Timmy was in his room at The Ritz. His sister, Pauline, had arrived a while ago. She's also his best friend and he had told her about a hangout with friends: a birthday party on the opposite side of New York from where he was, at Wall Street.

Tim thought Tommy was a business man, perhaps a CEO of some company. And it made sense but as they talked of the party he realised had no idea of what to wear. He thought it may be a formal party or something, but honestly, he really didn't know.

  Pauline told him to wear something he felt comfortable in but that was stylish. She also told him not to worry, that his wardrobe was going to help him as she quoted the headlines of the magazines, saying that he's the best dressed man in the world. After she wished him good luck, told him to have fun and informed that she'd be at her place and have dinner with their parents, she left.

  Timothée went to the bathroom and locked eyes with himself in the mirror. Meeting with Annalise made him feel nervous, the girl got him at her feet. He felt happy with her, happier than he has been in a while and he felt that he could be himself even if he had known her for two days...he hasn't been able to stop thinking of her and looks forward to get to know her better.

He scoffed and got rid of his clothes as he opened the shower and waited for the water to get warm before he stepped in to wash the stress of the day, off his body.

  Once he was done he grabbed the white towel he had prepared and dried his skin, then, he dried his chocolate curls before he wrapped the towel around his hips, walked out of the bathroom and made his way towards the closet.

He knew he had great clothes but still, he needed to know the dress code, he felt more comfortable like that. That's when he remembered he had Lise's number, so, he walked towards the nightstand where his phone was charging, clicked the green icon with a white phone and called the honey blonde haired girl. The phone rang three times as he removed the charger's entrance from the phone to walk back to the wardrobe and stare at the fabric of his clothes. Another beep later, she picked up.

  "Bonjour?" He blinked a few times, surprised at the fact that she may know his second language.

"Bonjour Lise." He said as he smiled like a kid in love. "C'est Tim."

"Tim, hey." She answered in english as she giggled, and he couldn't avoid chucking.

"Hey. I didn't know you could speak french." She laughed.

"I can't. Is just something I do when I don't have a phone registered in my contacts. I speak, well, I try to speak in another language, no clue why though. It's pretty much like the cartoon thing." He laughed and she chuckled again. He loved her laughter. "What's up?"

"Oh, I was wondering if I have to dress formally or casually. I mean, a party at a penthouse in Wall Street sounds like a fancy thing."

"Right, I forgot to tell you that. It's a dead point, casual but formal...I don't know if that makes sense." He frowned.

"Not much really." She giggled.

"Okay, so, for example: Noah's wearing jeans, white shirt and a blazer." He nodded even if Lise couldn't see. "Honestly, wear anything you feel comfortable in, I'm sure you'll be fine, after all, the media says your wardrobe's cool stuff and... I don't think they're lying, so, you'll be fine." He chuckled and she giggled. "Plus, it's a very small hangout, only close friends."

"If you say so." He sighed and looked at the clock, it was 7:20. "Alright, see you in a bit mademoiselle." She giggled nervously again.

"See you in a bit monsieur." He chuckled and she hanged up after a couple seconds.

He opened a drawer as he removed the tower from his hips and took some black boxers out to put them on, then, after he had applied some lotion over his skin, he looked at his clothes and grabbed, like Lise had said, something he knew he'd be comfortable wearing: back shirt, black jeans, brown suede jacket and brown combat boots. He placed his clothes over his body as he looked at the mirror and once the outfit was on and he liked what he saw in the reflection, he made his way to the bathroom again.

He brushed his hair back, knowing very well that even if he did said action, his stubborn curls would do whatever they felt like doing, but at least in a 'controlled' way. He then brushed his teeth and when he was done, Timmy grabbed his cologne, an Hugo Boss bottle his mother had given him his past birthday and sprayed it over his neck and his wrists.

When he was done, he grabbed his phone, his wallet, the hotel room key and his keychain, turned the lights off and walked out to get to the lobby and, eventually, his car.

The way from The Ritz towards Lexon Hill was very short. Literally five minutes, so, he decided to make a little time and buy a present. He didn't know Tommy but his father always says that a bootle of wine is a very nice detail. He went to the first Liquor store he found and bought a red wine Riunite bottle, bittersweet — more sweet than bitter to be honest. Also his ppersonal favourite— wine imported from Italy. He got it to the counter, payed for it, returned to his car, left the bottle on the passenger seat and got going.

