What is the harm of excitement?

3

Once the second quarter of the show had began Nathalie wasn't really paying attention, she was thinking of what would happen if she took Alexandre up on his offer and got to know him.

She knew that Gabriel and her were very close friends but ever since they had fixed the miraculous he had stopped his affection and didn't  touch her as much, she missed his soft caresses on her cheeks or the way he looked into her eyes with concern and sympathy.

She pulled out of her train of thought when she felt a hand brush up against hers.

Alexandre had moved his arm onto the armrest and brushed Nathalies hand and gave her a wink.

This was her decision, she could reject him and lose her chance or she could accept his offer and maybe have a bit of fun, maybe he would turn out to be a horrible stuck up jerk or he could turn out to be the most kind and caring guy she had ever met.

Once the second quarter had finished she made her way backstage to find Adrien  again and to give him his schedule for the next quarter performance, she saw Alexandre doing the same with his model.

"Alright Adrien, once you have gone to get changed gorilla will take you to a different stylist for hair and then back to the same one for makeup and then he will bring you back here where you will meet me"

"Alright, thank you Nathalie, see you soon"

As Nathalie was walking out of the main building she started to feel hungry, this interval was an hour so she had plenty of time to go across the street and grab a bite to eat.

She walked out into the front hall, grabbed her coat and just before she walked out she heard running footsteps and a male voice call her name.

It was Alexandre.

She didn't know how she felt about him yet.

Should she invite him for lunch?

"hey Nat, where you going?"

Gabriel was the only person who ever called her Nat, she kind of liked how it sounded coming from him.

She took her chance.

It was now or never.

"Hey Alexandre, well I was just going to grab a bite to eat, would you um... like to join ... me?"

"Sure thing Nat, where would you like to go?"

"S-surprise me"  (wait what, why am I stuttering all of a sudden?!) she questioned herself.

They were walking down the street in complete silence until Alexandre held the small of her back and guided her down the street to a little cafe.

The cafe was called La Vie en Rose Patisserie.

They walked inside and where greeted with the sweet smell of raspberries and sugar.

The tables where very old fashioned and the chairs were covered in green or pink velvet.

The cafe had the light sound of Edith Piaf French cafe music playing in the background accompanied with the light clinking of cutlery.

They were both taken to a table in the corner and given their menus.

"It's beautiful in here" Nathalie exclaimed

"Well a beautiful women on deserves the best" he said as Nathalie tried to hide her blush.

She liked him, she knew deep down that she was starting to fall for the man who caught her falling backstage.

They both ordered their treats and began talking.

"So Nat, have you changed your mind about my offer?"

"Well Alexandre, i May have changed my mind, but let me think a bit more and I'll tell you when I'm ready"

"Well then in that case, if you are not ready by today, we won't see eachother until next months show, so why don't we exchange numbers?"

This was progressing quite fast, Nathalie was taken back by his confidence, but she found it admirable.

She was ready for this, if Gabriel didn't reciprocate her feelings let alone know about them what was the harm of a little excitement in her life.

They exchanged numbers just as their food arrived.

Nathalie had ordered a double espresso with a raspberry tart and Alexandre had ordered a mocha with a chocolate croissant.

They carried on talking about their childhood and getting to know each other better as they ate.

After half an hour Nathalie had checked her phone for the time and they had  twenty minutes until the show started up again.

it had taken them a good ten minutes to walk here so they would have needed to start heading g back.

"We have around about twenty minutes until the third quarter starts up and it took us ten minutes to walk here so why don't we pay and head back?"

"Sure thing, I'll pay and meet you outside"

"Nope, I'll pay for my own food thank you very much" she said as they got up and headed toward the counter.

"Not if I do it first!" Alexandre said as he put down their orders amount plus a ten percent added tip for the waiter, and before Nathalie could protest he had grabbed her around the waist and led her out of the cafe.

"Why are men always so stubborn?!" She said with a playful pout.

"Why cant women accept that there are still gentleman out there who like to pay for their ladies meals"

"Alright, but thank you anyway, I enjoyed this afternoon"

"Thank you Nat for the invitation, I was happy to get to know you better and to get your number"

"Me too, it's nice to know that there are still gentlemen out there" she said as she didn't bother hiding her blush.

As they reached the entrance to the louvre they stopped right outside the door and Alexandre turned Nathalie around to face him.

"Aww aren't you cute Nathalie, if I'm such a gentlemen should I not earn a reward" he said pointing to his lips.

"Ah Ah Ah " she said as she playful flicked his nose and made her way to the doors.

Just as they were about to enter the main building to the stage,she leaned up on her tip toes and gave him a peck on the cheek, and left him standing there as she sauntered off backstage.