There are three things I can do right now.

One: Stand here like a statue and wait for cameras and cheering audience to appear out of nowhere and say that my entire life was a reality show and I just won ten million dollars.

Two: Continue gawking at the scene in front of me till it gets uncomfortable and he eventually leaves me alone. Then I go back to my room and scream like a mad woman.

Three: I take a seat like an obedient little girl and try my best not to panic, faint or scream.

As exciting as the second option sounds, the constipated look or should I say nervousness on his face tells me that I should follow my third option.

I covered my red face in embarrassment and breathed shakily. "Oh my God, I'm so stupid. So, so stupid."

It's official. I have finally learnt my lesson. Listen to what he says very carefully and think of every possible meaning of it.

"I-I didn't... You..." I was rendered speechless. There were no proper words to describe the scene in front of me. Leonardo was watching my every reaction carefully as I were some new species. His grip on the chair was tightening.

"Sit now. Talk later."

I blinked rapidly and moved my feet which were glued to the floor previously.

Exhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Exhale. Inhale. Wait, no! That's not how people breathe. How do I breathe again?

I have no idea what to do in situations like this. Heck, this isn't some situation. This is a... I squeaked when he pushed the chair in. I was nervous. Too nervous. And him moving around me was not helping at all. To hell with that, he is nervous too.

Inhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Inhale. Exhale. Wait, no! Why can't I remember how to breathe properly again?!

I was probably looking like a lost child as I watched him pick up a nice, fancy glass bottle from the ice bucket kept on the table and unscrew the cork.

Pop!

Where did it go? I tried to search for it in vain. Dammit! Why did it fly away and why didn't it take me away?

The sound of pouring broke my train of thoughts. Wow. That's one dark coloured liquid in a champagne glass. Champagne glass? Oh no. A very big no.

"C-Capo... I don't..."

"Grape wine. Low alcohol."

"Oh."

He poured himself a glass then sat in front of me. Silence filled in between us and I shifted in my seat, uncomfortably. His eyes were on me and I was looking everywhere except him. Oh look, they arranged the walls with fairy lights!

"Amelia."

My eyes met his. "Huh?"

"Talk now."

My throat went dry. Talk? He wants me to talk? What the hell am I supposed to talk about? I can't think of anything, scratch that, I can't think anything. I want to sink into this chair and vanish into thin air. I don't know what to do in a... that word. Yes. That word. The 'D' word. I couldn't say it yet. He took me by surprise even though he had told me. My stupid self had taken it in another way and he had done that too.

"I... I really don't know what to say." I confessed, "I-I don't."

"Hmm."

"I liked the view though. It's beautiful." I smiled weakly.

He gulped hard, his eyes fixed on mine. "Not more than you."

The smile on my face dropped in an instant and a strangled, forced  awkward laugh escaped from my throat while I rubbed my cheek, feeling the heat crawling up to ears. Smooth talking. I got that. Really smooth talking of him. He must have done this type of talking with different women before. Who knows, right?

Exhale. Inhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Inhale. Exhale.

"That's very nice of you, capo."

"Glad to hear that you liked the view."

Why can't I get my breathing back to normal? The 'D' word was the reason of it. I knew that, but I was still having a hard time believing that we were actually in a 'D' word. And why can't I just say it out loud?

I have no idea what to do now. I took the seat and so far I'm not panicking. He's not saying anything and I am still nervous, but there is excitement bubbling in my stomach now. It had started to give me the confidence I needed on my first daa... dae... 'D' word.

I released a shaky breath and blinked rapidly. Stay calm, Amy. Just stay calm, cool and go with the flow. That should be an easy task, right?

I picked up the champagne glass. "Low alcohol, you say?"

His brow lifted slightly. "Uh... si. Low alcohol. You can drink up the whole bottle and not get drunk. I do not wish to take care of a drunk Amelia again."

I giggled in response. "I believe that drunk Amelia is the best. She makes friends very easily."

"And calls my ass cute." He added with a smirk.

I grinned sheepishly. "She never lies."

