"Don't worry about it," Aurum reassured her. He'd done that same reassurance over and over. This had to be the seventeenth time. Or maybe the ninetieth. He couldn't fault her. Some people simply didn't like having dinners with the Ex.

"She's bringing her fiance. She's engaged. You'll like her. Really. Riley."

He'd barely managed to keep Ami out of this double date dinner. Her, plus the other two women would have been too much.

He reassured as he worked. He worked as he reassured. Maybe reassuring was the bigger job than making dinner? But salads and steaks didn't prepare themselves. Unless Brendan and Villy liked their meat rare.

"It doesn’t matter if I like her." Riley said in retaliation to Aurum's continued reassurances. "I don't have to like her. This is what I keep trying to tell you."

It was this thing that was apparently stuck in Aurum's head. This thing that he simply wouldn't get go. It was almost like Aurum needed her to like Viletta. The perfect ex-girlfriend Viletta. He thought the ring mattered. Riley knew better. All a ring meant was that Aurum wouldn't be expecting it when Viletta pounced.

Riley mentally cringed at the name...who the hell named their kid Viletta anyway? It was a stretch to tolerate the woman's presence, and Riley had even dressed nice. She was Aurum's boss after all.

"It's not like I’m going to punch the chick in the face. I also don't understand how this is a double date if you're cooking for everyone. Are you sure there's nothing I can help with besides ripping up lettuce?" Then again...this was the kitchen, lettuce was probably all that Riley could be trusted with.

"Everything's pretty much done." He said. "Preparations, all that. Should all be ready... soon."

The hands on the phoenix wright watch moved. Soon came.

There was a knock at the door.

Aurum looked up from putting the finishing touches and dishes onto the table. "Can you get that, Riley?"

Oh, he hoped she wouldn't punch her in the face. He wanted her to like her. And they were so much alike--!! Okay. That wasn't true. He had been kidding there. But seriously, girls needed to get along. He wanted this to go well. If it didn't, things would suck. And the steak had been expensive enough he didn't want that to happen. He got that Riley was upset by this. That was another reason he wanted this to go well. He wanted it to go so it'd be over.

He hoped she had had enough of a chance to blow off that steam before answering that door.

"Of course I can." Riley said, plastering a huge smile across her face before turning and making her way to the door. Oh she'd get along just fine with the woman...to her face. This was Aurum's boss after all, and she'd never do anything to embarrass him in front of colleagues. Image was important to a lawyer, and it was bad enough that they were probably going to have to explain her line of work at some point.

The door opened and Riley almost groaned out loud at the sight of the woman and her date standing in the hallway. Of course this was what Viletta looked like...and dressed like. The woman had obvious taste, and was tall, even without the heels she was obviously wearing. She was very pretty in a very crisp way, and it was enough to be intimidating without the smile plastered across her face.

Her boyfriend was okay too. Or fiancé. Whatever.

"Hi!" Riley said quickly, to establish herself as having the upper hand. "You must be Viletta. I've heard so much about you. Come on in, Aurum's just putting the last few things out on the table."

'Okay'... was being too modest. The guy had a face for TV. Which made sense. Since.

Aurum turned. His eyes fell on Viletta's fiance. He opened his mouth. "... Villy. You never told me you were dating Brendan Brennan."

That was enough to give make him pause.

The guy smiled. He had hazel eyes and short chestnut hair, slightly spiked. His smile and his close shave said "I'm in charge, here." So did his belt buckle and attitude. "Didn't know I had a fan." He said. The actor extended a hand.

Aurum set down the spuds and shook it, then broke the handshake. "Have a seat. Please. Glad to see you both made it alright."

He sat himself down, too.

Viletta scooted in. She looked at the spread. It looked amazing. "Me too," she chimed. "I always have loved your cooking."

Oh. The guy was a TV actor. Riley squinted slightly and tried to place him. Oh yeah...he was the law enforcement guy on that show....'Skeletons' or something. Oh well. He wasn't her type.

