Princess Adeline of Wales

Chapter Forty-Seven: The Bad Date

Glancing around, Adeline was certain that there were people whispering about her; the looks of pity from the wait staff as they passed her by serving other people since she had insisted on waiting for her date to arrive to order.

Her stomach groaned at the smell of food and Adeline chewed on her lip as she thought about ordering and eating alone, she'd done that often enough before now.

"I am so sorry that I am late," called a voice and Adeline turned to see Oliver moving towards the table as quickly as he could looking completely out of sorts.

Oliver looked like he had been rolling in something rather unpleasant before he had arrived, rather than someone that was about to go on a date in a rather nice restaurant.

Adeline forced a smile to herself to hide the disappointment in how he looked, she had put some real effort into her appearance wanting to make a good impression on their first date.

Pressing a kiss to Adeline's cheek, Oliver quickly moved to take a seat knowing that he was very late and he chugged down the glass of water that was already set out for him.

Adeline felt the urge to vomit as he passed her to take his seat, her stomach rolling and she resisted the urge to hold her nose; it smelt like something had died and then had rotted in the summer sun for weeks on end.

"What is that smell?" Adeline gasped trying not to breathe through her nose, she could taste the putrid smell and other guests around them seemed to also notice the smell that lingered around her table.

If it wasn't embarrassing enough that she had been forced to wait an hour for him to show up, now she had to deal with the looks that people were giving her because they thought Oliver was some sort of tramp.

"Sorry I was doing some work with a research crew," Oliver said sniffing himself, he didn't think that he smelt that bad really and while he did think that he was a little under dressed for their date, he was sure he looked fine.

Adeline looked rather nice in the dress that she was wearing from what he could see, she had certainly made a little effort and he would have to make it up to her for turning up so late.

"So, what are we ordering?" Oliver asked moving to grab one of the menus that was lying on the table, he suddenly disappeared behind the menu leaving Adeline to stare at the cover of the menu.

If she didn't know any better, she would say that he hadn't wanted to come on this date; she certainly couldn't imagine anyone else putting so little effort in on a first date especially when they were the one that had asked her out.

"I think I shall have the steak with onion rings and tartar sauce," Oliver decided with a nod of his head, his eyes glancing past Adeline towards one of the wait staff so that he could catch their attention and get their orders taken.

Adeline slowly picked up her drink and downed the remained of its contents, it was going to be a long night that, she was sure and she was already regretting saying yes to this date.

Picking up her own menu, Adeline tried to ignore the smell coming from her date knowing that she could make it through dinner.

***

"I had a good time," Oliver said holding open the door for Adeline as they exited the restaurant, a smile on his face as he looked at Adeline knowing that despite the rough start to their date it had certainly picked up.

"We should do it again sometime," he continued staring at Adeline hopeful that she would agree, he had loved hearing her talk about her time spent with the children at the local school where she was volunteering.

It had been refreshing rather than listening to the events that she used to talk about when they had been at school, she felt rather normal now compared to the vast difference in their lives back then.

"Agreed as long as you don't roll in anymore elephant dung before our date," Adeline teased him gently, she didn't see the harm in giving him a second chance and she was sure that the lateness would not be repeated in the future.

Oliver had explained why he had been late, the smell linking into his work with the local nature reservation who were in the process of tagging their animals in an attempt to fight back against the poachers that had been hunting their wildlife.

Oliver laughed and nodded his head, he rubbed the back of his head knowing that it hadn't been his best decision that he had made even if he had been running terribly late.

He would certainly have to invest in a mobile if they were going to carry on seeing each other especially if they were having dates that he was going to be running late too.

Clearing his throat, Oliver looked at Adeline as a blush covered his cheeks and he shifted awkwardly as he glanced down at Adeline's lips.

He pondered his move for a moment before deciding to go for it, he wouldn't blame her for rebuffing him especially when he smelt bad.

Adeline caught on quickly when she saw Oliver leaning towards her looking at her lips; she moved forward and kissed his cheek with a small smile before she bid him goodnight and headed towards the lifts so that she could go back to her room.