How long ago was that? Four months? Six months? Because it seemed like a very long time ago. All that hating and making plans to run away. I was now living here by my own rules and he was letting me. Things had changed drastically between us.

I still hate him, right? That thought gave me a very bad ache in my chest. I mean, I was supposed to. I wanted to. I did. Why am I saying this in past tense? To be honest, I don't know anything anymore.

I took a sniff of the dark liquid and an involuntary smile appeared on my face. "Smells really good."

He raised his glass and took a deep breath. I realised that he was making a toast so I did the same by raising my glass. "Here's to you... for being a pain on my back."

I chuckled. "What a perfect way to summarise everything."

Then we clinked our glasses and took a sip.

I licked my lips, savouring the sweet, fruity taste of the liquid. It was perfect.

"You like it?"

"It tastes delicious."

"Glad to hear that you like the wine too."

What do people usually do in this? Talk? Joke around? Hold hands? Play twenty questions like stupid people? Movies and TV shows I had watched all those years ago were not helping me at all. I am utterly clueless here and by the looks of it, he is clueless too. Wasn't he going to say anything about the arrangements he had done or the reason why he had decided to do this? Only thinking about it, I felt fuzzy and warm.

"Did you enjoy your day?" He asked after a moment of silence.

I nodded. "I did. Very much. Thank you for today. It really was the best day of my life."

He hummed in response and took another sip of his wine. He had done all of this to prove what? He won't even say anything. Hell, I don't think he knows what to say. Is he trying to portray a message through this decoration or simply wants me to have a good time with him? There were too many questions lingering in my mind and I had no courage to ask them too. Just like saying that 'D' word out loud.

"Capo?"

"Si, Amy?"

Come on, Amelia! You can do it. Ask him what's the occasion or anything related to the arrangement.

"I'm hungry." I blurted and mentally cursed at myself.

"I see. I think it's best if we order." He motioned his hand and a waiter appeared from behind. He handed us menus. I opened it and my face fell in an instant.

Of course it has to be written in Italian.

Hiding my face behind the menu card, I started panicking. This is a five star or seven star hotel which has a five star or seven star restaurant and the goddamn menus are written in Italian! I peeked over it and saw Leonardo staring at it in pure concentration.

Does he not remember that I can't read, speak or understand Italian very properly? I literally screamed this on his face the very first moment we met.

"Read from the middle. It is written in English and stop staring at me." He muttered, his eyes still focused on the menu.

Oops.

I flipped the pages and sighed when I saw the universal language printed in black, bold letters.

"Thank you." I whispered softly.

"Hmm."

I have no idea what to eat. There are so many things written on the menu. Oh, the prices. It seems like Leonardo Agostini is sparing no expense for tonight's dinner.

We hadn't spoken a word to each other properly and the waiter was back again, ready to take our orders.

"Umm..." I trailed off when he asked me what I wanted to eat. Leonardo had already given his order and the men were patiently waiting for me to give my order.

I heard him sigh loudly. "She will have the same."

My face became red in shame as we handed back the menus to our waiter. I had lost the luxury of these things years ago. He doesn't expect me to jump straight back into it, does he? Besides it's just for a night and everything will be back to the way it was as soon as we step foot in the mansion tomorrow.

Then we better make most of this night.

I took an awkward sip of my grape wine, thinking about every possible thing I could do right now to remove this silence between us.

"I like the arrangements here. So nice and comfy." And romantic and surprising and beautiful.

"Oh really?" He raised a perfect eyebrow. The smirk was clear on his lips. "I think they have outdone themselves. I am planning to mail a complain to the owner."

"C-Complain? Pfft! You're joking, right? There is no need of that. I think it's fine." I laughed nervously and started to doubt everything which I was assuming. Is this really a 'D' word or am I just assuming things that have almost a zero chance between us?

"I mean it. Look at this!" He picked up a single red rose from the small white vase placed in the middle of us and touched the petals. "This is so soft, so delicate and so unnecessary yet it has all of my time and attention. I do not like it, but I like it and I can't do anything about it. I do not understand this. I will mail a complain as soon as possible."

