( POV: ALARA SU WATERS )
I wake up in the middle of the night, my throat so dry that a desert can't even compete with me. I manage to roll around in the extremely comfortable bed, burying my face in the pillows for a few more minutes. I let out an aggravated breath before forcing myself to get up
My phone is still plugged in but I can tell that it's already charged. I check to see how late it is, 4 o'clock. Good, I can continue to sleep after I pour an entire ocean down my throat.
The room is relatively small but it's still beautiful. I didn't pay much attention to it earlier because I was too distracted by Zane. There are pastel colors everywhere. Paintings hanging on each wall, flowers on the windowsill, and a rocking chair in the corner of the room. There's a large window beside the rocking chair, it illuminates the room. I step toward it for a moment, admiring the city. The moon casts a glow on everything and everyone, this room included.
I get distracted by the lights of the city but I manage to step away, walking toward the kitchen to still my thirst. It's dark here but I don't turn the lights on, I want to be quick about it. I take an empty glass pouring water into it from the pitcher that's on the counter. I lean against it, taking a few sips. A breath of relief escapes me, practically a moan.
My dreams might be the reason for my sudden midnight water crisis. I might have dreamed about tonight ending a little differently. I'm not even ashamed about it. I want his hands all over me, I want his lips on my neck while mine are roaming through his hair. I want to feel him.
I've found men attractive before but I never craved one's touch until now. I want Zane to ruin me. Physically of course. I want to be left a sweating and breathless mess. My own thoughts surprise me. It's almost scary.
I continue to drink my water because that's all I can do. It makes me feel a bit better, the cold water stills my-
Wait. How is this water so cold if it's on the counter?
Wh- "Don't freak out."
A startled scream escapes my throat and the glass slips from my fingers. I scream out in fear, "Oh fuck!" but then I see his face. "Zane? What are you doing!" I clutch my chest and try to take a deep breath.
"Wait, don't move." he flicks on the small light on the counter and brushes the glass parts away before I accidentally step onto them. Once he throws that away, he shuts the light off- noticing that the bright light is hurting my eyes. "I was standing here when you came. I thought that you had noticed me. You hadn't. And then I didn't want to scare you but it's very creepy to just stand here and watch you." He explains while I burst out into laughter.
He pours another glass for me, stepping to stand beside me. "I'm sorry." He grins and I laugh again.
"It's okay." I nod, taking the glass from him. "You scared me. A lot."
"I got that when you cursed. I haven't heard you use a single bad word until now." Zane smirks at me.
I take a sip before answering him, "It's on purpose. I just don't want those words to become a habit because I can't break habits easily. And I can't curse around my parents. It's already really hard." I chuckle.
"Hmm, well I liked it." He playfully raises his brow at me.
"I'm sorry for breaking that glass. It wasn't something important right?"
He frowns, turning his body more to me, "No... How can glass be important?"
"It could have sentimental value. It could be your grandpa's favorite cup. Or the glass that your grandma was holding when she heard about you being born. Or maybe it's something that they made or bought with special care... Anything can have sentimental value therefore anything can be important."
He seems to take my words in, slowly nodding, "I never thought of it that way. It's like you wearing your bracelet right? It has value."
"Yeah," I nod, a little surprised that he remembers my grandpa's gift. "Do you have anything like that? Anything that means something to you but someone else would just think of it as something normal?"
He thinks about it and then surprisingly nods, "I have this spoon at home. Whatever I'm eating, I always gravitate towards that spoon." He laughs. "If it's dirty, I wash it. I never grab another and I never let anyone use it. It's mine." Zane chuckles at his own words, surprised that he feels this passionately about a spoon.
"Well, there you go." I chuckle. "It might seem silly but it's your favorite spoon and if I broke that, you might feel upset about it."
Zane grins, taking a few sips of his water until it's finished. I do the same. We should go back to bed.
"How are you like this? Isn't it exhausting?" He questions, his hand reaching out to my hair, brushing it between the pads of his fingers.
"What's exhausting?"
"Being this..." He thinks. "Thoughtful. Kind. Optimistic."
I smile at him, "It's less tiring than being negative all the time. I've tried it. It made me more tired than anything else." I explain. "But you're not that grumpy."
He shakes his head, "Not with you." He grins, "Not when you're this energetic. It's kinda impossible to be down around you."
"That's good to hear." I hold onto his wrist when he brushes my hair off my shoulder. "We should go back to sleep," I announce, letting go of him. I shouldn't have touched him at all because now I'm imagining all kinds of things again.
"You're right." He nods, and he takes another step closer to me making me look up at him. He smirks when he sees my reaction to him, Zane takes my glass from me, placing it on the counter. "I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself by accidentally breaking another glass."
"Thank you," I chuckle. If I stay here another second I think that things will go to another level. Because he's standing right in front of me, my back against the counter and his chest almost pressed up against mine. I glance away, breaking this hypnotic moment so I can slip away.
Zane takes a step back when he notices, "Good night, princess." He smiles at me before walking away first. I hastily follow, practically rushing to the bedroom.
