"This or this?" Sahara holds up two dresses in front of herself.

"Don't you think you should pick something a little more jaw dropping?" Ria says as she examines the clothes in Sahara's closet. "Like... ah ha! What about this?" She pulls out a bright red dress, with a sparkling Gucci belt.

"Uh, I don't think so. I'm going on a casual date, not to my own wedding."

"Ugh, fine." Ria goes through all the options and picks a full outfit. She pulls out a long, white dress and pairs it with a green, silk kimono. She picks a beige scarf and beige heels to match with the outfit. "Perfect! Here, Try these out!"

Sahara looks at the outfit Ria has chosen and nods. A few minutes later she walks out:

"I have no clue how you pull off outfits so nicely. I'm jealous! Mash'Allah (God willed it/God has willed: It is used to show joy and praise, and is evoked upon hearing good news), Sahara, you look so gosh darn cute!" Ria ties the silk belt around Sahara a little tighter to outline her voluptuous figure.

"Ya Allah! What are you doing, Ria? Why is it so tight?" Sahara complains.

"I don't want you looking like you're wearing 300 layers, okay. This gives some shape. Besides, this is the shape Mr. Vasiliev probably would love to see." Ria winks and bursts into giggles.

"Shut up!" Sahara crinkles her nose in irritation.

Someone knocks on the door. Sahara and Ria fix their scarves, "Come in!" Sahara says.

"I didn't mean to intrude– Ria! What a surprise! I would've looked sexier if I knew you would be here." It's Viktor.

Ria rolls her eyes but Sahara knew Ria's starting to become a little flustered around Viktor.

"Anyways, Damian said he's going to be about 10 minutes late and told me to drop by to let you know." Viktor says without taking his eyes off of Ria.

Sahara smirks, "Uh huh... why don't you just admit you saw Ria's car in the driveway and decided to drop by?"

Viktor flashes the most cheeky smile, which made Ria's stomach fill up with a thousand butterflies. She wanted to fight to the feeling but he's just so bloody charming. Viktor knew he had that effect on women but he was even more proud that he finally had a that effect on Ria.

"Poor Viktor, you're going after the most stubborn girl." Sahara says, teasingly.

"I like myself a challenge." Viktor winks. Ria gets that feeling in her stomach again.

"Tell him to leave, please!" Ria begs Sahara, making Sahara laugh.

"Okay, okay, Viktor. Time for you to leave because Ria and I have work to do."

"Awe man, I could help you girls out, you know." Viktor pouts. Bloody hell, even his pout is mesmerizing, Ria thinks to herself.

"I don't think so, Mister. Out! You two can find another time to flirt, I need to get ready."

Sahara's comment made Ria smack her, "Shut up, there won't be another time, okay?"

"Oh, my darling, there will always be another time when it comes to you." Viktor gives her one last charming smile. "Enjoy your date, Sahara! See ya!" He closes the door behind him and Ria let's out a breath of relief, as if she was holding in her breath from not combusting.

"Why don't you give that poor guy one date? One halal date? Is that even a thing? I don't know. But I feel like he deserves at least one. He's been chasing you for months." Sahara says.

Ria plays with her scarf fabric, "I like him, I'm so annoyed, he makes me feel so bloody blush-y and shy all the time! But I can't give him the chance. Because if I do, I'll be open to getting hurt and I am not ready to get hurt." Ria looks at Sahara with conflicted eyes, "Plus, he has a major reputation of being a womanizer, I don't think I want to be one of his toys that he uses, then gets bored of, then throws away. I won't be able to handle that."

Sahara could understand, she really could. She was in the same position but she was forced into it, she didn't have a choice to get to know the person. Ria has a chance to never get hurt but how will she grow as a person without getting knocked down a few times? At the same time, she has a chance to avoid all the heartbreak, Sahara would've chosen avoidance over painful life experiences any time of the day.

Sahara strokes Ria's cheek, "Hey, if you don't want to, you don't have to. Don't think you have some kind of favour to owe him." She hugs Ria.

"The thing is, my heart really badly wants to go on the date. Every time I see him, my heart pulls towards him. I really want to know what he's like but I'm scared– no, I'm terrified I'll fall for him and he'll hurt the shit out of me." Ria's voice cracks. Sahara realizes Ria's really serious about this.

"Do what you think is right. Ask yourself questions to analyze your situation. Will this bring you happiness? If you don't do it, will you regret it later on? These should help you decide."

"Thanks, Sahara. You always have the best advice even without experience. You're like that single but not single friend who has all the advice." Ria cracks a smile.

"Be quiet! Stop bullying me!!!" Sahara pouts.

