O P H E L I A ' S      P O V

Levi opened the door for me as I shyly kept my head down as I walked into the restaurant.

"Look, there's an empty booth down there." He motioned towards the back of the establishment.

We both made our way in and Levi allowed me to slide inside the booth first before he did the same.

I kept a reasonable amount of distance between us as I played with my fingers underneath the table.

I took in my surroundings as I looked at the restaurant.

It was a little bigger than where I worked and instead of the blue and white theme, it was red and yellow.

The place had a modern feeling to it rather than the homey feeling you would receive when you entered Vincent's.

I noticed some people staring at our table.

At first, I had summed it up to be the fact that a billionaire was in their presence but then I realised they were staring at me when I felt their burning gaze.

It was then that I realised that I was still in my working uniform while everyone in the restaurants wore casual outfits, including Levi.

I played with the hem of my dress as I refocused my eyes away from them. It was only a moment later when I heard the chatter increase and looked up to see no one staring anymore.

It confused me quite a bit, although I hadn't had much time to dwell on the subject since I heard Levi clear his throat before he spoke.

"So, how are you?" He asked and then afterward, I saw him rub his forehead, almost in a scolding manner.

"I-I'm fine," I lied, suddenly remembering the Kace situation. "Thanks for asking." I finished.

"Look, I'm — sorry about what happened with Kace." He apologised although it really wasn't his fault.

I took a deep breath, "He was my high school crush." I whispered so soft that it's almost inaudible to my ears.

"Oh really?" He said after a pause and I heard a little edge in his voice.

"He was so smart, h-had a great personality and he was so nice to me." I said as I recall high school.

I looked up to Levi to see him already looking at me. I quickly averted my gaze away from him, resulting in a blush to form on my cheeks from my rambling.

I barely realised that I wasn't stuttering so much then.

"D-Don't tell him though, please." I added.

An awkward silence followed but it didn't last long because a waiter came to take our order.

"Good afternoon, may I take your order?" A male about my age came to our table as he smiled down at me.

I returned a shy smile as I took in his features.

He was quite tall with large rimmed glasses and a dimple on his right cheek.

He was rather skinny with little to no muscles compared to Levi.

I doubted anyone had anything compared to him.

He was handsome with a very contagious smile as he gazed down at me with his notepad and pen, waiting to hear our orders.

"I'll have the Burger Pack Special, please." Levi replies curtly, his fingers drumming on the table.

They both turn to me, expecting me to answer.

I really don't have any money to buy any food, but just the thought of it makes my stomach growl since I haven't had something to eat since the raw tuna, which was quite a few days ago.

"Oh, um, I'm not hungry." I said both quickly and quietly.

"You sure? We have a delicious new special that I'm sure you'd like to try." The waiter encouraged me.

I made it seem like I thought about it for a while when in reality, I know I'll just decline his offer once again.

Ready to decline, I heard Levi speak, "Please, she'll take it." He stared at the waiter making my eyes snap to his.

"T-That's r-really not necessary." I tried to plead.

I couldn't imagine how embarrassing that would be if the check came and I would be just sitting there without any payment.

I definitely wouldn't ask Levi to pay, he had already done too much, especially with offering me a ride back to work and to this restaurant.

"Oh, it's no problem." He quickly waved me off as he sent me a charming smile.

The waiter sent us a smile before going off.

Levi took a sip of his water that was already on the booth and asked, "If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?" He inquired.

"M-Me? Oh, I'm 20," I said as I notice the slight raise in my voice. "You?" I felt the need to continue the conversation but yet, I don't fully maintain eye contact.

"25." He stated firmly which resulted in my eyes to slightly widen.

"And a billionaire?" I let my curiosity cover my nervousness around him.

He chuckled deeply at my accusations and took another sip of his water as I did the same with mine, enjoying the 'tasteless' substance.

In my opinion, water does have a taste. Everything does.

"Yeah well," He let out a breathy laugh. "It was originally my father's company but with graduating college early and everything and being an honour student, I just took over." He explained which left me intrigued.

I found myself slightly leaning over the table and resting my head in my hand in a sideways motion, taking in the information.

"Wow." I whispered as I processed the information.

I bet college was so cool and interesting with lots of different things to learn and experiences to come across.

L E V I ' S P O V

I watched as Ophelia watched intently, lips slightly parted as she listened to me almost as if I'm talking about the most interesting thing in the world.

"M-May I ask what that company specialises in?" I also realised how she hardly stuttered.

Apart from this, her voice is a lot quieter than usual, a little over a whisper, which just reminds one that she was still extremely shy.

I couldn't help but smile at her face as she held her head between both of her hands, waiting for me to continue speaking.

It was adorable to watch how she found a topic that most girls would find boring— interesting.

"In technology. We deal with computers, phones, laptops, and any technological appliances." I further explained as I watched her eyes twinkle with interest.

