CHAPTER 102: DOUBLE DATE

"Of course I didn’t miss you," I replied before quickly turning away. Raphael only laughed at my denial, and I could tell that he didn’t believe a word I had just said.

...

That weekend, something quite unexpected happened when my mother came to my bedroom to announce that I had a visitor.

"Someone is here to see me?" I asked, unable to hide my surprise.

"Quickly get dressed and come down. It’s a perfect day to go out," my mother said before winking at me. The way she was acting made me feel very suspicious, and I had a very bad feeling about the identity of my surprise visitor.

By the time I made it to the living room where I was supposed to greet my surprise visitor, there were already a few people there. My entire body froze, and for a moment I couldn’t take a step forward when my eyes landed on Daniel and Rosabella. It seemed like we had more than one surprise visitor for the day. My mother and Bennett were cheerfully chatting with the two guests. I could understand why Daniel was there, but I wasn’t sure why Rosabella was also there with him.

"You finally made it down. Daniel is here to see you. Isn’t that great?" my mother said before she approached me and pulled on my arm.

I forced a smile to my lips when my eyes met Daniel’s as I came to stand right in front of him.

"I’m very happy to see you again, although I hoped that we could have met again sooner," Daniel said before showing me a bright smile.

I was completely tongue-tied, so all I could do was try my best to return his smile as I wondered what the two of them were truly doing here. As if the situation wasn’t complicated enough, I heard the sound of footsteps, and when I turned around, I saw that Raphael had just entered the living room. The slightly surprised look on his face told me that he was in the same boat that I was. It seemed that he hadn’t expected either Daniel or Rosabella to turn up.

"Great, now that the four of you are together, what about going on a double date for the day?" Bennett suggested before letting out a joyous laugh.

...

The double date that was supposed to be coincidental turned out to be a well-planned charity event hosted at the Opera House. I felt like such a fool for thinking, even for a second, that this double date wasn’t orchestrated by our parents and Rosabella. I glanced over at Daniel as I wondered if he also had a hand in arranging this. Regardless of how the four of us ended up together, it was clear that Rosabella and Daniel had no complaints.

"Isn’t it so nice for Bennett to invite all of us to such an outstanding charity event? I heard that on top of the orchestra performance, many rare artworks will be up for auction. Of course, all proceeds will be donated to charity," Rosabella said before flashing a bright and pleased smile at all of us.

I was still too shocked and tongue-tied to play along with her clear attempt to strike up a conversation. One look at Raphael told me that he would rather be anywhere else but here. His complete silence only added to the tense atmosphere, which only reminded me that the four of us made a very strange combination. I thought that going on a date with Daniel was the worst that could happen, but apparently, I was very wrong. I found Raphael staring at me when I looked at him, and I had to avert my eyes immediately. Rosabella kept on talking, and in the end, it was Daniel who contributed to the conversation.

"What about we make our way inside so that we can look around before the performance starts?" Daniel suggested before offering me his arm.

I managed to put on what I hoped was a natural-looking smile as I slipped my arm into his. It felt like I would be impolite if I turned down his gentlemanly gesture.

"I agree. Shall we head inside, Raphael?" Rosabella asked before smiling sweetly up at Raphael.

Raphael just stared at her in silence as Rosabella reached out a hand towards the crook of his arm. I almost winced when her hand was about to come into contact with his arm, but to my surprise and relief, Raphael quickly strode inside, leaving the three of us behind to follow after him.

"I guess he doesn’t seem to be in the best of moods. Perhaps the business is stressing him out," Daniel said before letting out a soft laugh.

Not surprisingly, I felt out of place when I entered the venue. Even though I had Daniel right by my side, his presence gave me no comfort, and if anything, only made me even more nervous than before. I wasn’t sure how to act, and I felt very conscious of the many pairs of eyes that fell on me when we made our entrance. I knew without a doubt that many people would be talking about my appearance with Daniel in public, and I regretted that I seemed to have made the mistake of appearing as if we were a couple.

"Shall we take a look at the paintings on display? Maybe there’ll be one that will interest you," Rosabella suggested before flashing me a smile. For a second, I thought that she was mocking me, but then I wondered if that was just a figment of my imagination, spurred on by the fact that I definitely could not afford to bid on any of the paintings up for auction.

"If there’s one that you like, I’ll gladly buy it for you," Raphael said to me, and I turned to find him standing right by my side.

"I...," I mumbled, at a complete loss for words at his sudden offer.

"Why don’t you try to win me one while you’re at it?" Rosabella suggested smoothly.

–To be continued...