Who: Bridget and Ashleigh Where: The Pasta Shop and Ristorante When: Evening - Sunday, July 4
Bridget had made arrangements with Ashleigh for them to meet up at a place off the main strip in Vegas. Arriving a couple minutes ahead of her date, Bridget, dressed casually in t-shirt and jeans secured a table for them. And while she waited for Ashleigh she checked her phone for any missed messages.
Ashleigh arrived at the restaurant a few minutes later, clad in dark blue jeans and a patterned white, V-neck blouse (that was about as casual as she got, in all honesty) and smiled as she approached the other woman. "I'm sorry I'm late," she murmured in her sultry accent. She prided herself on being on time, so it was no surprise to see her a little pouty.
"I was a little early so I suppose that kind of evens us out." Bridget smiled rising from her chair when Ashleigh arrived to greet her with a few words and a friendly type kiss to her cheek before Bridget returned to her seat.
"I suppose it does," Ashleigh replied with a smile. She sat down opposite Bridget and felt her cheeks flush. "I'm glad you suggested a meal," she admitted. "It's been a while since I haven't had to cook." Ashleigh was a rather good cook, but for health reasons, she had to be. She had to know what it was she was eating and hardly ever indulged. Tonight, would be one of the rare exceptions.
"Everyone is entitled to a little indulging now and then." Bridget commented with a smile letting her date take the words any way she might be inclined to. "I'm glad though that you agreed to join me tonight." Bridget added just as a waitress stopped by their table with a couple of menus. The server asked if they wanted drinks at the moment or wanted to be given a couple minutes to look at the menus before ordering anything. Bridget held back waiting for Ashleigh to respond first before she gave an answer of her own.
"Ah, a drink wouldn't be out of the question." Ashleigh ordered herself a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, and, as a side, a glass of water. She waited for Bridget to order her own drink and politely thanked the waitress before speaking again, "Well, I'm glad for the invitation," she replied with a smile, getting back to their conversation. "How have you been?"
Bridget ordered a Chardonnay with a request to be given a couple minutes before they'd be ready to order dinner. "I have been good." Bridget smiled with her answer as the waitress took her leave to get the two women their drinks. ""I hope you've been the same."
"I have been. Fighting fit, in fact," Ashleigh replied with a cheeky little smile. She was still, honestly, a little mystified about the other woman. Bridget certainly seemed sure of herself, didn't she? "Can I ask what it is you do for fun, Bridget?" She'd almost fallen back to calling her 'Miss Bale'. Oops.
"You mean other then taking beautiful women out to dinner?" Bridget answered teasingly with a little bit of a wicked smile. The brunette then paused a moment when the waitress returned with their drinks and was the asked to give them a couple more minutes before they'd be ready to ordered.
"Seriously, though," Bridget started with a sip of her wine, "I like going to bars on occasion, just to get out and away from my job. I also like to ride, which is something I haven't done since leaving L.A."
"'Ride'?" Ashleigh asked with a raised eyebrow. Of course, the first thing that came to mind was: "Motorcycles?" She sipped her wine and considered Bridget for a moment, she seemed more likely to ride a motorcycle than a horse, come to think of it.
"Horses actually." Bridget corrected the other woman. "I find it relaxing horse-backing it in the wide open far from the loud noises and crowds of people that make up a city like Vegas." Bridget indulged in another sip of her wine before posing the question to Ashleigh. "So, what do you like to do in your off time?"
Well now, even someone as smart as Ashleigh was could be wrong sometimes, it seemed. "I've never been horseback riding," she admitted, "but it does sound pleasant, away from everything." She took a measured sip of her wine and considered her answer to Bridget's question: "Reading, playing chess… Possibly some very boring pursuits in contrast to yours." She really did think she could be a bore.
"Only because I prefer the more active pleasures life has to offer, but they're things I would never condemn." Yes, they seemed to have differing personalities and likes, but that didn't mean they couldn't find some common ground somewhere.
"Oh, I wouldn't say that I'm not physically active. I enjoy running, swimming… archery. Well, it's the precision I like more, but it's finding the time that's difficult." Hm, she must have had a lot of leave stored away by now. Maybe she should take the time to do those things?
Well, there they had it. That little bit of common ground. "I run too, but I consider that more along the lines of exercise or to clear my head, rather then something fun to do. And archery is something I often thought I'd like to try, but have never actually gotten around to doing it." Bridget admitted to the other woman.
