Chapter 26 Under The Starry Sky
"These both dishes are really delicious," Chris praised while eating a dish from the bowl, it was a white creamy rice dish known as risotto.
With its gentle and sweet flavors, it was a really nice side dish to be served with the heavy lasagna.
"I agree, they are really well made," Aria nodded in praise too.
"I think I will bring Cassie to eat this too, since she wants to be a chef it\'s going to be a great experience for her,"
"Ohh, Cassie is your younger sister, right? Did she and your twin sister like the dresses I picked yesterday?"
"Yeah, they absolutely loved it and are forcing me to bring you home and meet them,"
"I would like to meet them too,"
...
Chris and Aria kept chatting lightly while the waitress came again holding a tray in her hands.
"Sir, ma\'am, the chef has tried a new recipe today, he requests you to give your thoughts on it, please enjoy your food," this time she didn\'t pull any tricks and placed two dishes in front of Aria and Chris.
It was a dish kept in a round dessert glass and its fluffy texture invited the person to pick the spoon and just dive right into the dish.
The waitress informed them the dish\'s name was Red Jam Souffle, and then she turned around to leave, giving full privacy to the young lovebirds.
Aria was mesmerized by the fluffy texture and she didn\'t hesitate to cut the souffle with her spoon.
A red-colored jam seeped out of the small cut, looking like a beautiful waterfall falling from a serene hill.
The red jam was like glittering, beckoning the customer to not hesitate and taste its divine flavors.
Aria bit into the soft souffle that melted into her mouth, filling her mouth with sweet and gentle flavor, a perfect dessert for the palate.
....
"It\'s getting quite late, would you like to stay over at my house?" Chris asked shyly while sipping on his wine, "My sisters wanted to meet you too," he tempted Aria by using his sisters as bait.
Even if Max hasn\'t said it, Chris wasn\'t stupid to let such a chance of closing the gaps go away, but, Max had already advised, thus steeling his resolve to ask this question.
Aria hearing that blushed, she checked the time and indeed it was about 9 PM already. It was late but not that much, she could easily deny it if she wanted...
"I-I want to meet your sisters aswell..." Aria muttered softly while lowering her head to avoid eye contact.
"Perfect! Do you want anything else to eat or drink?" Chris cheered but didn\'t show too much excitement on his face and changed the topic.
If he had shown too much excitement then Aria might have began to doubt his motives and maybe even call off the house \'visiting\'!
"No," Aria shook her head and Chris called for the bill since it was indeed getting late.
\'Damn, 1k just for dinner...\' Chris thought in his mind after seeing the bill, but of course, he didn\'t show the shock on his face and paid the bill.
"You better drive slow, or I am not sitting behind you," Aria warned with a soft blush after remembering Chris\'s wild driving a couple of hours ago.
"Of course," Chris smiled warmly in response.
A Few Moments Later...
"I HATE YOU, BASTARD!" Aria shouted as she clung to Chris\'s body who was grinning and showing off his wild driving.
*Skid*
Chris however suddenly drifted the bike to the side.
"I wanted to show you this scenery, the dark sky that glitters with the stars, I once came here with my parents," Chris spoke in nostalgia while staring at the vast sky that cast its serene glow over the world.
"... It\'s beautiful," Aria was suddenly caught off guard by his drift and she looked at the sky he was pointing to, mesmerized.
"Your parents?" Aria asked recklessly, causing a sad nostalgic look to appear on Chris\'s face.
"They... are... no more," Chris got off the bike and stared at the sky, leaning on his bike.
"I-I am really sorry..." Aria apologized after seeing his pained look, somehow that face stung her heart, and she never want to see him like that again.
"It\'s okay, haha, I didn\'t bring you here to get emotional," Chris chuckled and buried his raging feelings of grief.
"Hm~Then why did you bring me here for?" Aria took the cue and giggled playfully, acting like the last conversation never happened.
"Hmm," Chris smiled seductively and looked into her eyes, his face leaning closer to her again.
"I like you, to be honest, it was a love at first sight," Chris confessed, still looking deep into her eyes.
"A-Ah..." Aria blushed beet red hearing the direct proposal and tried to break the eye contact, but,
Chris gently held her chin and forced her to keep looking into his eyes...and gave an ultimatum, "You either say no, or I will take it as silent approval."
\'Yes,\' Aria murmured in her mind and closed her eyes, giving a silent approval.
Chris\'s hormones raged having her face so close and her eyes closed, she was like pulling him in closer to just close the eyes and let the magic happen, leaving it all to the subconscious.
Chris gulped down his saliva and closed his eyes too...
In the dim moonlight and under the beautiful starry sky, the new couples were born.
"Mhm~" Aria moaned as she felt a pair of lips against her own soft lips, she tried to make some movement like the other pair of lips, both were clumsy and awful at it.
But, somehow neither backed down, no matter how clumsy they were, they didn\'t hate it. They kept going at it with their inexperienced skills.
"Haah... I like you, Aria." Chris sighed in pleasure while looking into Aria\'s eyes, falling for her more and more with every passing second!
"Mm," Aria made a short nasal sound, too embarrassed to say a word.
Chris smiled at her embarrassment, finding it pretty cute. He gently tugged at her and sat her back on the bike and turned it on, not saying a word and letting the silence speak.
...
Ding Dong
"Chris! How did the date go?! Did you get de...nied..." Cathy opened the door with a smug smile, looking forward to teasing Chris, but when her eyes met with Aria\'s, she swallowed all her words back.
"Aria wanted to meet you two, she wanted some feedback on the dresses she selected. And~ No I didn\'t get denied." Chris spoke the first line loudly so Cassie who was watching TV can hear him.
But, for the second line, he especially whispered them in Cathy\'s ears with a cocky smirk.
"Please come in," Chris invited Aria politely and entered beside her.
"It\'s a really nice apartment! Way better than my hostel room," Aria praised after stepping into the house.
"Consider it as your own," Chris smiled and by this time, Cassie had also paused the movie and ran over to her big bro to see his choice from up close.
"This cute girl is my little sister, Cassie," Chris ruffled Cassie\'s hair and introduced lightly, knowing that Aria will deal with the rest by herself.
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A/N - I know I am pacing the story a bit too slow, so, please just keep up with slow pacing a little more till end of this arc , I will fix it in second arc.