Don't fucking fall, Thea.

"You look... pretty," Aiden said as I walked up to him in the hotel lobby. He'd just looked up from his phone when I had exited the elevators. His stare on me was warming me more than the stiff material of the dress was, and that was saying a lot.

"Thank you." I blushed, even though I knew damn well I looked pretty. Aiden just didn't dole out compliments easily. "You clean up well too."

Aiden's charcoal suit was a vision out of a dream as if I needed more reasons to look at him and remind myself why all of this was a bad fucking idea.

Thea fucking fell.

Everything with Aiden was a bad idea. I wondered if I should just try finding a random French guy till he could fuck Aiden out of my system, but where was the time to go looking?

"I try." He grinned, and I could swear my heart started beating the wrong way. Dora the Dreamer's visions came to mind, of soft kisses under gauzy white sheets in the fogged-up dreamscape, and I snapped myself out of it quickly.

"Where's Monica?"

"She's come down with a stomach bug it seems. She'll be resting in her room." Aiden shrugged. "Shall we go? We'll be late for our reservation."

I took Aiden's arm when he offered, ignoring the warmth coursing through me and all the butterflies dancing under my skin. I tried to convince myself that I was just nervous about the fancy establishment we were visiting, but... maybe that was not it.

How hard would it be to admit it?

However stupid it was, a problem could only be resolved when one admits they have a problem in the first place. And my stubborn ass had spent hours looking in the mirror and reminding myself that I was not allowed to fall for this man. The reasons were several, starting with the fact that he didn't like me that way. I didn't bother learning more of them, really. Why start a venture you know would end in a failure? Stupid business decision. Asinine, if I were to use the dumb word I'd picked from Aiden's late-night cursing vocabulary. The sleepier he got, the worse his cursing got, to the point where I had to look up every third word.

Marseilles at night was arguably prettier than New York City, becoming a perfect blend of modernity and the old-world charm that I was slowly falling in love with. God, how would I go back to the States after this?

All my hesitations intensified as we entered the restaurant, and I couldn't feel more out of place if I tried. This was the place where women discussed scandals and clutched their pearls. Where men made million-dollar deals over scallops and eggs. And here was Thea, a new millionaire with $38,243 in her bank account. Having shares of Karlene Holdings on paper didn't mean I had all that money in the bank. Not until I decided to sell it to someone.

The maître d took us through the brightly lit hallways to the back, confusing me, but Aiden was following her like it was routine, so maybe for one night I could stop thinking too much and just go with the flow. We were led to a narrow staircase, which I took a while to climb with these terribly tall heels, entering a whole new world upstairs. The whole place had a vintage aesthetic to it, with rich reds and golds all over. The sparkling embellishments and the dark undertones made me feel like I was in the pages of a novel, a princess sneaking off to see her lover in the stables perhaps. How romantic.

Then my sight fell on Aiden, still holding my hands from the staircase even though we were on solid floors, leading me to a set of double doors with two staff members holding it open for us. Inside, the grandeur of the place was no different, only the lights dimmed ever so slightly that I wouldn't have even noticed it had I not been taking in my surroundings like a baby giraffe. The room was silent, compared to the rest of the place downstairs, and I realized only a moment later why that was the case.

There was only one table in the room.

In the centre of the room was a small table with two chairs, laid perfectly with a charcuterie board that was too real to be edible and an ornate ice bucket with a bottle of wine in it. Aiden had really gone all out for it tonight, and I felt sorry for Monica.

Being a perfect gentleman, Aiden pulled the chair for me as the maître d stood back, then helping Aiden in his seat. This was a lot. Like, this was so fancy it was suffocating almost. The more I looked around, the more I realized that I had never been in this kind of an establishment before, nor had I known these fancy places could host a private dinner for you. If it wasn't for the man in front of me, I would have never known these luxuries in life, and overwhelming gratitude came over me, threatening to fall through my tears.

"Thea, are you okay?" Aiden noticed me blinking my tears away, and I nodded to the best of my abilities.

"Something in my eye." I sniffed, trying to smile it out. Fix your eyes, fix your nose, fix your cheeks.

"Okay." He said dubiously. "I hope you're okay with a Pinot Noir?"

