Seeing Sophia rattled put a smile on Aiden's face. He wanted so much to wipe her face and touch her lips. But knew, that she was not ready they were not on that comfort level yet. So instead, he passed her the tissue that was lying on the table. Something to stir her up but not scare her.

After they both cleared up the table, Aiden suggested they watch a movie, since the night was still young.

"I'm not sure, I'm really not interested in watching any of those," as she saw him looking at her movie collection.

"Why not? You have such an amazing collection of movies. Have you watched all of them?" Aiden asked.

"Oh, those are not my selections, my assistant got them for me. She suggested that on the weekend I should relax a little and watch some of them, honestly, I forget they're even there when the weekend comes," she said disinterestedly.

Aiden sighed, he could not understand Sophia. She was not interested in any of the things other women were interested in. He learned that she didn't even shop for her clothes, she sent her assistant for that. While other women went shopping, bought make-up, and had fun on the weekends, work was the only thing that interested her.

"Okay, let me select a good one then. I know the good ones," he went through the collection and selected the most romantic movie he could find. He'd seen this movie before, and he knew that the lead characters were going to fight against fate, it had heart-touching moments, sweet kissing scenes, and a happily ever after. All the ingredients for a movie that all women love.

This was how he got the idea for the candlelit dinner earlier. He was going through her collection on the shelves, and the cabinets when he found the candles.

Fifteen minutes after Aiden sat beside Sophia and played the movie, she started giving her opinion about the film.

"How many times do you think they replace the car during the chase scene? The initial car looked different, didn't it? Look! Look!"

"Why did she just leave the gift on the table, should she give it to him directly?"

"What is he waiting for? Why is it taking so long for him to propose?"

"Oh look, it's the lantern festival. Didn't they meet at the same time last year? That's why it's special," he replied.

"Why does he need to wait for a special day? When you have a goal in mind, planning is key. Then he shouldn't wait too long to execute his plans. That just leads to more misunderstanding," she said.

"It's a movie, you don't need to think much about it, just enjoy it," he answered.

"Uh-huh," Sophia agreed, but she could not keep quiet for more than five minutes.

"See, I told you. He didn't propose when he had the chance, and now she misunderstood his intentions," she said.

He had been excited when he selected the romantic movie, but he's had enough, she didn't even bother to try to understand the story and relax with him. If the movie was shot the way she dictated, then it would have ended in half an hour instead of the two hours it ran for. He got up and switched the TV off.

Sophia was surprised, "What happened?"

"I got bored," he lied.

"Actually, I was bored too. Those sappy movies never make sense," she replied.

He was irritated, "Maybe next time we should watch some documentaries," he said sarcastically.

"Oh, that's a good idea. The last one I watched was "Social Dilemma," it was riveting. Do you know any other good documentaries?" she asked, not catching his mocking tone.

He was losing his cool. "Why is she so clueless? This is so infuriating," he thought to himself.

"I'll be sure to search for good ones," he gritted his teeth. He could not spend another moment with her. If she wasn't so beautiful and smart, he wouldn't put up with her. Their first date, which he planned without asking her, was not supposed to go this way.

He thought the candlelit dinner and the romantic movie would open her up a bit, make her more comfortable with him. But it seems that she viewed their dinner as one of her business deals, nothing but a means to take care of a favor. The evening that had started out on such a good note had gone downhill for him.

Before he said anything rude, he got out of her place like he was on fire. Maybe the next date would be better. He just needed to learn how to approach her.

-=-

Aiden was having one of his meetings at a hotel, he had met with the foreign delegates, and the meeting had run further than he planned. But it had been an advantage for him because he learned that Sophia was at the same venue, meeting some of her clients as well.

He finally found her in one of the other meeting rooms, but she was still busy with someone, so he just waved to let her know he was there. She acknowledged his presence but could not end the conversation she was having. After 20 minutes, she found Aiden sitting idly on one of the sofas outside the venue, she had totally forgotten about him being there.

"Hey, why are you still here? I thought you've gone home," she said.

"I was waiting for you," he replied.

They both had their cars parked outside, and as Sophia walked to her car, Aiden asked, "Why are you going in your car? Come drive home with me, it's much nicer to drive with the company."

He could see the hesitation in her face, but after a few grueling seconds, she agreed, "What about my car?"

Aiden suggested letting his driver take it home so he could be alone with her. Like a kid, he felt happy that he was getting his wish.

Sophia had been trying to observe where they were driving to when she noticed the route was not leading them home.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

Aiden replied, "I wanted to take you somewhere special."