I plop myself back onto the bed, checking my phone because I haven't for a day or even longer than that now. I have a ton of missed calls and messages. None of them are from Meyers or Duncan so that's a good start.
Shyla has texted me about a million times, that's not unusual. But when I see Lizzie's fifteen texts, an alarm bell rings in my head. I sit up to read their texts and-
Wow.
Lizzie: Is this you? Because you're in Pennsylvania, right? So this can't be you...
There's a link attached to her message, it leads me right to an article. An article from a very popular magazine. One of New York's finest CEOs and eligible bachelors, Sebastian Sartori has been spotted with a mystery woman on a romantic getaway in France!
I zoom in on the pictures and Zane was right, no one can recognize me in these. Not that I would mind being seen with him but being seen in France while I have a highly watched trial going on in the States would leave many people with a bad taste in their mouths. And they already despise me. That's something I hadn't thought of. I didn't think that Zane was this big of a sensation.
But of course, he is. He's practically a celebrity. So many famous people hang out in his clubs because they're safe. Besides that one incident then... The one I was present for.
I scroll down, reading the rest of the article. "Sartori, the owner of many establishments and hearts, has been spotted with a mystery woman in Lyon, France. This is particularly interesting since Sartori has never publicly been seen with a woman and especially not during a romantic carriage ride. Our source claims that the pair looked cozy together, smiling and holding hands."
I mean... Yeah, it was very cozy and I did enjoy it thoroughly. I don't mind this... It makes me anxious, for sure. But I don't mind this as of now. Once we're back, I wouldn't even care if people know that it's me. But the trial just messes everything up.
Another sign for me to just back out of it.
I respond to Lizzie's text, confirming that it is me and that I didn't expect an article to be written about that. Then I move on to Shyla's messages, most of them are excited curses and exclaims.
Shyla: Alaraaa!!!! Oh my, I can't believe this! You're in France with THE Sebastian Sartori and I don't even get a text? Nevermind that, tell me how it's going!!!
Shyla: A CARRIAGE RIDE??? Wow. Just wow. I am stunned into silence and that never happens, you know that.
Shyla: He's trending on Twitter. You are too. Some people claim that they saw him at the hotel. Your hotel. I NEED ALL THE DETAILS ALARA!
Shyla: Ugh, you're probably too busy having hot sex during dinner in a chic hotel suite in front of the Eiffel Tower. And if that's not the case... Then fucking do it! You like him, he clearly likes you too so please just kiss the man and release yourself from this drought.
I have no idea how I can reply to her so I send her a red heart emoji, promising to tell her more as soon as I can. I bury my face back in my pillows and force myself to go back to sleep.
A knock on my door startles me and wakes me up. Since I was having a nice dream, I'm assuming that it must be morning now. When I check my phone I realize that I'm right. It's almost 8 o'clock.
"Are you decent, princess?" I hear Zane's voice coming from behind the door.
Am I? I just woke up but he's seen me like that before so... "I am." I take my hair clip and tie my hair while he slowly opens the door. He steps in with a mug in each hand and a cute smile on his face.
My eyes slightly widen when I see him looking so disheveled. Well not disheveled but casual. He's wearing grey sweatpants with a white shirt. I'd expect him to wear completely black attire so it's strange to see him like this.
"Good morning, princess." He grins, settling on top of the bed, close to me. "Here you go, it's warm be careful."
I take it, smiling up at him, "Morning, Zane. You're up early."
"I couldn't fall back asleep." He admits. "I came to tell you that we're leaving in an hour. Will you be ready?"
I take a sip from the tea that he made and nod, "Sure, I will be. We are we going?"
"That's a surprise."
I playfully roll my eyes, "Your surprises are never just small things. What can I expect?"
"Hmm," Zane smirks, his still on me as he takes a sip from the tea. "We're going to have breakfast first of course. And we're driving somewhere."
"Of course we are." I chuckle. "I'll be ready."
He keeps his eyes on mine for a few seconds before he nods, "Alright, princess." His hand reaches out to my chin, his fingers hooking underneath it. His thumb brushes underneath my lip for just a second before he lightly shakes my head and makes me laugh. "I'll wait in the kitchen."
"Okay... I won't make you wait long."
Zane chuckles as he gets up, "Stay true to your title, princess. Make me wait. I love it."
I hadn't realized when I said it but you can interpret that sentence in two different ways. His reply too. It makes me blush or at least I think that I'm blushing because my face feels on fire. I hope he can't see that.
I set my cup down and once the door shuts behind Zane, I rush up. I jump under the shower, get dressed, and do my hair. I only brush my brows and put some lip balm on, it's way too early to do anything else.
The French air has been incredible for my hair. For some reason, it's more bouncy and alive than it usually is. And my skin hasn't looked this porcelain-like in- well in ever! Maybe it's the French air or maybe it's the hormones that Zane's setting free in my body.
I've never felt this attracted to someone before so that might be a huge factor.
If imagining things is doing this to me... What would the real act do?
