Rosalie decided to stop at her dorm first to drop off her bags of loot. She threw the bag, which resembled a sack of potatoes, onto her bed quickly. Making a quick pause in the washroom to check if the sink was fixed yet. It indeed was, and beside it was an apologetic note and gift bag of snacks.
Rosalie was relieved that they didn't put the fault on her and charge her for the costs of repairs.
Happily humming to herself, she locked the door and headed back to her quaint napping spot where Christoph was waiting. An added plus was that it was actually fairly close to the dorms, maybe a 10-minute walk. Also, the obscurity of the place meant there wouldn't be any prying eyes.
It would be a difficult place to reach without a map with all the winding paths, but Rosalie remembered it well.
You would have to enter the park and go off the trail. There weren't any signs about it being dangerous off the path, so it was probably okay. After a couple turns, there was a curtain of vines that acted as a doorway to the small open space. The trees provided the perfect amount of shade and allowed the ideal amount of light through. Perhaps this would make a good spot to hide from in the rain. Rosalie archived that thought for a later time if she ever needed a shelter from the rain and the dorms were unavailable.
Rosalie got to the spot at around a quarter before 12, early by 15 minutes. Christophe was sitting by a tree, it seemed like he dozed off waiting for her.
His hair fluttered a little in the breeze as his chest softly rose and fell with each breath. This would be an opportune moment for a photoshoot with the light perfectly hitting just the right angles, almost as if it was staged…
A bright blue butterfly landed on his nose and rested there for a bit. This reminded Rosalie of those dog photos that circulated for a bit on the internet with dogs posing with butterflies on their noses. She could almost see the dog ears on Christoph, now what dog breed would he be? A Golden retriever, German Sheppard, Chihuahua…
Oh, she knew! A poodle.
Their posh images and tall height fit him to a tee.
While Rosalie was imagining Christophe as an anthropomorphic poodle, Christophe was obliviously asleep.
He felt his nose itch for a bit and sleepily brought a hand up to rub it. Opening his eyes, he was met with the sight of Rosalie staring intensely at him. Was she mad at him? Her glaring, from Christophe's point of view, stopped once she realized he was awake. Perhaps she didn't like the idea of having lunch with him? Christophe started having doubts while Rosalie affirmed the poodle likeness.
Christophe got up and shook his head a little to wake up. He looked at Rosalie's face and grinned.
"Shall we get going?"
"I'm as ready as you are."
During lunchtime, most of the students were inside eating since it was sunny today and the majority of students preferred to be inside. Rosalie loved the sunlight, of course, she remembered to put on sunscreen though.
Seeing that almost all the students were inside by now, there wasn't anybody to chase either Rosalie or Christophe.
There was one thing Rosalie was curious about though.
"How do you know this great sandwich place if you're a new student?"
"Oh well, the headmaster is my uncle, so I used to visit here all the time."
That explains it.
They walked in awkward silence for the better part of 15 minutes with the occasional small talk.
Christophe leads her to a small shack that seemed out of place compared to the other shops in Wexcombe. It was located just behind the outdoor food lane where most of the dining shops were.
It had a wooden sign that carved out "La Fable" in cursive, handwritten letters. The shop itself had a warm homely vibe with few customers.
All of the other customers dining in looked like teachers or other staff members.
"Hello there! Oh, is that you Christophe? Come in, come in. Table for 2?"
I cheery woman ushers them in with a gleeful look on her face. She led them to a small, round wooden table equipped with 2 wooden stools.
The place smelt heavenly with warm wafts of spices and bread filling the air. There was soft lighting from the windows that provide a warm glow for the indoor settings. Whoever was the interior designer for this restaurant must have been a genius Rosalie thought.
She took a set and thanked the lady.
"Oh, no problem sweetie! You must be a friend of Christophe; he's never brought another person here before. I'm the owner of "La Fable", you can call me Sylviane, or Sylvie for short! It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise, my name is Rosalie."
She looked to be in her 50s with blonde, slightly graying hair that was neatly kept in a bun.
She winked at an embarrassed Christophe and handed him 2 menus before walking off to a door that leads to the kitchen.
"Do you know the owner personally?"
Rosalie questioned since it seemed like he was a regular here. It was hard to imagine the popular Christophe who was always surrounded by people eating alone in a small restaurant.
"Well of course I do, she's my aunt. Also, I don't always eat alone, I just like to take a break every once in a while, you know."
Then would that make her the headmaster's wife? Rosalie planned to look into this later. Plus, who would've known that the super extrovert Christophe who constantly likes to flaunt his popularity online would dine in a small sandwich restaurant alone every so often.
Christophe handed Rosalie one of the menus.
"It's my treat today as an apology for last night."
"Then could I take this as a bribe to keep quiet about it?"
Rosalie asked jokingly.
"Well yes, I'd like to keep it lowkey."
Christophe said with a sigh,
Rosalie would've kept the secret without the meal, but this definitely earned Christophe some brownie points in her book, Rosalie laughed to herself.