The door peaks open, "Am I interrupting something?" It's Damian.

"No, you are not. Take your lady away before she makes me do bloody stupid things." Ria says pushing Sahara forward.

Damian raises a brow in confusion, "Anyways," he takes Sahara's hand "you look beautiful." Sahara smiles back at him, "Thank you."

"Yes, because I dressed her or else she would've showed up in a robe." Ria says proudly.

"I wouldn't mind if she showed up in a robe." Damian smirks. Ria's eyes widen and she bursts into laughter. "Holy shit, mate. This one's really bold." Ria says as she tries to stop her laughter.

Sahara lightly smacks Damian's arm, "I really hate both of you."

"Okay, okay, you two get going before I get tempted to drag Sahara back to watch a movie with me." She waves them off.

Before the couple were about to leave, Ria stops them, "Wait, Mr. Vasiliev," Ria motions for him to step forward so he does, "don't you dare, and I mean, don't you bloody dare hurt my little angel or else I'll hurt you in places you'll remember for the rest of your life. Do you understand?"

Damian just stares at the fierce, protective cloak Ria has replaced her friendly face with. Sahara intervenes, "Ria, it's okay, please don't scare him off." Sahara tries making the situation light.

"I'm just doing my job. You're the type of person who could be dying in pain but wouldn't let others know because you don't want them worried. In this world, you're the lamb, he's the fox. And I'm a lion, ready to attack the moment someone leaves a tiny scratch on you. The only reason I haven't hurt you for all the times you hurt her is because she stopped me but this time, I'm warning you, Mr. Damian Vasiliev, don't even think about it or else." She motions at him with the I'm always watching look.

Ria's facial expression quickly changes to her friendly smile, "Okay, you two, why do you guys look like you've seen a ghost? Get on with your date! Bye!" She waves at them as they walk out the door.

Damian whispers to Sahara, "Your friend's a little intimidating."

Sahara wraps her arms around his arm, "Yep, that's my hero, my saviour, my one-and-only."

"Hey, you sound like you would marry her." Damian jokingly frowns. Sahara pokes his nose, "You have no idea." She says jokingly.

• • •

"Oooo, we're here for sushi? I love sushi!" Sahara claps her hands like a child as she stands outside of restaurant. She squints to look through the windows, "But, it's empty... is it closed?" She frowns.

Damian smiles at how happy a simple sushi place is making her, "No, darling, I booked the place for just the two of us tonight."

"Oh my gosh, that must've been expensive. You shouldn't have. We could've just had McDonald's, I wouldn't have complained. I love McDonald's." Sahara looks at Damian with concerning eyes.

He loves how considerate and humble she is, forgetting that she's married to a billionaire. If he had brought any other girl here, they wouldn't have given it a second thought. "You deserve the world." Damian says as he lightly kisses her forehead.

Sahara looks up to read the restaurant name and her jaw drops, "The Araki?! You've got to be kidding me, Damian. This places costs more for one person than my monthly car insurance. Its's like £600 for one person. How in the freaking world did you book the whole place?"

He smirks, "Will you stop worrying about the price? Let's go." He intertwines his fingers through hers and leads her inside.

She was greeted by the Japanese chef at the door, "Mr. Damian, welcome." Then they turn towards Sahara, "Welcome, Mrs. Vasiliev, we're honoured to have finally met you."

"Oh, no! The honour is all mine. To tell you the truth, I am honoured to be here. I've heard wonders about your restaurant." Sahara is truly shocked that she's inside a place she thought she'd never be able to place her foot in. It's all too surreal.

They were seated at the front as the sushi was going to be made in front of them to test out a few of their best dishes. Then, they would be moved to a private table. As the staff began going back and forth to bring the ingredients, Damian took this time to watch the amused Sahara, who's eyes gleamed with excitement.

Sahara turns her head towards Damian and raises an eyebrow, "Is there something on my face?"

He nods, "Beauty."

"Ugh, you are smooth." She laughs.

He strokes her cheeks with his fingers as he starts thinking about how much Sahara means to him. How her smile makes his heart skip a beat, how her brown doe-like eyes sparkle when she's excited, or the way her lips feel on his. Oh, her soft plump lips, the thought of the sensation of lips makes him weak to his knees.

Sahara snaps here fingers in front of his eyes, "Hello?" Damian lightly shakes his head to wake up from his dreamlike state. "You know we could have gone somewhere cheaper. The fact that you spent to much money on me is making me feel guilty."

"Don't be! Well, my plan was to go to Gordon's and have him serve us his specials but he was too overbooked for today."

