My day went quite well. Trish came with bags full of all of my clothes and other belongings. I questioned her why she brought all of my clothes and her answer was 'Your boyfriend asked me to'. I didn't say anything as Daniel had told me to move in with him and to be honest, I was happy that I was going to stay with him from now on.

Trish told me that Daniel had appointed bodyguards for Evan and her as he didn't want to take any risk with anyone's security. My heart warmed listening to that as not only for me, he cares about my loved ones too.

Soon, Ariana and her daughter joined us and we had a great time together. I was pleased that Trish and Ariana didn't question about last day's events, we just had conversations on random topics. And not to forget Amara, that little bundle of cuteness kept me entertained with her cute babbling.

We even had a five minutes video call with Lauren and the whole five minutes went into listening to her complains about her boss not giving her leave to enjoy with friends. We laughed and teased a little more. I loved it how we had gone closer since the day we met for the first time.

Evan had been giving explanations to the media and clearing them that I wasn't involved in any deal with Rick. I knew it would create controversy but I didn't care. I wanted to come out clear.

I even received a call from my father asking about the issue that was all over the news. I had to lie to him as I didn't want him to worry about anything so I told him it was a misunderstanding. Thankfully, he believed me and didn't ask further questions.

After spending the day with my friends, here I was now, sitting in the living room, waiting for Daniel to come back. It was five in the evening and he wasn't back yet. Although he didn't tell me exactly where he was going, I knew he went to meet Rick, and to be honest, I was worried about Daniel. What if Rick hurt him?

My train of thought was interrupted when the main door opened and Daniel walked in. I jumped out of the couch and sprinted to him.

"What took you so long?" I asked as I enveloped him in a hug. His arms snaked around me and I felt a soft kiss on my cheek.

"Had a very important matter to settle." He mumbled.

"What happened there?" I asked as I detached myself from him.

"Where?" He asked, frowning a little. I crossed my arms across my chest and gave him an I-know-where-you-were look.

He lowered his head and mumbled lowly. "How did she know?"

"I heard that." He sighed and looked up.

"I had a chit chat with Rick."

"Just chit chat?" I raised my eyebrows. He pursed his lips and averted his eyes.

"Daniel," I warned.

"Okay fine, I landed a few punches on him for making you cry, happy?"

I was stunned. My hands uncrossed on their own and I blinked several times to digest what I heard. My saccharine-sweet Daniel punched Rick? Whoa! That's...that's...wow! Well, Rick deserved a few punches but Daniel shouldn't have done it.

"Daniel, you shouldn't have involved in any kind of violence. What if something had happened to you?" I said softly.

"Eloi, he hurt you, and for that, he deserved a good beating but he's lucky that I spared him after a few punches. He needed to know what happens when someone messes with my loved ones." He said gruffly.

I cupped his face. "Thank you for doing this for me. But you're not hurt, right?" I asked worriedly. He didn't reply which made me more worried. I asked him again.

"Yes, I'm hurt." He replied lowly, looking at me. "Where?" I started checking his face and hands for any sign of injury.

"Not there, Eloi... Here." He pointed at his lips, mischief lingering in his eyes. "I'm hurt really bad and I want immediate treatment."

This playful man!

I fake gasped. "Oh, goodness, should I bandage your lips?" I asked innocently.

"Yes, please...bandage my lips with yours." He said bluntly, pulling me closer to him by my waist. I laughed and pressed my lips on his. He took it as an advantage to kiss me hungrily. He broke the kiss and pressed his forehead against mine.

"Now, I'm feeling better." He grinned and I chuckled. Suddenly, his grin flattened and nervousness surfaced his face. He straightened himself and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Er... Eloi, there's one more thing I need to tell you." He mumbled, trying to look at me but failed.

"What?" I asked, frowning.

"Er... Umm... I visited your mother too."

I took a sharp intake of breath in annoyance. "I told you she doesn't like you, she does not want us to be together. Still, you went there?" I asked in disbelief.

"Eloi, listen first—"

"I'm not listening to anything regarding her." I turned my back to him and made my way to our room.

