Erik was in the middle of explaining what he does for work, when the waiter joined them and placed each of their entrees in front of them. The bacon and spinach stuffed mushrooms sitting on their plates looked mouth watering to say the least. Before leaving, the waiter filled their glasses with a crispy, wine white and left them to enjoy the food and each other's company.

"This looks delicious." Rosaline said, whilst stealing a glance over at Erik to try and see if he was as impressed by the dish as she was.

"It does." He agreed, looking up at her.

Just as Erik picked up his cutlery, Rosaline took this as her cue to start eating. They ate in silence for the first few minutes to truly enjoy their meal, but before the quiet could last any longer, Erik found himself speaking up in an attempt to get to know Rosaline better.

"Care to tell me a little bit about your family?"

"Sure, what would you like to know?" Smiles Rosaline.

"Let's start with something easy. Any siblings?"

"I do. I have two older brothers. Nickolas is thirty-one and an accountant. He is also married with two children. And then there is William who is twenty-seven and is a structural engineer. He's not married, although he has been with his girlfriend now for over six years I think it is."

"Are you close with your brothers?"

"Very much. Despite the age difference, we were always there for each other growing up. I couldn't imagine my life without them to be honest." Rosaline admits with a heart warming smile.

"Age difference? How young are you, if you don't mind me asking?"

As Rosaline didn't answer Erik's question immediately, he stopped eating as a result of wondering whether or not he said the wrong thing. He should have known better than to ask a woman how old she is, but for some reason, Rosaline didn't strike him as the kind of girl who would get offended by such a question. Still, judging by the look of anxiousness that was slowly settling in on her face, Erik knew it was a sensitive issue.

"I am twenty-four." She reluctantly tells him.

"I'm sorry if I've made you uncomfortable by asking." Erik apologises.

"No, don't be. It's silly really."

"What is?"

"It's nothing really." Rosaline says, with a casual wave of her hand.

"Well to even the score, I'll tell you how old I am. I just turned thirty-five."

Rosaline stares at Erik for a moment without even realising that she is. Rosaline had always assumed that Erik was older than her, but she never quite knew the age difference was as large as eleven years. That was a little over an entire decade and given the abrupt declaration, Rosaline wasn't quite sure how to take the news.

"Is that surprising to you?" Erik asks her with a blank expression on his face.

"No." Rosaline nervously answers.

"Alright, a little bit." She corrects herself.

"It's not that I have an issue with your age, but I know of some people who might." She quietly admits.

"I think I have a pretty idea good idea of who they might by, but let's say we leave that conversation for another night." Erik proposes, with a light smile.

Erik observes Rosaline as she wallows hard and lowers her head in what looks to be apprehension. He decided to deflect the risky conversation as soon as it arose, just in case it gave Rosaline enough time to reconsider her being here with him tonight. Of course, Erik wasn't blinded by the fact that Rosaline was young and beautiful, whilst he was already on the path to becoming an older man. Although, Erik never knew how serious of an issue a persons age could be until the topic was brought up. Nevertheless, the only thing that did manage to put his mind at ease was knowing that the look of guilt ridden on Rosaline's face wasn't because of her discomfort with his age, but rather of those important people in her life.

"I have a younger sister, named Lucy. She's married and just gave birth to a baby girl last year." Erik says after a while.

Erik immediately feels a sense of calm take over, once he spots the genuine smile on Rosaline's face. Like most women, Erik assumed it was the mentioning of the baby that made her face light up.

"I imagine she is adorable." Rosaline almost giggles.

"She is, without a doubt the cutest baby I've ever seen. Although, I might be slightly bias being her uncle and all." Erik laughs.

"I'm sure you spoil her rotten." Rosaline states.

"If I happened to have more money than the average person, I don't see a reason as to why I should not." Erik shrugs, almost as if to say, spending money is one of the easiest things you can do in the world.

Rosaline playfully rolls her eyes at his response and watches as the waiter soon reappears and offers to clear their plates. In no time at all, Erik and Rosaline are enjoying their mains and laughing during mouthfuls of succulent steak. Erik is relieved that the conversation has turned to more light hearted and fun topics, but soon wonders what Rosaline might do to his proposal of sharing a dessert.

"What would you like for dessert?" He questions, while dabbing his napkin across his lips.

The look Rosaline gives Erik before answering him is positively daring. It causes naughty thoughts to enter his mind and suddenly he finds himself wondering if she would be opposed to sharing a different kind of dessert with him.

"Surprise me." She quietly purrs, without even realising the effect that her sweet voice just had on him.