'm sorry, I didn't know you were going to get a new suit for dinner." Oh geez, right off the bat she was already stepping on his toes.

"Mm. It's alright. That one's at least a designer." He adjusted his tie as they stepped onto the elevator. "Just try and put a bit more effort in next time."

She shifted uncomfortably. "Alright..." There was nothing wrong with her gown... it was an A-line, black, caped dress that went all the way down to her knees and covered her shoulders and uppers arms in a sheer drape. There were crystals hand-sewn into the upper portion in delicate floral patterns, and it had been made specifically for her in France, by a very popular designer. Yet, somehow, next to Gerald, she always felt like she'd been caught in used clothing from the discount bin at the local superstore.

Leah sighed, pushing past the minor annoyance, and tucked some of her curls back behind one ear. She'd had it curled and put up in a large elegant bun, with little curls left loose to frame her face. It was fine. Clothing issued aside, she was ready for a wonderful dinner and the potential to get to know each other even better!

"Did you manage to get that table I like?"

"Sure did, Darling! The one overlooking the park, right? Oooh, and with the sun setting that will just make such a pretty picture!"

He hummed his approval again. The elevator dinged and the doors slid open, revealing a line of people waiting on both sides. "Is the reservation in my name, like I asked?"

"Of course!"

They glided past all of those waiting, right to the front. "Two for Wright."

The snazzily dressed greeter didn't even need to check his book. He recognized the name, as well as Leah from all of the times her parents and she had come to dine. "Right this way, Sir!"

They were swept inside and to their secluded little table by the window immidiately.

Leah sat and settled the nice cloth napkin in her lap, waiting as their water cups were filled. As soon as the waiter walked away she took a sip and stared at the man across from her. Goodness... her heart flip-flopped a little. He was always so well put together and he held himself up with such raw confidence. It was one of the reasons she'd fallen for him in the first place if she were honest with herself. The tall woman sighed dreamily and set her glass down. "Darling-"

The waiter appeared again and she shushed herself. "I will have the Lobster Frittata," He handed over his menu, "and a Pappy Van Winkle 20 Year." The young waiter turned to her and she beamed a blinding smile his way and opened her mouth to order. "I-"

"She'll have the White Truffle Salad and a glass of Maso Canali."

Her teeth clacked softly as she shut her mouth again and blinked at her date from across the table. The waiter ran off with their dinner items. "I wasn't going to order that?" She laughed lightly and shifted forward in her seat a little so she could lower her voice. He barely even looked at her as he pulled his work phone out and took a drink from his water glass.

"You've been bulking up far too much lately, it's almost becoming unseemly. Eating something light won't hurt you."

Shocked, she sat back and went back to openly staring at him, only for an entirely different reason. Had he ever said something that hurtful to her before? She didn't think he had. "Oh." She wasn't... she wasn't getting bulky!

.... was she?

Someone else arrived to give him his drink, and pour her wine for her. She dove on the glass as soon as it was available. As soon as they were alone again she fidgeted and tried to think up something to break the ice she felt like had formed suddenly. He used to be so warm.

"So... how's the big case going, hm? I know you've been working on it for a while."

"I won't discuss sensitive details about work with people not involved." Again, he hardly looked up at her. Was he scrolling through emails over there?

She frowned and twirled the stem of her glass in her hand. "Oh." She turned to look out the window as the sun started to set and the sky lit up in vibrant organes and reds. She'd been with this man, Gerald, for going on five years now. The first two had been a whirlwind of secretive passionate encounters and warm dinners late at night in swanky restaurants. Somewhere after the third things had started to shift, and she couldn't figure out why. Had she changed things? Had he? He was a lot more distant now... a lot more commanding (which she normally didn't mind) and a lot less willing to be seen in public with her in any sort of context that could be taken as romantic. She knew he'd wanted to keep their relationship a secret due to his work- he dealt with a lot of high-profile criminal cases as the defense, and was damn good at his job. He didn't want anyone or anything getting in the way of that. She knew that, and had accepted it a long time ago.

