What if All I Need Is You (Gabenath)

Rescue and Relief

The last thing Nathalie expected when she decided to celebrate her birthday at this restaurant, was to find Arthur here. The moment she sees the small gift bag in his hand, she realizes that he knew she'd be here tonight.

"Sir, what are you doing here?" Nathalie asks with confusion evident in her face.

"I found out you'd be celebrating your birthday here, and I wanted to bring you a gift and wish you a happy birthday."

"But how did you know? If the only person I told was...", but Arthur suddenly interrupts her, finishing her sentence.

"Gabriel, I know. I heard when you told him you'd be here. I was rather surprised to see him give you a gift, you two don't seem close at all."

Nathalie gives him a slightly agitated look. She wouldn't want Arthur to ever find out she's slept with Gabriel. Thankfully, nothing out of the ordinary happened when she accepted the gift from him.

"Oh, so you were eavesdropping?" She asks in an accusing tone.

"Not necessarily, but that's not the point. The thing is that I'm here, and I'd like to invite you to have a drink with me."

Nathalie is quick to decline his offer. "I'm sorry, but I came here with my sister and my friends. I can't just leave them to stay with you."

She tries to remain cordial, but in reality, she's extremely uncomfortable and annoyed with him.

"Fine, but at least accept my gift." He holds the small pink bag in front of her.

"I don't know, if I should-"

"You accepted Gabriel's, why not mine?"

Nathalie takes the bag out of his hand. Mostly to get him out of her face. She simply wants to get back to her table with her friends and forget she saw this man tonight.

"Thank you, now I have to get back to my table." She swiftly walks past him, leaving her sweet smell behind.

"This isn't over just yet, Nathalie, darling." Arthur says to himself.

———

When Nathalie returns to her table, the women are laughing and chatting, completely unaware of the situation.

As she takes a seat, she catches a glimpse of Arthur seated at the bar area of the restaurant. He's holding a drink, while looking directly at her. Nathalie tries to ignore him, quickly looking away from the intriguing look on his eyes.

Anna is the first to notice the bag in her hand while Nathalie adjusts her chair.

"Where did that come from?"

Nathalie doesn't want to mention anything about Arthur, but they've all noticed the bag, so she can't really hide it from them.

"My boss's business partner gave it to me", Nathalie says in a low tone.

The three women gasp, and Camille gives Nathalie an intense look, hoping this doesn't have her sister bring up any unwanted topics to their friends.

"Wait, so that man's here, and he came specifically to bring you a gift?" Asks Eve, slightly puzzled.

Before Nathalie's even able to say anything, Anna tells her to open the gift.

"Open the gift, Nathalie. I want to see what he gave you."

She removes the white tissue paper from the pink bag. To then find a small white box inside. When she opens it, a golden heart pendant rests in the interior of the box. The center of the heart has the letter N engraved on it.