When he arrived at Lise's place, he parked across the street and walked out of the car. He breathed in as he walked up to the red doored house, taking in the fresh scent of the pines and the trees that were around, as well as the daisies and rosas planted at the sides of the staircase. He rang the doorbell and about a minute and a half later, Annalise opened the door and greeted him with her kind smile.

She was wearing a different outfit now: a scarlet red palazzo that highlights her figure and black heels. Her makeup was the same, the combination of red lipstick and red clothing made her look seductive, in the best way of the word. Two strokes of her hair were clipped with a tiny butterfly clip on the back of her head and she just looked...perfect.

"Hi. You're early." She said as she moved to a side for him to walk in.

"Hi. I am, the hotel is literally five minutes away." She closed the door when he had walked in as Tim clicked the button of the car key to lock his black Volkswagen.

"Lucky us." They smiled at each other.

"Where are the famous roommates?" Tim boarded a new topic of conversation and Anna chuckled.

"Well, after they had lunch, their boyfriends picked them up at the restaurant, did a little double date that consisted in waking through Central Park and then got going towards Tommy's place while I did the interviews." She sighed. " They called to tell me that they'd meet me there as I walked out of the hotel and bumped into a guy who stained my shirt and hair with coffee." They chuckled.

"Seems like you have something for bumping into guys and get your clothes stained with a drink." She chuckled.

"What can I say? It's a classic." He chuckled this time. "I won't keep you waiting, I'll just get my coat and my scarf, after that, we can leave." He nodded and she walked up to the stairs and went to the first floor as Timmy paced around the house.

  He stopped before every single picture frame to admire the memory that had been captured. Lise was smiling beside her friends in every single one. There were very few ones where she was posing beside a tall, blue eyed and blonde haired guy. He then looked at the paintings that were hanging from the walls and stopped before the portrait of Annalise to admire it. The painting really captured her beauty and made it justice, even if it was just her side profile.
  "Done." Said she from behind making Tim jump. He didn't even hear her coming downstairs. Lise chuckled. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." He smiled and shrugged.

"It's okay." He turned around to face her. "Is that you?" He asked the obvious question and Lise nodded with a tender smile. "It's beautiful." She blushed. "Whoever painted it, did an amazing job." She chuckled.

"Thanks." He nodded and she sighed. "Shall we?" Tim nodded again and after she had turned the lights off, they made their way out of the house. Lise locked the door behind her as Timothée crossed the street, opened the car and waited for her to cross the street to open the door for her. "Such a gentleman." Said she when she was reaching his side with a smile, that he returned as he shrugged.

"What can I say? It's a classic." He used her words and she scoffed as she sat down on the co-pilot seat properly and he closed the door. He walked around the car's hood and got to his own door. He proceeded to walk in and sit down, a second later, the engine of the car was on and they started their way towards Walk Street.

Google Maps indicated it'll take them fifteen minutes to get to their destination and that there was barely any traffic, which was odd, at this time everyone was getting out of their jobs, wherever that was: an office, a restaurant, a hotel, a museum, anything. Every single citizen got into their cars or walked to the subway to get home after a long and exhausting day making the busy city even busier.

In anyway, they used that time to get to know each other properly, making simple questions like when are their birthdays, their favourite colour, their favourite movies and shows, their favourite books etcetera. They talked about theories and head cannons about Star Wars and Harry Potter and Timmy commented how much he was loving Red Queen so far, even if he had just read the first three chapters, pointing out that he was proudly devouring it.

Annalise was very glad to hear that and she felt excited about the fact that she could talk to someone —besides Lenn and Nom, who she had dragged into that fantasy world— about the book series. Lise even suggested that if a film or show adaptation was ever made, he auditioned for Maven's role. Tim chuckled. He's never played a character like his before, so, he said that he'd try.

  They played music. Artists like Bruno Mars, The Weekend, Harry Styles, Taylor Swift and Khalid, blasted on full volume through the speakers of the car and they sang their lungs out, laughing and having fun. The party seemed to have started already.

As they arrived and Timmy parked the car, she asked him about the film industry and how does it work, as it is her curious nature to ask many questions. He explained everything he knew, loving to answer everything that came to her mind as he grabbed the small present and they got out of the car.

Tim locked the Volkswagen and they entered the building in silence, made their way towards the elevators and walked into the lift feeling comfortable beside each other. As Lise clicked the button that'd take them to the penthouse, he looked at her and admired her simple beauty. Tim was simply mesmerised by the bookstore girl.