But... now he hardly even looked at her for more than a few seconds. She had a bad feeling and wasn't sure what to do. She knew she didn't want to lose him, though.

"Okay, no work talk. Hm... How was your trip to Italy? Isn't it supposed to be lovely over there this time of year?"

"It was good."

Her expression soured. How was she going to get anything out of him at this rate?

"...Good. I'm happy you had a great trip." She tapped her fingernails on the cloth-covered tabletop. So... asking him about himself wasn't getting her anywhere. Maybe she could tell him about what she had been up to?

"I took a two-day trip to Cancun last week with a friend. The weather was just perfect and the waters were oooh so beautiful. We flew out just in time to avoid a major storm as it moved in, though."

"Mmmhm. That's nice."

She propped up her chin in one hand and sipped at her wine some more. How mad would he be if she stole his phone from him? Hmm. Probably pretty mad.

Their food arrived. A large still steaming plate for him, and a medium-sized, dainty-looking salad for her. She forced a polite smile for the waiter and picked up a fork. She'd already accepted that she was going to starve until their date was over. "Thank you!"

They were left alone again and Gerald dug into his food while still scrolling through his phone. Her smile twitched a little and she started picking away at her own food.

.... She didn't even like truffles.

She kept trying to pepper little snippets of conversation at him as they ate, which were all shot down with similar Mhm's or head nods. She picked at her salad, eating what she felt like eating, while he delicately and methodically worked through his own plate.

"What would you like to do after this, dear? A movie? Oh! What about that lovely little boardwalk again? It's been a few years since we last went there!"

He finished his meal, set his fork down and lifted his napkin to wipe his mouth and beard. Then he emptied his drink and returned the glass to the table.

"Thank you for dinner."

She watched, frozen in complete shock, as he STOOD and fished out a little business card from the pocket on the back of his phone case. He placed it on the table beside her as he tucked his phone away and straightened his jacket. "See you later."

And then that man turned from her and LEFT. She literally watched him walk right out of the restaurant and leave her. She was so caught off guard she didn't even think to stand and follow him or call out to him.

Like... what? Who just left in the middle of dinner?!

"Wha-?" She blinked down at the card he had left her, picked it up, and stared at the name of a hotel and a room number he had scrawled on the back.

"...."

Oh, dear. Her eyes itched a little. That was no good!

Leah dropped the card back onto the table and set her water cup over it. She... suddenly wasn't very hungry. The rest of the salad would go untouched, unfortunately.

She had a lot of things she suddenly needed to process, alone, while looking out over a slowly darkening sky that should have been beautiful and romantic.

Now it just felt lonely.

Eventually, the bill would arrive, which she would pay after ordering a second glass of wine. It was fully dark outside by the time she left.

She wasn't sure how to feel about leaving that calling card back on the table, under that cup of water, as she was driven home.

It had been about a week since that disastrous dinner and she'd had some time to think on things. Leah had decided that she was going to talk to Gerald directly about his behavior and bring up what was going on between them as well. She figured if she just blew the issues out into the open they could confront them directly and resolve some stuff.

... For better or worse.

After a late lunch date with an acquaintance, she headed on over to meet up with him at his upper city condo. She was nervous if she was being honest. She didn't know how the talk would go. Did he still feel the same way about her as he once had? Were they just drifting apart? Was it too late to pull him back in?

The ride up to his apartment seemed way longer than it actually should have been, and the time it took for her to unlock his door and enter made her reconsider the whole thing at least once. "Darling?" She'd messaged him ahead of time because she didn't want him accusing her of springing anything on him. Though.. she might not have been very clear about what exactly they would be talking about.

"Back here, Bunny."

She dropped her purse and kicked off her shoes by the door, and headed in. It was nice hearing that nickname. It had been a hot minute since he'd last called her by it. Goodness gracious, just hearing it already had her smiling.