"I know nothing about that stuff." She muttered embarrassingly. I also felt somewhat elated that she didn't stammer as much right now like she usually would.

That would mean that she felt comfortable, right?

You see, when we first came in, I realised that everyone was gazing at her attire and I picked up that she had also recognized.

I sent glares to all the people discreetly so that she wouldn't recognize.

I also didn't appreciate the way that the waiter was gazing at her but I pushed those thoughts away.

She wasn't mine and I had no right to feel this way.

Yet.

"Oh, but I-I do want to know about nursing." She perked up, feeling the need to justify the fact that she actually knew something about work.

She really didn't need to explain anything. It was clear that she had a high level of intelligence noted from the way that she spoke and the many subjects that she found interesting.

"Oh? You're studying to become a doctor? What college do you go to?" I asked, trying to continue our comfortable conversation as we waited for our food.

I watched as the smile that had graced her lips while talking about medicine faltered quickly as she dropped her gaze to her lap embarrassingly, once again creating a barrier around herself.

I audibly let out a few curses as I realised I've hit a spot and asked too many questions just when she was beginning to tell me about herself.

As I'm about to speak, she beat me to it.

"I-I don't e-exactly go to college." She clarified as her figure basically shrunk under my gaze. "B-But I'm saving though." She added quickly after as her gaze snapped to mine in a way to somewhat reassure me.

"Oh." Was my answer since I didn't know what else to say in a situation like this.

The waiter came back with our food shortly after the awkward silence followed.

He placed our food down and while smiling at both of us, he walked away after telling us to enjoy our meal.

I sat and waited for Ophelia to take her first bite.

She looked at me through her beautiful eyes as she continued to just stare at her plate and soon after, a little sound came from her stomach making her clutch it almost as if in pain.

A frown formed on my face as I watched her.

"Aren't you going to eat?" I said gently as she averted her eyes away from me.

She picked up her fork and took a small bite from the Chicken Alfredo.

I smiled and looked as I picked up my burger to take a bite. Glancing up at her, my frown grew bigger as I placed my burger back on my plate and watched as she ate like she hadn't eaten in days.

No, her eating wasn't disgusting, nor was it the reason I was frowning because she was taking relatively small bites, but she was eating extremely fast.

As if feeling my gaze on her, she looked up and quickly stopped eating as she wiped her mouth and looked all around the diner to avoid meeting my gaze.

"I-I'm sorry, I just never had this before." She laughed nervously.

She was not a good liar though.

Although I didn't doubt that she had never had it, I doubted that was the only reason.

"So," I tried to take the conversation away from her so that she didn't feel uncomfortable. "Tell me about yourself." I pushed my plate away to lean closer across the table.

"M-Me? There's not much to tell." She rubbed her arm nervously.

"Come on, you seem like an interesting person." I tried to ease to tension as she smiled a small grin my way.

"I-I work at a diner and I live alone. Hardly interesting." She joked lightly as she sent a shyer smile my way.

I hummed in satisfaction as she spoke a little more.

Living alone would mean no boyfriend?

Although I couldn't imagine a man not coming in and swooping Ophelia right off of her feet. Who wouldn't?

I decided to voice my thoughts discreetly, "Oh, I imagine you and your boyfriend haven't been together long since you don't live with him?"

She burst out laughing softly as her eyes slightly crinkled and her nose twitched as she tucked a strand of curly hair behind her ear.

"Me? A b-boyfriend?" She said it as if it's the most incredulous thing in the world.

I, however, got slightly lost as I looked at her and how gorgeous her smile was when she laughed.

Her smile faltered as she looked at me and how I stared at her, almost creepily.

"What?" She shyly muttered as she looked away.

"You have a beautiful smile." I blurted out before I can stop myself which made her blush a very deep colour of red.

She stayed silent as we both didn't know what else to say.

Suddenly, my phone rang and I grabbed it quickly.

"Excuse me, please." I mumbled at Ophelia as I answered it.

"Hello?" My voice went back to its hardness before I was talking to Ophelia.

"Levi? Where are you?" I heard Amanda's annoying voice on the other side of the phone.

I glanced at Ophelia to see her looking around the restaurant.

"I'm busy." I said firmly, leaving no room for discussion.

I heard Amanda sigh loudly before she scoffed, "I'm your girlfriend and I deserve to know —"

"I said I'm fucking busy, Amanda." I snapped loudly.

I saw Ophelia slightly jump at my tone and froze at Amanda's name.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath before I ended the call in Amanda's ear.

I've made the mistake of calling her name when I know that she was a total bitch to Ophelia.

Ophelia abruptly stood up as if something ticked in her brain and my eyes snapped toward her.

"I-I have to go." She quickly picked up her bag and didn't look at me.

"You sure? We haven't even had—" She cut me off as she rubbed her arm.

"I have to get back to work. C-Can we please just go?" She asked me frantically.

I swallowed hard as I watched her, "Yeah." I paused. "We can go."