"Really!!" Charlotte's eyes lit up in curiosity as she looked at Philip.
"Even though I didn't tell you about my birthday party because I was afraid of distracting you with it, I still didn't expect to see you here, and with a gift nevertheless".
"Of course. And haven't I told you that you won't ever be a distraction to me. And no matter the situation, nothing could make me miss sure a party" Philip responded as he gazed back at the woman that made his heart race.
Each passing thought about her made his body weak as his heart fluttered like butterflies.
He had tried his best to restrain his thoughts whenever he thinks about her.
He had tried his best to become the man he was today, fit for the very woman standing before him.
But today would be different. Because even though he had known Charlotte for a long time, he was always afraid of asking her what she thought of him.
Because he has always been afraid of rejection.
Because the very thought of the woman who he was willing to sell his heart for at any moment not feeling the same way he felt was something that he knew that he couldn't handle.
So since the day that he had heard about her upcoming 25th birthday party, he had planned and schemed to make sure that her surprise gift would be perfect.
He had pulled every string he has just to make sure that it remained a secret, and the only people that knew about it were his parents and Charles who had made also made sure that everything goes as planned.
And today, after all the effort that he exerted, he would finally see the results of his labour.
"Alright, I can see that I might have thought too much about it. I hope that you can pardon me for not inviting you to my birthday party" Charlotte said with a small bow.
"Apology accepted. But, if you truly want to make me happy, then I hope that you accept my gift to you" Philip said with a thin smile as he felt his heart beating faster with each sentence.
"And what would that be?" Charlotte replied as her curiosity peaked once more.
And even though she wasn't expecting much, because she had already received all manners of gifts one could ask for, she still didn't let that stop her curiousness as she still looked forward to the present Philip was about to give her.
Philip looked at Charles who nodded his head back in response before leaving.
Charlotte who was observing their strange behaviour couldn't help but raise her brows in doubt as she looked at Philip once more.
"Ahemm!! What I am ab…" Phillip didn't even have the luxury to finish his words before he saw a waiter approaching Charlotte and whispering something in her ears.
Thinking that it might be important considering the actions of the waiter, Philip choose to wait until they finished their conversation.
"Alright. Tell him that I will be there soon".
Although Philip didn't plan to eavesdrop on their conversation, it still didn't stop him from picking up some little bits of it as they whispered to each other.
And the words that made their way through his ears filled him with a sudden sense of dread as he felt his heart involuntary panicking.
Breathing out slowly as he attempted to calm himself down, Philip managed to ease the dread he felt just in time for the waiter to leave, leaving him and Charlotte alone once more.
"I can see that you are quite business, Miss Charlotte?".
"No, it isn't anything serious. It's just that one of my guests is looking for me, as our conversation was interrupted by my brother calling me" Charlotte responded as she shook her head.
"And I think that if I don't see him soon, he might just leave".
"He! Is the person you are talking about Mr Nicolas. Because I am sure that I haven't seen him yet. And I know that he is the only person who dares to ask for my lady's audience in such a way" Philip responded with some doubt in his eyes as the panic he felt in his heart intensified once again.
'No, even he can't stop me now. Considering what he might be going through right now, I don't think that he has the guts to attend this party again' Philip thought as his worries increased.
"No, it isn't Nicolas. Nicolas hasn't been picking up my calls recently, and even when I sent him an invitation card, I didn't get any response. So I don't even think that I might get the chance to see him tonight" Charlotte said with a sad smile on her lips as she had already thought about the reason her calls were rejected over and over again.
Yet, she couldn't come up with an answer.
Never in her life did she expect one of the people she kept close to her heart to suddenly cut contact with her.
Maybe that was why she was interested in that gentleman she had met earlier.
Considering the way he speaks and carries himself, she was sure that he was an interesting individual.
At first, when she had first seen him from the crowd, she had thought that it was Nicolas since he wore the exact kind of suit the man she knew liked wearing.
So she walked up to him with excitement in her steps. One could only imagine how she felt immediately she saw that he wasn't the one.
And surprisingly, he wasn't someone who she remembered, because as far as she knew, she could identify anyone that had been invited to her birthday party.
After all, it wasn't just anyone to who they had sent the invitation cards. So his presence had surprised her as she was sure that he wasn't her parents' acquaintance either.
And only after hearing the truth about him and his identity, did she decide to be a little mischievous and then planned to sneak out of her birthday party with a stranger who she had just met.