Isn't it strange how time flies quickly when you want it to slow down a little?

That was what exactly happening to me. I didn't know how one week flew by. Spending time with Eloise felt so good, I never look at the clock whenever we're together. We had been busy with our work but we always made sure to make time for each other.

Making time for each other despite being busy without complaining about the work schedule. This is what a relationship should be like, right?

I sighed, fiftieth time. I still couldn't come up with the idea of how to propose to her. I was sitting in my office, staring at Eloise's photos on magazine covers. I was hoping for an idea to pop up in my mind.

A beach proposal? Nope!

Candlelight dinner proposal? Nope!

Romantic night at home? Nope!

Disney park? Nope!

Somewhere with a beautiful view? Nope!

Too common! I wanted something blasting.

"Come on! I can't even think of an idea to propose to a woman I like? What has happened to me?" I stated annoyingly while running my hands through my hair.

Suddenly, the door of my office shot open and Xavier, and Sean walked in. I abruptly flipped the magazines as I had no time to hide them.

"Don't you know how to knock?" I scowled.

"As if you know that!" This sarcastic comment came from Xavier.

"So what's going on?" Sean asked when they both sat on the chairs.

"Was just going through the contracts," I muttered, picking up a file from the pile.

"Are magazines counted in the contracts?"

My body went stiff and my eyes shot wide open when Sean picked up one of the magazines from the desk.

"Seriously, Daniel? Looking at her photos?" Xavier snickered.

"You see her live daily and you spend most of your time with her then why photos?" Sean raised his eyebrows, waving the magazine in front of him. Heat rose up my neck.

"None of your business." I stood up and snatched the magazine from his hand.

"I would make it my business if you'll hide things from me." Sean scowled.

"I'm not hiding anything from anyone."

"So? What's the status?" Xavier asked, leaning forward.

"Well, I confessed to her that I like her. And... She likes me too."

"Whoa!!! I guess congratulations are in order," Xavier grinned and Sean laughed.

I glared at them. "What are you guys here for? If you don't have any urgent work then leave, you two are disturbing my thinking process."

"You can think?" They both asked in shock. I balled a paper and threw it at them. They started laughing at my missed target which made me laugh too.

They stayed in my office for almost an hour. I tried to push them out but they didn't budge. However, we spend that hour talking about business and stuff. When they were about to finally leave I stopped Xavier from going out. I had something to talk to him or rather I wanted his suggestion. I asked him to sit on the couch and sat beside him.

"What?" He raised his eyebrows.

"I need your help."

"What help?"

I contemplated on how to ask him, considering the fact that he would definitely make fun of me.

"I...umm...actually." I rubbed the back of my neck.

"I don't have all day, Daniel." He impatiently tapped his foot on the floor. I sat straight and cleared my throat. He's my friend, let him make fun of me. There is nothing new in that.

"I want your help to plan a proposal for Eloise."

There was a staring game for a few seconds and then he broke into fits of laughter.

"Stop laughing and help me out." I scowled and punched his upper arm.

Well, he did plan a terrific introduction for his wife which became a talk of the town for quite a long.

"How can I help you with this?" He asked when his laughter died.

"I want to introduce her to society as my girlfriend so I want your suggestion. How should I do it?"

"Hmm...let me think." He leaned back on the couch and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Then he shifted and placed his elbow on the edge of the backrest of the couch and rested his head on his palm.

"So... She's your woman, right?" I nodded my head, he too did the same. "You want to introduce her as your girlfriend, right?" I again nodded my head.

"Then you should..." I was listening to him intently. He leaned a little towards me, reading my eyes.

"Then you should... Plan it yourself. I planned my wife's introduction myself then you should do the same." He leisurely stood up and walked out of the office. After a few seconds, I snapped out of the shock I received from his remarkable suggestion.

"Fuck off." I cursed and threw a cushion at the door from where he left.

Frustrated, I stood up and paced back and forth in my office, running my mind to find an idea but it wasn't helping at all.

