Chapter 36: First date

"And this is the famous Buckingham Palace," Stuart exclaimed, in a perfect British accent, donning the voice of a professional guide. Aria stared at the building in awe. As expected, it was quite magnificent and beautiful, more than what she had seen in the pictures.

"Is this your first time in London?" Stuart asked, looking at Aria's twinkling face.

"Yes, it is. What gave it away?"

"Your face is quite expressive." Stuart winked.

Aria and her colleagues had gone to visit some of the famous landmarks in London. The conference was to start the next day officially. So, they had the entire day to look around the streets of London. Right after having breakfast, the group had left with Stuart and Kaito.

Aria was quite energetic. She wanted to visit London for long and now her wish had come true. Throughout the entire time from their hotel to the Buckingham Palace, Mason had tried to indulge Aria in a talk with him. But she had ignored him completely by tagging along with Stuart and Tara. She replied to him occasionally only to not raise any suspicions in other people's minds.

"Come on. Let's go have a look inside." Stuart led the team towards the entrance of the Buckingham Palace.

Unknown to them, a group of people were watching their every move. Noah had memorized Aria's schedule for the day, which he had obtained from Kaito, the previous night. He was waiting for her in front of the Palace for a long time since early morning, when she had finally arrived. He had dismissed his secretary and the assistant for the day. He was only accompanied by four guards, one of them being Ronnie.

Aria was dressed in a white eyelet dress with a blue jacket and a straw hat was covering her head. She looked very lively and Noah couldn't help but smile looking at her. She looked very pretty in a white dress. Occasionally, she would smile looking around with her curious eyes. The sight in front of him was more stunning than any painting he had ever seen.

At that moment, Mason held Aria's hands and started to drag her enthusiastically towards the Palace. Aria tried wriggling out of his grasp. However, he was too strong for her. He immediately tightened his hold on her, seeing her trying to free herself.

"What are you doing?" Aria asked, trying to pull her hand back.

"Nothing I just wanted to hold your hand," Mason smirked, making Aria cringe. She just wanted to slap him to wipe off the smirk.

Noah noticed Mason grabbing Aria's hands. He clenched his fists and glared in his direction. Ronnie observed his Boss's deadly aura. It was terrifying and chilling to the bone. He knew his boss was angry.

Before Noah could take a step forward, Ronnie stopped him. "Boss, let me handle this."

He then gestured to one of the two guards and whispered something in his ears. The guard nodded and ran off. After a few minutes, he returned with a cup of hot coffee. He then bumped right into Mason, dropping the hot coffee all over his light blue shirt. He was careful as to not to spill a drop on Aria.

"What the hell!!" Mason exclaimed. The hot coffee not only burnt his skin, but also stained his shirt.

"I am sorry." The guard replied, yet it didn't sound genuine. It was full of contempt.

"Are you blind?" Mason raised his voice. He was beyond pissed while Aria was trying to stifle a laugh.

"Oh my. Dr. Smith, are you alright?" Julia Robert asked handing Mason a tissue.

"I am fine," Mason replied wiping his shirt using the tissue. This time his voice was quite soft, a complete contrast to how he had behaved with the guard before. He didn't want to ruin the image he had maintained in front of his colleagues, so he pardoned the guard with a smile.

"It's okay, my friend. Not a problem." Both the guard and Aria scowled seeing his change of behavior.

"Let me lead you to the loo." Stuart volunteered. "Why don't you guys enter the Palace and have a look around by then? We will join you guys later."

"I'll come with you," Aiden replied.

"Ladies be careful. Give me a call if anything happens." Stuart cautioned.

"Come back soon," Tara said, as the three men walked away from them.

"So, now it's just the three of us." Julia sighed.

Noah was observing all that had happened and he was quite impressed with the guard of his. He had managed to separate the ladies from the men. Now all that was remained was for him to somehow get Aria to be alone.

Aria, Tara and Julia walked inside the Palace and followed the crowd towards the State Rooms. They couldn't take their eyes off the grandeur of the palace. The sparkling candelabra, marble columns, sumptuous carpets, damask wallpaper, fine furniture, sculpture and works of art made one's eyes widened in its exquisiteness.

