“You can come here without making a reservation?” Ella asked Leon, as they entered a fancy restaurant. The attendant at the front instantly recognized him and greeted him.
“I’m a semi-regular here, so yes, and it’s not that upscale. It’s even considered a family restaurant.” He nudged his head towards a young family of four eating together. “So long as they’re well-behaved, anyway. I’ve seen them throw a family out before because of an unruly kid.”
“I can’t blame them.”
They both sat down and made their orders. Ella kept looking around, fascinated with all the artwork on the walls.
“Which one is your favourite?” Leon asked.
“The painting of the young woman with roses.”
Leon smiled widely.
“What is it?”
“That’s my favourite too in this place. Do you want it?”
“I don’t think you’re supposed to go around buying the decor.” I know he’s filthy rich, but that still feels like an odd thing to do.
“The original, I mean. I always make two copies of my paintings and keep one for myself.”
“Wait… What?” Ella’s eyes widened. “Are you the one who painted it?”
“Yes.” He held his chin up proudly. “Though I don’t have time for it these days, I did quite a bit of painting while I was in college.”
“Who’s the lady in the painting? She looks familiar.” She tilted her head as she examined it further.
“Uh… Just a muse; a young lady I met when I was little, actually.”
“You know, if it’s someone you dated, you can tell me, right? I mean, you’ve already met one of my exes…”
“I never had the chance to be with her back then. We had only met for a day, and then she vanished…”
“Sounds like the starting of a romance novel.”
Leon nodded. “I suppose it does…”
Their food arrived, and Ella dug in right away. “Gosh, this is good. I’m not even sure what all of this is.” She poked at the sauce on her chicken. “But it tastes so good I don’t care.”
He couldn’t help but smile as he watched her eat. It made him glad he brought her there, to his special restaurant, filled with his paintings. Other than Zeke, he never told anyone else about his paintings. His father didn’t approve of him becoming a painter, so he wanted to at least keep it as a hobby. That didn’t work out either, as his father found out that he was painting and threatened to burn what he had already created if he kept painting.
“Ella, is that you?”
She recognized the deep, male voice right away. With a glance at Leon first, she turned to look at him. The same dirty blonde hair and striking blue eyes she remembered. “Justin?”
“Oh my gosh.” He approached her, smiling, and put his arms out for a hug. “It’s been such a long time.” He hugged her without a second thought, and she patted his back awkwardly. “I can’t believe I ran into you. You look gorgeous.”
“Thanks…”
“Ahem,” Leon cleared his throat.
“Oh, sorry, are you here on a date?”
“Yes, we are,” Leon said.
Justin looked at him. “I’m so sorry. I just haven’t seen Ella since…” he trailed off, not sure he should mention it.
“Let me guess, she left you sometime after getting engaged or rejecting the proposal?”
His eyes widened. “Has she mentioned me?”
“Not specifically, but I know a bit about her past.”
“I see.” He nodded. “Well, I just moved into the area, and if you give me your number, maybe we can catch up over coffee sometime.” Justin rustled around in his coat pocket and pulled out his phone. He held it out to her, his eyes practically sparkling.
Crap… Ella glanced over at Leon, who shrugged, telling her to do whatever she wanted. Bah, it’s too awkward to say no! “Okay, sure.” She put her number in his phone.
Leon huffed a bit but held back from saying anything.
“It’s really been so great to see you again.” Justin sighed and held his hand over his heart. “I’m happy to see you’re doing well.”
“Same…”
“I’ll call you soon, but for now, I should get back to my family.”
“Your family?”
Justin pointed at a table a little further in. “I was here with my wife and kids. I had gone to the bathroom and spotted you on the way back. Anyway, enjoy your meal.” He gave her a little wave and rushed off to be with his two daughters and his wife.
He’s married? With kids? I probably shouldn’t be surprised, but I am… Ella watched him walk back to his table with his family waiting. This feels surreal.
“You okay?” Leon asked, his eyes not leaving her.
“Y-yeah; I’m fine.”
He finally looked over at Justin. “You know, I was jealous when you chose to give him your number, but – and I’m surprised to say this myself – but I don’t think he actually had any ill intent.”
“I know a lot of guys think guys and girls can’t be friends, but they can be.”
“Even if you used to date? Worse, you were engaged, right?”
“Um… No… He did propose, but we weren’t engaged…”
“You said no?”
“Yeah… I had a panic attack, said no, and ran away. I apologized to him after and he took it as a hint that I wasn’t for him. He was actually pretty understanding about it after I told him about Sebastian…”
“And yet you two obviously didn’t work things out.”
“Our relationship died at college.” She chuckled, circling the top of her glass with her finger as she reminisced. She met him after transferring to a different college nearby to get away from Sebastian.
“Do you regret it? That could’ve been you.” He nudged his head over towards Justin and his family.
“No; I don’t think it would’ve worked out. I wasn’t ready for all of that back then. I’m not sure I’m ready for it now… Sorry…”
“I’m the one who should be sorry. I’m the one forcing you into marriage when it seems you’re terrified of it. I’m not going to say I understand fully, but I know things are hard for you, and I plan on helping you deal with it all… somehow.”
“Thanks.”
“And I want to apologize beforehand for anything my parents might say, and for the fact that I know they’re going to want to fast track us through being engaged to being married.”
