"Regardless of how much care is taken, I am afraid there is no controlling what people may say," he reasons, offering her an apologetic glance. He's heard whispers about them in the past, long before he had ever truly considered taking any sort of action regarding a change in their relationship. It was possible that other people had seen what he had already recognized in himself, or perhaps they simply like to talk. Either way, talk was just that— talk. Until either of them confirmed or denied it, people would have no way of knowing.

"As you say, it is just dinner. Nobody need have any reason to think it is anything more, though the dinner itself won't be able to be entirely secret, or else the kitchen won't be able to do anything for us." He smiles knowingly then, an almost mischievous quality to it. "If anyone asks, we can simply say it is business. Our roles here mean we have a great deal to discuss, even if they have changed since years past."