When they arrived, Annalise rang the bell and a minute later, the guy Timmy assumed was Noah, —basing himself on the fact that the dude was still wearing a polka dot blue apron over his clothes— opened the door. Lise's words about him being the worse cook in the world echoed in Timmy's head, causing him to chuckle win a whisper. He smiled at them, sighed and walked back in, inviting Lise and Tim to walk in with unspoken words.

"Hello dick." She greeted her friend with confidence as she closed the door behind them while Timothée stood quiet and admired the large penthouse. The walls were chocolate brown and the ground was light grey. It had large windows that were the access of the terrace and provided a lovely view of the concrete jungle, letting the light get in. The dim but bright, while light the lamps provided was very suitable and the brown living room couches seemed comfortable. This Tommy guy has taste. Chalamet thought.

"Hello brat." Said the guy and Tim frowned before his British accent.

"N, this is Timothée, Tim, this is Noah Moore." Noah turned around and shook Tim's hand.

"Mister Flintstone, it's great to meet you." Said Noah and Tim chuckled.

"Great to meet you too." He smiled.

"I won't lie, when Lennon told me Annie was bringing a guy I almost started dancing." He looked at Lise. "I guess miracles do happen." Tim blushed a bit and realised his date blushed too, a lot actually. The view caused him to smile. A part of him was glad that he also made the girl nervous, just like she made him feel.

"You're so funny Noah, such a comedian. Hopefully you won't take John Mulaney's job." Timmy laughed and Noah rolled his eyes with a smile. "Where's everyone anyway?" She asked as they sat on the tall chairs that are opposite from where Noah was working. Tim placed the present on the bar and continued to look around before his eyes landed on Noah again.

"They had to go to Walmart real quick. I accidentally burned the chicken and Tommy realised he's an idiot and didn't buy the wine Naomi asked him to buy last week and she's not excused from being one because she forgot the cake at the hospital's fridge, so, they had to drive to the hospital to get it." He sighed and the other two laughed. "In less words, a bloody disaster they went out to fix. Lenn is finishing her makeup." The three of them chuckled. "Now, Flintstone, tell me about you, let's get to know Anna's future boyfriend." He teased Lise again and she blushed once more while Tim chuckled nervously.

"I need a drink." Said Lise. "Would you like anything?" She asked Chalamet before he could start speaking.

"What are you going to get?" He asked.

"Whiskey, on the rocks." Timmy raised his eyebrows and breathed in slowly. For some reason, he found the idea of someone who seemed as delicate as Lise drinking such a strong drink, incredibly attractive. Whenever he went on dates, the girls would drink martinis, red or white wine, perhaps rosé but not whiskey. He liked that the flower had such a wild spirit.

"Uh...same, please and thank you." She smiled and got up to get two glasses and get the drinks.

"Simple or double?"

"Simple." They smiled at each other and she nodded.

"You won't ask me?" Noah asked.

"No, fuck you." Tim giggled while Noah laughed, then, he sighed.

"Charming isn't she?" Noah had a hint of sarcasm in his voice but he was not wrong.

"Yeah, she is." Tim smiled as he saw her serving the ice into the small and elegant cups. "Anyways, what would you like to know?"

"I dunno mate, anything really. What do you do for living?"

"I'm an actor." Noah scoffed.

"Lissie always has had a weak spot for artists." They chuckled. "Where have I seen you?" Lise arrived back at her place with both drinks in hand and gave one cup to Tim, who thanked her immediately and received a smile in return.

"Honey, you're so silly." Said Lennon from behind. She had just walked out of the guest bathroom, makeup done. She was wearing a really nice, short, black dress. "Timothée, hi."

"Hey." He stood up to greet her and they shook hands formally. "Nice to meet you. Properly, I mean."

"Nice to meet you too." She hugged Lise and poured herself a drink too, she picked a Vodka-tonic.

"Why am I silly? I'm just asking where have I seen him." Lise giggled, Lennon rolled her eyes with a smile and Timmy nodded as he took another sip and smiled as he gulped it.

"Well, I've been in Lady Bird, Little Women, Call Me By Your Name or I don't know, I have a few others." Lise giggled again as she took a sip of her drink and Noah's expression let it clear, the name finally sank into his head.

"Holy shit." Noah's eyes opened wildly and he looked at his friend, then back at Tim. "You're the Timothée Chalamet." Tim laughed and took another sip. "I indeed am silly. Sorry dude, I swear I barely recognised you." They laughed softly.

"No problem."

