Free Celestial Land and Sea by Amy McLean

that his niece was going to be there too. She felt like a teenager again as she thought about seeing him after office hours. She tried not to squeal as she struggled to contain herself. At long last she was going to spend some time with him, and only that time would tell where their relationship would lead to after that. As her imagination conjured some of her wildest fantasies, she blushed.
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    The rest of the day crawled by much more slowly than usual. For once, though, Grace was thankful for the lack of work to do. After forcing her wandering mind through the rest of the article about Grace O'Malley that she'd been in the middle of before Andy had come over to her, she allowed herself to slip into a daydream, leaving her unable to concentrate on anything except the possible events of that evening that were slowly unravelling inside her mind.
    She kept playing it over and over again in her head, imagining conversations she'd share with Andy. She thought about what he might order, what she might eat; it didn't matter that he hadn't actually told her where they were going. Perhaps they'd go somewhere for Thai food. Or maybe they'd visit an Italian restaurant, and they could share a plate of spaghetti. Then they would each take an end of a ribbon of pasta and bite their way down towards the middle until their lips met...all with the child sitting right next to them.
    Grace was forced out of her daydream when Andy arrived back at the office to pick her up. "Back just in time. Didn't I promise?" he grinned.
    He had tapped Grace on the shoulder to get her attention, causing her to nearly jump right out of her seat. Everybody else had already gone home, except Mr Barrie and Fran, who were both in the boss's office doing whatever it was they did when they were alone. Grace didn't know the details but she was certain she never wanted to find out.
    "Are you ready then?" Andy asked.
    As ready as I'll ever be ,
Grace thought to herself as she shut down the computer, forcing herself to hide the excitement that was rapidly building inside her.
    As they headed down Regent Street, butterflies fluttering in her stomach, Andy still hadn't said where they were going. Too impatient to wait any longer, Grace finally asked.
    "It's this great little diner just round the corner on Charing Cross Road. I've been there a few times with Mollie and she really seems to enjoy it, so I thought we'd play it safe and stick to somewhere she knows. She's not the easiest to please with food!"
    "I've never been in a diner before," Grace confessed.
    "Well you're going to love it. It's very retro."
    When they reached the entrance, she agreed that it looked spectacular. For some reason she couldn't remember ever having seen this one before; maybe it was just because she hadn't ever sought it out. There were lots of independent restaurants and diners around London but the ones Grace usually noticed were sleek with posh fonts and fancy lettering. Not this one though. Both the front window and the frame of the door were decorated with bright neon lights, lit up in different colours: blues, greens, yellows, reds. The display was alluring, stunning. It was unique, and that was something Grace admired.
    They stopped and turned their backs on the diner to face the street. "Sarah shouldn't be too long. I must warn you though, she's a bit—"
    The BMW pulled up in front of them: shiny new paintwork, chrome finishes, clearly worth not a penny lower than Grace's annual salary.
    "—flash."
    He wasn't kidding either. The tall woman slid out of the driver's seat. Her cream suit highlighted her slim figure, her large sunglasses drawing attention to her bronzed cheekbones. A blonde ponytail swished around her waist, tied up tightly to match the rest of her immaculate image.
    Andy hugged his sister with a distinct lack of any real embrace.
    She opened the side door and out stepped Andy's petite niece: soft brown curls, pale skin, rosy cheeks. Her eyes were wide as her