"Okay fine, I won't talk about her. I have something else —"

"No, I know you'll talk about her," I said angrily as I ascended the stairs. He kept running after me, shouting my name. Furious, I entered the room and suddenly I was pinned to the wall.

"Stop avoiding me and listen." He said in annoyance, pining his hard eyes with mine. "I said I won't talk about her which means I won't. I know you're upset and I'm not forcing you to talk to her now but keep in mind she's your mother, you need to clear things up. You can't avoid her for life." He said sternly. I crossed my arms and turned my head sideways, avoiding looking at him.

Sighing, he pulled himself away from me and frustratingly ran his fingers in his hair. "I wanted to ask you something else but I guess you're not interested in talking to me. So, avoid me all you want." He walked away and sat on the bed.

My heart sank in the pit of my stomach and I cursed myself. I'm the stupidest person on the planet. He went out to fight for me. Though he knew my mother disliked him, he still visited her. Any other man would have avoided my mother due to her selfish behavior but he went to her, keeping his pride locked in his pocket. He did all of it me and what I did? I made him upset.

I badly need to keep my anger in check.

Without thinking twice, I sauntered and sat beside him but he didn't look at me. I poked his arm with my finger. "I'm sorry," I mumbled.

"Talk to your anger as it is more dear to you." He grumbled and standing up from the bed he sat on the couch. I too stood up and sat beside him on the couch and apologized again but he again ignored me and went into the balcony. I too went behind him but didn't step in the balcony, I stayed in the room and spoke,

"Daniel, I'm sorry. I completely agree with you that I can't avoid her for life and I assure you that I'll talk to her when the time is right. I wasn't avoiding you and I do want to talk to you. Please forgive me and talk to me."

He again avoided me. I huffed and started running my mind on how to make this man talk to me again. An idea instantly popped up in my mind. I walked to the nightstand and opened the lowest drawer, I grinned when I found the perfect weapon to make him talk to me.

I picked up the box of his late-night craving favorites 'walnut cookies' and walked to him.

I stood behind him and extended my hand from the side, showing the cookie box to him. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not a kid, Eloi." He swatted my hand. I pursed my lips and narrowed my eyes at his back but then smiled sweetly and stood in front of him.

"I know you're not a kid. You're a man. And there is this particular man who once told me to give him food if I do something wrong and need to apologize to him then he'll not make me wait for long to forgive me."

A smile almost tugged his lips but he covered it by looking away. I grabbed his chin and made him look into my eyes. "I'm sorry," I said sweetly.

"Ugh, why can't I be mad at you for long? Come here." He said and pulled me in a bone-crushing hug.

"I can never avoid you because I love you," I mumbled.

"I love you too." He kissed the side of my head which made me smile in satisfaction. I pulled away and kissed his cheek.

"Now forget everything and tell me what you wanted to ask from me."

He grinned and rubbed the back of his head. "Actually, I wanted to ask if you'll go out with me? I know we have gone out several times but we never went out on an official date. So, will you go out on a date with me?"

"Goodness, Daniel. You're so cute." I laughed as I pinched his cheek. "Yes, I will."

"But wait, what about paparazzi? I mean the tension related to Rick is still there and—"

"Shh." He silenced me by putting his index finger on my lips. "When is paparazzi not around you? And you can't keep yourself locked just because of him." He scowled.

"Okay, fine." I smiled but again frowned when I remembered something. I hit his chest. "If you already had all this planned then why didn't you tell me beforehand? Now I've to look for a dress and I don't even know if I've got a dress for a date night or not."

"Hey, hey, Eloi, you don't have to wear clothes —"

I gasped out loud and stepped back. "You did not just say that! What do you mean by I don't have to wear clothes?" I asked in utter shock.

Suddenly, he burst out into laughter and laughed until he was out of breath.

"Goodness, you're such a pervy." He said while gasping for air. I narrowed my eyes into slits. He suddenly grabbed my waist and pulled me to his chest. He still was grinning ear to ear.

"I didn't know you have such a dirty mind, Eloi." Amusement was lingering in his eyes. A blush started to crawl up my face.