"You're brilliant by the way, Call Me By Your Name is chef's kiss." Tim chuckled once more before he took another sip of his cold drink. It surprised him how Noah didn't recognise him at first if he had seen his movies, it was nice, it felt mundane.

"Thanks dude." The doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." Said Lise as she left the glass on the kitchen bar and walked up to the entrance to open the door. "You live here and can't use the keys?" Lise told the guy and the girl beside him laughed. "Happy birthday Tommy boy." Said she as she hugged the guy that was holding the bottles of wine hugged her back. When they let go of each other, they all walked in and Timnothée stood up, grabbing the bottle he had brought.

"Thank you Lissie." Tom's eyes met Timmy's behind Lise as she proceeded to hug her other friend. "Uh...is he who I think he is?" He whispered but the open area allowed Tim to hear what he had said. Lise turned around and her smile grew bigger when her romantic earthy eyes met his.

"Yeah." She walked up to Timothée and grabbed his forearm gently. He tensed under her touch a little but relaxed almost immediately. He smiled and breathed in as they walked up to the rest and Noah closed the door. "This is Timmy." He screamed internally, very loudly, and blushed. 'Timmy' it sounded lovely coming from her voice. Even if it's the same five letters, she pronounced it differently than his family and his other friends. "Tim, these are Tommy and Naomi." He shook each one's hand as they smiled at him.

"Pleasure to meet you." Said Tim.

"Pleasure's all ours." Said Tom. He's tall but not as tall as him. Brown eyes, a kind smile, brown hair and he wore glasses. Tim liked his outfit: red wine coloured shirt and black trousers. A white doctor coat hanged from his forearm and he was carrying a green tote bag where Tim assumed was the chicken while Naomi was carrying the small cake.

"Happy birthday." Said Tim as he offered the bottle. Tom smiled. "I guess that you could've used it earlier." Tom nodded.

"Thanks mate."

"We're doing early presents, okay." Annalise smiled and walked up to the spot where she had left her purse. "Here's mine." She adds as she got a small envelope out of her bag. As soon as he took it, he frowned, smiled and opened it. Tom gasped as he left the coat on the chairs and the bag on the kitchen bar and his eyes scanned what he had in hand.

"You're kidding." Annalise chuckled and shook her head.

"Nope. I've had them for a while now. "

"I thought they were sold out."

"They were, but I got them when they opened a new date almost immediately." Tommy chuckled.

Naomi opened the bag and gave the chicken to Noah as she placed the bottles on the kitchen bar. "What is it?" Asked she with a frown as a smile on her face.

"Well, your boyfriend and someone else have a date with Eminem on September 28th, 8:30 p.m at Madison Square Garden." Naomi laughed. "Not to brag but my present wins." She added looking at the rest and took a sip of her drink.

"I love you." Said Tommy as he hugged her again.

"Love you too." She said and they let go of each other. There was a small silence and then, everything started properly.

Music started playing, wine was served, the pasta was done and Noah made sure not to burn the chicken again, and in a minute, everyone started eating and enjoyed the time they had. When Timmy and Lise finished their whiskey, they drank water and waited a while to pour the wine into their glasses.

Noah wasn't as terrible as Tim had imagined, his cooking was quite good. The evening was going on smoothly and it was fun. Timothée loved to feel like a guy who doesn't carry fame on his shoulders. He could be a normal dude and enjoy everything. Jokes were said, laughters echoed loudly around the apartment and everything felt, normal.

"Well, having you here Tim confirms what I've suspected for a long while." Said Moore and Timothée frowned as he smiled.

"Which is?" He asked.

"That we're the most desperate lot of low-achievers." They all laughed as the slices of cake were served, only a very small one was left.

"What are you talking about? You're all successful, a doctor, music producers, journalists, come on." Said he as he took a bite of his cake and they all laughed.

"Yeah, but we weren't always employed." Said Lenn and took a bite of her own cake. "We weren't always successful." Tim saw how Lise nodded through the right corner of his eye. "Let's play a game, the one that has the saddest act throughout their life will get the last slice." Everyone laughed and nodded. "I'll start. Divorced parents, they didn't think I'd make it as a musician, wanted me to major on History like they did and I lived under pressure until I moved out and tried to write and produce my stuff as I worked my ass off to pay college and it payed off because the University even sent me to London one year, there, I met this guy. We worked together and now I've payed college completely and living quite happy."

