I straightened my back, determination burning like fire in my chest.
‘Alright, Eliana, think, just think.
How do you get a man like Damien to say the magic word?’
Compliment him first?
I already told him he was handsome earlier, and he didn’t even bother to say it back.
Ugh what should I do?
It wasn’t like I could tell him to just say it to me.
In the end, from the very beginning to the final course of dinner, I still didn’t have a single plan that could trick Damien into saying those magic words.
“I think you’ve drank too much.” Damien reached out, his hand stopping mine just as I grabbed my wine glass again.
“Really?
I don’t think so.” I looked at him lazily, my eyes slightly glazed.
“I still feel sober.”
“You don’t look sober enough to me.” Damien caught my head gently when it slipped from my hand.
He picked up the wine from my side of the table and placed at his side before exchanging it with water.
His voice softened slightly, almost unnoticeable.”I really can’t carry you if you’re too drunk.”
I laughed softly.
“I know that.”
I kept looking at him for a while, but then I noticed something strange.
Damien wasn’t sitting in his wheelchair tonight.
Instead, he had brought crutches and placed them directly behind his chair.
I had been sitting across from him for more than an hour already, so why was I only realizing this now?!
I pointed at the crutches behind him.
“You can walk?!
Since when?!”
All this time, I had thought he was completely paralyzed and would never be able to stand from his wheelchair!
Damien followed my gaze toward the crutches.
“I can, but not for long,” he said calmly explaining to me.
“I still need help if I want to move around, like …
climbing stairs.”
Oh, Fuck me.
What the hell had I been thinking when I chose this restaurant?!
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What kind of absolute moron was I?
He must’ve struggled just to get up here, and I forced him to climb stairs?!
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!” God I felt so bad as the awful image of Damien struggling step by step just to get up here filled my mind.
“I’m such an idiot for forgetting something that important!”
But then again, why hadn’t he just said something about it?
When I texted him about the restaurant being on the rooftop, he didn’t protest at all, there wasn’t even a tiny little hint of complaint.
Goddamint!
He should have at least said something, Would it kill him to refuse?
Or at least suggest we eat on the ground floor?
“It’s alright, it wasn’t a big deal.
My staff are used to helping me,” Damien said clearly holding back his laughter.
Hearing his last words only made me feel even worse, “It’s not alright!
It’s not alright, okay?
You should just say something next time, like you don’t want to or you can’t do it!
Hell, if you feel bad about it, just come up with an excuse, you shouldn’t have to inconvenience yourself for other people!”
Fortunately, there were no other customers on the rooftop besides us, so no one could witness my dramatic outburst, even I couldn’t even tell whether it was caused by the wine or just me being naturally dramatic.
But why wasn’t there anyone else up here?
Based on the reviews I read online, this place was pretty much always crowded with visitors.
Yet for some reason, tonight I didn’t see a single other guest, even the first floor was empty.
I was sure I hadn’t reserved the entire restaurant for us, I didn’t even have enough money for that.
Well, maybe we just got lucky or something like that.
I cleared my throat slightly and finally decided to changed the topic.
“I spent a lot on my makeup today…
how does It look?
How do I look?”
Damien’s eyes lingered on me for a moment, as if he was really taking his time to think about it.
“You look …
Okay,” he said at last.
My jaw nearly hit the table.
Of all the words in the English language, that was the one he chose?!
I wanted to throw whatever I could find around me at him, or maybe just bury his face into the food in front of us.
What the fuck do you mean by okay?!
Alright, I gave up.
I fucking gave up!
This quest was absurdly hard!
I downed more glasses of wine until I was completely wasted.
By the end of dinner, Damien had no choice but to ask Mr.
Bubba and one of his aides to carry me to the car.
“No …
I want to be in the same car as my husband!” I protested, squirming as Mr.
Bubba gently tried to guide me inside the car.
Even though I was drunk out of my mind and barely able to think straight, one stubborn thought still clung to me: I could use the ride home to my advantage.
I would make sure he called me beautiful before we got home!
So the moment I plopped down beside him in the car, I turned my whole body toward Damien, my face just inches from his.
“Husband ….” I slurred, gripping his arm like it was the only thing keeping me upright.
“Tell me …
how do I look tonight?”
Damien glanced at me, his grey eyes were calm but a little wary, like he was already bracing himself for trouble.
“You look …
fine,” he said carefully.
Fine?!
I nearly exploded on the spot.
What the actual fuck?!
I was so mad I could just die, I felt like every single bone in my body was just boiling in anger, annoyance and complete utter frustration.
I didn’t spend almost three thousand dollars today just to be called fine!
I shook his arm stubbornly, my voice rising into a whine.
“Nooo, not fine!
Something else.
Say it properly!”