Author: Katherine Dimmick
In Associations with: Cleo & Ellen
Rating: PG / PG-13
Summary: It's Valentine's Day and Cordelia has plans...
This story occurs after both "Covenant" and "More Than Meets the Eye." While there are no direct spoilers, there are references back.
Cordelia slowly and quietly slipped out of bed, careful not to wake the two men who were still asleep. Pulling on a shirt and some pants, she crept out of the room and into her kitchen. They had spent the night at her apartment, not wanting to disturb Wesley at the office, working on one thing or another.
As she walked towards the refrigerator, Dennis opened the door for her and Cordelia smiled. It wasn't as bad living with a ghost as she had first thought.
A glass of orange juice in her hand, Cordelia placed a phone call to a restaurant, making sure her booking was still set for tonight. Then she made a quick call to the florist around the corner to see if the flowers she had ordered had actually arrived. Smiling again as she heard the answer, Cordelia hung up the phone and started towards the front door, leaving her half empty glass of juice by the phone.
//Cordelia, come back to bed,// Angel sent, letting her know that he was no longer asleep and had noticed her missing from the bed.
//I can't. I have an audition to get to. I'll be back by the time Doyle's meeting is over.// She hated to lie to them, but today it was necessary.
//Surely you can be a little late,// Doyle's sleep-filled voice suggested.
//I can't, I'm sorry.// She could feel Angel starting to get out of the bed. //Just go back to sleep and I'll be home later.// And with that she walked out of the front door and headed down the stairs towards the street.
She had done it. She had made it out of the apartment without them becoming curious about what she was doing. Heading towards a shop she had seen on the way home the other day, Cordelia wondered if her two lovers had really forgotten what today was.
A smile on her face, Cordelia walked into the dress shop and started trying on dresses that she could wear to the restaurant for dinner.
//Do you buy her story?// Angel asked the half-sleeping man beside him in the bed.
//I guess. That was the reason she came to LA in the first place,// Doyle answered, opening his eyes slowly to look at Angel.
//Yeah, I know. But when was the last time she went to an audition?//
"Maybe she went out because she wanted to get away from your constant questions," Doyle said aloud before closing his eyes again.
//Funny,// Angel retorted sarcastically. //I'm going to go over to the office and see what Wesley is up to. If you don't come over, then I'll see you after your meeting. //
//Yeah, if I even bother to go.//
Angel turned to gaze back at Doyle. //You're going. Whatever Cordelia's planning, and we both know she's planning something, it will be after that.//
//Well, maybe I don't really need the meeting.//
//Well, maybe you do.//
//I don't feel like arguing, Angel, love. See you later.// Doyle's thought was dismissive, and he narrowed the link between them as he ostentatiously rolled over to go back to sleep.
Angel watched him for a few moments, then went into the other room. Minutes later, he returned, and Doyle could hear the sound of a pencil scratching on paper.
By the time Angel was finished, Doyle was genuinely asleep again.
Noticing Cordelia's half glass of orange juice, Angel tipped the end down the sink, put the glass aside and left the apartment via the sewers, heading towards the office.
When he arrived, Wesley wasn't there. In his place was a note.
I shall be out of the office today to do some research with Harry, and to celebrate Valentine's Day. If anything of urgency should arise, phone me on my cell. WWP
Angel gave a half smile as he read the note. He was happy that Wesley had finally found someone that made him forget about work. And after what they went through day after day, anything which took your mind off work was a good thing.
Well, almost anything. He thought briefly about Doyle's meeting, wondering if Doyle would get out of bed in time. He considered sending a thought his way, but did not. He couldn't be Doyle's alarm clock every time there was a meeting. If the note that he had left was not enough, nothing else would be.
Doyle had to take the responsibility to do this for himself, not just for them.
Angel picked up the book that Wesley had discarded on the desk and made his way downstairs to the solitude he was seeking.
Doyle climbed out of bed, his head feeling a little foggy. He vaguely remembered that first Cordelia, then Angel had left, and that he had gone back to sleep again.
