On the rooftop…
“You’re really good at this,” I said softly, almost in disbelief.
“I used to help my mom with her hair when Simon and I were still quite young,” he admitted quietly, a rare hint of vulnerability in his voice. “It’s been a while, though.”
His revelation made my heart ache a little. It was a reminder that even someone as powerful as Lucas had a past filled with moments of tenderness and family bonds. Thinking about this, I wondered if Simon had such a side to him as well. On second thought, he probably never did. Who was I kidding?
He continued brushing my hair, the silence between us comfortable. I could see the concentration in his eyes, the careful way he handled each section of my hair. It was a simple act, but it felt intimate, creating a connection between us that words couldn’t.
Finally, he finished and handed the brush back to me. “There, all done. How does it feel?”
I ran my fingers through my hair, feeling the smoothness and the care he had put into it. “It feels amazing. Thank you, Lucas.”
He smiled, a rare, genuine smile that lit up his face. “You’re welcome, Ashley.”
In that moment, I realized that there was more to Lucas than the stern exterior he showed the world. There was kindness and gentleness within him, and I felt privileged to witness it.
This rare and more private side was instantly replaced with a very cold expression as he returned to his usual overall look.
“Ready?”
“Yes!” He let out a hand to me, and I quietly took it as he led me to the door. We made our way downstairs, and as we walked past everyone, we kept getting stares that became even more disturbing as they progressively increased in number. From the corner of my eye, I could see Madam Morticia looking at me with surprise in her eyes. I’m sure she was probably cursing me out as she stood there watching me leave with Lucas, but thankfully, she obviously couldn’t do anything, especially now that Lucas was close to me. At least now she would finally be aware of exactly what the message Lucas asked her to relay to me was about.
No one dared to try questioning us about where we were going. All they could do was watch as we left the mansion. On our way out, we bumped into Simon, who instantly looked surprised upon noticing that Lucas and I were all dressed up. The look of surprise was on his face for just a split second, and he instantly got it off the same moment it came on his face.
“Where are you both off to?” he asked with a nonchalant tone, and I didn’t bother trying to speak up. I left the talking for Lucas to do since it might annoy Simon to hear me talk instead of his brother.
“We’re just going out for a while. You know, the house has been quite suffocating for Ashley, so I thought to take her out just to help her unwind and feel better, that’s all, right?” He said, turning to face me to speak up, and I responded in turn.
“Oh, yes, that’s right.” Simon remained silent for a short while, and during this period of silence, I thought he might be jealous of the fact that Lucas and I were making plans together. However, he quickly dropped my high hopes as he coldly responded with no hint of care in his voice.
“Well, alright then, you both have fun,” he said, and then made his way inside. I was extremely stunned by the whole conversation that just happened and the overall outcome of everything said. Trying to understand Simon was something that one would probably have to attend school for. He was extremely hard to predict, which made things even harder for me as someone trying to get accepted by the Lycan twin kings.
“Let’s go,” Lucas urged as he noticed how lost in thought I had gotten. We got out of the mansion, and a driver was patiently waiting for us beside the Rolls-Royce car. Even though I hadn’t been quite privileged enough to enter many luxurious cars, I had read about them from the magazines and articles Simon would often throw away after reading.
“Greetings, your highness. Greetings, ma’am,” the driver greeted, and we both responded to him.
“Let’s go,” Lucas ordered, and the driver quickly went over to open the door for him. He got into the car and sat carefully while I looked around, confused.
“Come on, Ashley, get in,” he called out from inside the car, and that was only when I finally got myself together again. I got into the car and sat right beside him while the driver instantly got in as well. I had read romance and fantasy books, and more often than not, the male main character would always open the door for the female main character every time. I guess this was a notion I had kept in mind in general. I turned to face Lucas, still in awe of the fact that he had no idea of such a basic thing, but he returned the gaze with a clueless look on his face. Obviously, he had absolutely no idea that he had done something that didn’t quite resonate with me. I decided to dismiss the thought and just brush it off.
The driver revved up the car’s engine and then started driving out of the mansion. The guards had been patiently waiting for the car to move, as they had actually opened the gates the moment they noticed that Lucas had entered the car. We drove out, and I looked at the mansion as we drove away. It stood grand and majestic, sitting in the wide landscape a little distance from the main town. The gates were high and sturdy, made of some of the best and strongest iron in the entire kingdom and its environs. I looked closely upon noticing a head peeking out from one of the many windows, and after taking a better look at who it was, I was surprised to see Veronica looking out at us from the window as we drove away from the mansion.