Aurum seemed impressed enough though, and obviously Viletta was. Introductions made, everyone took their places at the table. Riley was just about to interject something about the work Aurum had put into the meal when their female guest chimed in about just how much she'd always liked his cooking.

"He really is quite spectacular, isn't he?" Riley agreed. Why was something as simple as a compliment so hard to swallow? Maybe it was because she knew Aurum's cooking, and just how good it was.

"So." she said, not really waiting for a response. "How long have you two been engaged?"

Viletta nodded. The woman's comment was correct. "Spectacular," she agreed. She looked to the hubby and added. "You should get the recipe, Bren Bren. Ally could hook you up."

Brendan was not emasculated by any of this, nope. He just laughed. "Maybe I will. I'm sure it tastes wonderful."

How long had they been engaged?

He looked to Viletta. "3 months?"

She nodded the confirmation. "3 Months."

"Wow. How'd you meet?" Aurum asked.

They started eating as Viletta and Brendan began their spiel.

Several. Minutes. Later. She turned to Riley and asked. "So. What about you two? You make a 'cute' couple." She smiled. Cute was an interesting word to use here, was it not?

3 months? Holy cow. Wasn’t that just great?

Riley smiled and nodded, doing her best to fake interest in the story. Of course the two of them had met in court. Of course the two of them had hit it off when she’d been defending him in a contract dispute, and of course he’d demanded to take her to dinner in thanks. The rest had been history.

Her and Aurum? God…Riley wanted to roll her eyes. Just a little bit. She didn’t though, she was really making an effort here…and man Aurum was going to pay later.

”I dumped a glass of ginger ale in his lap in a bar.” she said. Still smiling.

Brendan eyed Aurum. "And you kept her."

Aurum smirked. "She's a catch."

Although, technically they'd met over court, too. But hey. He couldn't fault her for not wanting to copy Viletta's story any more than she had to. Plus, that whole story... yeah. 'She's a catch' felt so much more impressive.

"Hey, you hear about Halloween, with the walking undead?" He asked.

"Yeah..." Brendan asked suspiciously.

Viletta quirked a curious eyebrow.

Aurum jerked his head towards Riley. "Me and her stopped it."

"You're kidding."

"Try the food. I don't kid around."

Brendan went to test this for himself. Viletta shortly joined.

He kept her...

Riley couldn't help it, she snorted slightly into her water glass as Brendan made his comment. He really wasn't as good looking as Aurum, Riley decided. Besides, there was something so much more attractive about someone who did things for real instead of pretending...

Speaking of which.

Aurum brought up the zombies. From Halloween. The night of that first kiss. It had been a good night. The only problem here...was that this might lead to discussion about Riley's....little talent.

"Yeah. He helped." Riley said with a grin, "Turns out zombies aren't nearly as hardy as they make them look in the movies."

She toasted with her glass. "That was a hell of a date."

After that, all was silent for a few minutes while everyone got a chance to see just how honest Aurum was about his cooking skill. Damn, he was good. Finally though, Riley broke the silence.

"So is this what your firm does for the most part?" she asked Viletta out of genuine curiosity, "Contract disputes and the like?"

>>"That was a hell of a date."

Brendan... didn't ask.

Viletta shook her head with a laugh. Zombies, really?

Aurum joined the woman in a toast. "To that."

"Right. That." Viletta smiled. She brought up her glass. And Brendan's. He joined, too. And then, they ate.

And ate. And ate. Any questions or confirmations about zombie stuff went unanswered and unasked.

Viletta looked to Riley as the woman broke the silence. "All sorts of things, actually. We've got a people with different specialties. Plenty of room for Aurum's specialty." She looked to Aurum. "Criminal defense, still?"

Aurum confirmed with a nod. "Yup."

It was a good thing they'd gotten that cleared up after he'd been hired, rather than before, huh?

"Thought so." She said with a laugh.