After almost thirteen hours, they finally arrived at Norwich International Airport. There, a van was already waiting for them. It took them another hour on the road before they got to their hotel.
"Rose, since you're looking after my son. Is it okay with you if you will share one room together? ...Don't worry, it's a big room and there are two separate beds." Mrs. Walton asked.
"Are you sure about that, honey? Rose is still a girl." Mr. Walton reacted in a concerned tone.
"I'm fine with it. Rose is like a little brother to me anyway." Dylan said.
Rose glared at him.
Mrs. Walton chuckled watching them.
"I'm fine with it too. He's not familiar with the room, so he will need my help a lot for sure." Rose agreed.
After they booked their rooms, they all headed to the elevator and went up to twenty sixth floor.
Mrs. Walton escorted Rose and Dylan to their room door and handed them their key card. "Just call me if you need anything. We'll only stay here at night. You can go around the city by the day. Just be careful, okay?"
"Got it, Mrs. Walton" Rose responded.
"All right, go to your room now." she told them.
Rose opened the door and guided Dylan inside. "What do you want to do?" she asked him.
"I want to take a rest for a while." he answered.
"Choose, the bed near the balcony or the one near the bathroom?" she asked.
"Near the bathroom" he picked.
She took him to the first bed.
"How far our beds are apart?" he asked, leaning against the headboard.
"Only three steps away... From your bed to the bathroom, that's six steps, and don't go to the balcony without me." she instructed.
After a few minutes, their luggage bags arrived. Rose unpacked them. When she's done, she took her camera and went to the balcony while Dylan was resting on his bed. After she took some pictures of the view, she went back inside. "This place is really amazing." she said, looking at the camera roll.
"Wanna go out?" Dylan asked.
"You said you want to rest." she replied.
"I'm okay now. I think I want to eat." he told her.
"Yes!" she cheered voicelessly.
When they got out of the hotel, she led the way excitedly. "Is there a specific food you want to eat?"
"Just tell me if you find anything that sells food." he told her.
She looked around. "I see a lot of bakeries... Oh, over there, they sell sausage rolls... and that one over there sells cheese... Now, I'm seeing a pasta restaurant. There's a dessert shop next to it."
After walking for a few more minutes, Dylan finally picked a steakhouse.
"Oh my god, this beef is the best beef I've ever tasted." Rose said, staring at the chunk of meet on her fork.
Dylan chuckled. "United Kingdom is one of the best countries that offers great food." he told her. "Just order if you want more."
"I like this place. They serve a plateful of food. I'm very satisfied... Hey! Mister Chef! I love your Porterhouse steak!" she yelled, giving the man in a white uniform a thumbs up.
Dylan was shocked. "Did you just yell inside a restaurant?"
She chuckled. "That man is a genius."
"I can't believe food can make you that happy." he commented.
She looked at him. "If you want to make your life happier, reduce your standards, lower your expectations and control your pride. I always follow those three simple rules."
He thought of them and eventually agreed with her.
In the middle of their conversation, a man approached them.
"Please accept this sweet treat I made for your appreciation to my food. You're the first person in my years of cooking at this restaurant who approved my food that way. I'm really flattered." he said.
"Thank you, I'll definitely come back here." Rose replied with a smile.
"I'm looking forward to seeing you again. Please enjoy your dessert." he said, then he left and went back to the kitchen.
"Look Dylan, he gave me a bowl of ice cream with many razzle-dazzle on top." she told him in a thrilled voice.
He chuckled listening to her. She forgot again he could not see.
When they left the restaurant, they went to a nearby park to rest.
"England is really incredible. Anywhere you want to turn your head, you will find something nice to look at." Rose said, looking around. "I hope you can see again real soon. You're missing a lot of beautiful things."
"I'm fine. I think I'm getting used to it actually." he replied.
"I told you. Don't say things like that. Don't you want to see your mom's face again? Or your friends? Or to go back to school? Don't you want to see the woman destined for you walking down the aisle on your wedding day? Don't you want to see your future children?" she asked without a pause.
