When I was younger I had a plan for my life. I had everything mapped out right till the moment that I would leave college, graduate and make something of myself. I have always wanted to be involved in anything that would make sure that I was surrounded by history.

A career that would allow me to live out my life seeing treasure and beautiful historical artifacts.

It was always three choices.

Historian, archeologist or a curator.

Now that I am back at school and the days are moving forward, I can smell my dreams. I can almost taste and feel them in my small hands. With the degree I chose, it will be a gateway to not only one but hopefully all three of these occupations that I want.

But that would mean one thing would have to be sacrificed and that is time. Time with family, time with friends, time for having an actual life outside of work and the one that depresses me the most,

Time away from Alexander.

I am not saying that we’re going to get married and have kids. Living happily ever after is not what I am putting out into the universe right now, but if it does happen, then leaving what has been my one big goal in life would hurt.

Am I even the type to even leave the career she wants because of a man?

I need to do some quick soul searching because I don’t know how to answer that question. And I need to do it fast because graduation is in literally four and a half months.

I can’t believe that I am past the assignments stage and will only be writing tests now. Which will be a lot of them, so that means a lot of studying.

Life has a way of shooting right past you and you don’t even notice. I am a month and half down with school.

I am also a month down in a relationship. Alexander and I have been together for a month.

The first few days were absolute bliss, but with me moving back with Gigi we haven’t been able to see each other as often as we would like.

He is busy with work. There’s a big merger that he and Tommy have been working on and getting ready for. He has been out of the country for almost a week now. It sucks but it’s the life he lives.

For the whole week we have been video chatting whenever he has a break or when he is about to go to bed.

I wish I was in Spain with him but I have my own life to live, and it cannot revolve around this man. I have been working hard at keeping my focus on my academics, which by the grace of the good Lord are thriving.

I was made for online learning. I am glad I took this option instead of finishing up my degree on campus.

One thing that has not been good about it though is being at home alone. Gigi has been extremely busy at work and I have barely seen her. She leaves early in the morning and returns too late at night.

I have gone crazy from being alone, that I started having actual conversations with myself. The only thing that has been keeping me sane has been going out for walks in the late winter afternoons.

I even tried jogging a few days ago, and let me tell you my lungs, legs and feet have never hated me this much. I don’t exercise, EVER. I want the nice, fit and toned body that Gigi has but my will gets broken too easily.

Why can’t I eat and not get fat? Is that too much to ask for?

As I get ready for my walk on this not so chilly Friday afternoon, a knock interrupts while I am shoving a beanie onto my massive curly locks.

I probably look like a rastafarian with those giant dreadlocks.

Fast walking out of the room, I rush to go open the door for whoever is knocking.

A man in a crisp, most probably tailored suit stands in front of my door. What catches my attention is the large black box he is holding out to me.

“Miss Jones, this is for you”. I am slightly flabbergasted as I look at this bald man with olive skin. I can see a bit of a tattoo crawling up his shirt collar on the left side of his neck.

He looks like a highly expensive bodyguard, a mafia boss, and a hitman.

For all I know he could be all three at once. What I am trying to say is that this man with dark green eyes looks like a very attractive serial killer.

The kind you would not mind if you got captured by. The kind that you would most definitely develop feelings for because his handsomeness caused you to have a giant case of Stockholm Syndrome.

“Uh. thank you”, I take the box from him. He immediately turns and walks down the hallway to the elevator.

Have a great day sir. I mentally call out to him as I go back inside.

Placing the box on my bed I am caught up in a dilemma. Do I go on my walk and see what the box contains later?

My brain doesn't even wait for the second option to arise as my hands are already moving the red ribbon tied around the box. I lift up the lid and move aside the very soft packaging paper.

Seriously, it feels like I am holding a cloud. Or better yet, cotton candy.

Inside the box, is a pair of strappy heels. They sport the famous red bottom of Louboutin that Alexander loves to buy.

What is his deal with Christain Louboutin shoes anyway?

I need to ask him next time I see him.

I better make that soon as I read the card that was placed next to the shoes.

Again his handwriting is just beautiful.

Whoa! He’s back?

And he’s picking you up in an hour so get ready. My subconscious commands.

Don’t I even get a second to process this? My inner self can be so mean sometimes.