"Cheers to the last bit." Said Noah and he raised his cup, everyone did the same and the glasses met with a soft 'clink'. "My turn." He took a long sip of his wine before he started. "I was stuck at a job I didn't like in London. I was the bitch of the CEO's and they treated me like shit, I hated it and quitted. I was almost kicked out of my dorm at college because I was struggling to pay the rent but managed to as I worked my ass off too, met her and then moved to New York as we produced our music together. We managed to get our careers going."

"Congratulations." Said Tim.

"Your turn Tommy." Tom almost choked with his drink, then, he sighed.

"Well, I grew up with an absent father and my mother worked a lot to give me the life I deserved, so, I tried to be a great student but when my father returned and started to be abusive to Mom, I had a hard time with school but when he left again I was on my way to college." He shrugged and took another smal sip of his wine. "Thankfully Mom moved on. She's happily re-married now and I graduated from the NYU with a major in Journalism, I met Lise, also known as my best friend and...years later, I met Naomi." He looked at the blue eyed young woman that's sitting beside him and left a quick kiss on her cheek. "Your turn doll." Naomi smiled and sighed.

"Well, I always wanted to study Medicine but I also wanted to study Music. I applied for Juilliard and Icahn and when I received the news that I could be a singer my parents told me that it'd be a stupid decision and pushed me to be a doctor. I didn't complain but at the beginning I felt like a fish out of the water. Thankfully I grew into liking it but, after I graduated and started to work at a hospital as an intern, the doctors treated me like shit and everyone seemed to get promoted but me." She took a sip of her wine too. "Thankfully, everything went well after all these years. I am, most likely, going to become the chief of the Paediatric Surgery department."

"What?" Lise exclaimed and Naomi nodded with a proud smile. "That's amazing, congratulations."

"Cheers to that too." Noah said and their glasses collided again. "What about you Lissie?"

"Oh...what about me?" Tim's attention snapped towards the girl and stayed there as she placed her glass on the table and moved it in circles. "I grew up with an alcoholic dad who got killed on a car accident. That made my Mom and I take anti-depressives, I was just fourteen. We managed to get past it but my mother was never the same." Her eyes met her wine and didn't leave it. Tim could see how her gaze turned off again. "I met Tommy and then other people, like Will and...Peter, got my heart broken and fell into a wave of depression for months again, recovered, graduated, made my internship at Entertainment and met this guy." She looked up at Tim and he saw a very thin line of tears in her eyes but she smiled. Timothée offered her a kind smile back. "I'm going to therapy every month and I met Robert Pattinson today, so, that's a highlight." Everyone was silent and only the music was audible, they smiled though. Everyone knows how much she loved R Patz. "Oh, I also found out that Pete got engaged and will get married this winter." Tim frowned, he didn't know who Peter is but, basing himself on the facial expressions of the others, they did. "C'est la vie." Lise took a long sip of her wine. "I mean, I'm lucky in a lot of ways but I guess I won the slice." She grabbed the small plate and the rest sighed.

"I think so, yes." Said Tom in a jokingly way that made her chuckle.

"Uh, and what about me?" Said Tim and everyone looked at him, he shrugged.

"I'm sorry, you think you deserve the cake?" Asked Noah.

"I don't know, maybe a shot at it."

"Right." Said Lise. "Well, you'll have to prove it because right now this is my cake and I'll fight for it." Timmy smiled.

"Okay. Uh...I was always the very tall and very skinny guy in elementary, middle school and high school at the point where I heard gossips from the students saying I was misshapen. I always loved theatre and drama instead of football, I mean I like it but never played it, and the bigger guys bothered me all the time. I've also come across with nice girls but a few used me to get their fame and every time I get my heart broken or something in my personal life happens, the newspapers and some magazines splash it about as though it's entertainment...and maybe one day my looks will go away and will become a middle-aged man who looks a bit like someone who was famous for a while." Everyone fell silent again and Tim grabbed his glass, reclined on the chair under the gaze of everyone and took a sip o the bittersweet wine. Lise sighed.

"Nice try handsome." Said Lennon. "I'm sorry about what happened to you as a kid but you don't fool anyone." Tim almost spilled his drink and everyone laughed very loudly. The cheerfulness the evening held at the beginning returned.

"That was a terrible effort to get the cake." Lise added and she ate the small slice in silence with a smile on her features.

Timmy's gaze never left her. He didn't expect to get to know her like this, he didn't expect knowing any of this, from any of them at all, not so soon at least. He was glad though, glad and thankful about the fact they had opened up before a stranger.

After a while something happened and Timothée picked it immediately. One thing this guy is great at is perception. He can tell things by just looking or hearing or touching them. And he realised how Lise's social energy started to fade away a bit.

