Stone and Losctum Law Offices

"What?" Ryan dropped his portfolio (on purpose mind you) and he bent over, scrambling to collect all the papers. This gave him a minute to buy some time.

"Um Miss Rosen-I mean, Serenity, don't you think we're rushing things? We've only barely begun to talk to each other but-" The little voice in the back of head suddenly began poking at him, and telling him that a gorgeous blonde woman is interested in a little geek like you, so you better take that opportunity.

"Well, okay. I can take you out somewhere."

"Oh gosh, really!?" Serenity said excitedly. "I didn't think you'd actually say yes, I thought you wouldn't want to.." She stammered out, blushing. "Well that'd be great! I'm free all this week. Oh, except Thursday. I have to go to London for a client meeting."

"Oh thank you..." And Ryan took a long, grateful sip before talking again. "I'll take you out for coffee tomorrow or something if you want. Or we could catch a movie or something."

"A movie! And coffee. Both!" Serenity said, blushing. "I love movies. And coffee. You decide, I can't." She mumbled, trying to look away at her paperwork, but she just kept smiling at him like an idiot.

"I have an idea! We can have coffee while we're AT the movies! You know how some bring popcorn? We can bring coffee instead!" God, that was stupid.

"Umm..." Serenity said, staring at him oddly. "Sure! Sure, that sounds great. But I really like movie popcorn, you know."

"Really? So do I, except sometimes it's too buttery. I like it lighter." Ryan said shrugging. "But anyway, that's not the point. I'll find tickets to something good... riveting... that kind of thing."

"Wonderful. Great." Serenity said, smiling yet again. "I'll have my daughter stay at the neighbor's. Thanks Ryan."

"No, th-thank you!" Ryan said, smiling like a total dork. When he left to go back to his office, he immediately began surfing the Internet, trying to see if there were any good movies out.

Serenity, on the other hand, spun around her chair, giggling and smiling like a 12-year old. It felt great to be asked out by a respectable guy, even if she had technically told him to ask her.

The fine day Dianna thought her mother was on a date with a scumbag, Serenity was actually at work, with a nice guy (Ryan, obviously.) She went into his little office space and closed the door, making sure no higher-ups were coming, and kissed him, then sat down in the only other chair in the little room. "Uhm, Ryan, I think we should have a talk. After all, I really like you, and if our relationship is going to be serious we have to go over.. uh, some things." Serenity said, sounding rather nervous.

"Oh, yeah uh okay..." Ryan said, immediately feeling ten times more nervous, and wave of sweaty hands was coming in. Every time Ryan was nervous or excited, his hands began to sweat, something that he was often teased for in primary school. But this time, he had a legitimate reason. The talk was enough to make anyone feel sick.

"What do you want to talk about?" he asked, after clearing his throat three times.

Serenity took a deep breath. It wasn't the magic talk- no, that was forbidden unless they got married. No, this was slightly more serious than that.
"So, back in, uh, primary school, I used to have this boy that I was absolutely in love with." She started off. "I really, really loved him. His name was Angel Astor. I would dream about the day we would get married.. He was the older brother of my best friend. So, he graduated before me, of course, and went off to do swell things. When I graduated, well.." She took another breath, sounding a little bit scared. "I went to Amsterdam by freak accident and started working as a prostitute. For around a year and a half. I was really young, and before then, I hadn't done, uh, it. It was really scary. But then things got worse when a friend from high school- both Angel and I's friend- came and paid me. And I couldn't turn him down once he'd paid me. But then things got awkward and I told him to stop, and he didn't, and.. It was rather nasty. But then I left Amsterdam and I started to work as a real waitress... But then Angel went to Amsterdam and he killed Charlie. He went insane." If a person had walked in right now, they would only see Serenity looking like she was ten years younger, about ready to cry like she had in the past. "And then he was arrested and put in a mental house and I hooked up with his brother- my ex-husband- for a while and practically forced him to marry me and had two children and got through law school, not in that order, and then he told me how he never really loved me and left and then here I am with you."

THAT TALL, FIFTH YEAR SLYTHERIN APPARATED INTO THE OFFICE FOR A MILLISECOND GAVE SERENITY ROSENSTEEL A BIG HUG AND DISAPPEARED

Ryan was silent for a long time, a full five minutes. There was nothing but the sounds of Serenity and him breathing, with the sounds of the office outside, full of life. There was nothing else for him to do but get up, and give her a long hug, and whispering quietly in her ear:

"...That's quite the tall order of things happening to you, isn't it?"

Serenity nodded, hugging him back and trying not to cry. "I just want it all to have never happened." She mumbled, the words slipping together a bit. The attempt not to cry didn't work, and by the time the hug was over, she was sniffling and trying to salvage her makeup for the rest of the day.

"No, don't worry about it." Ryan said, grasping a firm hand on her shoulder. "If you've been all through that, you deserve to just sit down and cry." Ryan hoped he was saying the appropriate things for this situation.

And that was exactly what Serenity did- she put her head down on his desk and started crying. No, sobbing, really.

Zack sat down and watched her cry, not saying a word. Sometimes, you just couldn't talk while someone was crying their head off. You had to sit and wait out the storm. So, he sat, mulling over what she had just heard.

Her? A Prostitute? Really? Serenity HAD always dressed a little more flashy than the average woman, but she was so confident, unshakable... there was no way she'd go around and be easy with boys. And the pain with insane boyfriends, and their friends having sex with her...

Ryan rubbed the temples of his head. Thinking about a lot of this gave him a headache, and he couldn't imagine how Serenity must have felt in this entire situation.

After quite a while, Serenity looked up, smiling weakly. "I feel better.." She said, her voice barely audible. "I don't think I can work today. You can take the rest of the day off, I think I'll just go home and have a drink." Serenity could have been joking, but then again, she could have been serious.

"Do you want me to take you home? I don't mind, and it's the least I could..." Ryan offered quietly.

"Yeah. You can, actually." Serenity picked up her briefcase. "Thanks. A lot. It means so much to me, really."

"It's no problem."

And soon enough, Ryan led Dianna out to his car, opened the passenger door for her, and soon they were off.