It was lunch time and Julie had a colorful plate of beans and toast with eggs, sausage and some veggies in front of her. It was a good idea to have english breakfast. It gave her a sense of home.
Julie was chewing on her food while thinking about her family in England. She missed them a lot and wanted to visit them.
It's not like she never went back home in the last five years. She hops on a plane to London whenever she feels like it. Last time she was there was during the holiday season but that was more than six months ago. She didn't want to wait till Christmas again to see her parents.
"What are you thinking about?" Pierre asked all of a sudden pulling her out of her thoughts.
Julie didn't notice that she was spacing out. Pierre was sitting opposite of her in the restaurant looking at her intently.
Julie smiled at him a little embarrassed. She just noticed that she was ignoring him for a while now. "I was just thinking about home."
"Oh, I see." Pierre was glad that this one time, Julie was not thinking about this guy she dated and he didn't even know the name of. Not that he was interested in finding his name out. That guy was already history and Pierre didn't want to hear from him again.
"Do you miss England?" Pierre asked her with interest.
"A little bit but it's more my family that I miss. Maybe I will visit them soon."
"You want to leave France?" Pierre was alarmed. He didn't want Julie to leave. What if she spontaneously decides to not come back?
Julie shook her head. "Well not now. I just arrived a few weeks ago and I got work to do. But I will plan to take two weeks off. Maybe at the end of the summer."
'At the end of the summer?' Pierre repeated in his head. It was July. That gave him a few weeks to grow his relationship with Julie. Pierre hoped that he would end up going with Julie to England so she can introduce him to her parents as her boyfriend. A man can dream.
'A few weeks to convince Julie that I am the right guy for her. That should be possible,' he encouraged himself.
Pierre decided to test the waters. "I could need a vacation too."
"But don't go when I'm on vacation. I need someone to water my plants." Julie said jokingly.
Pierre just managed to squeeze out an awkward laugh. That was not what he expected. "Sure that was the deal. You take care of my plants and I take care of yours."
Pierre facepalmed internally. They exchanged keys for situations like this and Julie took care of his apartment when he was not there. So much for going to England together. But Pierre didn't want to be discouraged by this. He can always ask Lucas to take care of their plants.
"Where do you want to go?" Julie asked with interest. She wanted to give him advice about traveling.
'With you anywhere,' Pierre thought but he couldn't say this. Instead, he tried to think about an answer that Julie might like.
"I'm not sure. Maybe South America. I want to see Machu Picchu."
Julie was thrilled. "Great idea. I was there already. I can give you some tips about the best tourist attractions in Peru. How about I write you a list with places that are worth visiting?"
"That would be nice," Pierre stated with a smile.
Julie started to tell him about her travels in South America, the friendly people, the food he has to try and the things he should avoid.
Pierre listened to her intently but in reality, he didn't really care. He had no plans to go to Peru unless Julie comes with him but he enjoyed seeing her talk about it with such enthusiasm.
Julie's smile was completely enchanting to him and he was willing to tell her absolutely anything to see that.
The two of them were almost finished with their late breakfast when Pierre decided that it was time for his next move. "I hope you don't have other plans for today. I wanted to take you on a little adventure?"
"What? An adventure? What are you up to?" Julie smiled nervously. She didn't expect that.
"I took the liberty to make plans for us. But I won't tell you yet where we go. It's a surprise," Pierre answered mysteriously.
Julie didn't like that he wasn't telling her what he planned but nonetheless she was touched. He puts so much effort into cheering her up. "Pierre, you didn't have to. I know I was a bit sad lately but I'm gonna be fine."
Julie felt like she needed to assure him. In a way she understood that he was so concerned about her. After all, she had a literal meltdown in front of him and cried onto his shirt. How embarrassing.
"I insist and you have no choice because I already organized everything but I promise you that you will like what I planned."
"Fine but don't do this again. I don't like surprises," Julie said slightly irritated.
"I'm sure you will forgive me when you find out what it is," he answered with confidence.
The waitress came and before Julie could reach for her purse, Pierre already paid for all of the food.
Julie wasn't happy about that. She was perfectly capable of paying for herself and she didn't want to feel indebted to Pierre.
"You didn't have to pay," Julie said upon entering Pierre's car on the passenger seat. He owned an elegant Mercedes-AMG in black color. Everyone could see that Pierre made good money but Julie still felt uncomfortable about someone else paying for her.
"Just let me take care of everything today. You don't need to worry." To Pierre it didn't matter if Julie wasn't his girlfriend yet. As a man he wanted to pay. He wanted to show her that he can provide for her.
"Can you promise me that from now on you will just enjoy the day and won't think about the money?" Pierre pleaded with her.
Can she promise him this? Julie didn't like that Pierre is spending money on her but on the other hand he is trying so hard just to make her happy. Wouldn't it be rude if she keeps complaining like this. Julie didn't want to ruin the day he planned so she decided to go along with whatever he comes up with.
"Fine, just for today I will do that." Julie said crossing her arms over her chest.
Pierre's lips lifted into a smile as he fastened his seat belt and started the engine. "Good, you won't regret that."
The two of them sat in the car in silent while listening to the radio. Julie looked outside of the window trying to find out where Pierre was bringing her. She noticed that they were leaving the center of Paris and the further they went the more Julie started to wonder.
They drove for longer than she expected and after awhile she noticed that Pierre was driving in the direction of some colorful buildings that she could see in the distance.
Julie needed a moment to process this and as the realization hit her mouth fell open. "We are going to Disneyland!" Julie exclaimed excitedly.
"Surprise. I hope you like it," Pierre laughed at Julie's reaction.
He barely slept tonight thinking about how he could take Julie on a date until he remembered that a few weeks ago she told him that she wanted to go to Disneyland.
"Yes. Of course, I like it. How did you organize this in such a short time."
"I have my ways," he smiled at her. In fact, it was easy to get the tickets. He could just book them online. They were just a little expensive on such a short term but Pierre didn't mind as long as he can make Julie happy.
Julie couldn't believe that Pierre bought her tickets for Disneyland. She knew they weren't cheap and Julie wanted to complain again but she bit her tongue because she made a promise.
Pierre parked the car outside of the park and they walked together to the entrance. He wished he could take Julie's hand or put his arm around her shoulder but all in good time. He will get his chance.
Pierre showed their tickets at the entrance on his phone and the stuff gave them a map.
"So, where do you want to go first?" He asked her.
Julie studied the map. She still couldn't believe that Pierre spend so much money on her but since they had a deal, she decided to just accept her faith and have fun.
"How about we visit the ghost mansion first. It is not far away from here." Julie was excited. She had a feeling that this will be a great day to remember.
"As you wish." Pierre offered Julie his arm which she held onto and they followed the map to the first attraction.
Pierre was proud of himself that he had the idea to come here. Now he has Julie the whole day for himself and that she was holding onto his arm was a good start.
He will make sure that she has fun and that they create good memories together as a couple.
If Pierre achieves his dream of making Julie his girlfriend, they can look back at this as their first date and he felt a warm feeling in his heart just thinking about it.