Here I go, setting my face on my fire again.
I hastily grab my jacket and my bag, I'm getting my hair out from underneath the jacket as I step toward the kitchen, "Zane? I'm ready to go if you-"
Zane's grabbing onto the edge of the table, one hand somewhat covering his eye while the other is grasping onto the table. I immediately drop my bag onto the table and hurry toward him, "My god, are you okay?" I place my hand on his arm to attract his attention. He turns toward me and I reach my hand out to his cheek and then his forehead, "You're burning up."
He softly places his hand on mine and smiles at me, "I'm okay, don't worry." He moves to sit down on the chair and I copy him, settling beside him but angling myself in a way that I can face him.
"What's wrong?" I automatically reach for his hand on the table in a way to comfort him. He smiles a little when I do that and gives my hand a soft squeeze.
"It's just a headache. I already took a painkiller so I'll be okay in a few minutes."
"Are you sure? This doesn't look like a simple headache."
"It's a tension headache. I've had it since I was a child. It happens when I get stressed or when I'm seriously pissed off." He chuckles.
"What angered you?" I question as I brush my thumb over his knuckles. He gestures towards his phone with his head and I glance over at it. It's a message from his father.
I don't have to read it to understand why he's upset. They don't talk so it can't be anything good.
"Since it's our annual celebration, you are expected at the office. You can bring your girlfriend too." I mumble as I read the message aloud. It's not a horrible message nor is it evil or anything like I had assumed.
I look back at Zane and he sighs, "I haven't been invited for about 5 years now. He's only doing this because he wants to meet you. He wants to see if I'm still a fuck up or not."
"Oh," I let out, frowning at him. "You're not... You know that right?"
"I know." He nods, meeting my eyes again. His brown eyes are piercing through me. "But he's just that kind of person. He just wants to make sure that I'm miserable and the article gave him an idea of how he could do that."
"Yeah," I breathe. "The article..."
"I saw it right before he texted me. Are you okay, princess?"
"I am." I nod. "Like you said when they were taking the pictures, I'm not visible." The second I say that his smile kinda fades and that's when I realize how that sounded. "No, no, I mean- I just meant that I would be very uncomfortable if an online article revealed that I'm in France while I have the trial going on. It has nothing to do with you... I don't mind being seen with you... Matter of fact, I think you should accept your father's invitation. I'll go with you."
Zane seems surprised by that, he adjusts himself in his seat, his hand moves to his chin as he holds it in a thoughtful manner, "You want to come along to my father's annual corporate event as my girlfriend?"
I smile and stutter a bit before I get my sentence out, "As your date! I can come along as your date."
He matches my smile, "I love that you're suggesting that but I don't want you anywhere near that man."
"If that's what you want, okay. Also, we can just stay here today." I add at the end so he doesn't feel pressured to go out even with a headache.
"That's not necessary, princess. I feel much better."
"Really? Because I wouldn't mind it at all, I can make us some tea or some soup if you-"
"You're beautiful." He says and stuns me into silence. "Truly beautiful." He continues, his hand reaching out to toy with a strand of my hair. "I want to take you out today like I promised. Will you let me, please?"
I slightly shake my head in surprise and then chuckle, "Uhm, yes. But if you're head hurts please just tell me, okay?"
"Okay, princess." He smiles at me and my heart goes crazy. He leans forward and hands me my bag before I can reach out for it. He gets up and holds his hand out for me. I take it and feel my cheeks heat up when he intertwines our hands.
We step out of this beautiful cute place and immediately step into the car. Zane holds my door open for me, he truly is a gentleman. He drives for only ten minutes or so before we stop again. I wasn't watching the road at all so I'm stumped when I notice the train station in front of us.
Zane sneaks up behind me, making me chuckle before I momentarily think back to last night. "I can tell that your mind is working on over time."
"It always is," I chuckle, "But right now even more so."
"I did say that we're driving somewhere." He states and I finally look up at him. He gives me a soft smile when I do. "I'm just not doing the driving."
"I would definitely lose it if you were."
He laughs and gently nudges me forward. I follow him into the station, it's very crowded here so he stops, takes my hand into his, and continues.
It makes my heart squeeze tighter and beat faster. I'm not getting used to it. Not now, not ever.
Zane is quite a fast walker but he slows his step so I don't end up hyperventilating from trying to catch up. We stop when we reach a huge brown train. Three men are standing in front of one of the entrances, that's where we walk toward. They greet us and two of them are holding a silver platter in their hands.
"Mister Sartori, Miss Waters, welcome to our train ride from Lyon to-" He halts for a second, smiling, "To a surprise location." His French accent is heavy and very endearing. "Let us welcome you with a glass of our special non-alcoholic champagne and our regional chocolate."
"Merci beaucoup." I smile at the men as I take a piece of chocolate and a glass of fake champagne. I pop the chocolate into my mouth and hum a satisfied tune. "That's very good." I smile and look up at Zane only to find him already staring at me.
