"You look so good, love," Ruth said the moment she was done packing my hair into a bun and a small smile graced my face. I stood up from the chair and gave her a twirl. She clapped her hands excitedly and giggled, "The sundress looks so good on you. I think you should only wear sundresses now"

I giggled and shook my head at her. "Thank you, Ruthie" I kissed her on the cheek, then picked up my bag from the bed. "I'll get going now, he said he'd be here by 3 pm and it's..." I glanced at the clock and my mouth instantly made an O shape, "it's 3:15. He must be waiting"

Ruth immediately grabbed my hand and shrugged. "He can wait a little more, let's pray first" We both snickered and lowered our heads.

"Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for Jophy's and president's upcoming date. We pray you to guide them, protect them and help them have fun today. I commit them and the places they'd be going for this date into your hands, in Jesus' name. Amen"

"Amen," I opened my eyes and threw my arms around her, pulling her into a hug. "Thank you, Ruthie. I'll get going now"

"Okay, see you later. Come back on time for our prayers"

"I will!" I blew her a kiss and rushed off.

Just as I suspected, Zadkiel was already at the gate waiting for me. His face was scrunched up in a frown and the moment I noticed, my palms got sweaty. What if he was angry cause I wasted his time? Will he shout at me again? What if...?

I paused as I noticed my thoughts spiralling and took a deep breath as I shoved the thoughts away. If he was angry, I can always just go back. Ruth taught me that.

But unlike what I thought, his frown immediately disappeared and was replaced with a grin once he saw me, and I slowly let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

"Thank God you came, I thought you cancelled" he walked up to me and held my hand with the biggest smile on his face. "You look so beautiful, Jophiel"

I lowered my gaze and smiled brightly, "Thank you, and so do you" his cargo pants and hoodie complimented him a lot.

"I try my best" I rolled my eyes playfully at that and he breathed out a laugh. " Alright, you ready to go?"

"Yeah, but where are we going?"

"You'd soon find out" he wiggled his brows and intertwined our fingers. "Let's go, love. My duty is to plan it all, while yours is to get surprised and enjoy, okay?"

My smile widened even more, so much so that my cheeks hurt "Okay" he smiled triumphantly and tightened his hold on me, and we both walked out of the school premises.

"We are here" Zadkiel announced as we stepped out of the cab and my mouth dropped open as I stared at the restaurant before me. It stood tall and proud before me and looked like every part of it was constructed with glasses. It looked classy yet so delicate.

"Zadkiel, are you sure this is the restaurant, it looks too expensive" I dragged my eyes back to him and he chuckled nervously while scratching the back of his neck.

"I didn't mean this restaurant, I meant the other one" he whispered and pointed to another restaurant just a distance away from the fancy one, and I let out a breath of relief. The restaurant looks much cozier and warmer than the extravagant one. It looked like a big cottage.

"Thank God" I turned to him with a big smile and I saw the relief that washed through his face. "Let's go?" He nodded and held my hands again as we walked to the restaurant.

The inside turned out to be cosier and bigger than I thought. Candles and led lights were used as their source of illumination, decor plants were hung around every corner of the restaurant. It felt like I was pulled into the 90s and it was breathtaking.

"This is so beautiful" I mumbled in awe and Zadkiel traced circles on my palm

"I'm glad you like it" he whispered and I smiled even more.

"I don't just like it," I turned to him and he was staring at me with a teasing smile and an arched brow" I love it" I finished and we both chuckled.

A waitress walked up to us the next minute with a smile. "Welcome to Primavera restaurant, do you have a reservation?" She asked and Zadkiel immediately nodded.

"Thank you. Yes we do have a reservation, Jo-Kiel" he said and my head snapped up to him. Jo-Kiel?

"Oh," she looked through the tablet in her hand and nodded, "right this way sir." The waitress turned and began leading us to our table, and all the while, Zadkiel purposely ignored my gaze. "Here you go sir, a window seat with a perfect view of the blossoms. I'd be back in a few minutes to take your orders" she said and walked out.

"Thank you," Zadkiel said and pulled out a chair for me, "take a seat, Jophiel." I glanced at the chair, then at him before I bobbed my head and sat down.

"The view is beautiful" I breathed out as I stared at the scenery outside. It was a garden of flowers but the blossoms were more apparent than all the other flowers. "I love it" I turned back to him with my lips tugged up in a smile.

"I'm glad you love it. I bet you'd like their food as well. They are one of the best" he bragged and I took the menu on the table with a smirk on my face.

"I hope so" I teased and flipped the menu open. "So, Jo-Kiel. That's a nice name" I teased and he immediately started coughing.

"Yeah, I had to come up with a name that would include both our names in the reservation," he said in a low voice and I felt blood rush to my cheeks. He is so thoughtful. "You liked the name, yeah?" I nodded and he pinched the tip of his ears. "Good, now pick something to eat" I chuckled and went back to looking at the menu.

"So would you like to order now?" The waitress from before returned and I smiled at her with a nod.

"Yes, he'd order for us" I glanced at Zadkiel, who looked taken aback. "Surprise me. You said you'd do the whole planning and I should just be surprised and enjoy"

A gratified look covered his face and he winked at me before he turned to the waitress, "we'd have Primavera special and for dessert, we'd like the pie, the apple pie" he said and I arched a brow at him, "for drinks, we'd have the juice."

"Noted. Anything else?"

"That'd be all, thank you" She gave us a curt nod and walked away.

"You seem to come here quite often," I said, referring to the way he ordered with confidence. Instead, he laughed and shook his head.

"I did my research. I am to impress you. I was born to impress. You can add that to the list of things you know about me"

"There's not much on the list, so thank you?" His eyes widened and he covered his mouth dramatically, and I just rolled my eyes at him. "Tell me about yourself, Zadkiel. I'm curious" his antics immediately ended and he stared at me.

I returned his gaze and we both stared at each other, unblinking before he breathed out a laugh and have in. "As you wish, my ma'am" he traced circles on my hand and tilted his head to the side. "Well, I'm an only child... Or maybe not, I got a stepbrother unexpectedly but that's a story for later. My mum died when I was just 16, been in Basielia ever since then. I study business administration and next year, I would be out of school. Is that enough to make the list longer?"

I pretended to think for a while, then sucked my teeth, "barely. How about I ask the questions?" I suggested and he immediately agreed. "first of all, I'm sorry about your mum's death" I rubbed his hand soothingly and he gave me a tight-lipped smile.

"Thank you."

"Well, my first question is; are you close to your dad?"

"Nope. He chose to make money over his family, I'm quite okay with that, I don't have to worry about a doting parent breathing down my neck every minute" he said with an air of indifference, but I wasn't fooled by it. His eyes held a lot of resentment.

I was right about to ask another question when they returned with our food. That immediately brought an abrupt end to our question-and-answer session. "Let's pray," he said as the waiters walked away, "Abba we thank you for this food, thank you for making the provision for it. Please bless and sanctify it, in Jesus name, amen"

"Amen"

"Dig in and tell me what you think"

"Is that scepticism I sense?" I teased as I scooped a spoonful of the dish, but the moment it made contact with my tongue, all my need to tease him vanished into thin air as the different flavours exploded in my mouth.

He winked when he saw the look on my face, "told you I did my research" he said and dug into his food as well.

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