The Society | Completed

Part 17

The taxi takes off immediately, scaring the life out of her as she's thrown back into her seat.

"Busy day?" The driver asks, and she nods vacantly.

"Insanely," she responds, looking out the window.

They're going in the direction of her hotel, which makes her slightly more comfortable; at least getting back to her home for the night will be easy.

She zones out for a few minutes, caught between calming her own nerves and wrestling Jane's.

Her wolf is all for this rendezvous; she loves dinner, and men.

She's just nervous that it'll somehow get back to Atlas.

They saw him mildly ticked off; she can't imagine how bad he'd be if he lost his temper with them, and chances are, he would.

They haven't officially rejected each other yet, so she's technically still 'his'.

If he can shack up with his ex, however, she is well within her rights to go for dinner with a guy she met that day.

Weirdly, she's looking forward to the rejection.

She doesn't have any feelings for him, romantic or otherwise; he's irrelevant to her.

He has no hold over her, whatever he chooses to believe.

"Do you want me to let you hop out outside of the restaurant?" The driver asks, and Conrad clears her throat, startling herself back to the present.

"Yeah, please, I can't walk that far in these heels," she smiles, and the driver obliges, pulling into the parking bay outside it.

"Twelve dollars, seventy-five cents," he announces.

She passes him a twenty-dollar bill, hopping out of the cab before walking up to the restaurant.

She's right on time, so she walks up to the hostess table with a smile.

"Hi, Mason for six 'o'clock," she beams.

The hostess raises a brow, leading her to a corner table.

It's shielded from view, and Conrad is a little relieved by that; she feels awkward eating in the middle of a restaurant, because she doesn't like people staring at her while she eats.

Derek is already there, much to her relief.

"Hey, Conrad," he grins, hugging her gently.

"Derek," she responds with a matching smile, sliding into her seat.

He pushes her chair in for her, and she clasps her hands.

"How was your drive?" She asks awkwardly, and he rolls his eyes.

"Drive? At rush hour? Yeah right, I walked," he laughs, and she cringes.

"Did you seriously get a ride from your office?" He gapes, and she blushes a little.

"My heels are too high to walk," she protests lightly, and he rolls his eyes playfully.

"Okay. Is this a date or an image intervention, just before I make some jokes?" He asks with a twinkle in his eye, and she laughs softly.

"We'll call it both. We'll talk about your drug use and then make some sexual innuendos," she chuckles, and he smirks.

"Figure out what you want to order first, then we'll discuss the pressing matters," he comments, putting his menu up.

He peeks over it, wiggling his eyebrows.

She dissolves into laughter, drawing an unimpressed glare from the table nearest them.