The man leads us inside, Zane gets in first only to hold his hand out for me. When I'm inside I try not to leave my mouth hanging open for too long. It's absolutely beautiful here. It's like one of those old trains from the movies. Tones of red and brown decorate the seats and the walls are wooden. The windows are big, and all the curtains are open. As we continue to walk we even come across a bar inside the train! It's crazy.
We stop when the man opens a door, leading us to a compartment. It's even prettier than the other. Colorful flowers, delicious food, and so many large windows! It's stunning.
It's an open area but instead of multiple seats, there's only one. This entire compartment is meant for only- at most - four people. "This is for you," He gestures to us to go sit down. "My colleagues will help you further. Welcome again." He smiles before he leaves.
I keep my eyes set on Zane while I follow him to sit down. I stare out the window for a few seconds, there's nothing to see yet since we're not moving but... It's already so beautiful. "Zane," I smile at him. "What is this?"
He meets my eyes, matching my smile, "We're going somewhere... And I don't think that driving us there in a car is as fun as this."
"You're insane." I blurt out, laughing. "This is crazy and I don't know what to say."
"Crazy?" He frowns. "If you're impressed by this that means that I need to step it up further."
"Don't." I laugh. "A carriage ride. Now a train ride... And let's not forget the plane. I don't know what to say."
He's about to answer me when a waiter steps toward us. He sets a few plates in front of us and then fills our cups with coffee and tea respectively. I thank him as he leaves and then look down at our plates. "French breakfast isn't very exciting," Zane states. "But I remember that you liked it when I got us some things a month or so ago."
"I did." I nod with a smile. "And I bet that it tastes a thousand times better here."
Zane is kind enough to individually go over every pastry and plate so I know what they all are.
Croissant, pain au chocolate, pain aux raisins, brioche, tarte tatin, tarte framboise, baguettes with multiple sorts of jams, fresh fruits and various crêpes with both sweet and savory fillings.
I dig in but when the train starts to move, I get distracted. I stare out the window for quite a while. It's Zane who eventually says something and gets me out of my trance.
"Are you okay?" He asks and I find myself focusing on his lips as he takes a sip from his tea.
"More than okay," I admit. Oh no. No, going too fast again. "Uhm, I love the scenery." I quickly spit out.
Zane smiles at me, slightly shaking his head, "I love the scenery too."
I probably shouldn't blush because he could definitely be talking about the real scenery but somehow I feel like he's talking about me and that prospect excites me immensely. Zane starts to ask me some questions and I eagerly answer them all. He's trying to get to know me and it's endearing...
( POV: SEBASTIAN ZANE SARTORI )
Alara is the most soft-spoken person I have ever met. She chooses her words carefully and her tone is always kind and soft. Her voice is so calming, I feel a weird wave of peace washing over me when she speaks.
Even when she's angry or nervous or happy and excited.
Knowing that she's this softly spoken makes me admire her even more when she's in the courtroom. Even then she's not as hard as the other attorneys I've heard but somehow that's her strength. She brings the words across calmly. She's not in a rush to prove something because it sounds like she's already won.
She doesn't like confrontation but she does have a certain limit. She has this secret edge to her that only comes out on a few occasions. Like when I was dragging her along the streets at night or when the security guard at the courthouse didn't let her in.
Perhaps every time she would've wanted to speak up, she remained silent. It makes me wonder when she'll explode. She'll have to. Even though I view her as something or someone other earthly... She's still human after all.
We're conversing and I watch her as she picks up a piece of the baguette, her hands are so elegant, her movements ever so gracious.
I find myself becoming distracted by her. I make a joke so she doesn't notice how distracted I actually am. She throws her head back, giggling at my joke. I watch her intently while she's laughing. She's the most beautiful woman that I've ever seen. Her laugh, her voice, her eyes, her everything. She's mesmerizingly beautiful. Enchanting.
"Tell me more about Alara Waters." I smile at her and she playfully rolls her eyes. "What?"
She sighs, "There isn't much more to be really honest. I already told you the only interesting thing that happened to me. Besides that, I am just an anxiety-filled, overthinking, worrying human being."
I smile when she says that, "You don't look like it."
"Like what?"
"Anxious."
"Right now, I'm not." She grins at me. "Mostly at night. Or when I'm alone. I get overwhelmed by my thoughts. Even when nothing is going on, I will find a way to stress about something."
"Why do you think that is?"
Alara shrugs, "I don't know... I want to please people, especially my loved ones. So I will exhaust myself until I do. And if I can't, I'll begin to worry and I'll create horrible scenarios in my head. It's an annoying habit. When I was younger I didn't even have a backbone because of it. That's how horrible it was. But I had some help and it worked. A little." She chuckles.
I can see that. I've been with her for a while now and the second she checked her phone was when I noticed that stressed aura she just mentioned. It's not only people-pleasing. It's also the overthinking. The hidden perfectionism. It's a combination of all sorts of things.
I don't think that it's anyone's fault but I do think that she needs more support from the people around her. If she still feels this way after years of knowing them, they must not validate her feelings enough. Perhaps they don't notice it or see it. See her.