After having a thorough look at the State Rooms, they approached the Throne Room. At that moment, Aria's phone rang. She walked towards the side and picked up the call.

"Hello, Stuart."

"Aria, where are you?"

"We are in the throne room."

"Okay, wait for us outside the Palace where we departed. We will join you after having the tour."

"Okay Stuart."

Aria then looked beside her. But Julia and Tara were nowhere to be seen. The crowd was quite huge. So she couldn't find them in the midst of so many people. She tried calling them, none of them picked up. She tried again, but in vain. She groaned.

"Now I have to have a tour of the Palace alone."

"Who told you are alone?" A voice spoke from behind her, making her jump.

Aria turned to look at the person who had spoken and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Mr. Carter, what are you doing here?"

"I am here to watch a movie."

Aria rolled her eyes at Noah's sarcasm. She realized her question was quite dumb. Obviously, he must have come to take a tour of the palace.

"Are you alone?" Noah questioned, even though he already knew the answer. He was quite happy that Aria had somehow got separated from her group without him doing a thing.

"No actually. My colleagues are with me. We got separated in the crowd."

"Do you mind joining me or are you going to wait for them? I am alone as well. I don't mind the company."

Aria shrugged. She could make use of his company instead of wandering in the Palace alone.

"That will be great."

Noah smiled. His plans were finally taking place. Now he had Aria all to himself and he had to make sure that this continued until the end of the day. He nodded at Ronnie who was keeping a lookout for him.

Aria and Noah walked towards the Throne Room.

"Wow." Aria breathed. Aria's eyes were roaming around the luxurious room while Noah's gaze was fixed on the girl beside him, taking in her lovely features.

Aria could fell Noah's heated gaze and she raised an eyebrow at him. He immediately diverted his attention from her, embarrassed at being caught.

"Everything is so beautiful here," Aria exclaimed.

"Do you want to see something more beautiful?"

Aria nodded absentmindedly. She was still immersed in the beauty of the Throne Room. Noah held her hand in his, his warmth seeping through her entire body. Her mind cleared at once and she looked at their intertwined hands.

"I don't want you to get lost in this crowd," Noah said. Though on the outside he looked calm and composed, fireworks were actually exploding in his body. Aria's hands felt perfect in his hands, like they were made for him to hold. Butterflies were dancing in his stomach and before his mind started to malfunction, he pulled Aria towards the garden.

Aria gasped at the sight in front of her. There were more than 300 types of flowers with a lot of different trees. That was what the signboard said. And the best part was the lake which reflected the flowers surrounding it. Her eyes twinkled at the stunning scenery. She walked deep into the garden while Noah followed her. He knew Ronnie was taking their photographs, yet he clicked a few pictures of Aria when she was not looking.

"Have you been here before?" Aria asked looking at the garden.

"Alone yes, in someone's company no."

Aria did not give him any reply. She continued to look around the garden.

Aria's mind was still processing what she had just seen after they had completed the tour. She was standing outside the Palace where she had decided to meet Stuart and the others after the tour. Noah was standing beside her, busy texting someone on the phone.

Aria tried calling all the people who were still inside the Palace. It was either returning as not reachable or they were simply not picking her calls. She cursed in her mind. She was quite hungry. The tour had taken a lot of time. They stood outside for some time with no signs of anybody from her group.

"So, are we going to wait here the entire day?" Noah asked, finally looking up from his phone.

"No. No. You may leave if you want Mr. Carter. I am fine."

"And leave you alone in this foreign place. No way." Noah rejected her offer at once.

Aria's stomach grumbled loudly and her face became red at once in embarrassment. Noah chuckled looking at her red face.

"Look we both are clearly hungry and we don't know where your colleagues are. So, I suggest we go and fill our stomachs while we wait for them. What say?" Noah asked, hoping for her to agree to his words.

Aria sighed. She knew Noah was right. She was way too hungry to wait any further. She might as well have some lunch. When the other people come out of the Palace, they would give her a call.

"Okay." She accepted.

Noah's eyes lit up at once.

'Is this our first date then?' He wondered, though Aria did not know anything. All his plans were going smoothly and the best part was he had done nothing. He was quite happy with his luck that day and hoped for it to continue until the end of the night.