It's nearing eight. My butt is starting to hurt from how long I've been sitting down on the cheap red leather armchair by the front door of my dorm, but I don't pay much mind to that since I feel like I'm nearing a heart attack. What will he think? Will he think I look pretty? Am I good enough for this rich dude?

Steph has already left a while ago after using the excuse of being called into work for her second job at the local burger joint, but knowing her, that usually means she is hooking up with another girl tonight. She wanted to stay so bad to 'let this Victor dude know that if he messes with me, she will cut him.' Of course, I rolled my eyes at her overbearing nature but I appreciated it at the same time. It's nice to know that someone has my back.

Thankfully, I was able to convince her that I could handle myself even though I could barely believe my own lie.

A sharp ding from my phone interrupts my thought. I take a look at the home screen on my phone to see:

Victor
I'm here

Almost immediately, I fall out of my frenzied trance and stand up, but not before almost collapsing onto the floor as I stand like a newborn deer in the heels I ended up borrowing from Steph. How do people walk in these?

Before I twist the doorknob, I can feel the butterflies forming in my already churning stomach. I haven't even seen the man yet, for crying out loud. Why am I so nervous?

I finally muster up the courage to open the door and make my way down the hall slow and steadily, careful to not break my ankles before my very first date.

I make it to the elevator cautiously and click the down arrow button to take me to the lobby of the dorms.

Once the doors separate, I'm face to face with a female and a male. I assume they're a couple since their hands intertwine one another. My eyes widen momentarily before my common sense steps in, directing me to step off to the side to allow the people out of the elevator. The male and female give me courteous smiles before making their way down the hall.

I go to step into the elevator after the awkward encounter but I feel my body rapidly jolt before stopping. I look down at my feet to see the thin heel has been caught in the small slit between the toe guard of the elevator and the floor of the hallway.

I grunt, pushing my hands against both doors as I try to nudge my heel out of the small cranny. The heel finally pops out before the couple looks back at me in confusion, probably hearing my brief struggle. I send an off-sided smile their way before casually walking in as if nothing happened. Way to go, Jules.

I'm glad to finally make it out of the elevator safely once I step into the empty dorm lobby. No one usually hangs out here so it's a normal site.

I pass through the small space, reaching the automatic sliding doors. The rush of wind that passes me when the doors open brings along my nerves. My eyes search around, looking to the left and right, and to the left again not finding any sight of Victor.

"You looking for me?" I hear before directing my gaze to the parking space directly in front of me. My face heats at my stupidity as Victor casually pushes himself off of the hood of his car.

"Nah, I'm looking for someone else. He should be here soon," I joke before casually looking around again.

Victor chuckles lightly as he steps up to me. My eyes coming back to him and those entrancing hazel eyes.

The sight before me makes me suck in my breath and slightly pull in my bottom lip with my teeth. He looks good as fuck.

There in front of me stands a whole man dressed in an all black-fitted suit with a silver chain necklace hanging semi-loosely around the collar of the black dress-shirt under the black velvet jacket. The polished black dress shoes pull the look together making him look untouchable. His hickory brown hair slicked back once again, just like the first day I met him. It is so simple, but yet, so ravishing.

Too lost in my admiration of him, I fail to notice that he too is staring at me, but with something in his eyes that I've never seen before. I can't seem to decipher what they mean but a part of me wants to figure it out.

"You look amazing," He says, his face still phlegmatic, but his eyes continue to fixate on me. Roaming my body.

"I mean... I'm okay, but you, you look great." Instead of taking a look at himself, his eyes continue to wander over my body creating a heat that's becoming too much to bear.

He stalks closer to me causing me to look up. Our bodies barely five inches apart as he hovers over me. His abrasive fingers wrap around my chin and in a slow, swift motion he delicately elevates my chin, forcing my eyes on him. My eyes widen, in timidity, at the small distance between us. I can feel his subtle breaths, which remind me that he is human.

"You are beautiful," He asserts, eyes directly on mine. We are so close that I can see the faint freckles under his eyes, contrasting his tanned skin. The strong cologne scent radiating off of him is intoxicating. His statement is a simple one, yet I find it meaning so much more to me. No one has ever told me that I was beautiful, besides my father. Not even myself.

