Fight for You

| Sixteen |

2011

Edward Harvey POV

Benjamin pulled the car up outside the hotel which housed Origin, the restaurant. Whitney collected her purse and smoothed out the skirt of her dress before the valet opened the door for her. I made my way around to the entrance doors and held my elbow out so I could walk her inside. She smiled politely at the gesture but didn't take me up on the offer and continued walking inside to the porter holding the elevator doors.

The air between us was thick with tension and I was unsure why. The incidents of earlier seemed forgotten about and we had moved on. Well, I had moved on, perhaps Whitney was still harbouring some negativity. Her body language was screaming at me to back off but I couldn't bring myself to leave her be.

I had high hopes of being able to spend some time over dinner, getting to know her better and slowly revealing more about myself. There would be a time later in the evening that I could approach the subject and reveal the truth of who I really am.

Silently over the course of the day, I had weighed up the pros and cons of opening up to Whitney about my identity and who I am in relation to her.

Over the years I had contemplated telling her my real name and telling her the story of why I kept myself hidden all this time but the stars never seemed to align correctly.

Surprisingly, Whitney had never pushed the matter of my identity. She seemed content with only knowing what I had shared with her, which was very vague. I knew so much about her yet she didn't even know my name.

At times I felt bad for keeping her in the dark but going by the advice my mother had shared with me, the truth would come to light when it was ready and when I was ready. I hadn't been ready until today. When I saw her, smile beaming at me in the law office this morning, I knew I couldn't let the opportunity of having her here slip away.

Everything seemed to be falling into place finally. Whitney's schedule was clear, she was a free agent for the weekend and I too had cleared my schedule. Spending time with me this afternoon may have been forced upon her but I was willing to do whatever it took to be alone with her for as long as I could before revealing the truth. There was a possibility that Whitney would shut me out and want nothing more to do with me, yet I didn't want to entertain the thought of the worst possibility.

We arrived at the 16th floor and the porter ushered us out, "Enjoy your evening," he tipped his hat and smiled as the elevator doors closed behind us. Whitney made her way to the maître d' inside the front door of the restaurant with me in tow.

"Ah, Ms Bennett, Welcome, lovely to see you again. I wasn't aware we had a booking for you this evening." he beamed at Whitney with a kiss on each cheek.

"Isaac! How wonderful to see you too," the pair seemed to be old friends from their exchange. "I don't have a reservation, however, I do think Mr Harvey here does." she stepped aside for me to come into view of the maître d'.

"My, you bring handsome company this evening my dear," Isaac's comment was louder than intended and it caused me to blush slightly. "Yes, we do have you here Mr Harvey, Welcome to Origin. If you'll follow me this way I have your table ready." We followed him through the restaurant to a table in the far corner of the restaurant. It sat on a slight platform and looked out over the other tables in the restaurant. I moved to pull out Whitney's chair for her and earned a short smile as she sat down.

"Can I get you something to drink?" Isaac asked.

"Thank you, Scotch, on the rocks," I ordered something strong to help build my courage.