"Hey." He leaned over to whisper into her ear. "Wanna leave?" She looked at him with a soft frown, she also opened her mouth to ask how did he know —or so he assumed— but he shrugged with a smile. "I just do." She smiled back and nodded. His assumption was right, so, he nodded back. "Well everyone." He called the attention after a couple seconds. "It's been a lovely night. I really had a lot of fun but it's late." He looked at his watch and saw it was already midnight. Everyone stood up as soon as he did and smiled at him. "Thank you for such a great time."

"Thank you for coming." Said Lennon, who hugged him goodbye. He was glad of moving from hand shaking to hugs, he liked them more.

"Happy birthday man." Tom chucked as they shook hands and then hugged quickly.

"Thanks Tim, pleasure to meet you." Timmy proceeded to hug Naomi and say goodbye to Noah like he did with Tommy as Lise grabbed her bag and scarf.

"You're leaving too?" Asked Lennon.

"Yeah, Tim drove me here, so, he's going to drive me back home."

"What if we drive you? Or you could stay in." Said Naomi and Lise chuckled as Timmy grabbed her coat from the coat rack that's by the door and placed it over her shoulders gently.

"Thanks." She looked at him as she thanked him. "And it's fine. Noah lives across the street and I assume you both will crash at their respective apartments and I'm sure as hell that I don't wanna be there." They all laughed as they understood the dirty and sarcastic comment she had done as she placed the coat properly and the scarf around her neck. "Thank you for dinner Noah, it was surprisingly not that bad." He laughed as she kissed his cheek.

"Glad you enjoyed it." Said he as she hugged the rest of her friends.

"Goodnight everyone." Said Tim as they walked towards the door and Tom opened it for his mates to walk through it.

"Bye guys."

"Bye." The other four said at the unison and the two twenty five year olds walked out with the door closing behind them.

They walked a few steps away and heard how the people that are on the other side of the door screamed. Timmy and Lise stopped their movements, turned around and chuckled before they looked at each other, then, they continued the way towards the lift.

"Sorry. They do that every time I walk out, it's a bit annoying really." Timothée laughed at Annalise's sarcastic comment again. She laughed too and then they entered the elevator to get to the lobby.

  They enjoyed a comfortable silence all the way down and all the way towards the car. Tim did the same again, he opened the door for her, she got into the car, he closed the door and walked around the car's hood and got inside too.

  He started the fifteen minute drive towards Lexon Hill and he decided to play one of his favourite albums of all time: 'Happy Camper' by Summer Salt. Lise opened the window as 'Heart and My Car' played softly. Her blonde mane moved with the wind as she looked at the late life the city had before it fell asleep.

  Timmy saw how she was taking in the cold air and looked at the lampposts as they drove past them. He smiled when he saw her lips singing softly the lyrics of the songs to the trees they were driving by.

  Five songs in, they arrived at the house and they got out of the car. He locked it and walked her to the door. Once they were before it and she had taken the keychain from her bag, Lise froze before the door.

"You alright?" Asked Tim as he frowned and she turned around. She was frowning too and biting her lip.

"I...yeah." She smiled. "Is just, you know, I wanted to leave but I also don't want the night to end yet." She narrowed her eyes as she looked to her right, Timmy's left, then, Lise looked at her watch. "It's 12:20. Central Park closes in forty minutes." Her brown eyes met his and he smiled. "If you're down of course." Tim scoffed.

"I am." She smiled at him and they walked downstairs again to start the way towards the park that's twelve minutes away.

  As they walked, they shared her earphones, that caused them to walk closer to each other. When they entered the park, 'When You Say Nothing At All' by Ronan Keating started playing. They enjoyed the music and the company they provided each other as they saw couples of elder people walking side by side too. It all felt...romantic. Tim felt like talking, he wanted to ask her the comments and questions that were going through his head.

"Can I ask you a few things?" He dropped the first one and her eyes looked at him, she nodded and removed the earpiece, causing him to mirror her movement. "How are you? I mean...I didn't know about your father and all that came with his death, so..."

"Oh, that, yeah. I'm okay right now, thanks. You know, it comes and goes in waves. There are days when the wave barely touches my toes, there are others when the wave reaches my feet, some other times, the wave falls back and it's very far from the shore and then...the tsunami can hit me." She sighed as he listened closely. "It tries to drown me but I manage to survive and swim back to the shore and I wait until the water goes away and so on, and on. It's triggered by very few things though...the tsunami I mean. Nowadays it's very rare, which is good, my therapist said I no longer need the anti-depressives like I used to that I only need to take them when I feel like drowning."