She turned the corner into his bedroom, where he was standing with a short glass of scotch in one hand. He had his white button-up open and untucked and was still wearing his black work slacks. She offered a warm smile from the doorway as he turned to her with a slight smile on.

"Are you done having your little temper tantrum now?"

Annnnnd that smile slowly slid right off of her face.

"Oh."

Looks like they had a lot more to talk about than she'd realized. He started taking his shirt off and she lifted a hand to signal him to stop.

"Yeah, no, that's not why I'm here Lovey." She stepped to the side and claimed the lavish seat he often used to put his socks on for herself. She made herself comfortable, crossed her legs, and linked her fingers together over her knee. "That was a perfect example of what I came here to talk about, though."

She frowned at him, looking slightly up now that she was seated. "You've been really rude to me lately, Darling. What's up with that? A lot of what you said and did the other night was just... SO unacceptable. I-"

He had shrugged his shirt back on with a sigh and set his glass down on the side table with a soft slink. "Don't tell me you came here just to have some sort of argument? Bunny, I don't have time for this." Indeed, he was making a show of checking his watch.

She offered a slightly strained smile and didn't budge. "Then make time." She challenged, "As I do for you."

She could see his jaw flexing as he clenched and unclenched his teeth. "I am not having this conversation with you, Leah."

Ouch. Her real name so early on? "We need to. I am not going to put up with this. Why are you being so rude all of the sudden? You hardly paid any attention to me at all at dinner and-"

"Just because you've been spoilt with attention your whole life doesn't mean you are entitled to it, Leah. I have more important things-"

"More important than me?"

She stood, crossing the room so she could look down at him. Even without heels, she was taller than him. A fact that he made no effort to hide irritated him.

"You are being immature."

She crossed her arms. Sure, he was many years older than her. That didn't give him a right to treat her like a spoiled child.

"No, I am demanding to be treated equally in this relationship."

"I'd hardly consider this a relationship."

... That stung. Enough so that she flinched back a little from it. "Then what is it? I was under the assumption this whole time that we were dating, and even if it wasn't exclusive, we were still an item."

"It's pretty hard to have a serious relationship with someone of your profession."

Her frown deepened. "That was unkind, Gerald." She knew full well he was off seeing other women when he wasn't with her.

"Was it? Sounded like the truth to me. If it weren't for who your parents are, you'd hardly be anyone to bring home to ma and pa."

He'd turned to retrieve his glass. She sucked in a little breath at the insult. He... was just full of all sorts of cruel barbs.

"What changed, Gerald? Why are you suddenly like this?" He laughed and drained his glass.

"Have I changed? Or do you just get easily fixated on things you like and ignore everything else? Leah, Bunny, you're overthinking this. Really. Just drop it. How about we go to that boardwalk you like?"

Her eyebrows pinched together and she drew herself up. Shoulders squared. "I will not! This is not acceptable behavior! If we are going to remain a couple you are going to have to change how you treat me!"

He whirled on her and stepped closer, face twisted and angry. It was an expression she had never seen him wear before. "Don't think you can tell me what to do, Leah! You are an overly emotional child!"

"I am your girlfriend!!"

"You are whatever I say you are!" They were fully screaming at each other now, faces only a few inches apart. Leah wasn't a fan of raising her voice normally. She preferred trying to talk through things calmly as she couldn't reply on snap decisions in the heat of the moment.

"The @#$% you will?! You're acting like a jackass, Gerald! A total, complete JAC-"

He slapped her.

She barely moved other than her chin shifting slightly, but her cheek and the bottom portion of her lip stung.

She blinked at him, shocked, and he stared back at her. He looked... maybe a tad shocked himself.

"... I'm going to go." She mumbled and then turned to head back for the front door.

"Lea- Bunny, wait!" He sounded desperate. She turned and help up a hand at him as he moved toward her.

"Don't."

They stared at each other for a tense moment, and then she resumed gathering her things and leaving when she felt he wasn't going to try and follow.

The ride back home once more left her with even more questions she had started with, as well as a slightly swelling bottom lip and a red cheek.