"Are you stressed right now?" I ask when I notice the way that she's looking at me.
"No... I'm anxious. Positively anxious. But you were quiet for a bit too long."
I chuckle and that sets her at ease too, "I'm sorry, princess. I was just thinking. Thinking about how shitty I think your friends are."
She almost chokes on her drink, "What? They're not." She shakes her head.
"I'm not a fan of the detective." I roll my eyes.
Alara laughs, "Oh. Yeah, he is not a fan of you either but we can make it work. They're nice people. Truly. I feel the way I feel because that's how I am. It's not a reflection of their character."
"Hmm," I hum and she chuckles.
"I mean it, Zane. I love them and I swear that they're good people."
"I trust you, princess. You're a very intelligent woman."
I notice that this irritated her but in a cute way. She didn't expect me to compliment her after what I said. She was ready to prove me wrong. I like that. I love seeing that side of her. The combative side.
She was incredibly combative when I first met her. That night and then afterward... This woman is mesmerizing.
"You'll like them once you get to know them." She mumbles, attracting my attention.
"And when will that be?"
Her eyes widen a bit and she bites on her tongue so she can think about her answer before she blurts something out. "I don't know, after our fifth date?"
"Ah," I sigh. "The infamous fifth fate."
She chuckles and I continue, "I'll have you know that this entire trip is one date. So we're still on our third."
Alara grins but tries to hide it, "Okay... I'll take it."
I don't answer her because all I want to say is yes you fucking will. I look at her and feel my dick twitching inside of my fucking pants. She's gorgeous and I can't handle it. When I saw her last night... It took everything in me to walk away from her.
I momentarily look outside, "We're almost there." I tell her and that makes her glance out the window immediately, trying to locate where we are.
We're in Paris.
Two reasons for that. It takes a little less than 8 hours to get to Pennsylvania from here. And the second reason is that Paris can be highly romantic if you know the right places. Which I do. I might have had some help from my assistant but that's not important.
We're almost near the Eiffel Tower, she's going to see it and then she'll know where we are. I watch her reaction. We're now passing it and-
Her eyes widen, "Paris? We're in Paris?!"
"Yes, we are." I chuckle while she keeps looking at me with those widened eyes.
"I've never been here before. I've never been to Lyon either but... Zane," She sighs. "This is too much. You're spoiling me at this point."
"Princess... I haven't even started spoiling you."
Her cheeks redden slightly and it makes me smirk at her, I enjoy teasing her, I love seeing how she reacts to me.
When the train comes to a stop, I step over to her, holding my hand out for her. She glances up at me, her brown eyes wide and incredibly doe-like. She takes my hand and I grab her jacket and bag before she can. We step out of the train, "Where are we going?" She eagerly questions.
"I was thinking about a nice stroll through the city. Would you like that?"
"Yes!- I mean yes, sure, if that's what you want too."
I surprise her when I stop in my tracks, I surprise her even more when my hand reaches up to her cheek, softly cupping it. "I want to do whatever it is that you want. So what do you want to do, my princess?"
Her lips are slightly parted, her hasty breaths are crashing onto my wrist, and her eyes are moving all over my face.
I'm just as startled by the things that I'm doing as she is. I want to kiss her right here and now but I won't. Not before I'm certain. I don't know what I'm waiting for but I am.
Alara gives me a beautiful smile, one that reaches her eyes and soul. Her hand encircles my wrist and she slowly tugs my hand down, intertwining our hands. She keeps her eyes on our hands before she looks back up at me. My smile makes her sheepish again but she manages to answer me, "Let's explore." She chuckles, "Well, you probably know it here already so show me around."
"Okay," I smile at her and tug her along. We stroll toward the streets, she's enjoying it thoroughly. I stop every now and then and watch her. She looks around and takes pictures of the more obscure things. For example, the shops, the food that she comes across, the flowers.
After a while, I think it's time that we have some lunch but I don't think that she's into what I have booked for us. It's too much. I've noticed that she likes things that feel more humane and sincere. So instead of taking her to the fancy lunch spot, I take her to the big market down the street.
I'm proven right when she says how fun she finds it here. I notice some Turkish food carts and I step over to it, telling her to order me something, anything.
"Anything?" She frowns.
"Mm-hmm," I hum. "I want to try whatever it is that you like."
Her eyes light up and she hastily looks away, ordering us something called lahmacun. She also orders ayran. Now, I've had ayran before so that's not anything unfamiliar. She eagerly tugs me along to one of the seats and hands it to me. "Oh wait," She then says. "You have to put the salad in there yourself, squeeze some lemon juice on it and roll it up."
I would gladly follow her instructions but before I can do that, she asks if I would like for her to do it for me. I obviously say yes.
I watch as she adds everything with a smile on her face, she rolls it up and hands it to me before doing the same with her. "Okay try it." She grins at me.
It smells incredible, minced meat and lots of spices with a fresh salad and lemon juice... But it tastes even better than it looks like. "Wow," I mumble as I chew and she smiles brightly.
"I know." She nods along. "It's incredible."