In a few minutes, Scott entered the office.

"Sir, you have a meeting with Mr. Osmotto of Osmo motors in half an hour." He reminded me.

"Yeah, okay. Listen, Scott, you can go home as I'll directly head home after the meeting." I said.

"Okay, sir, Thank you." He placed the documents on my desk and left.

I attended the meeting in a restaurant which took one and a half hours to end. When I was free from the meeting, I decided to meet Eloise at her workplace. The studio in which she was having her shoot was near the restaurant, so I decided to surprise her.

I parked my car outside the studio and waited for her to come out. I didn't step out of the car as paparazzi were lingering there and I didn't want them to click our photos together before I make anything official.

When I saw her coming out of the studio with Evan, I dialed her number, I saw her smile when she looked at the phone screen.

"Hey." Her sweet voice filled my ears.

"I'm waiting for you in my car at your left."

She looked around and her smile broadened when she spotted my car. She said something to Evan and was about to walk to my car when the paparazzi surrounded her. Damn it!

Evan didn't let anyone come near her, he helped her reach my car. This time I couldn't help but wonder why she doesn't have bodyguards with her. Anyhow, she finally managed to approach my car. Evan left when she was inside the car.

"Hey, what a surprise!" She smiled.

"Wanted to see you," I grinned and drove off before the camera people could surround us and stopped the car when we were far away from them.

"Tell me one thing, Eloi, why don't you have guards with you?" I asked. She then explained to me about her experience with her previous bodyguards.

"I'll appoint a bodyguard for you. Hell, I'll transfer my bodyguard to your service." I said determinedly.

"That's not needed. And you have a bodyguard? I never saw one with you." She frowned.

"It is needed and yes I have a personal bodyguard/driver but I love to drive myself so he's barely in the picture. But he's always following me from a distance when I ask him to." I clarified.

"Whoa! I never knew that." She was surprised.

"Now you know." I shrugged.

"So where are we going?" She asked.

"My place and you'll spend the night there."

"W..what?!"

I frowned at her wide-eyed reaction and her blushing face.

"What? You have already done that before and... Wait! Don't tell me you're thinking of spending the night... in my bed." I gave an impish grin.

"What, No...of...of course not." She looked away. But I grabbed the back of her head and turned her face towards me and leaning forward, I whispered,

"If you want to do that then I'm always ready." I placed a feathery kiss at the corner of her mouth. Her breathing became shallow and her lips parted a little, she tried to avert her eyes again but I didn't let her do that. I placed a kiss on another corner of her mouth and blew below her ear. She jerked and pushed me away.

"I wasn't thinking of that and... and drop me at my place." She stuttered which gave me more motivation to tease her.

"Scared?" I tried to hide my smile.

"No! I'm not." So stubborn to accept.

"Very well, then you're definitely spending the night at my place." I started the car drove off.

When we reached my penthouse building, I grabbed the shopping bags from the back seat then we entered the elevator. She asked me about the bags but I didn't answer her. But when we entered my penthouse I forwarded the bags to her.

"Here, comfortable clothes for you to wear for the night." I bought them when I was on my way to meet her at the studio.

She frowned and took the bags from my hand. "Where did you get these from? She asked.

"Shop, obviously."

"I mean... You know my size?" She raised an eyebrow. I shrugged my shoulders. It wasn't difficult to know her size.

"There are three outfits. Choose whatever you want to wear."

"You had all this planned, huh?" She cocked her eyebrow.

"You can say that." I grinned slyly.

She shook her head and went to the guest room and I went to my room to change. When I came back I found her sitting on the couch, reading a magazine. She was wearing a short-sleeve button-down shirt, and the coordinating full-length lower. I bought shorts and a nightgown too but she didn't wear any of them.

Playing safe, huh?

I smirked and tiptoed towards her. When I was behind her, I bent down and whispered in her ear.

"How do you want to spend the night?"

She gasped and stood up abruptly. "Daniel, you scared me." Her hand went on her heart. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Answer my question," I said.