"And the wave...where is it right now?"

"It is away from the shore, thankfully." Timmy nodded.

"I'm glad." Lise offered him a smile.

"Thanks." They walked a little bit more and reached the bridge, so, they decided to cross it.

"And um...who's Peter?" She chuckled.

"He is my ex-boyfriend. He's a painter that I met in a coffee shop where I used to work back in the day. He's actually the one who made the pieces that are hanging on the walls of my place and the bookshop. A really nice guy, he's tall, blonde, blue eyed, charismatic." The guy from the pictures.

"Whatever happened to him?" Lise shrugged.

"When we broke up he was in Italy at some art retreat I think. If I look at it now it was sad but funny because he finished everything through a phone call." She looked at Tim saw how he was frowning and had a disbelief look on his eyes. Breaking up with someone sucks but through a damn phone call? Come on. Lise offered a sarcastic smile as she nodded. "I was here, getting some stuff done for the magazine and he was in Europe. We had a long distance relationship for six months but we barely talked, our time-zones were too different. So one day he called and said that he...had fallen out of love."

"What?" She nodded again as they stopped walking to stand at the half of the bridge and recline their forearms on the stoned railway to look at the lampposts' reflection on the water. "Why?" She shrugged one more time.

"No clue, he didn't say. What he did say was that he had met someone named Benedetta, a beautiful girl that's literally me but with green eyes and is also a painter. She's taller too." They were silent for a minute. "She made me feel very insecure and I didn't even know her. She's extremely talented, during those months her art was displayed at a Gallery while my articles barely made it to the magazine's pages, she'a able to speak four languages when I can only speak two and know very few words in French because I've learned them from movies...I don't know, I felt like shit. It honestly took me a while to move on." Timmy sighed.

"And...you still have feelings for him?" Lise looked at him with a frown and a smile.

"No. I don't. It just shocked me and it really broke me that he fell out of love because I wondered what had I done wrong, even if I hadn't done anything besides giving my 100% you know? I mean, he called the day that I was supposed to pick him up saying that he was going to stay longer and when I asked why and if everything was okay, he dropped the frase that everyone fears in a relationship."

"We need to talk." Lise chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah. But after all these years I've moved on, I no longer feel anything. I mean I care about him, of course, because I loved him once but now...nah. The news of his engagement and future wedding surprised me that's all. In fact that's why I bumped into the coffee guy earlier." She chuckled. "Peter called me to tell me what was going on and that if I was free, perhaps he could send me the invitation but when I was about to answer, the dude came out of nowhere and I had to hang up." She chuckled and Tim giggled. "The end."

"Okay, can I be honest with you?" She nodded as their eyes met. "I think...Peter's an idiot. I can't explain myself why would he had fallen out of love with you." They looked back at the front as she scoffed.

"Why's that?" Lise's eyes met his side profile again. He was frowning.

"Well, because you're funny, charismatic, talented, you run your own business and work for one of the best magazines in the world, you know about books and movies and have great taste in music." She chuckled as she saw how Timmy smiled as he talked about her, then, ocean and earth met again. "And...because you're beautiful." He said and her smile turned shy but stayed there. He could tell she's not the type of girl who hears compliments like these often. Timothée's eyes focused on her lips and he moved inches closer slowly, glad that she wasn't moving away. "Not to mention..." He whispered against her lips and then closed the minimal gap in between each other. Tim inhaled Lise's sweet aroma and felt like he could get drunk with it. His hands cupped her cheeks once he had moved into a more comfortable position to kiss her while hers fell on his waist. After five magical seconds, he pulled away. "You're an amazing kisser." He finished his sentence against her lips and felt her smile against his, then, she chuckled.

"Thanks." She said in a whisper as they pulled away. Tim checked his watch, they still had time left, so, he offered his arm and she looped hers with his as Lise pulled out the earphones again for them to continue listening to the soundtrack of their own rom-com.

  They walked for what was left of their time until Lise's feet ached because of the heels. She sat down for a moment and he sat beside her. They didn't realise time was up until the Security guy approached them and informed the Park was five minutes away from closing. They nodded and walked towards the entrance. Afterwards, they started to walk towards Lewis' place.

  When they arrived, Tim walked her to the door and this time, she did place the key into the door knob, then, she turned around.