"Right," I eyed him dryly. "Because that's a rose. A flower."

I was expecting him to put the rose back to its original place and not put it forth for me to take it.

"Who said I was talking about the flower?"

That, ladies and gentlemen, made my heart go ballistic crazy.

How in the world does he do that? And how can he do that to me? A simple gesture. Simpler words. I was red as a beetroot when I took the flower from his grasp, our fingers brushing, sending me high voltage sparks that could give me a current so strong that I could actually pass out.

"T-Thank you. That's very sweet of you, but this w-would look better in the vase." With trembling hands, I slid the flower back into the vase and gulped.

His gaze was burning me, making breathless and feverish. Suddenly, I was feeling very conscious of what I was wearing and how I was looking. It was not helping me at all because these were material things and not real like the thing which had been going on between us.

"What did you order for us?" My voice is barely a whisper.

"Chicken. The finest of this place." He licked his thin lips sensually before he picked up his glass to take a sip, my eyes capturing every single movement of his. "Tell me, Amelia, do you like chicken?"

"Yes." I answered.

"What else do you like? I want to know it all."

The nervousness between us vanished and something amazing begun to happen as we spoke about things that we were bound to never forget it. It didn't look like we were having dinner together, alone for the first time and the greedy part of me wanted more dinners, breakfasts, lunches and everything with him. This isn't a perfect time though. A lot of things are still there on our plate and I had no idea if he wanted the same.

"So you're telling me that the first trip you ever went to as soon as you graduated college was Disneyland?" I asked in disbelief. "Why am I not surprised?"

"It is true. Adrian was already working for the family and he was the only one who came to my graduation. Padre being padre didn't actually care about it. Right after I got off the stage, we drove to the airport and the next thing I know, I'm having tea parties with fake Cinderella and Ariel in Hong Kong. Best graduation present ever." He chuckled and took a bite of his chicken.

"Did you do the poses?" I asked in amusement.

"Oh God, no." He groaned. "I clicked them."

I took a sip of my grape wine. "That's your brother after all. Super obsessed with Disney. Your father doesn't say anything about this?"

He shook his head, the expression of his face is slightly off. "No. He would never say anything about it. First, he adores my brother and second, we live in a dark world. Do things nobody would actually want to do but we do it. You haven't seen how we actually work and I can assure you that you will never see it because it can make you lose your sanity.  Little things like these, they keep us sane, make us feel normal for once in a while and padre knows that so he doesn't object Adrian from doing anything childish. It keeps us away from the brink of becoming a monster, as you used to say it."

"What about you?" I asked curiously, "What keeps you sane?"

Slowly, his hand reached out for mine and entwined our fingers.

A silent answer.

– And I was a blubbering mess.

For the rest of the 'D' word, yeah I know, I still can't say it. I'm pathetic in this, we never left each other's hand. The dessert came by with a delicious blueberry pastry which made a blast in my mouth and left.

"You never told me you had your own place." I said as we walked on the corridor, our fingers still entwined.

He looked at me, amazed. "How did you guess it?"

"It was easy." I shrugged it off.

His lips pursued. "I do have my own penthouse but I rarely stay a night there. Though I lived four years of my college life in that four walls, I don't have the time now."

"Four years? Did you not step foot in that mansion during your college days?" I asked.

"No."

I gave him a stink eye. "Wow."

He laughed. Damn, that sure felt like music to my ears. "I did get homeschooled before I left for college. I just wanted to get away from padre."

We stopped in front of my room and I faced him, closing the gap between us. "Well then, you did miss out a few good years."

He touched my cheek and caressed it. "It doesn't matter to me."

We got lost into each other's eyes, our noses touching when I finally decided to speak up about the amazing night we shared.

"I... I really had a great time tonight. The dinner was amazing. Thank you."

He gulped inaudibly as I watched his nervousness slowly surfacing up. "Dinner? You think that was just dinner?"

My mouth opened but no words came out of it. Goddammit! Why can't I just say it out loud? What is wrong with me? It starts with D ends with E and has only two letters in it. It's a four letter word.

