Twice The Trouble Book 2 of 2: Twice The Love

Chapter 24: First Anniversary

Lucas

I checked my watch. It was seven o' clock sharp. I opened the door of my white Chevy and stepped out. I straightened my pristine black dinner jacket then ascended the few stairs that led to the main door of the Sta. Ana two-story house.

I swallowed hard to quell my nervousness. I pressed the doorbell, then waited for the main door to open. I straightened my dinner jacket again and fixed my narrow tie. I felt edgy and tense. I touched the small box in my pocket, making sure that it was still there.

Two minutes passed and no one opened the door.

I pressed the doorbell again, and the wooden door opened.

My jaw dropped and my brown eyes popped out when I saw the young woman standing in front of me.

Sophia.

I was shocked and tongue-tied.I blinked several times to check if she was real and not just a figment of my imagination. But every time I opened my eyes, she was still standing there and looking at me with a smile on her ruby lips.

For God's sake, there were no words to describe how beautiful she was.

My gaze was riveted on her face then moved over her body slowly. I felt my heart thumping hard in my chest.

"Lucas?"

I blinked twice before meeting her mystified frown. "You look.. beautiful," I managed.

Her naturally rosy cheeks grew redder. "Thank you," she softly said.

I showed her the  bouquet of blood-colored roses in my arms. "These are for you."

Sophia's red lips formed an 'O' as she reached for the bouquet. "I love them," she said with a heartwarming smile.

"I'm glad." I offered her my right arm, which she accepted,slipping her arm over mine.

Inside the car, I kept sneaking subtle glances at Sophia,wanting to just stare at her all night. Once or twice, she caught me, but instead of teasing me about it, she silently smiled at me and held one of my hands during our idyllic ride to the restaurant I chose for that evening.

I'd been taking her for granted, I realized.

She had been so patient and considerate about my tight schedule of school and training at my father's worldwide company. For the past four weeks, our relationship existed on text messages, video calls, and spontaneous lunches whenever both of us were available.

And I knew it was mostly my fault for being fixated on work.

I needed to do something about this.

Sophia

Lucas took me to a five-star French restaurant.

Everything looked amazing, from the brick walls, vast ceiling-to-floor windows overlooking the busy streets below, the rich, velvet ornate carpeting, the mahogany tables and cushioned chairs, to the golden chandeliers hovering over every square table, the alluring scent of wine and European breads and gourmet dishes, complimenting the classical string music wafting through the air, originating from the regal band located on a semi-circular platform in one corner of the restaurant.

The place was hustling and bustling with fancily dressed up waiters and waitresses, professionally serving their clientele with platters of snails, soup, and white wine.

I had no idea what to order, so I sheepishly told Lucas he could decide for both of us, which he did.. in fluent French. When the waitress left our table, I automatically stared at him.

"I didn't know you could speak French!" I exclaimed, impressed by this new information about my boyfriend.

A humble smile graced his lips. "I took various classes in high school, so I'm multilingual."

I nodded my head, logging this new fact into my mind. I crossed my arms on the table and leaned forward with interest. "What other languages did you study?"

Lucas copied me, folding his lean arms on the table. "Chinese, German, Spanish, and Russian."

"Oh, is that all?" I drawled, pretending to be impassive.

He laughed heartily. "Also Italian and Japanese, but I was trying to be modest in front of you."

I flashed him a cheeky smile. I murmured quietly: "As if you need any more brownie points."

"What was that?"

"Nothing!" He lifted a sardonic brow at me, but I just giggled. "How has work been for you?"

His brown eyes suddenly hardened, as though the topic was unpleasant for him to think of.

"Well." Lucas spotted my discomfiture, so he summoned a weak smile. "Could be better, could be worse." He averted his gaze from mine. "What do you think of the place? Do you like it?"

He's changing the subject. Business must be a sore issue for him. I knew I should have been more concerned about his behavior, and I should have drilled the subject more, but I let it go. For now.

Still, it stung that he couldn't discuss his predicament with me, if he had any.

"Hey." Lucas's tone became tender as he reached for my hands across the white table.

My brown eyes locked onto his. "Lucas, you know you can always talk to me," I reminded him before I intertwined our fingers.

He held my gaze for a long time. "I know," he said at last. "But everything's fine, okay?"

That plaintive hesitation hurt more than it should have, but I ignored the pain in my chest.

"Okay." I painted a bright smile on my face. "There's something I wanted to give you," I said, rummaging in my silver clutch bag and producing a small black box topped with a white bow.

When I returned my gaze to Lucas, he was also holding out a small box, but in a pure white hue.

The two of us stared at each other for a second, then burst into chuckles before we finally exchanged presents, chorusing: "Happy Anniversary."

I helped Lucas clasp the silver Cartier watch around his wrist, and he gallantly wore my new bracelet over my slender wrist. I couldn't determine what kind of bracelet it was. But it had this golden, expensive glimmer. The design was simple but I sensed it cost a lot, which made me feel perturbed, despite Lucas being well-off.

As if he could read my mind, he brought my hand to his lips and kissed my fingertips.

"No overthinking," he said as he drew his face closer to mine.

I nodded and when our lips met, all my troubles seemed so far away.