A Piece Of Me

Chapter 24 "A Romantic Date"

Luke P.O.V

At first, I didn't know what it feels like to be in love because all I ever think about was pleasure and excitement. Being committed to someone was just a waste of my precious time. But things had changed when Rhel came to my life. I never, ever thought that she would capture my heart at first sight. You see, I was a kind of guy who didn't believe in fairy tales or happy endings and love wasn't in my dictionary. 

It's been a week since we made our relationship public. A week of complete happiness with her being officially mine. I got to admit, I didn't expect her to said yes in front of those paparazzis, and to the whole city to be exact. After that surprise, headlines after headlines about us had been circulating the media and until now, we're still under the radar. But what made me happy was that she didn't mind the people talking about us. She said she wasn't used to be on the spotlight but she sacrificed her simple life and took a drastic decision when she made us official in public. That was one of the reasons why I love her so much, she was full of surprises.

"What's wrong?", I asked when I noticed her in deep thoughts. She was looking the view passing by as I drove into our destination. I put my hand on top of hers when she didn't respond and brought it my lips.

"I'm sorry, what is it that you're asking?" she inquired.

"What's wrong baby? You seemed to be thinking about something." I brought her hand to my chest and playfully drawing circles on her skin.

"It's nothing."

"Something's bothering you. You can tell me." She sighed and maybe debating whether she should tell me or not. 

"Someone sent me black roses this morning." I looked at her concerned. The feeling of worry was evident in her voice as she pulled her hand away.

"Black roses? Was there a note attached?" She shook her head. Her forehead creased trying to figure things out.

"That's the thing Luke, I don't know who's been sending these roses and I don't know why." She sighed and buried her face in her hands. I halted the car on the side of the road and peered at her.

"Baby, when did you start receiving these black roses?" I asked, anger started to fuel inside of me. Who could pull such a prank like this?

"Three days ago and since then I felt like...like someone is watching me." I wrapped my arms around her easing her. "I promise I will find the person behind this. I promise", I whispered. I unlocked my arms around her and cupped her face. "Don't worry okay? Just remember this, I won't let anyone hurt you and I'll always be here to protect you." She smiled and I brought my lips to kiss her forehead. She seemed to relax a little and held my wrists. "Thank you!"

I stared into her eyes and noticed their brightness were slowly returning. 

"I love you!", I said caressing her cheek.

"I love you too!"

I started the car and once again drove towards the hill. The sun was slowly setting when we reached our destination. Before I helped her got out of the car, I used my handkerchief to cover her eyes. I was a little excited to show her about my little preparation I made in the place. I held her hand and guided her to the hilltop. 

"Okay, slowly...Opps, be careful, you might trip."

"What is it that you want me to see?"

"It's a surprise!", I respond. She tried to peek but I stopped her and kissed her cheek as a punishment.

"That's unfair, you get to kiss me twice already."

"That's because you're trying to peek." After a few more steps, finally we reached the top. My heart was starting to pound waiting for her reaction when she see all of these. I unwrapped the handkerchief around her eyes. She slowly fluttered open her eyes and gasped when she finally took in the view in front of her. 

"Oh my God Luke!"

"Do you like it?" I bit my bottom lip and stared at her. Her eyes were roaming above head looking at the lights that were hanging on the branches. 

"It's beautiful!", she slowly commented. Next she looked at the table in front of us with five red roses on top of it and with two chairs on each side. To make it more romantic, I decided to put candles on the ground surrounding the table. 

She covered her mouth with her hands while tears started forming in her eyes.

"You did this all for me?" I nodded and walked to the table to get the roses laying on top.  I gave the first rose and said, "I..." 

and then the second, 

"love..."

"you..."

"so..."

"much!" Tears were streaming down her cheeks and I wiped them with my thumbs. 

"I love you so much Rhel!" Instead of answering me, she wrapped her hands around me tightly and buried her face on my chest. 

"You made me the happiest woman Luke!", she said through her sobs. I smiled feeling her warm against mine.

I will never let you go!

She unwrapped her arms and her soft lips landed on mine. After a moment of sweet kiss she pulled away.

"Thank you. I love it...and I love you!" I smiled and gave her one last peak at her lips before I drag her to the table. I slid the chair away gesturing her to sit down and she gladly settled herself on it. Once I'm settled, I grabbed the wine and poured some on her glass why she was busily admiring the hanging lights above us.

"Did you do all of these?", she asked.

"Most of it. I couldn't do all of these so I asked for help", she nodded and grabbed her glass of wine. I also grabbed my glass and said, "Cheers, for eternity!" I was a little surprised how easily I uttered that eternity word. It was a foreign word for my tongue and uttering it sounded so common.

"For eternity!" We brought the glasses to our mouths and my face crunched up at the taste of the liquid that enveloped my tongue. My eyebrows creased when I looked at Rhel who was calmly sipping her wine. 

"Woah, I didn't know you could easily drink wines calmly like that."

"You thought I was just like the other girls who look so fragile and soft when it comes to drinking, am I right?" I nodded at her respond. She put the glass back on the table and smiled.

"Well, there are a lot of things that you still don't know about me. First, this...", she pointed the bottle of wine. "I'm a heavy drinker. Whatever alcohol you have in mind, I can manage", she proudly said.

"Wow...ummm...didn't expect that side of you. I like it."

After we finished the food and talked about stuffs, I sat down on the grass, leaning my back on the tree while Rhel was sitting close to me, her head on my chest. We enjoyed watching the beautiful lights in the city and feeling the cool wind against our skins. Everything felt so new to me. This feeling that I never thought I would feel towards a woman was so foreign. It felt good. It felt so calming. I could always stay like this forever. To be with her forever. That's how I love her so much that I would give up everything I had for her.

I was brought to my senses when Rhel's phone vibrated. 

"It's dad, I have to take this." She stood and walked few steps away before bringing her phone against her ear. I waited patiently, admiring everything around me. When Rhel came back, she knelt in front of me and peered into my eyes.

"Dad wants to have dinner."

"Okay, I'll take you home."

"I mean he wants to have dinner with us!" I was caught off guard when she emphasized the last word. Well, I didn't expect to meet her dad this early.

"O-okay...", I answered nervously. "Then let's go meet him."

This is it Luke!