Stumbling out to the kitchen, he grabbed himself a glass of orange juice and had a look at the calendar on the far wall. Today was circled in red pen and love hearts were drawn around and suddenly it dawned on him that today was Valentine's Day. He thought that he recalled Angel saying something about Cordelia making plans before he had left that morning, but he didn't remember Cordelia mentioning it at all before she had left at what had seemed the crack of dawn, which was not like her. It was important enough to circle in red pen and place love hearts around it, and Doyle wondered why she hadn't said anything before she had left.
Maybe Angel was right and she was secretly planning something exciting for that night, as had happened on all the major holidays since he had been back.
A card floated towards Doyle as if held up by invisible hands. Dennis handed the card to Doyle and he laughed. "You want me to give this to Cordelia for you?" But when he opened it up, Angel had already signed the card. The message above the signature read `Our dearest Cordelia. You are the light in our life, the rock that keeps us grounded, and we have no words to try and explain just how special and loved you are. This day was made for the love we share and we hope that you feel the same. Love always Angel and'. Then there was a space where Doyle could sign his name and claim that he had helped write the words.
Doyle smiled and quickly signed his name next to Angel's and put the card into its envelope, reminding himself to take it with him when he went to find Angel.
He turned aside, only to see another piece of paper waving in the air.
"What is it, Dennis?" he asked. Just then the doorbell rang and Doyle jumped, startled. He wasn't sure, but he thought he heard a distant feminine laugh ring through his mind as he headed towards the front door.
"I have a delivery here for Mr Doyle," Doyle heard someone shout through the door. Doyle opened the door and looked strangely at the man who was holding a huge bunch of flowers. He shrugged and signed the paper and the deliveryman left the apartment.
The flowers were from Cordelia, of course. Doyle read the note that was attached.
It was very much Cordelia, short and to the point. "Happy Valentine's Day! I love you. Bringing you back was the best thing I ever did in my life. See you after your meeting. C."
Hmmm, the meeting again. Doyle now vaguely recalled Angel mentioning something about it, while he was still half asleep. What time was that meeting? Did it really matter?
Holding the flowers in his arms, he started toward the door, only to see that piece of paper waving in the air again.
"Oh, sorry, Dennis. What's that now?"
The ghost brought two sheets of paper to his hand, and Doyle caught them. The first was a sketch, in what he had learned to recognize as Angel's distinctive style. It was a drawing of himself, sleeping, with just a hint of a smile, as though he were having a pleasant dream.
The second sheet was a note, and at the words on the paper, Doyle put down the flowers and went back to the kitchen table to read.
"Doyle, it seems like you've been part of who I am for so long that I can't even imagine an existence without you.
Yes, I know it has been barely a moment, and yet it is everything to me. For all the years that I can remember, and there are far more of those than I want to think about, the only years that matter are the ones when you were in the world. Your presence makes everything real."
Doyle looked up from Angel's note, finding it suddenly hard to read. The silence in the apartment was complete.
"There might be a way that my soul could go on without you, but right now, I can't come up with a reason why. You gave my soul an anchor and a home. What would be the point? And then I think, well, at least I could go on to remember you, as I have with others I've lost over the years, while I continue on. I could go on somehow, to make sure that you were not forgotten. But it would be a sadder and a colder world, and I'm not so sure that I'd want to live there. So, please, go to your meeting. We'll have plenty of time together afterward. It's not time taken away from us. It's time invested toward the future, the one that we nearly didn't have. Happy Valentine's Day."
With a long sigh, Doyle folded the note, and put it into his shirt pocket. Then he stood, slowly, to pick up his keys, and headed out for his meeting.
Two hours later he walked in the front door of the office and was surprised to find it empty.
//I'm downstairs, Doyle,// Angel told the half-demon, letting him know that he was indeed still there.
//Hey man, guess what I got at the apartment,// Doyle said as he walked down the steps and found Angel relaxed on the couch, a book on various demons resting in his lap.
//Flowers from Cordelia?// Doyle nodded as Angel pointed to a big bunch that were sitting on the counter in the kitchen in a fresh vase of water. //Me too. Seems like she didn't forget after all.//
//I didn't forget, either,// Doyle sent quietly.
//The meeting?//
//Yeah.//
//Good.//
There was an awkward moment between them, but then it was over.
