Liam waved off her words of concern.
"No, don't worry," he assured her,"I do have a...procedure tonight to perform, but it shan't conflict with me walking you home. Once I've done that, I'll be off without fuss nor confliction. Besides, I couldn't let you walk these streets alone at night, it's not safe." 
He playfully poked her in the ribs with one finger as said his final words.

He walked her to the door, and they departed the quaint little cafe and headed out into the dark New York City streets.

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Even at night the streets of New York were overflowed with vehicles; cars, trucks, semis, commuter buses, and more.
The sidewalk was crowded with people, passing Liam and Alice from both directions. While not terribly far from Alice's place, they had a thick crowd to move through, as well a traffic light ahead to contend with. Liam wasn't sure of the time, though he speculated it to already be past ten PM. Quite late indeed.

As they walked, Liam suddenly stopped, looking off to the left of them.
He stood still for a minute before turning to Alice.

"Would you be fine cutting through this alley." He asked, pointing his left finger down a long alley just to their left.

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"It's already quite late," he said,"and if we cut through here we just 
have to cross a small side street and then we'll be nearly through.
With this crowd, who knows how much longer we'll be getting you home, and I do still have a procedure to perform. We can save time if we shortcut through here." He said, smiling at her.