Ashley's day took place as usual: she worked at the cafe before going to her classes and worked at Jo's restaurant after the end of her classes. It was now time for her to prepare for dinner with Rafael. Obviously, she is very nervous about the accessories of this dinner since it has been now that she does not come out of a man.
She hesitated a long time to choose what outfit she was going to wear, but she finally decided to wear a blush pink A-line short homecoming dress with a V-neck and with a square toe ankle strap, chunky heel sandals and a mini light pink color bag. She then put some makeup on her eyelids, not too much but just enough to highlight her eyes and then put a fruity lipstick on her lips.
Then someone knocked on the door
" Yeah, I'm coming ", Ashley shouted as she hurried to open the door.
" Hi ! You are already there ", Ashley said as she saw Rafael in front of the door, wearing a dark blue slim suit and with a red rose bouquet in his hand. Rafael literally froze when he saw Ashley opening the door.
" Are these for me ?", Ashley then asked when she noticed the bouquet in his hand.
" Yeah... Yeah, they are for you and you are ... you are ... sublime by the way", Rafael stammered.
" Uhm... thank you ", Ashley replied, blushing.
" I'll just grab my bag and then we can go ", she then said and after she took her bag, they finally left Ashley's apartment.
Nobody was saying a word in the car at first as both Ashley and Rafael were nervous.
Finally they arrived at this French restaurant called " Le Bosquet ".
As soon as they entered in the restaurant a waiter came to them and greeted them in french : " Bonsoir Monsieur ! Bonsieur Madame ! Bienvenue chez Le Bosquet ".
" Bonsoir ! Is our table ready ?", Rafael said.
Ashley was very surprised when she heard Rafael replying to the waiter in french too.
" Yes Sir. Please, follow me this way", the waiter replied .
" I didn't know you speak French too ", Ashley said.
" Yeah, I speak several languages in addition to Spanish and English ", Rafael told her.
" Wow, that must be amazing ", Ashley said and then they followed the waiter to their table. Once again, Ashley was surprised as there were only the two of them in the restaurant and the waiters.
" Why is there nobody else in the restaurant ? ", Ashley asked curiously.
" Uhm, well, I booked the whole restaurant for us tonight so we can get some privacy. I hope it's alright for you ", Rafael said.
" Oh ! Really ?! I mean yeah it's alright for me ", Ashley replied.
" Great !", Rafael exclaimed.
A few minutes later some waiters brought the first dish with a bottle of wine, Rafael and Ashley were both talking and then eating.
" So can you talk a little about yourself ? I don't know anything about you", Ashley asked him.
" Uhm... Well, I wasn't born here but in Spain, I grew up there too. I lost my parents when I was about 10 years old and since then it was my uncle Jonatan and her wife Maria who had taken care of me. And then when I was about 23 years old I moved out here to take care of my uncle Jonatan's businesses here ", Rafael told her.
" And what kind of businesses are you taking care of here ?", Ashley asked and then Rafael just froze as he didn't want to tell Ashley what he was really doing for a living.
" It's just your friend Carlos told me that you were the owner of some hotels, casinos and clubs here , is that true ?", she asked again.
" Yeah, that's true, it's a part of what I'm doing. And what about you ? ", Rafael replied and then she said : " well, there is not much to say about me other than I am a student in Wrentford, I did not grow up in this either but rather in a small town ready for ribs. I grew up with an absentee and an alcoholic father and completely addicted to the game. And after my studies here, I don't really know if I will stay in this city or live elsewhere "
" But why wouldn't you stay here ? ", Rafael asked her.
" Well, I don't think I could afford life here. I mean everything here is just so expensive but if I have a permanent job here then maybe I'll stay here so I don't know yet ", Ashley replied.
A few minutes later , the waiters brought the second dish, Ashley then took a generous bite out of her dish.
" Humm... This plate is very delicious. What is it ? ", she said, taking another bite of the plate.
" Well, it's parsley butter snails ", Rafael told her.
" Parsley butter what ?!", Ashley asked when she was about to take another bite of the plate.
" Parsley butter snails ", Rafael said.
" Did you just say snails ?", Ashley asked again.
" Yeah, It's a fairly widespread french dish you know ", Rafael told her.
" I'm sorry I can't eat that anymore ", Ashley said and then drank all of her glass of wine.
" Why ? You just said that it was delicious ", Rafael said while laughing a bit.
" Yeah, it was delicious before I knew I was eating snails. Couldn't they just put that on their menu ", Ashley told him, a little bit disgusted and then Rafael burst out laughing.
" They did. It's written over here, snails mean escargots in French ", Rafael told her while pointing at the menu.
" Oh! Now I see . Uhm... and you ? what did you take ?", Ashley asked.
" Well, I chose a dish with veal ", Rafael said.
" And is it tasty ?", Ashley asked him.
" Actually, yes, it's very tasty. Do you want to try ?", Rafael told her and then gave a spoon of his dish to Ashley.
" Yeah, it's really delicious indeed ", she said and then he gave her another spoon of his dish to Ashley again.
" Oh! That's enough for me, thank you ", she said.
" Are you sure you don't want to take another bite ?'' Rafael said, still holdin the spoon in his hand.
" Alright ! But just a little bite then", she replied.
A few minutes later after Ashley had finished Rafael's dish, the waiters brought the dessert.
Ashley hesitates before taking a bite of her dessert.
" Don't worry, there are no snails in that one, it's just caramel flan ", Rafael told her, laughing a bit.
" Phew ! Much better then ", Ashley said and finally took a bite of her dessert.
" Can you tell me one thing you have never done but you would try ?", Rafael asked her.
" Well, I would like to go on a cruise, you know traveling by boat and visiting wonderful places ", Ashley told him.
They left the restaurant a few minutes later and then they continued their talk on their way to Ashley's place.
" That's it, we are here ", Rafael said when they arrived just in front of Ashley's place.
" Thank you so much Rafael for tonight, I had a great evening ", Ashley told him.
" Despite the fact that you ate snails tonight ", Rafael said.
" Yeah, despite that. I had a great time with you tonight. Next time, I'll let you choose them for me", she said and then laughed.
" Next time ?!", Rafael asked while looking at Ashley.