"How about you, Rose? ...Don't you?" He returned the question to her. "Don't you want to experience walking down the aisle towards the man you are destined for?"
"I'm not destined for anyone." she answered.
"Why are you keep on dictating your own future? You don't know that." he replied. He was a bit upset, but he acted calm.
"Why are we suddenly talking about this?" she questioned, looking from afar.
"You started it." he answered. "Believe it or not, I really regretted I hurt you, but you don't have to change the way you look at men because of it." he continued. "Do you think I'm a bad guy?"
"Everyone has a bad side. Committing one mistake doesn't mean a person is evil." she answered.
"I'll take that as a no then." he replied. "So, won't you still give yourself a chance to experience a romantic relationship?"
"Speaking of romance... Do you think Max is interested in me? I mean, he suddenly changed after our camping." she asked in a curious and a bit suspicious tone.
He felt uncomfortable with her sudden question. "No, he's not. Max is really just a sweet guy to anyone." he answered, sounding a bit annoyed .
"Oh, that's a relief. I'm about to get the wrong idea." she replied.
"Does that mean you're not interested in him too?" he asked, hiding his tension.
"I like Max. Your friend is really a nice guy. Whoever that girl he's destined for, she's very lucky." she answered, smiling.
"Y-You like him?" he asked, stuttering.
"I mean, I like him as a friend. I'm pretty sure I'm not the one for him." she clarified.
He was relieved. "Yes, I agree. You don't fit each other." he told her in a certain tone.
She pouted. "Wanna go for a walk?"
"You haven't answered my question yet." he reminded her.
It took her a while before she answered. "I don't know. Like you said, no one knows what will happen in the future. Only time can answer that."
"I'll take that as a close to yes." he replied, then he got up from the bench and reached out his hand to her.
She felt as if he was looking at her behind his sunglasses at that moment. She slowly got up and took his hand.
☆•••••○○●○○•••••☆
After they roamed around the area for hours, they decided to go back to the hotel before nightfall.
In the evening, Mr. and Mrs. Walton came back and invited them for dinner at the hotel's restaurant. Rose told them about what they did the whole day. Dylan joined in and told them what she did at the steakhouse. They laughed. After eating, they all went back to their rooms.
"I want to take a warm bath. Can you prepare the tub for me?" Dylan requested. He suddenly felt colder that time.
Rose did. Once it was ready, she guided him to the bathroom. Then, she waited on her bed while looking at her photos. She smiled when she found a stolen shot of him in the camera roll.
After only a few minutes, he came out of the bathroom whooshing. "Shit. Why it's so cold?"
Rose grabbed his clothes and gave them to him. "Here"
After he put them on, he quickly went to his bed and buried himself under the thick comforter.
"Are you okay?" Rose asked in a concerned tone.
"Yeah" he answered in a low voice.
"Okay, I'll just take a shower." she said, then she went to the bathroom.
She did it really quick, because it was really colder that night. When she's done, she quickly put on her sweater and her night pants. Then, she went out of the bathroom.
Dylan was still in his bed underneath his blanket. She assumed he was already sleeping because he was not moving.
Before she went to bed, Max called her. She went to the balcony before she answered it to avoid waking up Dylan. She spent almost an hour talking to him on the phone.
After the call, she went back inside and checked everything before she switched the lights off. When she hopped onto her bed, she yawned and felt sleepy.
She did a quick look at Dylan before she turned off the lampshade near her bed. Oddly, his position didn't change.
"Dylan?" she called in a low voice.
When he didn't answer, she turned off the light and lay down, but only after a few minutes, she opened it again and got up.
She tiptoed to his bed and grabbed his blanket. She slowly opened it to check on him. To her surprise, he was shivering.
*
*
*
To be continued....
Please don't forget to tap the STAR/VOTE icon after you read, might as well leave a COMMENT of your reactions, questions, suggestions, corrections, or compliments about this part of the story.
Thank you for reading!