One thing that I do remember well about my childhood is all the meals that my mother used to make. And Egyptian food resembles Turkish food in some ways. So after this delicious meal, I take her to another food truck and buy us a nice bowl of kushari. Her response to it makes me smile, she loves it.
This was a way better idea in comparison to the boring restaurant that was awaiting us.
"Is this something that your mother used to make often?"
I nod, "Yeah, definitely. A bit differently but yes."
She smiles at that, "I don't think I asked you but do you speak Arabic? I noticed you ordering in a different language but I couldn't hear it well enough to guess which one."
"I do, hayati." I smirk at her and she looks at me with a huge smile and widened eyes. Her cheeks are red, her eyes are fucking sparkling and she looks up at me through her eyelashes... Wow.
"Life." She quickly translates what I just said and I look at her with a scowl, shaking my head.
"Of course you know what I just said."
"Hayat means life in Turkish as well." She quickly explains, brushing the napkin over her mouth before taking a sip from her drink.
"Hmm, you missed a detail though."
She frowns, "Which is?"
"I said hayati not hayat. Which means my life not life."
"Oh," She blushes immediately. "My bad." She chuckles and I tease her by booping her nose. Her cheeks don't turn entirely red when she blushes but they get this soft red tone to them. It's incredibly cute.
"And you're fluent in Turkish right?"
She nods, "Mm-hmm, I am."
"Do you go there often?"
"Not as much as I would like." She admits. "I love the city, I do. But sometimes it's too busy. Even at home I don't get much rest, my neighbors are loud." She chuckles. "So, I love going to the countryside there once a year. It's relaxing."
I nod along as I listen to her, "No rest at home..." I remark and she sighs.
"My neighbors are loud. Very loud. With everything that they do." She continues, she then looks at me and frowns slightly before she smiles, "What's wrong with my apartment?"
"Nothing at all, princess." I grin at her, "There's nothing wrong with it."
There's absolutely a lot wrong with it. People got into her apartment like it was nothing. It's unsafe. It's easy to access. It's absolute shit.
But she seems to love it and I don't want to break her heart. Not over something that I can fix with some bodyguards.
Alara simply chuckles at me and I watch her. She asks me a billion other questions and I answer them all. We get up after a while, strolling through the streets again.
She trips over something and I instantly wrap my arm around her waist to steady her. Instead of being shocked that she almost fell, she bursts out into laughter. She leans into my side and I decide to keep my arm right there, wrapped around her waist and resting on her hip. She momentarily looks up at me but then quickly glances away, a shy smile on her face.
Her eyes land on a particular store. She doesn't seem inclined to enter but I haul her inside anyway and she laughs. Her eyes glide over all the bracelets, earrings and necklaces too. However, she isn't very interested in any of them. The watches... They attract her attention. While she's distracted I call over one of the women working here. I hand her my card, telling her that she can handle it if Alara likes something enough for me to purchase it.
"This is beautiful." I hear Alara say and I instantly step back over to her. Placing my hand on the small of her back as I look over her shoulder, "Don't you think?" she glances up at me, her hair falling over her shoulder as she does so.
"It is." I smile at her.
It's a mostly diamond-covered watch. White, purple, blue and pink diamonds. There's a blue butterfly in the middle of it. That's probably the thing that tells you how late it actually is. It has both blue and deep purple bands. The purple one attracts her more.
She sighs and moves on to other things. I follow her around until she suddenly halts, "Oh," Alara lets out. "This is- are you kidding me? Half a million? For a watch?"
I step toward her and look at it, "It has diamonds." I explain but she shakes her head.
"Half a million?! This is ludicrous. We should get out of here. Right now." She grabs my hand to tug me out of here and I laugh, holding her back.
"I was actually thinking of getting something." I smirk and her eyes widen, her jaw drops to the floor.
"Are you-" She lowers her voice to a whisper, "Are you crazy? This is literally inhumane."
"Princess," I chuckle. "It's not that expensive."
She looks at me like I've grown a second head. Then suddenly she doesn't seem that shocked anymore. "Of course," She sighs. "I mean sure if you have it, spend it. But this much? For a watch? Your phone does the job well enough."
I smile at her flustered and annoyed expression. I'm not that far gone that I can't admit that this is expensive. It is. But I don't find it something to think much over. I want her to pick one. One she really likes. And then I'm going to buy it.
I think that she'll actually kill me if I do it with her knowledge so I'm doing it without it. Thankfully, I handed my card to the lady working at the front desk the second I noticed Alara's smile.
"All of that aside, which one do you like?"
She's oblivious to my plans and sighs, glancing over the watches again. Her eyes land on the same one again. "I have to admit that even though it's incredibly overpriced, this is absolutely beautiful." She looks up at me, "Do you seriously don't find it expensive?" She asks and I laugh again.
"I do not. Not when they're real diamonds. It's not cheap but it's not expensive for what they're actually selling."
"Hmm," She hums. "Okay, if you put it like that then yes. You're right. But in general... I mean, come on."
