Stuck With Me

17 | Misunderstanding

FP was just about to fold some laundry as he heard the phone ring, which he assumed was his ringtone. To his surprise he found Alice's purse in the kitchen with her ringing phone inside. 

She must have forgotten it in a her rush but since her whole life was in there he figured it'd be best if he would stop by and give it to her before she'd stress out about her purse being stolen. It wasn't like her to leave it at home, but at the same time she had a lot going on right now and she was human after all. 

He made his way into City Hall and by now he knew the way to her office. There was one thing he hadn't thought about and he didn't realize that until he looked into her eyes. Lena was sitting behind her desk and looked up when she heard FP coming closer. He stopped walking and felt the embarrassment taking over him as the last time they saw each other didn't really end well. 

''This doesn't have to be awkward, does it?'' She asked him a little shyly, feeling ashamed of the way she had treated him last time. It hadn't been her intention to hurt him, he had just caught her off guard. 

''No, of course not. I just came by to bring Alice her purse. She forgot it this morning, including her phone.'' He held the purse a little higher, showing it to her with a light chuckle. FP truly hoped things between them wouldn't be too weird. She had been loud and clear the last time and he wanted to leave it at that. 

''Mayor without a phone would be a disaster.'' She smiled and shook her head as she could imagine that Alice was looking for it right now. 

''Exactly.'' He laughed, and felt relief wash over him that she didn't seem mad. There was a moment of silence between them before he smiled once more and made his way over to Alice's office until she stopped him. 

''FP, before you go-- I wanted to apologize.'' She said softly, the guilt noticeable in her eyes. Lena felt truly sorry for the way she treated him and figured it'd be mature of her to apologize. 

''For what?'' He raised his eye brow, curiously wondering why she should apologize. He was the one who had lied about his job, she had the right to be mad about that. 

''For being so hard on you. I didn't want you to go because of your past. I just didn't like being lied to. Men used to do that a lot to me in the past.'' She confessed silently, which wasn't the easiest thing to do. Lena didn't care about his time in jail, but she did care about the way he had hidden it from her. Or actually, how Alice had hidden it from her when she set them up. 

''I didn't like lying either. Alice came up with that to protect me, but it was just a misunderstanding.'' He explained, before she would think that Alice had made up that story of him being an accountant to cause any harm. It had been a new situation for her too and she just thought she was doing the best thing.

''Would you maybe like to try it again with me?'' She smiled slightly, a spark of hope in her eyes that even after their last date he still wanted to see if they had a connection. 

''Yeah, let's start over.'' He smiled happily, as it felt good for someone to give him a second chance. Not many people ever gave him one or looked past the things he had done before so it felt good that she was willing to move on from that.

Alice interrupted their moment as she came out of her office and saw FP standing there with her purse in his hands. 

''I was just trying to call you. You are a life saver!'' She beamed as she ran over to him and happily accepted her purse. 

''That's what I am here for.'' He winked and chuckled as she saw her so ecstatic about having her stuff back. The thought of her stressing about not having her wallet and phone secretly made him laugh though.