Running around like a headless chicken was not what I saw myself doing today but here I am now, gathering up my makeup supplies to pull off the impossible.

I go all out on my face and do a full glam look. My cheekbones are highlighted and my lips are a bold deep red colour. I was always skeptical of having red lipstick on since I have thick lips, but today I took a risk and honestly it is totally worth it because my lips look amazing with this color.

I moisturise my curls since I don’t have enough time to straighten them out. After a minute of finger detangling, I just part a section near my left temple and drag the rest of the hair onto my right side. So now most of the curls will be dangling from my right side.

My hands once again find themselves holding onto the red satin dress I bought a few weeks ago when I went shopping with Gigi.

I pulled on a pair of fresh underwear since I had showered this afternoon. I decide on a red lace bra and panty set. I remove the bra straps though, since the dress has spaghetti straps. Pulling the dress on is easy since it is a wrap around style.

I complete the look with the pair of heels on my bed. They are a perfect fit.

How does this man know my size in almost everything?

Add that to the list of questions I have to ask him tonight.

I grab a nice small, suede purse that mom got me last year. I put my lipstick and powder in.

I give myself once over in the mirror. I clean up nice. I actually look like someone who is somebody in this world.

A knock at the door pulls me out of thoughts. That must be Alexander. I slip on a light, black knee length coat to protect me from the slight chill outside.

“Wow”, is the only word that leaves his mouth once I open the door.

His jaw is slack as his eyes trail up and down my body. I see him swallow when his eyes drink my appearance in. Like he is a thirsty man and I am the last glass of water in the world.

I am in the same state as him. He looks absolutely breathtaking in the dark grey suit he has on. Something about him in a white shirt just makes me more attracted to him.

“Rose, you look”. His eyes make contact with mine, “like a rose, my rose”.

A wide smile almost splits my face in two.

“Thank you. You look great too”.

“I had to be on point for you” he smiles at me.

I’ve missed seeing that smile up close. His smile through a video call screen does not have as much of an effect as it does when he is right in front of me.

“I would have looked better if I had enough time to prepare”.

He shakes his head at my words. “Rose, you look perfect. You could be wearing a pillow case and still be the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on”.

The sincerity in his words tugs at my heartstrings. He is so sweet.

“Shall we?” he offers his elbow in which I link my arm through as we walk to the elevator.

The drive to the venue he has chosen for our date is relaxed. The music is setting the mood perfectly. Stacy Kent’s voice flows through the speakers as La Venus du Melu plays. I know the song because I remember having a French phase back in 2010 when she released her album Raconte-moi.

I lived, ate and breathed the songs in this album until my mother got annoyed with me singing and speaking French in our house so much that she threatened to kick my thirteen year old self out.

Alexander mouths the lyrics to the song quietly as he taps his finger on the wheel. His other hand holds mine.

He did not tell me where we were going but he weaved through the streets in early evening rush hour traffic, the tall buildings starting to look familiar.

I may have an idea of where he is taking me but I keep my mouth shut, not to jinx anything.

As I suspected, a few minutes later we arrived at Le Petit Chateau. He looks over at me with a grin as he looks for a parking space.

“The first place I met you”, he says.

I grin at him. He is too sweet.

Once the car is parked, he steps out of the car, walks to my side of the car to open the door for me.

This is something that took me a while to get used to, because I am not used to people, or men opening doors for me.

I step out of the car, my small hand in his large one as he shuts the door and locks the car.

The moment we set foot inside the restaurant, my heartbeat speeds up a little bit. Memories of me working here come flooding back. I’ve never eaten here, not even when I worked here. Being an actual guest feels weird but at the same time I am welcoming the excitement that comes too.

I am a little too excited because of the man next to me. The hostess’ eyes go as wide as saucers when she recognises me.

“Reservation under Cain”, Alexander seems oblivious to Shelly’s gawking at me. I smile at her as I shrug off my coat and hand off to her.

She places a tag on it and puts it inside the coat closet and then she leads us to our table. We get seated in a private room that only has one table, our table.

I’ve never been to this side of the restaurant, I’ve never had the honor of serving someone in here.

The room is dimly lit with candles, and fairy lights. There are red rose petals on the carpet covered floor. This brings a smile to my face.

I walk forward to the table. Alexander pulls my chair to help me get seated. Immediately after he sits on the opposite side of the table, a waiter appears with a bottle of champagne that is placed in a bucket filled with ice.