I contort into turtle mode and attempt to cover my face with my hands until I freeze and realize I'm wearing makeup. I do the only thing that I can think of and that is act defensive in situations like these.

"Let's stop this gushy shit and go. I'm starving." I smirk off how giddy I am on the inside. Internally, I want to grin like an idiot but I suppress it.

Maneuvering my way out of his grasp, I slide past him and walk towards the car. He chuckles behind me as my attempt at walking seems to be a struggle. I think I'm doing okay until my heel slips into the dirt of the parking island that Victor parked by. His faint laughter continues at how horribly I'm wobbling in these heels.

"You can take them off if you want?" Victor voices as he jogs over to me.

"No, I will succeed in this if it's the last thing I do," I reply as I reach the car.

"If you keep wearing those heels, it seems it will actually be the last thing you do," He snides.

I mentally roll my eyes at the comment. I feel his presence behind me. Before I know it, a click sounds and the doors slowly fly upwards. I step back a little before I get hit with the door and embarrass myself even more.

He waits until I get into the passenger seat safely, watching me closely. Once I'm snuggled into the cold leather seat, I look up to meet his attentive eyes.

I smile, "I'm good."

He smirks as he nods, heading over to the driver's side. He soon settles into his seat and presses a button to let the doors down.

The engine starts up after taps the start button. I still can't get over him having a car I could only dream of having in my possession.

I suddenly turn to him, Where are we going anyway?"

"You love asking that question after you agree to go places with me," he smiles, turning his head over to me. "It's a surprise," He says, pulling open the glove compartment in front me. He pulls out a crimson red cloth. Him and these surprises...

He hands the cloth over to me. "What the hell am I supposed to do with that?" I question, quirking a brow up at him.

"You have to cover your eyes with it until we get there," He explains as if it is obvious.

"Victor, this better not be some kinky shit," I protest understandably.

"It's not, I promise, He assures, trying to catch my eyes that remain glued on the red scarf hanging loosely in his hands. "I'm not some creep that's going to murder you and throw you into the ocean to sleep with the fishes," He jokes with a smirk on his face.

"Stop," I whine. "Don't play like that," I demand as I snatch the piece of cloth and begin to wrap the piece of cloth around my eyes. At least Steph will know who I'm with if I do go missing. You have officially earned yourself the title of the biggest dumbass to ever exist, Jules.

The drive is long and excruciating due to the fact that I have no clue where we are going. Victor tried to ease me by seducing me with his dry humor the whole ride, so I couldn't say I wasn't amused.

Finally, we come to an abrupt stop and I let out a breath I wasn't aware I was holding in.

"Are we here?" I voice, trying to keep my cool, but my anxiety begins to take the front seat.

"Yeah, I just got to the ocean."

"Victor!"

"Okay okay, relax," He tells me. "You're cute when you're nervous."

"Am I supposed to find that charming while I'm currently blindfolded?" I ask, rolling my eyes behind the piece of cloth but on the inside, I can't deny the heat in my cheeks. He called me cute.

I yank the cloth off of my face, leading my jaw to drop once my eyes adjust. This jaw-dropping thing has been happening way too much nowadays.

The Ritz-Carlton.

"The Ritz-Carlton?"

Victor nods and smirks, clearly satisfied with my reaction.

"Are you sure you're not a drug dealer?" I ask, sending him a look.

"If I were, you would have been dead by now."

"Not funny."

"Okay, I'll stop," he smiles off to the side. I catch it in my peripheral, my heart softening at the side. His energy just makes me feel so giddy and weak. What a mess.

"What are we doing at a hotel?"

"I reserved a dinner for us at NORMAN'S, one of its five-star restaurants."

"You didn't have to do this, Victor," I partially whine, feeling like I'm taking so much without giving anything in return.

"Jules, it's nothing. Let's just go, I'm hungry," He whines back as open his door to hand the valet his car keys. The door opens up on my side allowing the wind to run across my exposed legs giving me chills.

"You're always hungry," I mutter under my breath.

"What was that?" He asks one the middle of talking to the valet.

"Nothing," I reply, shaking my head in innocence.

I step out the car with the help of a younger male valet already standing on my side of the car. He looks like he is in the same age range as me. We make brief eye contact before I slip out of the car. His charming smile elicited one of my own in his direction as a form of common courtesy.

