ten

Henrik walked next to me, rather closely with his hand wrapped around mine as though I was a small child, like he was scared that I would get lost. I followed his every step, he went right and I did the same, he went left and I did the same, it was a pattern between us. A pattern I was getting used to, instead of me pacing my bedroom floor and knowing every crevice in the room, it was me who was getting used to a new path.

I wanted so badly to know where I was going but I also loved the idea of a surprise.

All I knew was what Henrik told me, It was a restaurant owned by a woman named Silvia. I imagined it as a cute place, a tiny restaurant where it was common for everyone to enjoy their lunch there and that it would remind me of eating at Macia's, it would give off the feeling of home.

Sighing contently, I continued kicking the pebbles underneath my feet, watching them roll away from me, they would either go towards Henrik's long steps or straight to the road and away from the both of us.

"We're here," Henrik's voice took me out of whatever trance I was in, his hand squeezing mine.

I looked up from the ground, my jaw dropping as I stared up at the brick building that was the opposite of what I pictured. This was not the restaurant I would imagine families dining in. There were people, couples, wearing expensive dresses and suits as they entered the restaurant hand in hand.

"This way," Henrik urged me along, the feel of his hand letting go of mine and placing itself in the middle of my back sent a shiver down my spine.

As we entered the building I couldn't help but be in awe. "This place is beautiful," I whispered, my blue eyes wide as I took in everything around us.

The entire restaurant was huge, tables upon tables lined up along the sides and placed throughout the middle, nearly all of them containing a smiling couple. The sound of classical music filling my tiny ears paired with the dark lighting, the only sign of actual light was the small ones hanging from the ceiling, all of it creating some type of feeling.

Romance, the word popped into my mind instantly but I shoved it to the back in hopes that romance wasn't the feeling it was supposed to give off.

I remember Mama telling me a story of when she first went on a date with Papa, it was to a fancy restaurant where they played romantic French favourites.

"Avez-vous une réservation?" I brought my head up at the new voice, it was a girl with a feline like appearance, almond eyes and thin lips, she was wearing the same dark outfit as the rest of the staff. She fiddled with her red hair as she looked up at Henrik.

"Oui," Henrik answered.

"Nom, monsieur?" She looked down at the paper she had sitting in front of her, on top of the greeting table near the front door.

"Allen." American, I thought.

"Par ici," she said, grabbing two menus and leading us to a table around the back, one that was close to the music but faraway from a window.

"Quelque chose que je peux vous commencer tous les deux avec?" She asked us, smiling politely as she put our menus out in front of us.

"Champagne, s'il vous plait," Henrik told her, not bothering to look up at her but instead his eyes scanned the menu.

I hesitated to nod, just a tiny bit, I've never had champagne before but I knew not everyone liked it.

She looked over at me, I smiled and said, "Une eau, s'il vous plait et merci." Just in case I don't like the taste of champagne.

She nodded and went off. I picked up the menu and held it tightly between my small, glove covered fingers.

"Amoret," Henrik started, I moved my attention to him with one eyebrow up, he continued, "do you like steak?"

Steak, something I've never had.

Growing up, Papa worked a lot but Mama didn't because her job was to apparently look after me, even as I grew older to the point where she could have left me alone. Since she didn't trust me to stay in the basement, she never got a job and it caused a bit of a financial problem. It also didn't help that my parents moved from France when I was a baby, they had to buy a new house, they needed to do everything over, and they needed the supplies to raise me but it was hard to keep up with only one of them working. They made sure to separate their wants from needs.

Sadly, steak wasn't a need.

Henrik was still looking at me for an answer, I shook my head, "I've never had steak before," I told him honestly, blushing a little as his gaze on me didn't move.

He smiled wider, "We'll have steak then."

I watched him as he waved our waiter over, she had a bottle of champagne and cup full of water when she seen us, she must've been on her way over anyway. When she came back to our table she gently placed the cup of water in front of me and set the bottle of champagne down, Henrik grabbed it and began pouring the sparkly drink into the wine glasses that were already there.

"Avez-vous décidé de vos commandes pour ce soir?" She asked us.

Henrik nodded, "Le steak diner, moyen rare pour les deux, merci."

Henrik always knew what to say. Right away, it was like he had his words planned.

"Je serai de retour le plus tôt possible," she promised and left to go back to, I assumed, the kitchen.

•

We waited for a little, I was too excited about finally having steak to touch my water and Henrik sat there sipping the champagne, something I had yet to try.

The waitress gave us our food, and I was currently cutting the meat up into pieces, practically drooling as I did so. I picked up a piece with my fork, taking a quick glance at Henrik before taking my first bite, he was already eating and from the looks of it, enjoying his time.

I shoved the piece into my mouth, chewing softly as I remembered the rest of the story Mama told me.

Mama told me she was dressed up in her best clothes, a beautiful dress that she spent months saving up for, Papa even tried his best to look good but Mama said it still looked like he had dirt from his father's farm on his hands. They went to a fancy restaurant, kind of like the one I was in now, and Mama said that Papa ordered the steak for them. Mama said it was all very romantic-oh.

I looked up at Henrik who was watching me with soft eyes.

I should have ordered pasta.

W O R D  C O U N T : 1394

I am beyond sorry that this took so long! There has been just so much stuff happening and I felt terrible about my writing.

Anyway, I am back now and I promise that I will finish this, even though this book is still in its early stages.

I hope you all enjoy this chappy!

Also, I don't speak French, I've mentioned it before, so I'm practically using Google translate. Feel free to correct any mistakes!

T R A N S L A T I O N S

Avez-vous une réservation? - Do you have a reservation?

Oui - Yes

Nom, monsieur? - Name, sir?

Par ici - Right this way

Quelque chose que je peux vous commencer tous les deux avec? - Anything I can start you both off with?

Champagne, s'il vous plait - Champagne, please

Une eau, s'il vous plait et merci - A water, please and thank you

Avez-vous décidé de vos commandes pour ce soir? - Have you decided your orders for tonight?

Le steak diner, moyen rare pour les deux, merci - The steak dinner, medium rare for both, thank you

Je serai de retour le plus tôt possible - I'll be back as soon as possible