D-Apple-Tomato-E. That's not a four letter word, is it?

"Amelia," Shit. That playful, mocking tone was very much evident on his voice. "The thing we had right now... was it just dinner?"

"I... um..." Inhale. Inhale. Inhale. Exhale. "Why don't you say it?"

"Do I really need to say it?" He whispered huskily, taking a step ahead and our torsos crushed against each other. "I showed you and now you want me to say it too? Tsk. Tsk. That's not fair."

The close proximity was intoxicating me and my chest was heaving up and down rapidly. "You want me to say it?"

"Si. Tell me Amy, what was it? I want to hear it." His thumb brushed over my lips, giving me tingles.

"Somebody might open their door. Somebody might see us."

His eyes darkened. "Let them! I don't care."

"Your brother might see us." I made an effort to stall ourselves.

"He won't. Why don't you say it, Amy? Are you afraid?" He cooed and tapped my nose playfully.

"No!"

"It's a very simple word and we just had that so why don't you admit it?"

"I... I..."

"You know why people have that, don't you? Or shall I have the immense honour of introducing you to things which I want to have with you through words and not actions?"

"I do!" I whimpered as his warm, unsteady breath fanned on neck. He was testing my limits, my knowledge on things I didn't want to speak so boldly. I know some of it, not all but I also know that he was surely going to increase my knowledge on it and take responsibility of the outcomes someday.

He drew imaginary circles on my cheek as his other hand finally left mine and caged me. "Say it."

"I had never been on one before." I confessed shyly.

A lopsided grin appeared on his face. "That makes me more eager to hear it and proud to take you out first."

"And you took me by surprise." I added.

He played with my hair as he brought his lips closer to mine, only an inch apart. "Well I do plan on giving you more surprises, but I'm running out of patience here, Amy. Either you say it and admit it or I find another way to make you say it and admit it. The choice is yours."

"Oh really?" I murmured softly, "I was hoping to take a nice, long shower and hit the bed. It's been a really long day and I don't think I want anymore surprises."

He wiggled his eyebrows in a playful manner. "Say the word and I'll let you go."

"You'll let me go?" He is unbelievable.

"Si."

I snickered. "My, my, you need a trip down to memory lane, capo. I don't need your permission to leave anymore."

"Amelia..." He groaned like a wounded animal. "No more teasing. We both know that it was not a normal dinner. Just say it please."

"You really want me to say it?" Saying it out loud would actually mean that something is officially going on between us. Whatever this is, he wants it. We want it.

He grinned and that made my heart beat at a rate of thousand beats per minute. "No more fooling around. Just say it."

"It's late. We should go back to our rooms. Yours is right beside this." I made a last effort to stall myself from saying it out loud. The word was right here, at the top of my tongue, waiting to be spoken out loud.

He held my chin with gentle care, his eyes boring deep into mine. "It's only eleven at night and stop playing wi—"

"A date." I whispered excitedly in the empty hallway.

I shuddered slightly, biting my lower lip to suppress a moan when his lips brushed on my cheek and the corner of my lips. My fists tightly held onto his shirt.

"Then you better remember that this is not the last because there will be more in the near future." He pulled back, giving me a quick peck on my cheek which made my eyes pop out of their sockets accompanied by heat crawling up from my neck. "Good night, Amy. I'll see you later."

I shut the door softly, still in haze with what happened tonight and I involuntarily touched the spot on my cheek where he kissed me.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Breathe, Amy. Breathe.

A huge smile was still plastered on my face as I got out of the shower and wore my night gown. I searched my bag to find my hairbrush when I realised something was missing in it.

The chili powder is gone.

Panic arose in me as I checked for my other things and released a breath I didn't know I was holding when I saw everything else was in my bag except the powder.

Whatever. We've got tonnes of it back in the mansion.

I was drying my hair with a towel when I heard another rapt knock on my door.

When I opened it, I saw Leonardo standing in front of me with his duffel bag, his eyes filled with guilt and sadness.

"I got locked out of my own room."

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