"Then why you said that?"

"You didn't let me complete, Eloi. What I mean to say is you don't have to wear clothes to impress me as I'm already smitten by you." He winked.

My face flushed a deep shade of red and I lowered my head in embarrassment. Damn! How could I think like that?

"Now, do you want to wear clothes and go out or you want to stay here without—"

Before he could complete his sentence, I dashed into the bathroom and shut the door with a loud thud. And then only I noticed, the box of cookies was robbed from me. How did he do that?

"Pamper yourself, I'm going to another room to shower." He muffle-yelled from outside. I rolled my eyes as I got the clue that he was eating the cookies. Then I heard the door being shut.

I freshen up and wore a comfortable plus stylish blue, slit dress given to me by a well-known designer. I then went downstairs into the living room where he was waiting for me.

When he saw me he came up to me and kissed my cheek. "Gorgeous as always. But this exposed skin of yours is going to give me a hard time." He rasped, brushing his fingers on my thigh which made me shudder in delight.

Oh god, I'm sure tonight again my leg is going to be tortured by Daniel. Please save me from his sweet tortures. I prayed mentally.

"You have no idea how badly I want to cancel the date plan and ravish you all night." He whispered huskily.

Oh, believe me, I know everything.

"But I can't as it's our first official date. Come on." He said and led me to his car and drove off.

We went to an exquisite open-kitchen themed Japanese restaurant. There he had reserved a private room where we could have our own personal chef cooking in front of us. We sat side by side on the long sofa chair and ordered our first dish that would spring to anyone's mind when talking about Japanese cuisine, Sushi.

A chef came inside with a trolly and started preparing the dish before our eyes. I was mesmerized by his knife skills, the speed that he attained while cutting the thin slices of fish and avocado left me astounded. My eyes couldn't leave the sight of his hands. Wow! That's all I could say. Looking at him working with a knife felt like I had zero skills related to cooking. Well, that's true.

Other dishes came along as Daniel had already ordered them. After placing different traditional Japanese foods like Gyoza, Rice curry, and Ramen, servers left us alone.

"Wow, what a knife skill he has," I said admiringly, looking at the perfectly cut pieces of sushi.

"That's why I brought you here. I knew you would like to see this." He whispered in my ear and blew at my neck.

"Stop Daniel, it tickles." I giggled and pushed him away but he didn't stop his feathery torture.

"Daniel, let me eat. I'm dying to taste these yummy dishes." I whined.

"Ah! I knew no one gets spared from my influence." He dramatically shook his head. "But my influence has worked early on you." He winked. I rolled my eyes and nudged him.

"Let's dig in." He chuckled and served Sushi and Gyoza on my plate.

I shut my eyes and moaned in delight when savory moon-shaped dumplings tickled my taste buds.

"This is heaven," I mumbled. I took another huge bite of the dumpling which made the sauce spread on my lips and chin.

"Eat slowly, Eloi. Food isn't going anywhere." He chuckled as he wiped my chin with the tissue. I blushed and lowered my head in embarrassment.

What happened to your eating habits, Eloise? I mentally scolded myself. You're asking what happened? It's Daniel's influence on you, Eloise. My mind retorted back.

"Hey," Daniel cupped my chin and raised my head. "You don't have to be embarrassed about anything. No one is judging you here. Eat the way you want. I'm just saying eat slowly, you might burn your tongue as the food is hot."

I smiled sheepishly and nodded my head and again dug in the food again but not before mocking him. "Well, it's your bad influence on me."

"Hey, my influence is not bad." He retorted playfully. I ignored him and continued eating.

While eating, we were having casual talks and I didn't know when the topic diverted to sharing our childhood memories.

"So, tell me what kind of girl you used to be in your childhood? Naughty, troublemaker, nerd, or rebellious?" He asked, taking a bite of rice soaked in curry.

"A blend of all." I grinned. I shifted a little to sit diagonally so that I was facing him.

"Let me tell you what a troublemaker I was in my childhood," I said proudly.

I then started telling him about my childhood and he listened attentively.

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