“By the way, can I read that contract? I’m not sure if we’re engaged or married.”
“We’re engaged, and promised to be married, or else I lose a lot.”
“What’s the timeline for us being married again?” My head’s starting to hurt.
“Well, I’m twenty-three and I have until my twenty-fifth birthday, so less than two years.”
“Ha… I keep forgetting you’re so young.”
Leon’s brows furrowed, and he pouted. “Are you saying I look old for my age or act older than my age?”
“Act older.”
“Oh, okay…” he let out a deep sigh. “Yes, I suppose I’m more mature than many people my age, but please stop worrying about the difference; it doesn’t bother me any, and it’s really not that big of a gap.”
“I was just wondering what your parents will think of it.”
“They won’t care; they just want me hitched.” He couldn’t help but think they never cared much about anything when it came to him. They wanted him to follow their rules, learn their ways, and live the way they wanted him to, but they always seemed to leave him on his own.
“Shouldn’t they at least care if you’re marrying a gold-digger or something?”
“As long as the marriage lasts, I can’t say they’d care.”
Are they really that bad? Or is his view of them skewed?
“You seem skeptical, but you should’ve seen the women they tried to set me up with before.” he shuddered. “I firmly turned them all down, of course.”
I really don’t know what to expect at this dinner party…
Dessert showed up, and despite the nerves that were gnawing at her stomach, she dug into her slice of brownie cheesecake. “Mm, this is good.”
“You like sweets?” He took note of how she seemed to enjoy it even more than the meal. He doubted she knew, but her expressions spoke wonders.
“Yup; I love all sorts of desserts.”
Leon cut a piece off of his apple cinnamon cheesecake with his fork and held it up to her. “How about trying this one?”
“Um…” It looks good… Not even sure why I didn’t choose apple when I love’em so much. “I-it’s okay. You enjoy your food.”
“Why? It’s obvious you want some.” He smiled at her and held the fork closer.
“You don’t have to feed me.”
“I don’t have to, but I want to. I suppose I can’t force you to eat it though.” He ate the bit on his fork and she gasped. “What? I thought you didn’t want it.”
Ella’s face flushed. “Quit teasing me.”
He cut another piece and held it up again. “Maybe I just like the idea of feeding you. If you want some, then take a bite, or else I’ll polish this off myself.”
Man, I’m weak to dessert. Before he could pull it away again, she bit down on the piece he offered. So good… “Mmm…” She leaned back, slowly enjoying the bite.
“Ahem… I know I started this, but you might want to rein in the um… noises.”
“Hmm?” She looked at him with a raised eyebrow for a moment before sitting straight up. If he’s implying what I think he’s implying, I should refrain from eating delicious food around people…
“Oh! I didn’t mean to make you feel self-conscious or anything. I love the fact that you enjoy your food. It’s just…” He glanced around the restaurant, glad no one was looking.
“I get it,” she mumbled.
He sighed, figuring he ruined things. “I’m sorry.” He bowed his head, staring at the half-eaten plate of cheesecake on the table, waiting for her to say something more.
“I’m… surprised you can apologize so easily. I find many people struggle with that.” Ella couldn’t help but think about Sebastian, who always blamed everyone else.
“I prefer to man up when I make a mistake. Not apologizing and trying to sweep it under the rug can make things worse down the line. I want to have an honest relationship with you that stands the test of time; it won’t do any good to ruin things by not apologizing.”
So mature… How is he twenty-three? “Thank you, but I’ll still keep it in mind not to make such… noises while I eat.”
“I only mentioned it because of others nearby. I enjoy listening to you.”
Her face flushed up to her ears. I can’t believe he said that…
Leon scratched the back of his head. “What I’m trying to say is… I don’t know, really, but maybe I should change the location to suit you, not the other way around.”
“How would you do that?”
“Find restaurants with private booths, or rooms so it won’t matter.”
“You make it sound like it’s okay to make those noises…” Ella looked away from him.
“In front of me? Yes, of course it is. I also imagine your friends don’t care, since this seems like news to you.”
“Well, to be fair, they’re worse than me…”
Leon laughed. “I guess if it’s that common, then this is more of a ‘me’ problem than anything.”
“I’ll at least… try not to be so loud.” She poked at the fork sitting on her plate. “How about some payback?” She held up a piece to him and he ate it without hesitation. I guess that’s not payback for him. “You…”
“Mmm.” He smiled at her. “You’re right, this is good.”
“Ha…” She quietly ate the rest of her dessert, avoiding looking up. When she finally did peek, her eyes locked with Leon’s. He was resting his chin on his hands, his elbows on the table as he stared at her.
“I guess we should go.” He sighed. “I’d rather stay here for another round of dessert…”
“And as much as I’d like that, I don’t want to be overfull while at the dinner party and risk losing it.”
“Oh… Try not to be too nervous; they’re mostly harmless now.” Leon looked away for a moment and sighed. “I know it’s useless to say something like that, but I’m sorry; I don’t know how to help nerves.”
“Don’t leave me alone there if you can avoid it.”
“I hate to say it, but there’s a good chance someone there will want to drag me away, but I’ll do my best to stick by your side.”
“All I can ask for, I suppose. Alright, let’s go.”
Continued in chapter 18.
Christina Maharaj 