"Thanks for all that, it was a nice ending for tonight." Said Lise and Timmy smiled as he felt his cheeks warming up and longed that the moonlight hid it.

"Thank you. I had a great time." It was Anna's turn to smile and blush. "Um, are you busy tomorrow?" She frowned and pursed her lips.

"I am. The magazine gets printed on Monday, so, I have to send my article tomorrow and it's not finished. I started earlier but it's not done." He nodded, understanding the situation and, he must admit, he was surprised by how dedicated she is. The interviews wrapped up at 6:00 more or less, that meant she had used an hour to work on her article and get ready. Wow. He thought. "I always wake up very early so, I'm most likely, going to start polishing it at 5:45 more or less. But I—" Tim blinked.

"What? 5:45 on a Sunday?" She nodded as she giggled. "Why so early?"

"Because I watch the sunrise, obviously." He laughed. He loved her simplicity and the vibe she gives off.

"Obviously." She chuckled at his mocking tone of voice.

"Yeah." A silence fell upon them and they just looked at each other. "As I was saying, I may be free around 6:00 in the afternoon if...you know."

"Right."

"The article would probably be sent by then."

"Right, cool."

"Cool." There was another pause and then, they chuckled.

"So...6:00 in the afternoon?" She nodded. "We could go to the movies and then have dinner if you'd like. I heard this movie...Luca has a good reputation." She laughed. "What?"

"Isn't Luca an animated film?"

"Yeah, so what? Animated films are amazing." She nodded.

"I agree. Okay, so...Luca and then dinner at...?"

"Wherever you'd like." He said shrugging and smiling.

"Okay...what about sushi?"

"Sounds good."

"Okay."

"Okay."

"Cool."

"Cool." They chuckled. "You should go in."

"And you should get to your car."

"Well...I won't move from here until you get inside."

"I won't get inside until you get into your car." Tim scoffed.

"You're gonna play that game? You're really going there?" She shrugged. "Okay, good thing I have nowhere to be."

"Same here. I mean, I thought about watching a movie or something but meh."

"A movie?" She nodded. "Which one?"

"I don't know, any recommendations? I usually like to watch people's favourites." He laughed as he acknowledged he said that when they met. Tim meditated for a while and then shook his head.

"A rom-com comes to mind but, I don't know."

"Which one?"

"Notting Hill." She giggled.

"I've watched it a million times if I'm honest and also...I don't really need to watch it."

"Why?"

"Because I'm living it." He smiled and she mirrored his expression. "I'm in my own little Notting Hill."

"In Manhattan." She chuckled.

"In Manhattan." He nodded and stepped closer to her. "You really should get to your car. It's late." Tim nodded.

"I have to do one little thing first."

"Which is?" He made their lips collide again and she giggled against his lips as she smiled. Timothée loved the way Annalise smiled into every kiss they shared, it was a sensation he could never get tired of, plus, it caused him to smile too, therefore, he smiled into the kiss as well. After a couple seconds, they pulled away from each other. "Oh." She whispered and he chuckled as he moved towards her ear.

"Bonne nuit ma belle." He whispered into her ear before leaving a quick peck on her cheek, right on top of a mole.

"Bonne nuit beau." She said back and his smile grew bigger as he started walking backwards carefully until he crossed the empty street and got to his car. He's been called so many nice compliments but 'beautiful' was a new one.

  He opened the door and stood there to wait for her to open the red door and walk in. Once she did and flashed him a last smile, he entered his car and sat there, placing the key into its spot to turn the engine on but didn't twist it, instead, he just looked at the front and saw how the lights of the house turned on from the corner of his eye. He smiled to himself as he finally twisted the key and the engines roared.

  Summer Salt's album was still playing and 'Oh Dear' started echoing through the speakers as he drove away from Annalise's place to get to the hotel. The lyrics only caused him to smile at the point where he opened his window to let the air play with his messy curls and sang at the top of his lungs.

"Oh dear. If there's one thing that I could pretend, it's the light in the right time of the day making me shine again." He smiled and felt that it was so true.

  When he arrived, he left his car with the Valet Parking and went straight to his room. His stupid smile was still there, refusing to go away and he blamed the bookstore girl completely.

  As soon as he reached his bedroom, he got rid of his clothes, throwing them at the closet and laid down in bed, looking at the tall buildings behind the glass and closed his eyes as he still heard the song that spoke his thoughts in his head and perceived Lise's sweet perfume for some odd reason.

  From one moment to another, he fell asleep after one of the best nights of his life in a while.