"What do you say to a date night tonight?" Evelyn read the little white card that was signed from William that had a gorgeous bouquet of flowers on her desk at work.
She smiled to herself as she thought about the man she had been seeing for the last couple of months. He was different then she was used to. A good different. It was refreshing with him then her ex fiancé. How he had such a calming personality but yet he knew how and when to have fun and let loose. He was a bit awkward at times but that's what made him -- him. She loved those things about him. How he wasn't afraid to be himself when he was off royal duty and be able to mistakes. It showed that he was human and that he was just like everyone else.
Evelyn didn't have anything to do right then as she decided to take her mobile out and dialed his phone number as he answered on the second ring.
"I'm assuming you received the flowers?" he asked as she could picture him wearing a smirk on his face.
"I did," she nodded her head even though he couldn't see, "they're lovely. Thank you."
"Your welcome," he told her in a gentle voice. "I just couldn't resist when I saw them. What do you say to that date?"
"I say yes."
"Excellent. Are you free tonight possibly?"
"Er -- ," she looked down at her schedule to see if she had anything to do and thankfully she didn't. "I am. What did you have in mind?"
"I was thinking we could meet up at my place and I will order take out?"
"That sounds good. What did you have in mind?" she asked interested in the food as well.
"I was thinking Indian. That all right with you?" he asked her as his eyebrows rose creating a crease on his forehead.
"Never tried it," she said honestly. "But I'm looking forward to it."
"Never had it?" he said sounding shocked. "Well, I know you love curry so I know just what to order for tonight. You'll love it, promise. I'm sorry there's not much we can do right now."
"It's okay, I promise. I don't need to go out and be seen with you. I like being able to get to know you where it's just the two of us. I trust you," she let out a laugh looking forward to seeing him tonight and the food. "I'll see you tonight, Wills."
"See you tonight."
They both bid each other goodbye and set a time for their date as the door to her office opened, revealing her assistant as she popped her head in the door.
"All right if I come in?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, s'alright. What's wrong?" Eve asked noticing the concerned look on her assistants face.
"I thought I could handle it without having to come to you but Anthropologie received your clothes but they didn't receive the full shipment. We are trying to track it but nobody can find the tracking number," Sam said anxious as she bit her fingernail.
"We always pay for the extra tracking. How the bloody hell can no one find it?"
"I don't know what happened! But we are unable to find where it is right now."
"Okay, Sam, calm down and breathe. Get me on the phone with David and try to contact him, please? I need to chat with him how we can sort this mess out," she sighs as she rubs the sides of her temples.
It had been a while that she had ran into a problem like this at her work so to her it only made a bit of sense that it would happen. But why did it have to happen on a new line that no one had really seen in person yet? David had most of the items already but he was missing on some pieces that no one had seen yet, not even on social media. So if this got out there and in the wrong hands it could turn out bad.
She also wasn't sure why it seemed as though no one had paid for the tracking that they needed. They always had and it was exactly for things like this -- so that things like this didn't happen.
***
To say work had been disastrous was an understatement. It had taken almost all day until they were finally able to track where the package was, somehow. Evelyn also made sure to pay for the extra tracking not wanting to make the same mistake twice.
Now was time for her date with William and she was looking forward to seeing him again. She had that nervous but excited feeling in her stomach at the thought of being with him. Changing out of her work clothes and into something much more comfortable and relaxed, black pants and a white jumper. Her blonde hair was now down and in soft waves. She sprayed on her favourite perfume and left.
The drive to William's she thought about the first time they met as children and then how they met again through Eric. How they continued to stay close even in the midst of not always being in the same area. She loved how comfortable she felt around him, so safe. At the same time though, it scared her. To know that she could feel completely and utterly herself around someone. Knowing that he could probably break her heart.
William had told her that when she was let in through the gates that she was able to open the door and walk in to his room.
She hadn't even really felt this way about her ex -- Liam, not really. Sure she had loved him but she didn't feel safe with him like she could be utterly and completely herself. At least without being judged for it.
Opening the large doors, she walked down the familiar hallway and saw the familiar maid, Poppy. She didn't want to interrupt her as she seemed to be in a deep cleaning mode and was in the opposite direction. Instead, Evelyn walked onward until she stopped in front of his door and knocked before he opened the door for her.
"How was work?" he asked her after they hugged and kissed.
"Long and disastrous," she let out a tired sigh. "We ran into a big problem at work and it took hours to resolve. How was your day?"
"What happened at work? My day was alright. I had to attend an engagement for my Granny, but that's it," he shrugged his shoulders.