Sahara was drinking water but she starts choking, "Gordon??? Gordon Ramsay??? Hell's Kitchen Gordon Ramsay? MasterChef Gordon Ramsay? The "What Are You?" "An Idiot Sandwich" meme Gordon Ramsay?"

Damian bursts out laughing because she sounds like a total fangirl, "Yes, the 'idiot sandwich' Gordon."

Sahara blinks at him in total disbelief, "You guys are on first-name basis? You guys are friends? Holy heck, you have to let us meet one day."

"Shit, if I knew you were a Ramsay fan, I would've fought him for a booking."

She put her hand on top of his, "Oh, no. I totally dreamt of coming to The Araki but freaking hell, you know the Gordon Ramsay."

"I just discovered your weirdest, most random interest today. Gordon Ramsay? Didn't expect that one." Damian couldn't stop smiling. Sahara's excitement is contagious.

"Are you kidding? I can barely cook that fancy but I love watching his chef shows. I'm obsessed."

He kisses the top of her hand, "I'll make sure you get to meet him as soon as possible."

"Yesssss! But we can't let him see me cook or eat my dishes because if he roasts me, I'd actually cry." Sahara says jokingly.

"If he made you cry, he won't have a job afterwards." Damian winks.

They tested some sushi and then had their full course meals. They chatted for hours when one of the staff members interrupted and told them they can continue to their next part of their date. Sahara's expression looks confused as Damian asks for her hand. She takes it and he leads her into an empty room that has ambient lighting to set the mood with a book box sitting in the corner.

"What's this?" Sahara asks.

"I'm not good at romantic gestures but I tried." He takes her hands and places them on his shoulders as he places his in her hips.

"Are you kidding? This is the most romantic thing anyone's ever done for me. Probably because I've never even gone close to a guy before, let alone go on a date. Except for that one time..." Sahara trails off.

"That one time? What one time? Who was it? I bet he wasn't as good as me at all of this." Damian's defensive mode turns on.

Sahara giggles, "I was just kidding, I just wanted to see how you'd react if I teased you a little."

"Oh, you're such a naughty girl. I could just..." he pushes her against the wall, his nose touching hers.

She places a hand on his chest, "Damian, not here." But she couldn't stop her lips from meeting his. She gave in to the temptation of the kiss. As she inhales his expensive cologne, her hands travel to face to trace around his sharp jaw. Then, her hands find themselves at the edge of his shirt buttons as she was about to undo them, she stops herself.

"Oh my God, Damian. Not here!" Sahara catches her.

Damian smirks, "I'm not the one who was trying to open those buttons."

"Ugh, you're so addictive, I hate you." Sahara quickly covers her mouth with her hands because she just realized she said those words out loud.

Damian presses his body against hers and leans in close enough that their lips are almost brushing against each other's. "How do you expect me to keep my bloody hands to myself after you say things like that?" He says in a deep, seductive tone.

Sahara felt herself freeze but she wasn't going to let anything happen in the middle of a goddamn restaurant, "Damian!"

She puts her arms around him and lays her head on his chest. "I'm yours for the rest of my life, you can do whatever you want but please, don't harass me in the middle of a posh restaurant." She giggles into his chest, laughing at her own smart comment.

"I can do whatever to you, whenever I wang and wherever I want, Mrs. Sahara Vasiliev." He tightens his arms around her.

He lets his body feel the soft heartbeat of Sahara's. Even her heartbeat feels so pure and innocent.

He holds Sahara against his chest, as he wonders: am I really falling in love with her? Or is it just the sensual feeling?

He thinks about her, the her from his past, what if he didn't turn her away? Would he have been happy? Or is Sahara his happy ending?

The way he wants to find out might ruin them both, a pain neither would be able to bear, a pain so unbearable that It might lead to the death of a pure heart.

• • •

Damian's phone vibrates, he checks to see who it is. The text reads: "are we meeting tonight? 👅"

He looks at the Sahara who is blissfully sleeping with a slight smile on her face. He looks back at the text.

He looks at the time, 3:30AM, he replies: "not tonight. I'm busy."

The person replies back, "you're not with her, are you? You do plan on leaving her after everything is complete?"

- - -

A/N: I thought I should give you guys a nice, cozy chapter today because things will turn into a whirlwind soon! The sneak peek foreshadows some plot twists. 👀

What do you guys think of our second runner-up couple, Ria and Viktor? 😜 Ship it or nah?

Sorry for not posting on Sunday and almost (key word: almost) missing the Monday post. School began again and I'm falling behind. That's why this chapter is super-duper long. But stay tuned for next weekend. 😋

♥️