Page 55 of It Had to be You

It didn’t take long to get up to the Aviary, an incredible lounge that Tatum had only dreamed of visiting on past trips to New York, but when the elevator stopped, Tatum wondered if they’d arrived at the wrong time. "Is it closed?"

There wasn’t a sound to be heard coming out of the lounge andthe lights appeared to be a little dim. Turning around, she looked at Alex as he walked off the elevator behind them.

"No," he shook his head, "it’s open." The smile on his face told her hehad a secret. He walked up to her and gave his mom a peck on the cheek. "I think I’ll steal Tatum back from you."

Ellen gave her arm up all too easily and as soon as Alex had her arm, Tatum leaned closer. "What are you planning?"

"Trust me?"

The answer was all too simple. "Yes."

His smile made her heart beat faster in her chest.

"Okay," he blew out a breath. "Let’s go."

The hostess greeted them with a smile. "Mister Wen, Miss Hansen, we have the table ready for you and your guests. If you’ll follow me, please."

It felt like she could see the whole world out through the windows. Alex must have noticed the direction of her gaze and when they reached their table, he walked her right up to the windows so she could look out. "That’s Central Park." She leaned forward and almost touched herforehead to the glass. Talk about an amazing view. She sighed, remembering the many times that she’d walked through Central Park on her way to classes at one of the local studios. Back then, she

would look up at theskyscrapersaround the park and imagine what it would look liketo see the park from such lofty heights.

"And now, here I am."

"Here we are."

Tatum turned to look up at him. "Yes,weare."

The soft scrape of chairs brought her back to the present. "Oh no, your parents."

Turning around to apologize to his family for being wrapped up in the view,what she saw left her shaken.

The whole lounge with only just a single table set up and Alex’s parents were standing at one end and they had seats at the other. There was room in the center of the table as if something was missing. The lights above the empty space made the table cloth glow with a warm white light.

"Wow. You don’t fool around when it comes to a small private party."

Alex leaned closer to her. "I deliver on my promises."

She couldn’t help but laugh. "Yes. You certainly do."

Alex showed her to her chair and yes, he held her chair out for her and helped her scootin tothe table. She loved the way he showed her he cared by being exactly the gentleman she’d always dreamed of.

The staff wereamazing and brought out a succession of desserts for them to taste, and while she spoke with Alexanderand his parents, the same staff quietly moved about their business, bringing out plates and clearing the ones that were finished.

When they’d made their way through every single dish that the pastry chef could produce, Tatum sat back in her chair and gave a contented sigh. "I don’t think I’ve ever had a better meal or better company."

Alexander’s father shook his head and laughed. "It’s not much of a meal. It was more like a buffet of sugar."

"I’m just glad this happened after my last performance. If it had been lastnight,I don’t think I could have fit into my costume."

Ellen had given her husband a careful look. "Don’t tease her."

"Oh, he can tease me," Tatum had explained, "I laugh at myself often enough."

Looking at her son, Ellen nodded as well. "And now that I’ve met you, I understand what happened. The difference in my son." Reaching out, she covered Alex’s hand with her own. "There was something different about you, you know. Even a few days into your cruise I could tell there was something… new. It wasn’t anything big or grand, but there was something lighthearted in the way you wrote and on thephoneyou said more jokes, relaxed more. I thought it was just the fact that you’d decided to take a vacation and leave your job behind so you could… what do they

call it? Re-charge? Yes. I knew that you needed something to change your life,Xue.

"Little did I know it was a person!"

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