I stand up with both heels touching the concrete step from the pavilion. I immediately struggle with pulling my dress down to a comfortable length and keeping my balance in these heels. This is all new to me since I've always made it my personal mission to hide my body from the world. I've always been envious of the girls that were comfortable enough to expose their skin and be confident in their bodies, but sadly that isn't the case with me. The exposure of my body in public, makes me feel more insecure.

Suddenly, I feel a hand envelope itself with my right hand and I look up to see that it belongs to Victor. He gives it one little squeeze before holding on for dear life as we continue to walk up the stairs and through the automatic sliding doors, towards the concierge desk.

"Hey," I sort of whisper-scream, "Victor," I raise my voice to catch his attention as his grip on my hand becomes too tight for comfort.

"His eyes were wandering a bit too much," He gruffly states, looking straight ahead. Taking a look at his profile, I'm able to see his jaw slightly clench.

His body language expels slight vexation and uneasiness. It's the complete opposite from his usual confident and stoic manner.

Who would be looking at me?

I decide to suppress my perplexity and continue along his side until we arrive at the front of the restaurant, after being personally escorted by one of the hotel staff.

After the staff member sets us up at our private table, he leaves us alone. I choose to take the opportunity to voice my annoyance. "What was that back there?" I ask, a bit afraid to find out the answer.

He gets situated in his seat, his body slumping to a more comfortable position before he pops a small smile at me. "Look, I'm sorry... I don't know what came over me. That little brat was just staring you down like you were a piece of meat. I just wanted to let him know that we're here together. My bad if I went a little too far."

I cautiously observe his face as he speaks, calmly. I accept his explanation. It seems genuine.

"It's all good," I look down awkwardly before looking back up, "Just give me a heads up next time before you go all Hulk," I sheepishly smile at him, trying to reset the light mood.

He replies with a smile and the slight squint of his eyes before going to read over the menu laid out before him.

My eyes warily glance at him one last time before directing my wandering eyes onto the leather menu before me.

I stare down at the menu a little too long and intense. It feels like I'm staring at a question on a math test that I know I didn't study for, hoping the answer will magically come to mind. Only, this is food. How could I be confused about food?

"What am I supposed to pick? I've never seen this type of food in my life," I vocalize, with my eyes roaming the various expensive and extremely fancy food items. The cheapest item I can find is valued at $59 and that is a simple steak with no sides.

Victor chuckles before he addresses my concern.

He leans in, gently placing his hand on mine, "I'll just order for you."

The waitress finally comes back, with our drinks. She comes into the private room with her brunette hair tied back in a sleek manner, along with the simple NORMAN'S uniform of a white dress shirt and black pencil skirt that reached just above her knees. Her beauty is something else. Her sharp facial features make her look intense and badass. She's really pretty.

I catch myself admiring her, partially wishing I had her same aura of confidence. She gets closer with a bright smile on her face. She looks at me and I suddenly crumble, pretending to adjust the cloth napkin on my lap.

"Have you two decided what you'll be ordering tonight?" The lady asks with the huge smile still present on her face. She makes eye contact with me for a second before swiftly diverting her attention over to Victor, completely disregarding my presence.

"I'd like the pan-cooked Gag Grouper in Scallion Sofrito 35 and for my partner here, she'll have the Pork Havana," He finishes off expertly by laying the leather menu back down onto the white cloth table cover. He gives the waitress a friendly closed-mouth smile.

I watched in silence as she stared him down intently, at every word that fell out of his mouth. A tinge of annoyance stirs up in my nerves. Why am I worked up? Victor's a handsome guy and she is right up his alley with her confidence and intensity. I can't compete with that. But I can't shake off how much it continues to annoy me. I want her to stop immediately.

Wait... but why should she?

I can't prevent my emotions from quickly showing on my face. I can feel my eyebrows furrow and my grip on the cloth napkin tighten as I stare up at the lady.

She finishes writing down all the gibberish that Victor had ordered and turns to give me a friendly right-lipped smile before turning around on her heels. As she walks away with the order I hear,

"Someone's jealous."

_________<€>_________

What are your feelings about the start of this date?

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How do you think the rest of the date will go?

...

Thank you to the people that are still riding with this story. Thank you for your support. I truly appreciate it because it motivates me to keep writing and publishing. ❤️
See you in the next chapter!