The Wedding Plan

Chapter 28

The comment about not knowing how to dance was meant as a joke, but somehow Sebastian took it seriously and now Eleanor was at his doorstep. A car that Sebastian had sent to pick her up arrived at her place in the middle of the afternoon and took her to a luxury apartment complex where Sebastian lived.

Now, with her heart pounding in her chest, she waited for him to open the door and give her the dance lesson he promised.

'Welcome,' Sebastian said as he opened the door.

For some stupid reason, she thought he would be wearing a suit as usual, instead; he was wearing casual clothes. Dark denim jeans and a black T-shirt. The simple outfit suited him too well, and she was definitively not ready for that.

'What?' he asked, realizing she was looking at him in a funny way.

'Your clothes.'

'What about them?'

'They are normal.'

'What do you mean? Normal?'

'Regular clothes. Not a suit and a shirt. I am surprised.'

'Pleasantly surprised, I hope,' he said with a smirk, making her fluster once again.

His apartment was on one of the top floors of an enormous building that had an even more magnificent view that the restaurant he first took her to. As she walked in, she saw an open concept kitchen, dining and living area where the wall had an enormous window that went all the way across. In the back, the staircase led up to where the rooms and office were.

Their apartments could not be more different. Even though Sebastian was standing right in front of her, the house felt so empty and lonely. It was clean, and white, too white. It almost seemed that no one lived there; and in fact, he spent little to no time there.

The apartment was very modern and practical, giving it a frigid atmosphere. It was much different from what Eleanor was used to. But the view... That view was something quite extraordinary. It made up for the rest of the impersonal environment.

Eleanor walked towards the window and Sebastian followed, staying a few steps behind her.

'This is amazing.'

Lost in her thoughts, she admired the landscape.

'That's why I've chosen to live here, it's not the most convenient place. Somewhere closer to work would be better, but I think it's worth it.'

'Definitively worth it.'

She turned around to face him and realized he was way too close. Her heart pounded against her ribcage, and her hands started to shake.

'Shall we begin?' he asked, grabbing her hands and smirking as he felt her trembling.

'You're going to regret this.'

She smiled and glanced down at their feet.

'No, I'm not.'

'Your feet will. I will try not to step on them too much, but I make no promises.'

Sebastian laughed, as he was aware of Eleanor's nervousness. And as usual, she used jokes to poorly disguise it. Eleanor was also aware that he could see clearly through her, and that made her even more conscious of his gaze on her. Why? She wondered.

They danced all around the living room and even in the kitchen; they laughed each time Eleanor tripped on his feet and repeatedly apologized even though he said everything was alright and that she was doing great. Exhausted and embarrassed, she sat on the couch, although Sebastian could keep on dancing.

'It went well. You were selling yourself short. You're not that bad and you are a quick learner.'

'Thank you —,' she took a deep breath ' — but I don't think your feet agree.'

'Don't worry about it.'

They both looked towards the window and realized that the sun had gone down, the streetlights had lit up and how late it was. Time flew by in each other's company, and so the weekend was ending as their last week together before the wedding approached.

'Are you hungry?' he asked. 'We could order something for dinner and then I'll take you home.'

'There's no need for that.'

'Nonsense, Eleanor. Stop declining my offers as if you are the one who has asked for a favor. If I want to buy you dinner or take you home, you should just say yes, it is not a bother.'

She nodded.

'Then, what do you want to eat?'

'Pizza,' she answered immediately.

'With what?'

'Anything but mushrooms,' her faced frowned in disgust.

He laughed at the face she was making.

'Do you hate mushrooms that much?'

'Yes.'

'But how? Specially on pizza?'

She shrugged and showed him a timid smile.

The pizza arrived quickly. They sat on the rug in front of the TV with the pizza box opened on the coffee table and their backs leaned against the couch.

Somehow, they were having dinner in such a comfortable way. Rain had started to pour, which made their dinner at home even more cozy. It was not the type of environment Eleanor excepted from the great Sebastian Crain, and yet he had such a happy and relaxed expression on his face.

The newscast was on TV, and as Eleanor and Sebastian stuffed their mouths with the delicious pizza, something about Crain Enterprises appeared on the screen. Both stopped chewing and looked carefully at the screen.

The reporter was analyzing the most recent developments in biomedical engineering made by Crain.

'Wow,' Eleanor sighed with a smirk on her face.

'What? It's not that surprising, you work there, you already knew about this.'

'That's not what surprised me.'