Chapter 6 – Unexpected Visits
588 Words
Aria POV
Lucien Devereux came back the next day.
And the day after that.
And the day after that too.
By the end of the week, everyone at Rosewood Bistro had noticed.
“He’s here again,” Mia whispered dramatically while peeking toward the entrance.
I didn’t bother looking up from the coffee machine.
“I can hear you,” I muttered.
“That man could eat at restaurants worth more than this entire building, yet he keeps coming here.” She narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously. “For some reason.”
I focused harder on the cups in front of me.
Because honestly?
I didn’t understand it either.
Every evening around seven, Lucien walked through the doors with his friends like clockwork. Sometimes they stayed for an hour. Sometimes longer.
But no matter how busy the restaurant became, his attention always found me.
Always.
It was unsettling.
Not because he behaved inappropriately.
Quite the opposite.
Lucien rarely flirted openly. He simply watched, observed, listened.
Like he was trying to understand me.
And somehow that felt even more dangerous.
“Table twelve,” my manager announced again.
Of course.
I grabbed my notepad and approached carefully.
Tonight, Lucien wore a black suit with the sleeves rolled slightly upward, exposing a silver watch around his wrist. His sharp features looked even colder than usual, but the moment his eyes landed on me, something softened slightly.
That tiny change shouldn’t have affected me.
Yet it did.
“Good evening,” I greeted professionally.
Damien grinned immediately. “See? He’s alive again.”
I frowned in confusion.
Theo sighed dramatically. “Lucien spent months acting emotionally dead before meeting you.”
“Traitor,” Lucien said calmly.
Xavier laughed loudly. “You should’ve seen his face abroad. Miserable.”
I tried not to smile.
Tried and failed.
Lucien noticed instantly.
His gaze lingered on my face for a second too long.
“You smiled,” he said quietly.
Heat rushed into my cheeks.
“So?”
“So you should do it more often.”
My heart betrayed me again.
Damien placed a hand dramatically over his chest. “Our Lucien is speaking like a human being. This is emotional.”
Lucien ignored him completely.
“What did you draw today?” he asked me instead.
I blinked.
“How do you know I draw every day?”
“The pencil.”
Confused, I touched behind my ear automatically.
Another pencil.
I hadn’t even realized I put one there before rushing to work.
Lucien’s eyes darkened slightly with amusement.
“There it is again.”
I suddenly felt shy for reasons I couldn’t explain.
“It helps me think.”
“What do you draw?” he asked.
“Clothes mostly.”
“Designs?”
I nodded slowly.
Lucien leaned back slightly, studying me carefully. “You want to become a designer.”
It wasn’t a question.
Something about hearing my dream spoken aloud made me unexpectedly emotional.
Most people dismissed it immediately.
A silly fantasy.
An impossible ambition for someone like me.
But Lucien said it seriously.
Like it mattered.
“Yes,” I admitted softly.
Silence settled briefly around the table.
Then Lucien spoke again.
“You will.”
The certainty in his voice stunned me.
No hesitation.
No doubt.
Just belief.
And somehow… that scared me more than rejection ever could.
Because people only believed in things they planned to keep close.
And men like Lucien Devereux never stayed in the lives of girls like me forever.
- Writer
