bakerstreet | Secret dating, secret daaaaaaating.

SECRET dating;

The fact that you're in a relationship with this person isn't public knowledge. Actually, no one knows about it except for the people involved. Maybe you guys are just private like that; on the other hand, it may be a necessity to keep things a secret from others. Maybe you're both team mates, and others on the team would give you grief, or you're not suppose to be dating, or you're not the type to usually date and you're only testing the waters. Perhaps it's the combination of you two, possibly an odd couple, that would bring some controversy or some teasing. Or, you know, you could not want to deal with friends and relatives being busybodies. Your reasons are your own.

Are you content with stealing moments to be together as a couple? Do you want to make your relationship known and the fact that you can't drives you batty? Remember, there are lots of benefits to dating in secret. You can be yourselves completely, away from prying eyes, and get to know each other better as potential longterm romantic partners. In a way, it's ideal.

...still, do you ever wish you could scream from the rooftops how much you care for your significant other?

how to play.

Comment with your character, preferences, and information.
Reply to others.
Play out stolen moments (◡‿◡✿), secret dates (◕‿◕✿), secret handholding (⊙‿⊙✿), and secret kissing ( /)w(\✿)!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Really, the biggest thing that Lydia needed to hide, as far as she was concerned, was that Cary was older than her. Her friends had the nasty tendency to remind her that she was barely legal, as though that had some kind of bearing on things; she'd already made the determination that teenaged boys were a mess and not worth her time. Really, the next logical jump was to move onto men who already had themselves all sorted out. Or mostly, at least.

She, after all, generally had herself all sorted out. She knew what she was capable of, she knew where she wanted to be in a few years, and she knew exactly how to get there. If she had a steady boyfriend by the time it happened, that was fine; if not, also fine.

In the meantime, Lydia was just going to continue seeing Cary every now and then. Whenever they could steal some time.

She was in a coffee shop that day, timed to his schedule, so she could catch him for a brief time. She'd settled at a bar-style counter along one window, where she could both see him coming and make sure they had a bit of privacy while maintaining the notion that maybe they were just casual acquaintances or something, and was quietly nursing her drink as she waited, hoping he wouldn't keep her waiting too long.

Dating someone nearly 10 years younger than him had caught him by surprise. He was 28 and Lydia was 19. Alicia Florrick, the other named partner at his firm, would probably gawk at the fact that Cary was dating someone the same age as her children.

But what could he say? Lydia was mature and fun and he enjoyed seeing her. And, lastly, a point he would like to stress: it's not as if he was that old. So yes, he kept it from Alicia, but it was probably for her benefit, not his.

Today, Cary was taking a late lunch so that he could spend a little more time with Lydia. He saw her in the window right away and waved. He was dressed like a lawyer — three piece, slim-fit, charcoal suit — which usually wasn't the case when they saw each other. But since he was going back to work after, there would be no point in changing.

"Lydia," he said, resting a hand on her arm for just the right amount of time. "Good to see you." To the public eye, it was just the way he greeted clients. "I'm going to go get something and I'll be right back. Do you want anything more than —" he pointed at her coffee.

Lydia would definitely defend that he wasn't that old. They were almost at the point where the age difference didn't matter as much anyway. Once you hit university age, things mattered less. It wasn't like there were any weird legal issues that came into play, so it didn't undermine his role in society at all. They were fine.

Still, it wasn't much of a problem for her to just keep it quiet for now, until it was maybe a little more obvious whether or not it was just some little fling, some way of passing time with a warm body and decent company.

His wave was met with one of her own, a little waggle of her fingers and a small smile curving her lips in greeting; when he came in, she twisted around to face him a little more, making the most of the way the seat rotated to do so. Her skirt was short, riding up without being highly inappropriate, her legs crossed at the knee, her sweater comfortable instead of clingy, while red curls tumbled over one shoulder, pinned in place neatly.

She looked like she could have been a client, really.

"Hey," she greeted back, glancing back towards the counter. A soft hum escaped her, and her smile curved a little wider. "Surprise me?"

The look suited her, and Cary noticed. He wondered if Lydia dressed differently when they were together, compared to what she wore to hang out with her friends.

"You got it." He left his messenger bag on the seat next to her, telling the rest of the world that the seat was taken.

When he returned, Cary had a sandwich for himself, and a slice of poppyseed pound cake on a plate for Lydia, complete with fork on the side. "I assumed you'd eaten lunch already, so I got you some dessert to go with your coffee. I hope you like it."

Since it was a little on the late side, getting his order didn't take long, and the coffeeshop itself wasn't too full. He took his seat and began to unwrap his sandwich.

"So. Anything interesting happen today?"

She only changed her outfits slightly. In general, most of it came out of her closet, but things were put together slightly differently for him. Better, more classy. Things that wouldn't make her age quite so obvious when put in contrast to him.

Her smile tugged a little wider as he claimed the seat next to her, not that it was much of a surprise. She twisted slightly, watching him go. Partly because she liked the view, partly because she was curious.

"You're not wrong," Lydia greeted him back, twisting back to face the counter as she accepted the cake. It looked good; not too sweet, but still a good snack. He knew her well. Crossing her legs at the ankle, she flicked a loose lock of hair out of her face and forked off a bite of the cake.

"Mm. Not really. Class got out early, another one was cancelled. Not really a problem; I'm ahead in that one anyway. I'm fairly certain my professor thought I was cheating until she actually looked at everything," she replied with a little smirk, puffing up with clear pride. "What about you?"

He ate as he listened, nodding and then smirking with her at the end. He was proud of her too, but also he remembers what it felt like to be proud in school.

"Savor that. You deserve it."

A sip of water.

"I spent the morning prepping for court. Something we've been working on for a long time now. We'll be doing jury selection later this afternoon."

Another bite. This one does not talk with his mouth full.

"Thanks," she replied almost airily, though something in her expression remained pleased and proud, the corners of her eyes crinkling slightly with the smile she was trying to tamp down slightly.

As she listened to him and his day, Lydia took a sip of her coffee, dragging it out a little. Above the rim of her cup, she watched him, studying him with a hint of fondness to it.

"Productive. You think it's going to go well? Or is it something you're going to have to fight tooth and nail for?"

Secret dating, secret daaaaaaating.

lemme know if this works <3

love it -- let me know if my age assumptions are okay.

perfect!

no subject

sorry for my delay ;; I've been terrible about...like, everything lately

it's all good darling

you are the best <3