Cordelia patiently put on the final touches of her lipstick and carefully surveyed her reflection in the mirror. She was almost ready. Just a few more carefully applied touches to her lips and even she would be satisfied.
The ringing of her door bell interrupted her final preparations. Checking her watch she realised with a tinge of surprise that Angel had managed to be late. She realised happily that she could probably use it as ammunition for the next time she happened to be late for work.
Cordelia smiled at her reflection, the ringing on the door bell becoming incessant. She was in no hurry - she was content to let Angel wait a few minutes longer.
Did she look too dressy? Her outfit certainly made her look stunning, and Cordelia felt a surge of panic as she realised that it may have made her look a little too stunning. What if she opened the door and Angel was just dressed in his usual black, black and black, and she looked like she had spent the last hour and a half on her appearance? Which she had. But Angel didn't need to know just how much effort she had put into looking good tonight.
She bit her lip, frowning at herself momentarily in the mirror. What should she do? Change? But Angel was already here and by the sound of the door bell, getting impatient.
Cordelia decided that there was no help for it - she would live and die by this outfit. It was too late to change now, and Angel was already on her doorstep. She looked on the bright side - at least she'd die of embarrassment looking absolutely stunning.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" She shouted over the din as she checked her appearance one last time. Satisfied that nothing was out of place, she opened the door ...
... and came face to face with a truly magnificent sight of Angel looking - she gasped involuntarily - absolutely gorgeous.
Oh God, she thought to herself. He actually looked gorgeous. This was her former boss ... her best friend ... her saviour ... her warrior ... And she was gawking at him like he was some Hollywood hottie, fedex-ed to her very door.
Before she could stop herself she found her eyes roving freely up and down his - and she couldn't stress this enough - absolutely gorgeous body. He had discarded his customary all-black ensemble for the night and now wore a deceptively trendy black suit, teamed with a truly fashion-inspiring red silk shirt. The shirt faintly registered in Cordelia's mind as the one she had given him after his apartment had blown up. Wow. She had no idea how good it would actually look on him when she had bought it but ... wow. She had really good taste.
Cordelia blushed as she realised she was actually ... totally checking Angel out. This was Angel for crying out loud. How could this be happening? How could he look all normal and nice and ... just so Angel day in day out, and then show up at her apartment looking like this? How could he do this to her? How was she expected to keep herself in control, when he looked so ... so ... so much like some extreme gorgeous hunk of man meat?
Okay Chase, she admonished herself. Cordelia made herself breathe in, then out. She should probably say something before Angel noticed that she was actually ... god ... checking him out. And really liking what she saw.
"Angel, Hi." She kept her voice deceptively calm, and was surprised at how rational and normal she sounded. This was good. She was an actress - she would act. She would act normal, because this was Angel. Her good friend. Her warrior. Her best friend.
"Cordelia." Angel smiled through the tide of breathlessness he was experiencing, having nearly been incapacitated by the stunning sight of his best friend ... his seer ... looking absolutely, gorgeously, beautifully ... stunning. There was no other way to describe her.
"You look nice." It was all Angel could squeeze out of his almost paralysed mouth. His eyes roved instinctively over the stark beauty standing in front him before settling onto ... was that his top? Well, not specifically his top, since he had given it to her, but ... yes, Angel felt sure that was one of the nicer tops he had given to Cordelia just after the whole Darla thing. Was she wearing it for him? Angel didn't want to think about that.
The top certainly suited her. Very, very well. Almost too well with the way it hugged the luscious curves on her tanned and trimmed body ... He inhaled deeply. He needed air. For keeping calm. And collected.
Cordelia blushed slightly, carefully concealing herself in the half-shadow created by the illumination of the lamp beside her. "Thanks." She was completely taken aback by how ... gentlemanly he was being. Was this Angel, behaving so ... date-ish? Oh god, it was a date. "So do you. Um, look nice that is."
Angel was thrown, he was truly shocked. He had always known that Cordelia was a stunning beauty, a dark featured vixen that would make any man's head turn. Even in Sunnydale he had noticed it, but it had never truly hit him until now. Not until she had opened the door, framed alluringly by the warmest of glows emanating from the light behind her in her apartment did he realise - she was beautiful. His Cordy was utterly, breathtakingly beautiful.