//I just wonder what else Cordelia is planning.//
It was Angel's turn to nod as he too started to wonder what else Cordelia had planned for them. All he had been hearing from her this morning was a little rhyme that she kept singing over and over again, "Shopping, shopping, shopping day for me." It made him smile at first, but he was beginning to get annoyed at it.
//Can you hear her? It is starting to get annoying. She has been doing that since she left the house this morning.//
Doyle shrugged and sat down beside Angel.
//She's definitely planning something that we don't know about. She told us not to make any plans so I thought that she just wanted to stay in and have some fun.//
//And the image that thought creates is good, but I somehow don't think that is what she has planned,// Angel sent, placing the book on the floor in front of him and leaning over to start to massage Doyle's shoulders.
//Me neither love. I guess we will just have to wait and see. But in the meantime, we can always find some way to keep ourselves amused.//
Cordelia had arrived home shortly after Doyle had left and had started then to get ready for this evening. She wanted it to be just perfect. On the way over she had picked up the two rental jackets for the men to wear to dinner, knowing that they would complain about wearing them, but she didn't care. Nothing or no one was going to spoil the plans she had made for tonight.
She could feel what her lovers were doing in her absence and it made her want to run over there and join the fun, but then her plans for the evening would be ruined because she knew that when she got into that bed with them, then there was no way she was leaving any time soon. Instead, she wandered around the house, making up a song in her head so that she wouldn't have to concentrate on what Doyle and Angel were doing without her.
At ten minutes to six, Cordelia walked down the stairs and straight into the bedroom, seeing the flowers she had sent to Angel in a vase on the kitchen bench as she walked past. //Okay, you lazy people. Get out of bed and get dressed. We have to go out.//
//How 'bout you come and join us instead, princess,// Doyle sent, raising his tousled head off Angel's chest. He had a spectacular case of bed hair.
Doyle suddenly noticed that over her arm were two dinner jackets, wrapped in plastic and hanging on coat hangers. He winced at the sight.
//You don't seriously mean for us to wear those, do ya? Much better to come on in here for a good snuggle, and, you know, whatever else might happen.//
//I don't think so. Out of bed now.// Draping the plastic-covered dinner jackets over a chair, Cordelia pulled the blanket off the two men, relishing the fact that they were naked.
The space between them looked warm and inviting, but she couldn't lose her resolve now. She was so close to that perfect evening that she had planned.
//Here, put those on,// she sent, gesturing toward the jackets.
Angel sent dryly, //I assume you'd like us to put on a few other things too.//
//That requires getting out of bed,// Doyle complained.
//So it does.//
//Had your hair done, did you?// Doyle's thought inquired.
//You noticed,// she sent back sarcastically.
//Just as long as you don't go dyeing it blonde, princess, whatever you do with your hair is fine.//
She tapped her foot impatiently as Angel and Doyle reluctantly left the bed and walked past her to the bathroom. Doyle touched her hair as he went by, very lightly, careful not to disturb it.
Cordelia smiled slightly at her victory, but then pouted as she realised that they had said nothing about her new dress. She had bought it especially for tonight and they hadn't even told her that they liked it or not.
She was still pouting when the two men walked out of the bathroom, fully dressed... from the waist up.
Cordelia took one look at them and the pout disappeared. A smile shone on her face as she stared.
//You look good enough to eat. But there is no time for that,// she sent, knowing what was going through their minds. //Get your pants on, already.// She looked at her watch and, as soon as they finished dressing, pushed the two men out the door.
//So, just where are we goin' then, Princess?// Doyle asked.
//Somewhere special,// was her only answer.
//Great,// Doyle though. //How are we getting there?//
//Angel's driving, of course.// Cordelia froze. //Oh no.// She thought and both men could see the sudden image in her mind of the kind of damage all the wind from the convertible could do to her hair. //Angel...//
Angel sighed. //I'll go put the top up.//
Once they were settled in the car, Cordelia gave a series of cryptic directions, carefully not thinking about their ultimate destination.
//You're getting better at blocking, Cordy,// Angel observed. //First the little shopping rhyme, and now, not letting us see where we're going in your mind.//
//Turn right at the next corner,// was Cordelia's only reply.
