Page 48 of Anastasia

The car was parked in the middle of nowhere. There was nothing but trees and birds that called out from above us. The rich scent of woods clogged my nostrils as I opened the door and stepped out. I couldn’t hide my smile as I looked around me—it was beautiful.

When I turned to face Valentino, who had already gotten out of the car, his eyes were glued on me. My smile seemed to grow as I looked at him before staring up above me at the beautiful sight of green and sky. The wind whisked through my hair, embracing me in nature’s hug. I loved the outdoors.

“This isn’t all, Bambolina,” he said. My eyebrow rose as he locked his door before walking up to me. I decided to follow his lead with his arm curled around my waist. We walked and walked. I distracted myself with the animals that ran by. The place was lovely, and I could only question why I had never ventured out into the wild before. The silence Valentino and I shared was nurturing. I found myself gaining comfort in the musical quietness.

After what felt like half a mile, we made it to a huge restaurant that sat right in the middle of nowhere. My gaze strayed over the elegance of it all. It was made entirely of wood and the light had a warm glow to it, causing it to look like a large, cozy home.

A woman walked out of the restaurant wearing a beautiful red gown and the man beside her was dressed in a suit. Luckily, Valentino was wearing a suit, as opposed to me, who wasn’t wearing anything other than a pair of shorts and a huge button-down shirt.

“You didn’t tell me it was a date. I even mentioned changing my clothes, but you didn’t give me the chance to.” I pouted. We stopped walking, and he took the time to peer down at my figure. A smirk plastered itself onto his face. Pushing his sunglasses to the top of my head, he gave me a small kiss on my cheek.

“You look sexy like this. Plus, we aren’t eating in there—we’re eating inthere,” he said, pointing toward a few cabins that sat right beside the restaurant. I noticed how some waiters and waitresses would walk from the restaurant to the cabins with a tray of food in their hands. My stomach growled at the sight.

We began to head toward the cabins. As we walked, my hand moved over to his that lay comfortably on my waist. I grabbed his hand before he could protest and interlocked our fingers together. It always made me happy to do intimate couple-like things with him.

Once we made it to the cabin, the door was opened for the both of us. A waiter nodded as Valentino walked by. As soon as I strolled in, my jaw literally dropped. There were rose petals everywhere that led to a beautifully decorated table. Everything was so romantic; it was exactly what I wanted. As I I looked over the entire cabin, my smile grew. It looked a lot bigger on the inside than the outside.

I couldn’t stop myself from looking into the bedroom—which had candles all around the bed frame, along with roses on top of the bedding. Everything was so perfect and romantic, which was very unlike Valentino.

The waiter pulled out a chair for me while Valentino sat down right across from me at the very small table.

“My name is Ferdinand, and this is Alissa. We will be serving you both today,” the waiter introduced. I smiled kindly at him before my eyes moved over to the waitress, who must’ve been waiting for our arrival. She looked down at my clothing with disapproval before glancing over at Valentino. Her gaze stayed there for a long moment.

“Hi, Ferdinand. Hi, Alissa. My name is Anastasia.” I introduced myself, holding my hand out for them to shake. Ferdinand looked shocked, but he shook my hand anyway. Alissa shook my hand as well, but with a roll of her eyes.

“You’re a kind woman, Miss Anastasia. Most people who come here don’t do that,” he stated. A smile graced my lips which he happily returned. With one last curt nod, Ferdinand walked out of the cabin with Alissa right behind him.

I couldn’t see why anyone wouldn’t be kind enough to introduce themselves back. I thought it was a part of American custom.

“You know, I’ve never actually been served at a restaurant before. It was always me who did the serving. It’s kind of strange,” I stated randomly. I glanced over at Valentino, who had been staring at me intensely. He leaned back in his chair with his eyes still burning into mine.

“Well, I will take you out more often,” he declared. A smile crossed my face as I looked at him. Butterflies in my stomach began to cheer at his declaration.

“This is just our first date, and you’re already planning a second one? That’s a little creepy,” I teased, picking up a menu. He chuckled lightly. I could still feel him staring at me, but I decided to just ignore it.

“What will we be drinking?” I asked to fill the silence in the room. While skimming through the menu, I couldn’t help but look at the very expensive prices. The room must’ve cost a fortune, along with our own private waiter and waitress. It felt good knowing he was willing to go to such great lengths to make me happy.

“I don’t know about you, but I know exactly what I’ll be drinking,” he stated seductively. I slowly glanced over at him to see the dark glint in his eyes.

“And what’s that?” I questioned with a raised brow. He smirked at my response, his eyes lowering to my breast. I suddenly realized that my top buttons were undone, leaving my breast almost completely bare.

“You,” he let out. I rolled my eyes playfully at him before placing the menu on the table just as Alissa walked in. Based on the way her eyes trained on Valentino, I knew she was about to flirt. Allowing her to do what she had to do, I picked up my menu and looked through it once more.

“Anything I could get you to drink?” she asked lowly, her voice growing a little husky. Behind the menu, I peeked up to see her twirling her hair as she looked at him. He glanced over at her, leaving me to look right back down at the menu.

“Wine. Both of us,” he ordered nonchalantly. I placed my menu down to see her staring at him while he had been staring at me. She was acting as if I weren’t there.

“Coming right up, sir,” she gritted out. I laughed lightly to myself, watching her turn around and stiffly move her hips as she walked. The girls at the club would be laughing at her if they saw the act she was attempting to pull.

“I like that most about you,” he said randomly. My eyes snapped over to look into his as my eyebrows rose in question.

“Other than your happiness despite everything bad, forgiveness, confidence, and the way you’re not scared to speak your mind. I like how you are so kind to the point you can’t even allow yourself to be jealous,” he pointed out. I processed his words and felt myself falling into deep thought.

“Are you talking about Alissa?” I asked. He nodded his head slowly.

“I don’t get jealous because I understand why women stare and flirt with you. You are a very attractive man. If I were them, I would stare too. Would I flirt when there is a woman in front of you? No, of course not, because it’s rude. Although, a lot of insecure women feel the need to act confident. She’s just an unhappy girl looking to make me feel just as bad as she does. I don’t blame her,” I explained.

“People take advantage of people who think like that, Bambolina,” he said. I nodded, thinking about my mum and the countless times she had stolen from me.

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