"I think it's the rush of endorphins that I agree with. There's no greater high. Well, okay. Maybe one," she added with a roll of her eyes and a cheeky little grin. "Archery… once you start, it becomes a bit of an addiction, I find. The desire to do better is always there," she added with a blush before the waitress finally returned. She let Bridget order her meal first and then ordered her own, before thanking the waitress and continuing the conversation: "Of course, that's just my opinion." She also enjoyed shooting at the gun range, but… that seemed like something more related to her job, and she thought it in poor taste to bring up something work related on a date.
"Perhaps I'll give it a try." Bridget smiled to the other woman once the waitress had left the table with their dinner order. From the way Ashleigh described archery it sounded like a competitive sport, and Bridget did have a bit of a competitive streak in her, though the woman found very herself with very little time to seek an outlet for it, much less being able to participate in an actual activity.
"I'd definitely recommend it." Ah, it looked like Ash was finally loosening up, hm? She took a sip of her water this time and focused the conversation back on Bridget, "You said that you liked to go to bars occasionally. Any place that I'd know of?" Not that Ashleigh went to those places outside of work, mind you, but she had a good memory – so at the very least, she'd know what Bridget was talking about.
"There are two that I've been to more then once. The Wild Coyote and Stoney's." Bridget answered unsure if Ashleigh would know of either place. They were slightly wild in comparison to the usual bars she drifted to back in L.A. but then that was the draw for Bridget. She could just let go and truly enjoy herself in a place that didn't recognize her as a Bale.
"Oh, I've been to The Wild Coyote." Remarkably on a date much like this one. "The owner's are rather… unique," she added, since the last time she'd been there they'd decided to have a wet t-shirt contest. She cleared her throat politely behind her hand and smiled. "Do you like a … certain kind of music, then? I'm partial to most things. Apart from Rap. Not that there isn't a certain poetry to it, I just find it hard to follow. The same could be said for heavy metal, I suppose. Although I find that more agreeable."
"I'm partial to Country, which Stoney's does big time, believe it or not." Bridget smiled softly. "I can tolerate most others, except for the heavy metal where all they do is scream where you can't understand a word coming out. Not that all heavy metal bands do that screaming thing, but some do."
"I suppose I prefer the non-screamers…," Ashleigh added with a small smile. "I guess the preferred term is just 'metal' then," she added. She had trouble keeping up with the sub-genres, honestly. "Still, there's nothing wrong with country music. I find it pleasant."
"Well, if that is the case I'm going to drag you to Stoney's sometime. See just how much a person in the forensic field lets down their hair." Bridget informed Ashleigh. And in the werewolf's mind it wasn't a matter of if they'd go, but rather when she'd be able to fit a time into her schedule to do so.
Ashleigh chuckled and sucked her bottom lip between her teeth, "Well then, I look forward to it. I like to think I'm doing well so far," she added with a small smile before taking another measured sip of her wine. "I get the impression you're as work orientated as I am," she murmured, breaking her own rule about talking about work.
"Another thing we have in common." Bridget didn't mind the brief detour from the general conversation that had been keeping to. It was just a slight side track that gave the other more insight into the other person. "I'm the type of person who'd rather do something herself then leave a job to an underling. Guess that old saying 'if you want something done right you do it yourself' holds quite true for me. Not that I don't trust those who work under me, if that were true I'd never leave my job." Bridget laughed lightly.
The slightly older woman chuckled there, "I think it's about completing a job to the best of my ability that I find so… satisfying. Just following it through to the best of my ability." She sighed and nibbled on her bottom lip before coming back to herself and smiled faintly, "I think there are few people like us out there, Bridget."
"Very few, I think, with our standard of dedication." Bridget agreed. "I find that most people are in the job they are in purely for the money. All that matters to them is punching a time card, putting in their time and then collecting a much waited for paycheck at the end of the week." Which the security head found kind of sad. Those types tended to under produce in their job, which she knew from experience led to others having to pick up the slack.
"It is hard to find good help these days." Ashleigh smirked as the waitress reappeared with their meals. She gave the woman a pleasant smile and a thank you and let Bridget do the same and waited for the other woman to get situated before picking up her knife and fork. "But doing their job for them isn't the way to go either," she added sternly.
