The Love Trials: Ashley

Chapter Four

The restaurant was extremely fancy, decorated in whites, pinks and gold. We got a private table in the non-smoking area. Bradley allowed me to choose anything on the menu. I was slightly horrified at the expense of it. However, I had spaghetti Bolognese and Bradley had a fancy steak with peppercorn sauce. He ordered a bottle of white wine too and our glasses were constantly kept refilled.

"This is lovely." I told him as my glass was refilled with wine. Bradley smiled, tipping his glass slightly towards me in a toast. His glass winked in the gold fairy lights strung up around the room.

"It is one of my favourite luxury restaurants. Usually, my company will come here for business meetings. The food is exquisite after all." I nodded, twirling spaghetti strands around my fork.

"That's true. It is extremely fancy."

"I'm glad you dressed as such... After all, I do not believe last night's dress would have been suitable in this environment." I blushed and took a sip of wine.

"I'm sorry for my behaviour. It was inappropriate." A smile tugged on his lips as he surveyed me over the edge of his wine glass.

"I may have been also at fault. I suppose I was just... Curious as to the real you. I suppose I wanted to see if you were capable of letting your hair down. You're just so... Wound up at work." As he said the words wound up, he reached across the table and took a strand of my hair to wrap around his finger. My breath caught. The atmosphere between us was extremely intense but definitely not in a bad way. I watched his eyes become lustful. I wondered what he was thinking. But before anything else could happen, his finger untangled from my hair and he leaned away again. I recovered by taking a swig of my wine. Bradley's smile was more pronounced now. He took a sip from his own glass too.

"Well that was interesting."

"Er... What was?" I squeaked. He didn't reply because at that exact moment a waiter came to take away our empty plates. Another waiter came to present us with the dessert menu.

"Would you like a dessert? I do not usually have them but if you would like one?" Bradley said. I shook my head, horrified at the very thought of scoffing my face with chocolate cake if he was just going to sit and watch.

"No thank you." Bradley nodded at me then looked up at the waiter.

"The bill please." The waiter nodded then left.

"Why don't you have a dessert usually?" I asked, curious. He downed the last few drops of his wine.

"Messy, unhealthy and childish, I find." I wanted to groan. Dessert was the best thing about going out for a meal! Looks like I would have to give it all up if I wanted to continue seeing Bradley... Goodbye chocolate fondue with fruit pieces... Goodbye strawberry cheesecake... Goodbye ice-cream sundae sharing dessert with the little bits of flake, shortcake and Twix.... Goodbye-

The waiter gave the bill to Bradley and I watched as he took out his wallet and handed a certain amount of money over. I tried not to look but couldn't resist as I saw the five fifty pound notes being handed over. Youch that was a lot of money. Way more than I was ever going to see again for sure...

"Are you ready?" Bradley was already standing. I stood up too and nodded.

"Yes." We walked through the restaurant and to the glass front doors.

"Your jackets, sir, ma'am." A waiter who was stood nearby said. He held out my black coat and Bradley's leather jacket.

"Thank you." We both said, accepting our coats. I pulled mine on, glad for the warmth of it as we stepped out into the cold. A waiting man outside went to get our car as Bradley handed back a token. A minute later, the car pulled up and the valet got out of it, leaving the door open for Bradley to get in. Bradley got in and I got into the passenger seat beside him. We then drove off.