When they finally arrived, Doyle let out a low whistle of appreciation. //Impressive. What else have you been hidin' from us, darlin'? Reservations here aren't exactly easy to get.//
//There are still some things I can do that don't involve killing, chopping up or disposing,// Cordelia sent back.
//You are a woman of unexpected resources, sweetheart,// Doyle assured her, but Angel was not as pleased.
//Valet parking? You want me to give my car over for valet parking?//
The noise and bustle of the L.A. evening disappeared as they entered the dim quiet of the restaurant. It only took a moment to verify Cordelia's reservations. The tuxedo-clad waiter quickly gathered up three menus and gestured for them to follow him. As they made their way through the restaurant, Cordelia could not help but notice the admiring glances that they were receiving.
//Look around, guys. We've got a fan club here.//
//You mean, you do, princess. It could only be your beauty that is catching everyone's eye,// Doyle sent fondly, as he held her chair for her.
//It's not just me,// she thought, as she carefully took her seat. //Even though I am the best-looking female in this restaurant.//
//We have to agree there.//
//But if one happens to have an eye for male beauty,// Angel thought. //You, Doyle ... //
//You're lookin' through the eyes of love, man, that's all.// Doyle flashed him a grin as they both settled into their own chairs. //Nothing special about me otherwise. If it's a man they're noticing, it would be you, Ange'.//
//Well, we may be looking through the eyes of love,// Cordelia stressed. //But that doesn't mean you aren't beautiful, too.//
//Inside and out,// Angel added.
//Would you two knock it off already? I didn't think I could still get embarrassed in public without anybody saying a word out loud, but you're managing it.//
//I could think of some other ways to embarrass you in public without saying a word,// Cordelia sent, with a wicked sparkle in her eye.
//Ah, princess...// Doyle started, a slightly strained look forming on his face. But they were interrupted by the waiter clearing his throat as he finished fussing around them with napkins and menus.
"Can I offer you something to drink?" he asked in carefully hushed tones. "We serve over twenty different sorts of wines and have seven different beers on tap. We have..."
"Tha's okay," Doyle said, making a face. "How 'bout just an iced tea for me?"
"Do you mean a Long Island iced tea?" he asked.
Doyle only paused for a moment. "No," he answered. "Just a regular iced tea."
"Yes sir," the waiter said, obviously disapproving, though not about to be rude about it.
Cordelia sent her silent support to Doyle as she ordered mineral water and Angel declined having anything to drink.
//I think we offended him,// Angel thought at them with amusement.
//Mineral water and iced tea are cheap,// Cordelia sent. //They push the expensive stuff in places like this.//
Doyle grinned. //Well, then, we'll just have to order somethin' extra expensive for dinner to make it up to him.//
//I can do that,// Cordelia thought. //Now, where were we before he interrupted us? Oh yes...// She carefully began a detailed show in her mind, careful to linger on all the right details.
The food was exquisite, but they ate it with a bit more haste than was customary in restaurants which had that many stars in their ranking. Talking continued normally throughout while Cordelia sent her lovers images of what she was going to do to them when they arrived home again.
They didn't linger when they were finished and waiting for the car to be brought around seemed to take hours.
//You are evil,// Doyle thought as he slipped into the back seat with Cordelia.
Cordelia laughed.
//Guys...// Angel sent back at them, as he struggled to concentrate on driving.
//Block us out and get us home already,// came Cordelia's reply, breathless even in her mind.
//Fat chance,// Angel though as their link was flooded with thoughts, images and sensations.
He'd never know how he managed to get them home in one piece but it hardly mattered as they all but ran down the stairs, panting as they entered Angel's apartment.
//Before we do anything,// Angel sent, as Cordelia kissed Doyle //This is for you.// He finished handing Cordelia the card that both he and Doyle had signed.
Cordelia read the note and tears sprung into her eyes. Without saying a word, she hugged both of them and put the card on the table.
//Thank you both. This is wonderful. Now I want to have some fun. Game to join me?// she sent, heading towards the bedroom, slowly undoing her zipper as she walked. Both men followed her into the bedroom.
The last thought that Cordelia heard before she fell asleep, much later, was, //Oh, by the way.... we really did like that dress.//
The End
