Once inside the limousine, Mia let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.

    The door clicked shut behind her, muting the distant thrum of music from the party. It felt like the world had been on full volume all night, but in here, it was just silence, and Alex.

    She sat back, tugging lightly at her dress. The fabric, once elegant and intimidating, now clung awkwardly to her skin, sticking in ces she wished it wouldn’t. She looked over at Alex, who was pouring them both sses of water from the small bar in the corner of the limo.

    “You can change now,” he said, handing her a ss. His eyes softened, noticing her difort. “I packed something simple in the bag over there. Figured you might want out of that party armor.”

    Mia blinked. She hadn’t even told him she wanted to change. But somehow, he knew.

    She smiled, shyly, and nodded. “Thank you.”

    She took the ck bag.

    She paused, staring at Alex.

    Alex stares back. A small smirk ying on his lips.

    “Come here” Alex reached for her to unzip her dress.

    He kisses her back, mummering “beautiful” on her naked skin.

    Mia feels her heart beating so fast, her skin burns with desire.

    It took them almost twenty minutes to get out of the dress.

    Sitting down there almost naked, she feels her skin burn. She was shy.

    “You want me to look away?” Alex teased, looking at her from the rim of his ss.

    “Mia stares at him, bitting her lips

    “You’re a sin, Mia ” Alex says, staring at her lips hungrily.

    Mia smiles, meeting his gaze, strong as she starts putting on the new dress.

    The dress he picked was a simple flowy gown, nothing shy, but it felt beautiful against her skin. Comfortable.

    “You look beautiful,” he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

    She looked down, embarrassed, brushing a curl behind her ear.

    They didn’t talk much during the ride. There was a quietness between them that wasn’t awkward. It was the kind that let Mia breathe-really breathe-and let her heart slow to something calm and steady.

    Twenty minutester, the car slowed to a stop outside a restaurant that didn’t even have a sign. The building was tall and beautiful, a valet in a uniform opened the door for them.

    Mia hesitated. “We’re eating here?”

    Alex stepped out first, then reached for her hand. “You’ll like it. Promise.”

    She took his hand, unsure but trusting.

    Inside, it was nothing like she imagined. The restaurant was sleek. There was no noise. No chaos. Just quiet conversations and soft instrumental music drifting through the air like smoke.

    A hostess led them to a private VIP section with golden curtains and a small circr table already set for two.

    “No one else?” Mia asked, surprised.

    “Nope. Just us,” Alex said, pulling her chair out.

    Mia sat slowly, her eyes scanning the room.

    She’d never been anywhere like this.

    Back home, dinner was usually reheated rice and beans, sometimes with stew if her mom had remembered to cook. Here, the tes looked like art. The water had slices of cucumber floating inside. Even the air smelled expensive.

    She waspletely out of ce.

    But then Alex smiled at her, and suddenly she wasn’t so nervous anymore.

    He picked up the menu and handed her one too. The names? Most sounded like spells from a book she had no business reading.

    She stared, blinking.

    “What is… foie gras?” she asked slowly.

    Alex chuckled. “Duck liver.”

    Her eyes widened. “Why would someone eat that on purpose?”

    Heughed again, deep and warm.

    Mia kept reading. “What about this one?”

    “That’s escargot. Snails.”

    She looked up at him like he was joking.

    He wasn’t.

    Her mouth fell open. “Are we really eating this stuff?”

    Alex leaned closer, ‘eyes dancing. “Not if you don’t want to. But I want you to try at least one thing you’ve never tasted before. Adventure, remember?”

    Mia groaned yfully, resting her forehead on the table. “You’re going to poison me with duck liver”

    “I’ll order something safe too,” he promised with augh. “I’m notpletely evil.”

    The waiter came, and Alex ordered a mix of things. Some dishes Mia couldn’t pronounce, and others she didn’t even hear because she was too busy staring at how casually he spoke― Like the world just bent around his fingertips.

    The first te arrived: thin slices of salmonid out like a painting.

    Mia stared. “It’s raw.”

    “It’s called sashimi,” Alex said.

    “I call it fish that never met a frying pan.”

    He burst outughing, nearly choking on his drink. “You’re hrious.”

    She poked the fish with her fork, suspicious. “Do I really have to eat this?”

    “One bite.”

    She took a deep breath and tried it..

    And surprisingly… she didn’t hate it.

    It was soft. Clean. Nothing like she imagined. “Okay. That’s not bad.”

    Next came the escargot.

    Mia looked at the small, coiled things on the te and recoiled. “Absolutely not.”

    Alex grinned. “Come on.”

    “Nope. That’s a hard no.”

    “One bite.”

    “Alex.”

    He leaned forward, yful. “You said you trusted me.”

    She groaned again but finally picked one up. She stared at it for a long time before closing her eyes and taking a bite.

    She chewed slowly.

    Then gagged. “Oh my God. That tastes like rubber that went swimming in garlic.”

    Alexughed so hard his face turned red.

    “Water,” she wheezed, reaching for her ss.

    He poured it for her, stillughing. “Okay, okay, no more snails. You’ve done your part.”

    They moved on to a risotto dish that tasted like heaven. Soft rice, mushrooms, something buttery and rich. Mia practically

    moaned.

    “Now this, I could eat every day,” she said between bites.

    “See?” he said. “Worth it.”

    They kept going, dish after dish. ?ome she liked, some she spat out in her napkin, and every reaction had Alexughing harder than thest.

    At some point, the wine kicked in-not too much, just enough to make her cheeks warm and her smile looser.

    They joked. They teased. They told little stories. Alex told her about the first time he ever got food poisoning from a fancy

    restaurant.

    Theirughter filled the room like music.

    At some point, without realizing it, he reached for her hand across the table. She let him.

    And it felt… easy.

    Natural.

    When dessert came-a small chocte tart with sea salt and something she couldn’t name-he took the first bite and held the spoon to her lips.

    “Try.”

    She did.

    It melted on her tongue.

    Her eyes lit up. “Okay. That’s magic.”

    He smiled at her, slow and tender. “You are.”

    Mia froze.

    The words caught her off guard, and for a second, she didn’t know what to say. Her chest felt too full.

    “I’m really not,” she whispered.

    Alex shook his head. “You are. You don’t even try to be. That’s what makes it real.”

    They sat in silence after that.

    Not an awkward one.

    When the tes were cleared, and the candles burned lower, Alex stood and walked around the table, offering his hand again.

    “Come here,” he said softly.

    She stood, unsure of what he was doing.

    He didn’t lead her out.

    Instead, he just held her there, in the middle of their little private space, and pulled her gently into a dance. No music. No crowd. Just them, swaying slowly to a rhythm only they could hear.

    His hand was on her back. Her head rested on his chest.

    And there, in that moment, she felt safe.

    Their foreheads touched.

    Then their lips.

    A soft kiss. Slow. Tender.

    Mia’s fingers curled into his shirt. She didn’t want to let go.

    He kissed her again, deeper this time, and she let herself melt into it.

    They weren’t perfect. They didn’te from the same world.