Chapter 98

98 Acting Like a Family

It’s supposed to be good manners and extremely romantic if I cooked something and brought it along to eat during our trip to the zoo. Like we would sit down and have my homecooked food as we looked at the animals. It would be a perfect little picnic and we would act like a happy-go-lucky family. That was the dream. The reality was that the small kitchenette in my studio apartment doesn’t really function. The thing was so small and was clearly not made for real cooking.

That fact didn’t bother me at all when I first chose this room because I never thought that I would have to cook anything beyond using the microwave. Standing in front of it, I now knew that no amount of cooking class during my school days could help me if I didn’t have a proper kitchen to cook in. Should I just make some sad sandwiches?

I woke up super early to figure this out, but it seemed like that idea had to go right out the window. Might as well spend the time dolling myself up to make up for the lack of homecooked food. I decided to go with a chic but slightly casual look. Wanting to look quite feminine, I picked a white shirt with doll sleeves with lace decoration and matched it with a black skirt. Perhaps it was a little too short but since I had decided to wear flats instead of high heels to add to mobility, short skirts will make my legs look longer to compensate for the lack of heels. I curled my hair into waves and decided to keep it down.

Adrian’s butler greeted me when I arrived at his house and a valet quickly offered to handle my car. I thanked them both before I was invited in to wait for Adrian in the sitting room. While I was waiting, I decided to walk around a little to look around instead of just sitting on the sofa. I realized it before but after walking around, my suspicions were confirmed.

There were many photos of Adrian and his daughter around the living room but no matter where I looked, there wasn’t a single photograph of his wife. Millie’s mother seemed like a big mystery. Since she passed away when Millie was very young maybe they didn’t get a photo together? It wasn’t likely but even if I decided to let that slide, it didn’t explain why there were no photos of her together with Adrian. Was he so distraught over her death that he couldn’t bear the pain of seeing her photos?

“Elena, I’m glad you could make it,” Adrian called out to me.

I turned to see Adrian walking into the room followed by Millie and her nanny. Adrian looked stunningly delicious in casual clothing. His outfit sort of matched mine, I thought as my eyes traveled down the length of his body form his white long sleeve shirt to his black jeans.

“Of course. We have a date, don’t we?” I replied with a cheerful smile.

“You’re right about that. If you’re ready, shall we?” Adrian said as he offered me a hand.

.....

Oh...he wants to hold hands...

I smiled a little shyly at him as I gently placed my hand into his much larger one. His hand and his fingers are so beautiful, I thought once again. The warmth of his hand enveloped mine as he pulled lightly on my arm for me to follow him.

“Hi, Millie. Let’s have a great time together at the zoo!” I said enthusiastically before flashing her one of my brightest smiles.

“Ok...” she replied, sounding very shy.

Well, we had an entire day ahead of us to work on that.

“The driver will drive us there,” Adrian informed me reassuringly.

He led me to a large family van before inviting me to get into the seat next to his. Millie and her nanny took the seat towards the back. Getting into a van like this really made me feel like we were on a family trip. It was a clear contrast to Adrian’s luxury limited edition sportscar for sure.

...

We arrived at the zoo and my real mission of getting closer to Millie while making her enjoy the trip truly began. What are we supposed to do at the zoo apart from looking at the animals? This clearly wasn’t within my area of expertise. I glanced over at Millie who was holding her nanny’s hand while she looked around the place excitedly.

“What animals do you like, Millie?” I asked her sweetly as I bent down to her level.

“Tigers...and penguins...” Millie replied a little shyly.

“Wow. Let’s go see them. I’m sure they’re here in the zoo,” I replied cheerfully.

Millie nodded still acting quite shy. We entered the zoo and after getting our tickets and maps of attractions, Adrian and I began discussing where we should go first and how we should spend the day. That made me realize how organized Adrian was and the fact that he liked to do some planning. I smiled as I watched him point out the various attractions to me.

“What about this route? If we follow this path, we can stop by all the main animal zones, and of course, Millie will get to see her favorite tigers and penguins,” Adrian suggested as his fingers traced a path around the zoo.

He was right. That route seemed most optimal, and we would be able to cover most of the zoo without ending too late in the day.

“That sounds great but what about we stop around here too? I’m sure Millie would want to take some photos with her daddy,” I replied as I pointed to an attraction made for visitors to take photos together.

“Alright. We can take photos together there,” Adrian said as he smiled at me.

I found myself smiling back naturally. Spending the day with Adrian started to feel like an easy task. If I can just worry less and get along with Millie, today will probably turn out to be a fun day for me too.

–To be continued...