There are two flutes on the table, which he fills up for us.

“Your first course will be arriving soon”, he says to Alexander, who nods at him.

The waiter leaves the room and once again we are left alone. Soft, smooth jazz music plays in the background as I lift the flute to take a sip of the chilled bubbly drink.

I’ve never had champagne before. The bubbles feel like little fairies dancing on my tongue. It’s a nice feeling.

It’s also a visible feeling as Alexander catches my facial expression.

“Your first time having champagne”.

It’s a statement but I nod at him anyway.

“Rose, you’re very quiet”.

I noticed that too. I haven’t said a word since we left the apartment.

I sip the drink again, “I’m just taking everything in” my gaze falls onto my lap. “This is actually my first, proper date ever”.

His right eyebrow shoots up. “You can’t be serious”.

Looking back at him, I smile at his unbelief.

“I’m dead serious”.

Our first course arrives, and the appetiser looks amazing. You know when food looks so pretty that you know it tastes good and you haven’t even had your first bite?

That’s exactly how I am feeling about this plate of Charred asparagus, smoked salmon, shrimp and rye crumb. My mouth waters at the beautiful sight of this food.

As the night progresses we play twenty questions to get to know each other more.

“Favourite animal?” I ask him.

“That’s easy, a dog, what about you ?”. He takes a sip of his champagne as he looks at me, giving me his full attention.

“Koala bear”.

I am graced by his pearly whites, “Is it because they’re cute?”

“Yes, but they are also vicious creatures. The true definition of dynamite being a small package. Plus they sleep 18 hours a day, so that alone is awesome”.

This man has not stopped smiling ever since he saw me today. The same is for me too. I am really enjoying our time together. Tonight has been an amazing experience.

A very familiar voice bounces off the walls of the dining room as Victor Dannadieu walks in.

“Rosalie my dear”, he walks to my line of view. As soon as I stand up he wraps his arms around me.

Thankfully this time it’s not one of those suffocating ones.

“Victor, it’s nice to see you again. How have you been?”.

I get back in my seat, “I’ve been okay. Surviving without you”. He pouts at me.

“I see you’re doing well,”, he winks at me and points his thumb at Alexander who is watching us with a grin.

“Alexander, good to see again son”.

“It’s good to see you too Victor.”. He shakes the old man’s hand.

They know each other? How do I not know this?

We leave a few minutes later. The appetiser and main course were amazing. The one thing we did not have is dessert.

Alexander said that he has plans for that.

After getting my coat, he helps me put it on. Flashes of bright light momentarily blind me as we step out of the restaurant.

There are dozens of people with cameras pointed at us, shouting multiple questions that I can’t focus on as they are all talking at once.

Who are these people and what do they want?

“Mr. Cain, is this your new girlfriend?”

Flash.

“Alexander, is she why you broke up with Belle?”

Flash.

“Sweetie, how does it feel to date a billionaire?”

One by one they bombard us with questions. Alexander holds my hand and pulls me to where the car is parked. He quickly opens the door for me, not saying a word to the horde of cameras.

He drives off once he gets into the car. I watch the camera people, attempt to run after the car.

Which is a futile thing to do.

“I’m sorry about that”, he said for the first time since we got into the car.

“It’s okay"

Of course paparazzi would follow him around. He is a very prominent man.

Neither of us say anything for the rest of the drive as we leave the city behind and enter into his suburban, billionaire neighbourhood.

The familiar gates open up and I watch the sprinklers drench the grass as he pulls into his garage.

We get out of the car and step into the house. It feels weird being back here after so long. This is where our love story began a month ago.

“Are you okay?”, I feel the warmth of his hand on the small of my back, radiating right through the coat.

“Yes, where are Miss June and Harvey?”.

The house is quiet. It’s late evening but Miss June is usually having her chamomile tea by this time.

“They are gone all weekend, they went on a mini vacation”. He says helping me out of the coat. His finger tips feel hot as he grazes them onto the exposed skin on my shoulders.

I suppress a shudder.

He holds the coat with his left hand as his right hand grabs hold of mine and he pulls me towards the kitchen.

“Time for dessert”, he looks over at me and winks.

Butterflies fill my stomach as I let him lead me to where he has placed dessert.