I chuckle, "In general, it is indeed on the more costly side." While she's distracted I nod to the woman to discreetly ready this watch for me. Since I do have to tell them where I want this delivered, I step over to them. Thankfully, Alara isn't fluent in French and she misses how I just told them to bring it to the hotel I booked for today.
She luckily also missed that it cost nearly half a million euros.
I discreetly take my card back.
I guide Alara back out and we go around for a while. Eventually, when I notice that she's getting tired, I suggest that we visit the hotel before dinner. We're not staying there tonight because we have to fly back after dinner. We could also fly back tomorrow morning because the time difference makes it easier to do that but we won't. I want her to have a good night's rest so she doesn't show up to work jetlagged.
Before she can ask anything, I speak. "It's an adjoined room." I explain before she thinks that I got us only one room.
"We're flying back tomorrow then?" She questions, slightly tilting her head to the side.
She's anxious.
I'm starting to recognize her reactions to things, I'm beginning to know what they mean.
For example, right now, she tilted her head to the side as she asked me this question. Which means that she's anxious about my answer.
"We're flying back tonight, princess." I watch as the stress leaves her body. "I know you have work Sunday evening, I wouldn't want you to miss it."
I open the door and let her enter first, quickly following behind her. "Thank you," She turns to smile at me. "For everything."
"Don't thank me." I shake my head as I step toward the door that connects the rooms. I open it and then hand the key to Alara so she can lock it from her side. She frowns and then slightly smiles at that. "We'll leave in an hour if that's okay with you?"
"Okay," She smiles at me. "I'll see you then."
"I'll see you." I smile back at her. Right before I close the door, I catch a glimpse of her dropping herself onto the bed to relax, it's adorable.
****
"You're not trying to peek right?"
"No..." She lies, her hands grasping onto my wrists ready to remove them the second that I tell her that she can look.
"It's not a huge reveal." I lie to her.
Because it is. We're at le Jules Verne, a restaurant inside the Eiffel Tower. I had originally booked the entire floor, the entire restaurant for us two. But I changed that when I noticed that she's not that comfortable with gestures like that, at least not right now.
Besides, the soft chatter of people, the waiters serving, glass clicking against each other while we converse... I like that.
Fuck.
This woman is making me like romantic shit. Hell, this entire trip is the most romantic thing that I've done in my entire life.
The elevator dings and I pull my hands away from her eyes but she keeps her hands on my wrists so I unapologetically wrap my arms around her waist. I don't pull her flush against me like I want to, I don't spot my chin on top of her head nor do I kiss the smile on her perfect face.
Fuck... I'm obsessed with this girl.
I wait for her to respond to it and she does, her hands are softly brushing over my forearms before she glances up at me with a shy smile. I smile back and step aside, keeping only my hand on the small of her back as I guide her inside.
"Wh-" She doesn't finish her sentence. Instead, she leaps forward- elegantly. She glances out the window and frowns when she notices something peculiar, "Where's the Eiffel Tower? And what's-" She quickly looks at me over her shoulder, "Are we in the Eiffel Tower?"
"We are." I chuckle and her eyes widen immensely. "You're quick."
"I could see it everywhere until we got here," She smiles. "This is-" She shakes her head in astonishment. She's staring up at me with those big eyes of hers and I can hardly hold myself back from kissing her.
"Shall we?" I hold my hand out to her and she takes it. We're being led to our table, right beside the window. Alara's eyes are glued to the outside. She's mesmerized the entire time.
I am too.
"What's going on through your head?" She grins at me.
"Right now or in general?"
"Hmm," She hums sweetly. She's definitely a princess. A fairytale princess to be precise. I have yet to see if she can sing and if she's good with babies and animals, that will be the cherry on top of the cake. But this is enough proof for me. Her sweet smile, her hums, the way she looks at me... "Both."
"Right now," I give her a lopsided grin, "I'm thinking about what I'm going to eat."
She furrows her brows at me, "You're lying."
A deep chuckle rumbles through my chest, "Not necessarily."
I'm glad that she misses the sexual remark, it's endearing. However, I would've loved to see her shy and surprised expression.
I manage to keep that smile on her face for the entirety of the dinner. Eventually, I surprise her when I tell her that we're going upstairs... For this part, I did make sure that no one is around.
They hand us a warm drink and Alara grasps it with both her hands. When we reach the top of the Eiffel Tower, she eyes everything curiously. Her jaw drops when she truly realizes where we are. I quickly take the cup from her and set it aside before she breaks it. I think that she has a tendency of doing that.
"Zane..."
"Princess..." I mumble back.
"I can't believe this." She turns to look at me, her hair falling off her shoulder as she does so. "You're crazy."
"I am." That's when I decide to pull her gift out of my pocket. "I got this for you."
She glances down at my hands, her brows furrowed as she looks at the box in my hands. "Isn't this- Zane!" She immediately chastises me when she realizes this. "Please, tell me you didn't."
"I did." I nod.
