The Element of Surprise

The Date - Part 2

3rd POV

Estella arrives at the bar ten minutes later than the scheduled time, although after further inspection, she recognizes some of her colleague's cars a few parking spots down. The only one who'd be arriving via bus is Spencer, which means the sleek black car at the very back must belong to Rossi. Realizing he's already here with the rest of the team, her stomach clenches, sending her heart skyrocketing.

"Calm down, will you?" She tells herself and smooths down the front of the dark blue dress she decided on at the last moment. Its plain and casual, hugging her upper body snugly and flaring out at her waist and stops a few inches above her knees. The straps are thin and dainty, and a threadlike red belt adds a bit of color to the outfit along with a pair of red suede heels to give her a little more height. All in all, she at least thinks she looks casual enough for drinks with colleagues and pretty enough for a date with a complete stranger.

Scraping together her courage, Estella enters the bar. Her eyes search the booths and tables until they settle on the familiar group of people gathered in one of the far corners. It's almost strange to see them in a setting as casual as a bar. Hotch is actually wearing a t-shirt and a pair of jeans while Derek and Reid look more or less the same as they do at work. Penelope, too, although Estella doubts the technical analyst would ever change her fashion style. Emily changed her work clothes for a pair of jeans and a elegant green top, and JJ settled on a tight-fitting black bodycon dress. Last but not least, Rossi... who also looks pretty much the same as always, except for the fact that he's wearing a light blue button-up shirt with his usual jeans. And he rolled his sleeves up again, dammit.

It's nearly impossible to ignore how attractive he looks in that light shirt, which makes his hair and skin seem even darker. It truly brings out the Italian in him. Nonetheless, she manages to silence those thoughts and casually approaches her teammates, "Sorry I'm late, guys. Wardrobe emergency."

"Well, it was worth it if you ask me," Derek is the first to greet her in his usual flirtatious manner. This leads to the others to turn and more than one brow was raised at her appearance. Although she did all of this to get her feelings towards the senior agent out of her system, Estella still steals a glance at him to see his reaction. And just as her primal gaze detecting system predicted, his eyes are fixated on her, but she can't read his expression.

"You look stunning, Stella," JJ beams and offers Estella the seat next to her. She slides in beside the blonde and send each profile a smile as a form of greeting.

"I'm almost tempted to believe you're going on a date," Derek continues charmingly, taking a sip of his beer.

Estella opens her mouth to respond with a witty remark but Garcia beats her to it, "Well, you never know, do you? Perhaps a smoking hot French-Canadian will show up around eight and wait for her at the bar and offer to buy her a drink. She needs to be prepared for anything, know what I'm saying?"

"That's an oddly specific description and scenario," Spencer comments suspiciously.

"Hmm," Emily hums as she swallows a gulp of whatever she's drinking, "It almost explains the sudden wardrobe change this morning." Then she turns to Estella and looks her dead in the eye, "Alright, out with it. What's his name and how long have you been seeing him?"

"What?" She chokes.

"Easy there, Prentiss," Hotch luckily comes to her rescue but also has an uncharacteristic gleam in his eyes.

"No, no, she has a point," Rossi speaks for the first time since Estella showed up, "I'd very much like to hear about this guy too. Let's start with what he does for a living. Does he have a criminal record? Can he actually speak French?"