"Whatever you like." She shrugged her shoulders.

"Whatever I like, huh?" Smirking, I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Y..y..yeah." I saw her gulp.

I smirked and grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer making her bump against my chest. I slowly leaned forward until my mouth reached her ear then I seductively whispered,

"So, let's do what I like."

__________________________________________

We were sitting on the barstool in the kitchen, drumming our fingers on the countertop.

"I thought you know how to cook," Daniel said as he stopped drumming his fingers.

"Don't blame me! I never had time to learn." I pointed a finger at him.

This is what he meant by 'Let's do what I like'. Food! That's all he thinks about. Sometimes I wonder whether he thinks about me or not.

"Well, you should also know cooking, considering the fact that you're a foodie," I crossed my arms across my chest.

"I too never had time." He shrugged. "And never learned when my mother was trying to teach me." He mumbled under his breath which I heard but I decided not to say anything.

"We can order," I suggested. He again gave leave to his chef as he wanted to spend alone time with me.

"Nope, today we're gonna test our luck in cooking." He stood up and stood in front of the stove. "We'll take the help of online videos. Come over here." He said as he took out the phone from his pocket.

I took out my phone and searched for the recipe I wanted to try. I opted to cook egg wraps stuffed with stir-fried veggies and a salad. Daniel opted to cook chicken pasta with cheese of course. Our start was pretty good as none of us created the mess, we knew that it would be problematic to clear the mess afterward so it was better not to create any. When we were halfway through the cooking process, Daniel looked at my pan.

"It smells pretty good. We're sharing, right?" He said. I rolled my eyes knowing that he would eat whether I share or not.

When we were done with cooking, we plated the food and sat on the barstool to eat. Thankfully, the food we cooked was intact and not burnt.

"Taste the egg wraps first," I said. I crossed my fingers when he took a bite.

Suddenly, his face scrunched. "You've added a little extra salt." He said putting the fork back on the plate.

My face fell. "Oh no! I tasted it once but I felt salt was less so I added a little more."

"Hey, it's not too much, just a little extra. It is still edible." He said softly. I tasted my food and it really had extra salt but it was edible. I then tasted pasta cooked by him.

"It's okay but garlic flavor is too much and cheese is a little extra," I explained.

He frowned. "Garlic, I can understand but cheese is added in an accurate amount. You're always against cheese."

I shook my head and stayed quiet as arguing with him on food would be a waste of energy for me.

We ate and washed the dishes together then we decided to watch a movie. We sat on the couch, cuddling. His arm was wrapped around my shoulders and my head rested on his shoulder. Just when fifteen minutes passed watching the movie I got lost in my thoughts. I was thinking to ask him about his family but I was contemplating whether it would be okay or not.

I didn't want to pry but I wanted to know about him, about his family. According to Ariana, he keeps everything inside but I wanted him to share his pain with me. I too shared my worries with him and he gave me the solutions. Maybe I could help him with something. And there was one more thing, I never saw any picture of his family in his penthouse and nor even in his office.

I craned my neck up to see Daniel's eyes were fixed on the TV screen but looked like he too was lost in the thoughts. I slightly pulled away and looked at his face.

"Daniel," I whispered. He faced me and smiled.

"If you don't mind, can I ask you something?" I said cautiously.

"Yeah, sure."

"Umm...Don't get offended but... Umm..."

"What is it?"

"Can you show me pictures of your family?"

His body went stiff and his face lost colors. He pulled his hand away from around me and sat straight, averting his eyes from me.

"I'm sorry, Daniel. I didn't want to intrude. It's okay if you don't want to show me. I'm not complaining." I said softly, putting my hand on his upper arm. He still didn't look at me.

And at that moment I realized that I had gone too far. I felt guilty for reminding him about his family. So, I decided to leave him alone as he didn't want to talk.

I stood up from the couch and was about to walk away but Daniel grabbed my wrist resisting me from leaving.

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Next update tomorrow ❤

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