Bridget, as well, thanked the waitress with a smile when the plates of food were set down on the table. "True." She acknowledged after the server left. "But if a job needs to be, it needs to be done regardless of who accomplishes it. I can tell you, though, that slackers don't tend to last very long in my employment. They show even the slightest incompetence they're gone the following day."
"You must have a high turn-over rate," Ashleigh replied with a small smirk before starting on her meal. She’d ordered a nice Pasta Carbonara to go with her wine. Something simple, yet surprisingly delicious.
Bridget smiled at that. "Actually the turnover isn't all that high." Sure Bridget had lost a couple employees when she had first taken over her present position at the Royal Star Hotel, but those employees had been replaced with competent workers. And so far things were running rather smoothly in the security department she ran inside the hotel. Then taken advantage of the comfortable silence that set in for a moment, Bridget started in on her meal of Shrimp Tamra.
"I suppose it helps to have someone competent training you," Ashleigh murmured with a faint smirk. She stopped eating her meal for a moment and took a sip of her glass of water, appraising Bridget over the rim of her glass. It was rare, if ever, that Ashleigh had met someone that interested her so much. "Bale… is that a common name in this area?"
"Not in these parts." Bridget told Ashleigh. The Brunette took a sip of her wine as she leaned back slightly in her chair with her gaze still on her dinner date. "In L.A. though it's a different story." She relayed to the woman with a small smile.
Ashleigh narrowed her eyes thoughtfully and then chuckled, "Those Bale's. It took me a while," she admitted with a faint, uncharacteristic blush. "Are you close to your family at all? If… you'd rather not answer, I'd understand," she added, since she wasn't very close to her surviving family members.
"Those Bales?" Bridget couldn't keep from letting out a soft chuckle then. "You make it sound like we're a pack of ruthless predators or something." She said setting her glass down with a grin. "I don't mind talking about my family. I'm close to my father and keep in touch with my other relations pretty regularly. The Bales are a family oriented bunch." More like pack oriented, but Bridget didn't think that divulging a family secret would be a wise move to make seeing as she knew very little about Ashleigh. Hopefully that would be something she'd be rectifying in the near future.
"It’s a recognisable name. I meant no disrespect," Ashleigh clarified with a small smile. "Still, that sounds nice. My family are… few and far between," she added, before taking a sip of her wine. Ashleigh knew a fair bit about the supernatural, to be honest. You didn’t become a Watcher if you didn’t. … It also helped that her sister had been turned into a vampire a few years back. Actually, that last bit didn’t help. That depressed her, more than anything.
"None taken." Bridget smiled eating a bit more of her dinner while listening to the rest of what Ashleigh was saying. "I think it helped that my family lived in the same general area, or if not, visited quite frequently."
"I imagine that would make holidays interesting." Ashleigh smiled, before carefully eating her dinner. There was something about pasta that always made her paranoid that she’d spill the sauce all over herself.
"Oh," Bridget laughed lightly then, "I could tell you many an interesting story of holidays and my growing up years." She smiled pleasantly as she let her meal and wine sit a brief moment while watching her date feast lightly on her meal.
"I bet you could," Ashleigh replied before boldly adding: "Perhaps on a second date, then?" She rather enjoyed the conversation that they’d shared so far, Bridget’s company and… well, any excuse to be around her more often, to be honest.
"I was hoping you'd be amendable to that." Though Bridget would have waited til the end of their date tonight to broach the idea of a second. Not only was Ashleigh a beautiful woman, but Bridget was finding she also was an intelligent and fascinating one. Bridget had a feeling that there was a lot beneath the lovely exterior, and she was looking forward to peeling back each layer that made up the woman. See exactly what made up her core.
"Good," Ashleigh replied, before smiling at the other woman. Was it possible that two of the seemingly politest people in the country had just met and arranged for a second date? It sure looked that way. "I’m really enjoying myself," she added with a faint blush. It was rare, if ever, that someone engaged Ashleigh so thoroughly, she realised.
"Good, then we should make the most of this evening." Bridget smiled softly before finishing off a bit more of her dinner. "With this being the Fourth I think a good way to end up the night would be with a viewing of the city's fireworks display." Which probably would consist of more then one, so if Ashleigh was so inclined they would have to decide which show to take in.