I nodded, eyes on the pistachio nuts on the charcuterie board. God, I wish I could start fucking eating. I noticed Aiden had taken the napkin and put it on his lap, so I followed suit. Immediately a hostess was at the table, reading out the label of the wine and then opening I for us, pouring a glass each. She withdrew again, emerging with two perfectly plated portions of shrimp canapés, with cream cheese and avocados. The food looked stunning and as soon as the hostess walked away, I dug in, taking a bite. Aiden looked like he had been waiting for me to start eating, taking a more delicate bite of the food, making me feel guilty for eating like a heathen.

"You're unusually quiet." He commented just as I was picking up my second shrimp.

"All of this... it's too much. But I don't want to sound ungrateful, so thank you." I said honestly.

"What is your idea of a fancy place then?"

"Anything that's not a chain restaurant?" I laughed, "You may not think it's much but when someone brings food at the table for you, and there are three fucking spoons on the table, it's a lot more than what most people can afford."

Aiden looked down at his plate, and I immediately felt guilty for making him feel uncomfortable. I reached out to hold his hand on the table before realizing what I had done, squeezing it for comfort, "I don't blame you for being rich, really. It's just... we grew up in totally different realities. I've never had all this for me and I'd given up all dreams to have a life like this. You've just... changed everything for me."

"It's the least I could do, Thea." Aiden's voice was gruff, "You had every right to this life, maybe more, five years ago. Your plan always had merit, and I know you'll go places with it. Whether you hold a degree with that name or not, you're still wonderfully talented in business, and I have no doubt you're going to crush it once you're able to build this from the ground." Aiden's hands were holding mine, and I had never felt more connected to him than in this moment. "If this overwhelms you, then you better get used to it. Because it's only going to get worse from here. I plan on taking you for all sorts of events and appearances, you'd be giving interviews, photoshoots, the whole lot. If you slow down now, you'd never be able to take off."

This. I liked the fact that Aiden always gave it to me straight, without sugarcoating and without any nonsense. He said what he felt, and him calling me wonderfully talented did a lot more for my self-esteem than any affirmation I had said in the mirror.

We talked a little about the differences in our schooling and some teasing about high school crushes and the like. Aiden may have been a whole five years older than me, but we shared some strange common memories, the most surprising one being of collecting postcards. My whole collection was in my parents' attic, but I was very sure that Aiden's collection was far more impressive than mine. He'd visited more than sixty-five countries so far and planned on seeing the whole world once, and I'd counted out every state where I had a distant cousin to spend the summer holidays with. I told him about my high school jobs and he spoke fondly of his father's lessons in the office.

Two sides to the same coin. Different, but somehow, exactly the same.

The main course was smoked salmon on a bed of mushroom, an odd pairing to think of, but the French really knew their food well. The wine tasted heavenly with the food, pairing perfectly with every single element on the table. For dessert, we split a chocolate mousse, feeling insanely full for all the small portion sizes.

We exit through the back, and instead of waiting for a valet to bring his car around, Aiden took the keys from him, opting to walk there, which was a good idea in every single way. I was sure the seatbelt won't fit over me right now, I always bloated too much after a meal.

The city was capturing my heart again. There was a soft glow of the moon on the otherwise dully lit street, the commotion of the city having dimmed down along with the lights. The city belonged to early sleepers, I realized, but the beauty of the tranquillity was making me wish this night never ended.

Aiden was talking about being on schedule, and something about wanting to wake up on time the next morning, making me exhale sharply, "God, can we worry about tomorrow when it comes?"

Aiden stopped in his tracks, giving me a look.

"Look at this place. We're in fucking France. You can worry about tomorrow when tomorrow arrives."

"But there's a-"

"Ah fuck, you've never done anything spontaneous in your life, have you?" Yeah, this was definitely that third glass of wine speaking. Theodora was a landscape of bad decisions displayed one after the other like a music library, all on shuffle in several different tabs.

"When I used to come back from parties in college, some nights I just couldn't sleep." Aiden took my hand, walking ahead of his parked car.

"Where are we going?"

Aiden turned to give me a boyish grin, making him look five years younger, "Live a little, Thea. When was the last time you did something spontaneous?"