"I- I can not accept that. No, Zane, thank you... I truly can't. This is too much, it's-"
"It's not. Nothing's too much for you." Surprisingly my words don't scare her off. She mumbles something that I can't understand underneath her breath.
"Za-"
"Princess..." I move one hand to her cheek, I love the way she responds to me. "It's yours." I hand it to her and she takes it, too distracted by my hand touching her skin.
I step back, watching her as she opens it, her eyes widen and she smiles, "It's beautiful..."
I sigh, "It is."
My voice catches her attention and she looks back up at me again, "It wasn't almost half a million right?"
"It wasn't half a million."
"I said almost." The lawyer counters.
"I plead the fifth."
She rolls her eyes, the smile on her face never faltering, "Sebastian."
"Oh," I smirk. "We're serious now."
"I can't accept it. I can't even wear it, it's-" I step closer to her, taking the watch from the box, I gently take her left hand and wrap it around her wrist.
"There, you can." I use her wrist to look at the time, "You should look up now. Or down."
She does and I couldn't have said it faster because that's when the sparkles begin. Alara looks mesmerized. I am too. I can't keep my fucking eyes off of her.
I can't and don't want to stop myself.
I brush her hair off her shoulder, my fingers delicately touching her neck. She closes her eyes, "Don't. Keep looking."
She opens her eyes, keeping her eyes on the sparkling Eiffel Tower while I'm so close to her. I brush my fingers from down her ear to her shoulder, she shivers. Fuck.
"You should watch it too." She manages to get the words out but I don't miss how breathy she sounds. Just like last night.
"I'm preoccupied." I lean down to match her height, dipping my head to her neck. I place the softest kiss on her neck, she can feel my breaths crashing against her skin and I'm slightly surprised when her hand comes up to my neck. "Thank you for coming." I whisper and she softly gasps when she hears my voice so close.
I feel her nails digging into my skin and I can hardly contain myself. I pull back but her hand doesn't budge. She stares up at me with those fucking eyes of hers, brown like the most enchanting autumn I've ever seen. She leans up and drapes both her arms around me. I'm liking these hugs of hers.
I bury my face in her neck just to hear her gasp again. When I spot my hand on her lower back she heavily breaths against my skin. "Thank you. For everything."
"You're very welcome, princess."
She pulls away but then leans up again, pressing her soft lips against my cheek. "You've gotta stop doing that." I reply.
"Why?" Her brown eyes sparkle more than this entire fucking tower.
"I like it too much." I grasp her chin and shake her a little which makes her laugh.
We still have some time to kill so I take her back downstairs for some dessert. We leave at one o'clock so she can see the lights of the Eiffel Tower shut down for the night. I take a few pictures of her while she's distracted. Just for me.
The plane takes off at exactly two o'clock and I distract Alara because she can't sleep. Not until we get there which will be at four o'clock.
To keep her awake I mostly talk. But somehow that makes her even more sleepy. "Am I boring you?"
"Hmm?" She hums, her eyes closed and cheek pressed against the leather seat.
"You're snoring while I'm talking. I must be boring you."
She giggles, eyes still shut. "You have a soothing voice." She admits, momentarily opening her eyes so she can see my reaction. "You should think about narrating something. An audiobook or-" She says something else but it's mumbled.
I move to sit beside her so I can annoy her more. "Alara," I whisper. "Are you dreaming about me?"
A smile appears on her face, "Why would I dream about that when you're beside me?"
A laugh escapes me, "So you dreamt about me? When I wasn't with you."
That wakes her up very quickly, "I haven't." She attempts to brush her hair out of her face but I help her which seems to distract her way too much.
"You were saying?" I help her get back on track.
"I haven't dreamt about you."
"Of course." I nod but she can tell that I don't believe her.
"I haven't." She vigorously shakes her head.
"I believe you." I don't. Not at all.
She sighs, tilting her head to the side, "Have you dreamt about me then?"
"Every night since I met you."
Her lips part because she's surprised. Her eyes move all over my face, looking for a lie. She won't find one. So she looks away but I place my fingers on her cheek turning her back to face me, "Write them down." I tell her. "I'll make your dreams come true."
I've never seen her this quiet or this red before. I can tell that she's biting on the inside of her cheek and I find it all incredibly endearing. I step back to my place in front of her, this is enough to fuel her dreams for a few more nights.
She doesn't fall asleep for the rest of the flight. When we land, she's exhausted but hungry too because she asks me if we can drive by a drive-through. I obey.
I suggest to carry her up to her room but that sobers her up. I suspect by now that all our stuff will have arrived already. I doubt that she'll notice any of it until the morning.
She opens her hotel room door, looking at me over her shoulder, "I loved every minute of it. Thank you."
I lean against the wall across from her and smile at her, nodding, "Goodnight, princess."
"Goodnight, Zane."
"Sweet dreams." I add and watch how she smiles before quickly getting inside and locking the door.
I enter my own room, finally sitting down to deal with the thousands of messages and emails that I received. I'm pouring myself a glass of water when I get another one.
Alex: He wants to talk to you. He's ready to accept your proposal.