Her face held so much anger all through the little while I was able to see her, but it was enough for me to see just how much that woman hated me. The car had driven off at this point, but I could still feel her glare so strong like she was actually right in front of me.
Turning to face Lucas, I frowned upon seeing him on his phone. He was obviously up and about doing whatever, but I needed him to pay more attention not just to me, but also to our surroundings. I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t actually see Veronica even though the mansion’s window where she had stood was at his end, extremely open and noticeable for anyone seated where he was. However, he obviously didn’t notice her because he was too busy being distracted to even see what was going on around him.
I sat back on the seat and turned to face the window. I had nothing else to do since he had chosen to be so engrossed in his phone, so what could I possibly do about that? I watched how the houses, trees, and stalls around kept speeding off as the car moved past at a steady pace. I breathed out as the sight outside brought me so much inner peace. How I longed to actually be free and happy.
“Here, let’s take a picture,” Lucas said after a while, as he held out his phone. I didn’t bother trying to resist even though I didn’t feel up for it, but we just took a few, and he was back to his phone again.
When we finally got to our destination, I looked out to see that it was a restaurant/lounge we had come to. This time, Lucas surprisingly helped me out of the car, as he stopped me from going out just yet. I looked at him quietly as I wondered why exactly he had done that, but he didn’t respond. He just got out of the car, turned around to my side, and then opened the door for me.
For a second, it actually felt like he had listened in on my thoughts, and so it did get me a bit nervous having to see him do the one thing I had silently been whining about.
“Thank you,” I said, as I took the hand he had offered me to help me out of the car. Without wasting any more time, we both made our way into the place, and I marveled at the jaw-dropping interior. From the looks of things, the lounge wasn’t somewhere basic and average people would actually be able to afford even a bottle of water. The place screamed extreme opulence, and the people already in there were of such high class and status. The people that would often frequent the lounge were either top politicians, royal bloods, A-list celebrities, or just about any high-class set of individuals.
“Greetings, sir. Greetings, ma’am,” a waitress greeted as she welcomed us inside, full of smiles. We both responded to her, and she looked into the tablet in her hands.
“Your names, please?”
“Salvatore, Lucas, and Ashley Salvatore, please,” he responded, and I tried holding in the smile that instantly came to my face the moment I heard him say my name with his.
“Oh yes, I see you and your wife have a reservation for one of our rooftop tables, sir.”
“Yes, we do.”
“Alright then, please follow Ryan here. He will be your waiter for today,” she said as she brought forth one of the many waiters and waitresses.
“Good morning, ma’am and sir. My name is Ryan, and I will be at your service today. Please follow me,” he said, leading us toward the elevator.
I had never gotten into an elevator in my entire life, and so I instantly got cold feet the moment the doors to the elevator closed as soon as we were all inside. I had watched movies about people getting trapped in elevators, and so the only thing that kept coming to my mind while we moved up was how crazy things could get for us on this date if the power to the elevator went off or some cable snapped or something.
After a short while, we got to the rooftop, and I was finally able to get those crazy thoughts out of my head after enduring them throughout the journey.
“Here, please have a seat,” Ryan offered, and both Lucas and I went over to the table he had shown us. Lucas came over to help me pull out my chair and return it to its place before finally going to his seat.
Seated on the rooftop, I took in the nice cool breeze that blew very calmly towards us. From where we were, I could vividly see the whole town, and the view was absolutely breathtaking. There was something about looking at nature that resonated so well with me, and being in this type of place, witnessing such an amazing view, I just couldn’t be more grateful, to be honest.
I caught Lucas staring at me, and I blushed the moment our eyes met.
“You’re really beautiful, Ashley,” he said, and I blushed even harder.
“Thank you, Lucas,” I responded, before returning my gaze back to the view in front of me. Ryan returned with some sort of plastic card with inscriptions I couldn’t understand and placed it on the table.
“So this is our menu. You are free to scan it and go through the menu to see what you would like to have. If you need anything, please just call out to me. I will be right over there,” he said, and then returned to where he was standing at a distance.
I looked at the plastic card on the table and still couldn’t understand what we were supposed to do with it. He had talked about the menu, but I didn’t see anything, so I got even more confused. Lucas, on the other hand, grabbed the plastic card and placed his phone close to it. After a while, the phone made a subtle sound, and Lucas showed the screen to me so that I could see the menu on his phone.
“Wait, what??”