"It was so frustrating," she rolled her eyes at the thought of what happened earlier today. "Half of our parcel to David for Anthropologie got lost and we couldn't track it. For some reason Eloise forgot to pay for extra tracking. We were able to finally find it though and get it shipped. If we didn't, that would have been an awful nightmare.
"Well, how about we forget about our long days while eating, watch movies and enjoy each others company?" He asked as he caressed her shoulder as he brought her into his side.
"I like that," she agreed and stood up a bit on her toes to kiss his cheek.
William had ordered the Indian food in advance and it had arrived ten minutes before Evelyn showed up. He had everything in his kitchen and they were still in their take out boxes as he didn't really feel like putting them on a plate as they could just scoop out the food and put them on their own plates.
"I think you'll love Indian food, if not you can blame me and never eat it again," he jokes making her laugh and shake her head.
"Deal," she agrees looks at the Indian food he bought for the two of them. "What d'you recommend?"
"Well, since you love curry, I did buy some from this restaurant.
William had bought garlic nan bread which was Indian bread with nan topped with garlic and cilantro, swagat dinner for three which contained vegetable pakora/samosas, chicken tendoori, chicken tikka massala, lamb kadai, chicken curry, rice, nan and kheer. Everything looked so good to Evelyn.
"Everything looks so good, I don't know where to begin," she exclaimed as she looked at all the food.
"Can I make a suggestion?" He asked as she nodded her head.
"Of course."
"Start with the chicken curry, along with the garlic nan bread. If you don't mind having meat I suggest the lamb kadai along with rice."
Evelyn nodded her head and put everything on her plate that William had recommended to her. After all, he was a pretty good expert on Indian food and she trusted his opinion. After they put their food on their plates, they went over to the dining room table and started eating their food.
"This is so good," Evelyn let out a moan as she ate her food and swallowed it. "You did good with the food tonight."
"Good, I'm glad you like it," he said as he swallowed his own food and took a sip of his wine. "One of these days, I'll have to cook dinner for you."
"You cook?"
"Of course. What did you think? That we had a cook make our food for us?"
"Kind of," she laughed slightly as he did too, shaking his head. "But really though, do you?"
"We do, yeah," he agreed with her. "It's mainly for Christmas when we all go to Sandringham or for State dinners. Any engagement we attend where there is food involved, really. But for nights like tonight I'll either cook food or order take out. What about you? D'you cook?"
"I do, yeah. I love it. It almost acts as a stress reliever for me, especially on those busy days when I feel exhausted coming home from work or if I had a fight with Liam. It's nice because it helps me almost wind down from the day and focus on creating something. What are the State dinners like?"
"They can be very long. They are formal dinners that we have with five course meals. It involves the Civil Service, the Royal Household and the Household Division. They involve the fifteen Commonwealth realms. It's all very interesting but can be a bit boring sometimes as well. What do you say about watching a scary movie?" He asked her as they had finished their dinner and were putting their dishes in the sink. They were cuddled on the couch now.
"What one did you have in mind?"
"Would you be all right with watching The Shining?"
"Yeah, that's okay."
To be honest, Evelyn rarely watched scary movies, mainly because she didn't like being scared. She was one of the few of her friends who didn't like scary movies at all. But she didn't want to disappoint William though, especially because he seemed to want to watch the movie with her.
Evelyn sat down on the couch as William put in the movie and sat down next to her putting his arm around her as she cuddled into his side. It had been a while since she had seen a scary movie and while she wasn't particularly looking forward to seeing this movie, she was looking forward to cuddling with William.
The movie started and the beautiful scenery of Colorado showed on the screen as Evelyn stared at the majestic mountains with wonder. So far it wasn't bad but she knew that it wouldn't stay that way. This was a scary movie after all.
"What the hell was that?" Evelyn screeched jumping slightly due to the scary music that played right then as William laughed at her behaviour, pausing the movie.
"Evelyn, do you not like scary movies?" He frowned, more concerned with her.
"No," she frowned slightly. "Not really," Evelyn confessed.
"Then why would you be okay with watching it with me?" William asked with concern in his eyes.
"Because you seemed like you really wanted to watch it and I figured we could cuddle," she mumbled the last part.
"Eve, we don't have to watch it if it scares you too much. I really just chose the movie to spend more time with you."
"Really?" She asks looking up at him through her lashes.
"Really," he confesses grabbing her hands and kissing her knuckles.
The sweet gesture warming her heart. She felt like her heart fluttered from the affection. She hadn't had this kind of physical touch in a relationship in so long and hadn't realised how much she missed it.
"I think I'm okay. I want to watch it," she told him honestly.
"You sure?" He asked a bit skeptical.
Rolling her eyes playfully, she pressed play and leaned into his side kissing his cheek as they continued to watch the rest of the movie.