Excitement thrummed through me. Firming my grip around his hand, I walked ahead with him, letting him take me wherever he wanted.

"The parties..." Aiden continued, "All I used to have was my phone and wallet, and I had to make some sort of sense of the evening. Every time I reached a crossroad, I would toss a coin. Heads would go to my left; tails would go to my right. And when neither option was feasible, I would walk straight. When I'd get tired, I'd call a cab, and then head back home."

"That doesn't sound like you at all." I chuckled, "but I'm willing to try anything with you. Let's go."

We reached our first intersection soon enough, and Aiden handed me a coin from his wallet. Keeping it on my nail, I flicked it in the air, Aiden catching it midair.

Heads. Left we go!

Hand in hand, we walked through the silent streets, the only noises I could hear were the occasional car passing through the street in the distance, or our feet against the cobblestones. The breeze was pleasant, and the conversation was shockingly continuing to be much more enlightening about Aiden's life than I had thought it would be.

"Do we even know where we are?" I laughed, feeling confident we had run a circle somewhere and were back to the same intersection.

"Not too far from the hotel, don't worry. Are you tired?" he put an arm in his coat pocket, but I swatted it away. I didn't want to end this night, not under any circumstance. Within this bubble, we were the same as we were in my room, all those days ago. It was strange to think that in this short span of time, this man had somehow weaselled his way in my life, practically spun my world on his axis and I had willingly given my heart to someone who wasn't willing to take it. The realization stung more than the pain in my feet, and I turned away from him. Watching him was like.... Like watching the fucking sun. It hurt, but I couldn't live without it. The absence would wreak me, and I wasn't ready to lose my Star yet.

Which is why I needed to keep the extent of my feelings deep inside, buried away where no one could see it clawing through my flesh and ripping me apart.

"Thea, look!" Aiden's hand excitedly pulled me across the street, practically making me sprint behind him to the other side, where a group of French men stood, a variety of instruments around them. They appeared to be musicians of sorts, and Aiden said something to them in French, for which there was an enthusiastic response. They scuttered to get their instruments in order, and the man with the white beard pressed his neck on his violin, giving his friends a note to start.

I recognized the song in a matter of seconds.

Enchanted on violin was a religious experience, and I couldn't help but lean into Aiden when the familiar notes started playing. His arm was encapsulating me, till he turned me to face him, "It would be a crime not to dance, don't you think?"

I nodded wordlessly, already hearing my heart snap when this person would disappear tomorrow, replaced by the man who would have me reading till my throat ran dry. But in the dead of the night, we were the only two people in the streets, and we were dancing, and I was staring into his warm brown eyes, and I was happy to allow myself the delusion. Five minutes. It was only five minutes.

Aiden's hands on my waist were cold as the air around us, and when I shivered, he pulled me close enough that my chest was pressed to his, and as long as I closed my eyes, I could see us being just another passing couple. No stupid attraction, no pining, no boundaries. Like Dora, I had an out of body experience, showing me a glimpse of the path that I could take. My hands were already on the nape of his neck, all I had to do was pull him closer, close the distance between us...

Much to my surprise, Aiden's fingertips ran across the goosebumps on my arm, circling over my bare shoulder and pressing the flat of his palm to my cheek. When his fingers forced my face to a level with him ever so gently, I momentarily lost all control of my body. Clinging to Aiden for dear life, I couldn't do much but watch as his face got closer and closer every passing second, and even as our eyes met, there was a shred of apprehension in his gaze.

"Do you want this, Thea?" His lips were almost touching me but not quite, and I practically wanted to drop on my knees at the sensation coursing through my veins.

"Yes." I shivered, and he wasted no time, lips pressing against mine, sending me straight to heaven and the eighth circle of hell at the same time.

It was a nebula collapsing and a star being birthed, for kissing Aiden was a catastrophic experience shattering every single remaining bit of my small gathered sanity and building me a woman anew. It was slow, amorous, hesitant, a testing of the waters. This wasn't high school and we weren't jumping each other's bones. We had time. And when we pulled apart, the look on Aiden's face said he felt the same.

We were finally on the same page.

I am screaMING I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT FOR SO LONG

GOODBYE