Recap
   Henry bent down to her level and murmured in her ear,
“Get ready, we are going out for dinner”
Julie’s mind raced and asked him,
“Is that a Date????”
“You can name it as you like, Darling” he pinched her cheeks with a ravishing smile and left.
Julie tried to calm down her breath, but she failed,
“I. Am. Going. On. A. Date. With.
The. Henry. Kingstonnnn!”
She ran screaming.
   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   Eating with Henry was not new to Julie but the official date thing creeps up the anxiety in her. The next big challenge was ‘What to wear?’ That was actually the universal woman’s problem while dressing up for special occasion.
   She opened her big suitcase, Julie could not believe her eyes as Harriet, the stylist had done a brilliant job. She packed each dress and their accessories separately and tagged them with labels:
“Wedding” “After party” “Bachelorette party” “lunch date” “dinner date” “hiking” “shopping” “official meeting” “Travel” “beachwear” and few casual wear too.
   She is such a darling, Julie made a mental note to thank her once they go back from this trip. Henry must have given a brief but Harriet’s choices were refreshing and appealing. Now Julie understood what Henry meant when he said he doesn’t have the need to shop since you have a personal stylist who does her job perfectly, you can be stressfree.
   Julie got ready quickly and did a minimal face make up, but she took time to work on her eyes. She had started loving her eyes more these days.
   Henry dressed in a round neck beige cashmere jumper paired with blue denim jeans.
   She felt that she could connect with this casually dressed Henry than the formally dressed Mr Kingston.
   The chauffeur took them to the restaurant. She held his hand when they walked out from the car to this dreamy place. The pathway was very enchanting like a fairytale and the starry lights leading them to a paradise. You could relate this place to a whimsical painting, a treat for both eyes and the heart.
   “You glow differently when you are in awe” Henry commented, watching her reactions intently. Their dinner table was set in the middle of giant trees embellished with pink flowers all around, over the canopy of fairy lights. She felt too happy and hugged him instantly.
“Do you like it?” he searched for her eyes for a response. The teary eyes with a smile on her lips, told him how much she loved this place.
   They sat across each other and Henry could not take his eyes off her.
“Are you not going to make fun of me?” She dabbed her tears with a tissue without ruining her make up. Henry smiled and shook his head,
“Just trying to understand your sentiments and honour the delicacy of it”
He supported his face with his palm and enjoyed the sight of a real girl who relishes and appreciate the beauty of simple things in life.
   “This place is absolute fairyland that you read only in books” Julie said.
“The spot is actually rated high for its set up close to fictional setting, I guessed you would love this place”
“Absolutely! Thank you so much, Sir”
Henry threw his hands up in the air,
“I have a name Julie” he complained.
“You’re always ‘Mr Kingston’ in my mind, that’s how it’s been registered”
“I would make you scre.. uh.. call my name soon” he smirked.
Julie looked at him skeptically.
   The food was amazing supporting the ambience.
Henry cleared his throat,
“You have never spoken about how difficult it was for you when you quit, I mean made you leave the job last year”
Henry knew that it is a sensitive topic, but it was bugging him for quite some time for not discussing it with her. Julie did not respond as she took time to process her thoughts.
“I was born as a Kingston, so I may not know the difficulties of facing the harsh reality of life. You were fired without notice, I still feel bad about it”
Henry’s voice was low.
She quickly held his hands in hers,
“Sir, you were not responsible for any of the terrible things that had happened”
“But I was not with you”
“Because I kept you off” she put her head down.
He pulled her chin up,
“I was the source for all your problems” Henry sighed.
“Whenever I felt low, I used to read books and motivational quotes to keep my spirits up, it is the life of a butterfly and diamonds, taught me the resilience and perseverance to withstand the pressure and struggle to shine brightly and fly away with colours, just like this beautiful pendant”
She pulled out her most treasured possession that she had worn around her neck today for their first date.
“Even when you were not with me, your gift gave me the ray of hope and guided me to rise up and shine. Somehow, you would find a way to inspire me”
“Julie, it’s you who finds a way to get inspired by me, it’s the beautiful perception of yours” he kissed her knuckles, holding both of her hands.
   “I should actually be grateful for Mr Smith, he referred me to Mr Ross when I was clueless where to start. I was not totally broke because I got the job very next day, but the emotional stress, mental agony took time to fade, I missed my job, friends and… You!
Since my college days, I was used to seeing you and follow your updates. After getting job in Kingston Corp, I felt a connect with you. Though we haven’t known each other or interacted personally, I felt closer to you. So moving out of the city was like a separation anxiety for me. I felt incomplete there though I had a job and friends. Little Lucas was my saviour and my big diversion, he was similar to you, losing his parents at young age. I saw You in him, so I was determined to help him and heal his scar, so he would grow up happily without a childhood trauma”
She showed Henry their picnic pictures and family photo which Lucas made with Julie in it. Henry could see the happiness brimming in her face while talking about Lucas.
   It was the other way round since she was the Guardian Angel who saved the little boy from darkness.
“Do you miss him?” Henry asked knowing her.
Julie’s eyes glistened and she nodded.
“Once we return, you should visit him”
She squeezed his hand, conveying a silent thank you for reminding her.
   Julie asked for the refill of her wine, it tasted so divine. The place gave out a dreamy and fantasy vibe as she asked for the fourth refill.
Henry asked, “Are you sure? Because I wanted you to remember every minute of our first beautiful date”
“Okay if you say so” Julie agreed and put her empty glass down.
Though she was little tipsy, she said,
“I wanted a picture of us in this floral paradise”
She grinned at him as if she needs to use her charm to make him agree. He called the waiter to take the picture, a very pretty candid was captured as they smiled at each other after posing formally.
   On the way back she was half asleep. They reached the house and she changed into the night suit in her semi sleep form and slept off immediately.
   The rustling noise from the garden woke Julie up in an hour. She strolled around to find Henry. He was in his room, sitting in the couch with laptop, probably in a meeting. He paused the meeting and asked,
“Why are you up?”
“I can’t sleep there, the.. the noise from the garden…” her brain buffered.
Henry chuckled,
“Come to me” he extended his hand and she took it readily. He patted a pillow next to him, Julie complied like a little baby.
  Henry smiled at her and connected his wireless mono in ear device with mic for the meeting so Julie can sleep peacefully.
“Why do you have a meeting in the midnight?” Julie whispered looking up at him from the pillow, trying to keep her eyes open.
“It’s still evening in the US” he clarified.
With an “Oh” she quietly fell asleep. Sometime later, Julie squirmed lightly and mumbled “No..”
Henry paused the meeting again and observed her.
“No, don’t” she said in a sad tone.
He gently caressed her hair sensing her nightmare. As they were discussing about her unpleasant memories of quitting her job at the dinner, she must have got the dreams.
“Don’t want to go, please” she tightly hugged his waist.
He stroked her cheeks softly and kissed her forehead.
“Shh.. that’s okay My love”
   He peppered her with feather light kisses on her face.
   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*What is the one favourite thing that you love about Henry and Julie? Tell me in the comments.
Happy reading!!
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