Angel gulped; he was completely unprepared for the waves of emotion cascading over his body. Completely and totally unprepared for the sudden need for oxygen. And his hands ... why were they shaking?
To disguise his slightly trembling hands, Angel reached out from behind his back and produced the bouquet of roses he had been hiding from her. She squealed aloud in surprise.
"These are for you. Hope you like red." Cordelia was touched - she couldn't remember the last time a man had bought her flowers. Not just any flowers, but her favourite - red roses. She dipped her head forward to drink in its drifting sweetness.
"Thank you." Angel was gratified to notice that she seemed genuinely touched. This was good. Cordy was smiling, which meant that she was happy. Which meant that he was happy. It was all good.
"They're really nice Angel. And -" Cordelia paused, wondering if it was the right thing to say. "I love red."
She took the roses and rummaged around her apartment for a vase to put them in. Angel closed the door as he followed her in, relishing the perfume of absolute Cordelia drifting in the air.
"Hi Dennis." He greeted Cordelia's otherworldly roommate. "How's things?"
A glass of water floated its way towards him, and Angel gladly took the proffered drink. He didn't know why, but suddenly his mouth was feeling decidedly dry.
"Okay, now we're ready." Cordelia sauntered back into the room and set the vase on the counter top, which was now artfully brimming with the roses he had just given to her. She gave him an infectiously patented Cordelia Chase smile, and Angel couldn't help but smile back. Time seemed to stretch to a melodious crawl as they simply smiled at each other, and in that moment of stillness Angel realised with astonishingly clarity that the very essence of his seer was shining in its totality through her eyes.
And she, the essence that was Cordelia, was beautiful.
"Angel?" Her voice cut off his reverie.
"Hmmm?"
"Were you listening?" Cordelia sighed in mock exasperation, secretly noticing that he had been staring at her. "I said, if we plan to get to wherever we're going, we should get going. You made reservations right? 'Cause you know, last time we went to Citrus someone forgot to, oh I don't know, book ..."
"That wasn't me." Angel objected as she raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at him. "Besides," he back-tracked, "We had to kill that Moracite demon and you know how big and ... dangerous they are. And --"
"Whatever." Cordelia cut him off as she put on her jacket. "I just hope you actually remembered this time? And not got side-tracked by oh say, a little unscheduled brooding?"
"Of course I did." Angel stuck his hands in his pockets defensively and sighed somewhat dramatically. "Made reservations that is." Regardless of how beautiful and stunning she looked tonight, Angel realised that this was still the Cordy he knew. The Cordy who was his best friend and had no trouble telling him exactly what she thought of him, the Cordy who was uniquely capable of frustrating him to no end. And also the Cordy who could make him smile with a simple act.
"And I don't brood all that much any more." He protested, a smile creeping over his features. "Well ... at least I haven't in a while."
Cordelia grinned at him, playfully grabbing his arm. "Good. 'Cause no brooding's allowed tonight. Tonight is strictly expensive food with my best friend night. And maybe also some ice-cream?"
Angel found himself once more grinning back at his now fully smiling seer as she herded him out the door. This felt so nice, so ... right. Should being with Cordy feel this good?
His mind drifted back to earlier in the evening when he had made the decision to just leave things be with Cordelia. Could he conceivably still do that? Spend the entire night with her, drinking in her intoxicating warmth, her beauty, her smile, her sparkling eyes, and still leave with the feeling that she was nothing more to him than his best friend, his seer? To bury and forget what he was currently feeling, this wave of deepening emotion?
More importantly - did he really want to?
He pushed the questions out of his mind as he hopped into his black Plymouth. Angel just wanted to forget about everything but being with Cordelia tonight. Tonight was about making her happy, and Angel felt that whatever complications that could arise from spending time together would be sorted out eventually.
He chanced a glance sidewards, catching Cordelia as she instinctively checked her reflection in the rear view mirror. She still looked lovely to him, and he was really, truly looking forward to this. He felt good. Really good.
Which meant that this couldn't be bad ... right?
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