Can You Keep A Secret

Chapter Four

The short little text was sent last night at 3.32 am.

'Hi' it said.

Daniel stared at the single word text message. He didn't even have any idea on how to respond to it. It was sent at quite an odd hour, but as someone who often put in all-nighters when he was too absorbed in his research, he supposed he was not in any position to judge other people.

Thinking of the young man in the photo Sarah had sent him, a corner of his lips lifted up into a smirk.

He couldn't help but laugh. There he was, dreading an awkward conversation with a man who was technically working for him, while Nathan had fearlessly texted him first, at the wee hours in the morning, and so very casually at that. Maybe he should take a lesson from Nathan's book and stop being so uptight about it as well.

He typed a reply and sent it, then left his phone on his bedside table. He spent a relaxed morning reading reference books for his research and walking his dog. He didn't think about nor check on the text until he was having a rather late lunch, gazing at the roses outside the windows of the dining room, being reminded of Victoria. Thinking of her always made him feel uneasy lately. And yet, she was everywhere.

He asked a maid to retrieve his phone, then checked on Nathan's reply. Earlier, he had asked Nathan to have lunch with him tomorrow.

'Okay', it said. Clearly Nathan was a man of few words. Daniel had been getting single-word replies from him all day.

Strangely enough, it was amusing, rather than irritating or discouraging.

Daniel had stated the name of the restaurant and the time of their meeting in the text, and Nathan agreed quite easily. It was not until the next day and Nathan was already standing right outside the Italian restaurant, that Nathan started to feel a bit like freaking out.

Thankfully, Daniel hadn't picked anywhere too fancy. Nathan had been in this restaurant before, and although it was rather too expensive for him to eat there casually, it was still somewhat affordable, and he'd been there a few times with some of his university friends before.

Nathan took a deep breath, and walked in.

"Good afternoon, Sir. Are you dining alone?" The waitress greeted him with a friendly smile.

"Hi, I am supposed to meet my friend here." Nathan casually looked around for the handsome man he saw before on Sarah's phone. "Any reservation under the name Westminster?"

"Ah yes, Mr. Westminster had already arrived. Let me show you the way."

The waitress led him to a table in a rather secluded position. It was near a couple of tall glass windows, and a man was already sitting there, his gaze locked on the garden outside the windows. The flowers weren't blooming, but they still made a beautiful view.

"Here we are, Sir." The waitress smiled as she set down the menus.

Daniel turned around at the sound of her voice, and greeted Nathan with a smile.

"Nathan," Daniel called his name so naturally that it didn't come off as overly familiar, despite this being the first time they officially met. Nervously, Nathan tried to smile back in return.

"Hi," he said, then he sat down.

The waitress asked them to call her when they were ready to order, then left. Nathan awkwardly looked through the menu book, trying to decide on something delicious that wouldn't be too expensive in case Daniel was not going to pay for both of their lunches.

"You should try the cannelloni. They're really good." Daniel's voice broke the silence. Nathan was a little startled, but Daniel had a really nice, husky, gentle voice. Nathan suddenly wanted to hear him talk again.