Henry smirked as he raised his arm and clicked his fingers. I was instantly taken out of the bubble that we had created, and I scanned the lobby we were in. It was long and thin, with shiny black tiles on either side of me, and below, boasting an unclear reflection of our two shadows facing each other. Above us, the ceiling held three large gold sparkling chandeliers dripping with crystals. The two of us were standing in the middle of a sleek golden carpet.
A young man dressed in all white, no older than twenty, appeared from behind Henry and handed him what was the largest bunch or red roses I had ever seen. I gasped, shit. I didn’t mean to gasp. Gasping wasn’t sexy, gasping wasn’t cool. But the size of them, the smell of the roses and their beauty, I didn’t know what else to do other than to gasp.
“I had these sitting on the dinner table. I thought that you might ask that question.”
I was speechless. Was this really happening right now? Was this man real? He literally had already planned the physical answers to what was nothing but my fun banter. How could he have planned that?
“Right,” I said still a little speechless and definitely not quick enough to come back at him with something else. “Well, in that case, I guess you can take me to dinner?” I shrugged. “Maybe I could let you know as to whether I accept the many roses after that.”
“Couldn’t think of a better answer.” Henry grinned as he passed the roses back to the young man. He then reached out for my hand, and I let him take it. Holy shit. His touch felt electric. I had to keep myself together, just through dinner.It’s just a couple of hours, I said, giving myself a pep talk as Henry spun around and walked me towards a black door at the end of the long hallway.
The man holding the roses held the door open for us, and, to my surprise, I found myself walking through a small but very crowded restaurant. The room was loud with chatter, tables filled with drinks and plates, and I heard a bottle pop behind me. I had no idea where we were other than the fact I was dropped off at a building with two golden doors in the middle of the city. What was the number again? I couldn’t even remember the number. As we passed the bar, I tried to look for the name of the restaurant painted somewhere, but it was too dark in here.
The light was moody and sexy, the only thing illuminating each table was the small bunch of candles. And even though it was dark, I could still notice the many eyes glancing up at us, and the whispers close by as Henry, and I walked through the room. Who was Henry to all these people? How come Ihadn’t heard anything about him until Lotte had mentioned him? With the way everyone was looking up at him now, the way that everyone was watching me with him, him holding my hand, Henry was someone. Someone very important and well known. And they wanted to know who I was.
Henry led me through the back of the restaurant and towards another black door. After opening it for me, gesturing for me to walk through.
What the fuck, were the only three words that I had the capacity of thinking. I wasn’t just speechless; I was now without thought. I should have been prepared for this. But I guess hearing about actual wealth was different from having it flaunted right in front of my eyes.
I was expecting tonight to be nothing but a fun movie style date, and I can say it had hardly begun, and it didn’t disappoint. I was standing by the doorway of a small dark room, lit up by candles in either corner and a small table, dressed like I was dining with the queen. There were more crystal glasses and another bottle of Moët.
I only just noticed that the ridiculously large bouquet of red roses was just one of the many bouquets that filled the room, amongst the many candles. This was the first date, and it looked like a goddamn proposal.
Was this a joke? Had he really set this up for me? Or was this something that he did every Saturday night. Heck, it could have been something that he had ready for any night of the week. Once again, I wanted to know this man’s dating history.But a part of me didn’t want to take away from this incredible moment right in front of me. I didn’t want to second-guess this, question it, or make it something that it wasn’t. Right now, could just be exactly what it was and, like I promised myself in the car, I was going to drink in every single moment.
“Would you like to stick with wine with dinner or can I get you a cocktail?” he asked, closing the door behind me. I could hear the sweet sound of piano jazz playing over a speaker I couldn’t see. Of course he was a jazz man, very predictable. What other music would a ridiculously wealthy man be into?
I would usually call myself a spicy margarita girl, and tonight there was no doubt that this side of me would come out. But for now, I was Moët. Maybe I was born to be a Moët girl, I just hadn’t realized that yet.
“I think wine for now is great, but I do like to change my flavor after dinner.” And there it was his cheeky smile had now graced the room and I had made a mental note to see how long I could keep that smile on his face tonight.
“Noted,” he said as he walked towards the table.
“So, this is the real you?” I said, taking another spin around the room, taking it all in as Henry stood, holding a chair out for me. “Not the guy I met yesterday?” I took a seat down in the chair as Henry sat down opposite me. This was a far cry from the dingy bar, with twenty-dollar bottles of rosé that we were all drinking last night. His smile dropped as he bit his lips together, pondering my words.
“I’m the same guy here sitting in front of you as I was yesterday. Just a different environment,” he said. “You look absolutely beautiful, by the way. I like that dress a lot.”
“So do I,” I said confidently, and his small smirk raised on his face again. Yes, it was back.
“I hope you don’t mind but I’ve already ordered. I’ve had the chef bring out a little bit of everything, all his best stuff along with some non-menu surprises.”
I nodded, wondering how I should feel about that once again, knowing that this was the first date. Deep down I think I felt relieved knowing that I didn’t have to make a decision right now or have to read a fancy menu that was filled with words I’m sure I didn’t know but was certain the foods tasted good.
“That sounds wonderful, but just so you know I’m allergic to fish, eggs, onion, oh and chili,” I said.
Henry’s eyes widened as his lips dropped and the color slowly drained from his face.
I could help but laugh and feel guilty. “I'm joking. I don’t have any allergies or dislikes when it comes to food. I eat everything, but it is polite to check.”
I sighed, looking away and he reached for his wine glass, gulping down more wine than I think he wanted to. Maybe I had reveled in his anguish a little too much tonight. There was a line with teasing and being rude and with the amount of wine, I had already drunk I knew that I was only two glasses away from tipping towards the latter.
“No, you’re right, you’re so right,” he said the light pink color returning to his cheeks. “I can’t believe that I didn’t even check that, I’m sorry. It’s just been so long since I’ve been on a proper date like this, I really didn’t think it through.” His voice drifted off. He seemed embarrassed, but I couldn’t hold it back this time, I just started laughing, and loud this time.
“You’re joking about that right?” I said waiting for a quick answer, but he just squinted back at me.
“About what?” he said confused.
“Well, firstly, I think that you’ve thought through this. This evening looks far from thrown together, and something tells me that, this is not the only date that you’ve had in a long time.” He was sexy. This night was fun already and this place had already created a core memory in my mind.
