--Lucian POV--

They say that meeting someone by coincidence three times in a row can no longer be considered to be a coincidence, but rather fate. Of course, I don't believe any of that, I am and always have been a logical kind of person that uses science to explain most things.

But I realise that even science has its limits. Complicated things like human emotion will take some more years of research to be able to explain. But maybe, just maybe, if I ignore my logical side and see things as they are, things will be so much more fun.

"Are those for me?" Julia asked, her eyes pinned on the bouquet in my hands, and I took a moment to glance down at the bouquet before turning my head back up to look at her and nodded, handing the flowers over to her as she took them.

"It's a nice change from the classic roses," She said, hinting to all the bouquets she received from other people in her life because it definitely couldn't have been me, I've never gotten her a bouquet of any kind of flowers before, let alone roses. And even today, can we really say that I'm the one that got the flowers for her?

And at that thought, my mind drifted back to the beautiful lady that helped me find my bearings earlier today. My sense of direction is the worst, that's why no one ever trusts me to be alone in a place that I've never been to before, but I had no other choice today since my secretary was still severely jet lagged from the flight from Germany.

I would most likely have still been wandering the unfamiliar streets of Rome alone, like a lost child, if it weren't for that woman whose name I regret not having gotten.

"What are you thinking about?" Julia asked, reminding me of why I was even here in the first place.

I've known Julia since we were kids, and as we grew up, it just became expected of us to get married, although I'm certain that neither of us harbour any feelings for the other, we were just going with the flow of what our parents wanted.

We came to Rome on the instruction of her parents in the hope that I propose to her, and they couldn't have been more obvious about it, my own mother even went as far as to buy the engagement ring which was sat in my suit pocket right now.

But I can't seem to grow the nerve to ask her.

It just feels like there's supposed to be more to life than whatever this is.

I want excitement, happiness, and curiosity, but all I have right now is schedules, work, and expectations, none of which belong to me. Maybe just a little bit, I want to do something for myself instead of others, just once.

"Hey, Julia," I half-heartedly called as she hummed her reply, cutting through her steak as she ate the expensive dish.

"I don't really want to do this anymore," I bluntly said, finding that it was much easier to be honest instead of asking her to marry me.

She paused, head slowly tilting up to look at me in disbelief.

"I'm bored. And marrying you, no offense, but it just doesn't seem fun. I know who you are, we've known each other for forever, and I don't like you, and I know you don't like me. I don't necessarily want love, that's not what 'm trying to say, I just want to try and put some meaning-" She, thankfully, cut me off as I tried to speak my thoughts in a respectful manner.

"Lucian, shut up... I get you, and I understand," She smiled, going back to cutting through her steak as I simply watched, wondering if it was really supposed to be going this smoothly.

"As long as you agree to be the one to break the news to our parents then I'll full-heartedly support you, I promise you that," She smiled as I raised a cautious brow.

"Just like that?" I hesitated to ask, and she didn't hesitate to nod.

"You're not the only one that's bored. I admit, that while you may be an illegal amount of beautiful, I just can't see you as anything more than a friend, maybe because we've known each other for forever, as you've already said. And, besides, I'm into cuter-looking men rather than manly," She shrugged nonchalantly.

"Huh, well, that's good news, I guess," I leaned back on my chair, stuck in a trance as I ran a hand through my hair as she laughed, going back to her food not a moment later.

"But, while I know that doing this will have its consequences in the future, I'm glad that we ended it here and now before it got too late. You were always the braver one out of us two," She gestured between us as I chuckled, nodding my head to her words.

"And you have no idea of how grateful I am that it's you I'm in this situation with rather than any other woman, thanks for understanding," I stated, relieved.

"I can only understand because I feel the same as you. I want there to be more to my life than just living the life my family want me to live, I want to be unpredictable, and wild, and I want to have fun, and fall in love with people too, you know,"

"Well, good luck to the both of us for this unpredictable life that we're about to live. Better late than never, right?" We clinked our glasses as she nodded with a laugh.

When I said that I wanted to live a life for me rather than anyone else, a life full of excitement and unpredictable moments, I said that with the expectation that it would all start after I returned home to Germany.

But yet here we are.

Drunken memories wafting through my mind like a dream, and I was very much about to believe that maybe all of it had just been a dream. Maybe I had felt so lonely last night that I ended up getting drunk enough to imagine up the dream woman for me and me alone?

But it wasn't a dream, because she was here right now. She wasn't a dream. And I wanted her to be my reality.

"Wow, we became best friends after one meeting, and now we're naked in bed together," I spoke to myself, smiling at the memories from last night.

She lay under the covers, pink lips slightly parted as she breathed, her sun-streaked light brown hair laying in ringlets around her like something out of a painting, a beautiful painting that I found myself admiring without knowledge.

The Italian sun's existence was evident on her tanned skin, she had a sharp jawline with a cute button nose, perfectly pointed eyebrows that went nicely with her face-shape, and long eyelashes that cast a shadow over her cheeks, but above all of this, I found myself wanting for her to open those closed eyelids so that I could catch sight of her light hazel eyes.

The way she looked at me with no regard to who I was, but rather what I am, made me curious. She won't care about my family, money or anything else, she will see me as who I am. But judging by her clothes and accessories, it shouldn't really matter because she seemed to have enough money of her own to bother caring about mine.

Not being able to hold back, my hand found itself outstretching as I grazed over her delicate features with the back of my fingers, smiling in amusement as she flinched slightly before going back to sleep.

Everyone always complimented me for being beautiful, but I felt as though my beauty was nothing compared to hers. It was almost as they said; she looks to have been a being hand-crafted by the Gods, that would be believable if I believed in God, or plural, Gods.

But I'd be lying if I said that it was her beauty that drew me to her, because rather than her beauty, what had me asking her for help was the way she held herself in a dignified, and confident manner while doing something so normal. But despite looking so warm and cold at the same time, she was adorable beyond which words could possibly ever comprehend.

I've seen a lot of attractive people in my life, but this woman... There was a sort of simplistic, yet vibrant beauty about her that no one could possibly ever dream to rival, and she had an aura that just drew me to her, causing my respect for her as both a woman and human being to soar higher than I could explain.

So now, as I stood by the door, watching her slip into her shoes, an urgent, and sort of scared, look on her face, I wondered what the matter was. Did I do something wrong?

As I looked down at her, she looked up at me, neither of us daring to be the one to break the contact. She stood taller than most women, probably being around 5 ft 6 or so, but even then, she was short compared to me, only coming up to my shoulders.

"Are you sure everything's alright?" I asked.

And those hazel eyes of hers wavered for a short fraction of a second before she slowly nodded her head, taking a step back and diverting her gaze, her tongue running over her lips.

"I'm sure," She voiced.

She was a beautiful woman. But when she smiled, she was unrivalled by any other. With the way her lips would curve up, her clear white teeth on display and her brows knotting, and then that adorable little dimple on her cheek that made me want to poke her cheek; she could bring me to my knees with so little as a request.

And I guess I now understand where this fear of hers could have come from.

Falling in love is both a beautiful yet terrifying occurrence.

"Arrivederci, Lucian," Her breathy voice echoed through my mind as she spoke, and then all that was left was the sound of the locking door as she left.

And that was the end of it.

Or rather, I had thought it was. 

Maybe it would have been better if it was the end. But I'd be lying if I said that I was glad that it wasn't.

...