"Trust in me." Adam said. "Trust that I know what I"m doing."Elle felt an odd sense of security wash over her. She didn"t know if she would mess things up tomorrow, but she could believe that even if she did Adam would find a solution.
"Okay." She whispered.
"Good." Adam looked at his watch. "You"re not in a hurry to return home are you?"
Elle glanced at the time as well. It had been over an hour, but it was still quite early.
"Well I was scheduled to pace in my room at eight. And I have another breakdown scheduled for nine." She jested.
"I hope you can reschedule." Adam said, going along with her joke.
"What did you have in mind?" She asked.
"You"ll see." He said cryptically.
When the waitress came back around with the bill Elle tried to pay but Adam refused to let her.
"You paid for dinner last time." She argued. "You should let me pay this time."
"We"re out for dinner because of work related matters." Adam countered. "It"s only right that I pay."
Elle felt it would be awkward to keeping insisting to she relented and let him pay.
"I"ll definitely get the bill next time." She said under her breath.
"I"ll look forward to the next time then." Adam said with a crooked smile.
Elle put her head in her hands as she realized he heard what she said. Now it looked like she was expecting to go out with him again; she was thoroughly embarra.s.sed.
Adam chuckled. "Come on, let"s get going." He said as he got up.
Elle followed Adam back to the car. As they drove Elle tried to guess where they were going, but she couldn"t think of anything special in the direction they were heading in. Eventually they pulled into a gravel parking lot.
Elle got out of the car and looked around, they appeared to be at a park of sorts. The area was wooded, but the trees were spa.r.s.e. A lit stone pathway was leading away from the gravel lot they were in.
"Why are we here?" Elle asked.
"Let"s go for a walk." Adam replied as he stepped towards the stone pathway.
Elle followed Adam and they set off walking. Occasionally they pa.s.sed people walking in the opposite direction back to the cars. Elle looked around curiously. Although she lived in the city her entire life she had never seen this area before. She liked it, it was quite and relaxing, and the lights against the autumn leaves looked beautiful.
"Where does this path lead?" Elle asked.
"No where in particular."
Then why are we on it, Elle wondered. They walked a little further before she asked; "Do you go for walks often?"
"I go jogging some mornings, but I don"t really go for walks." Adam looked to Elle and saw her looking back at him curiously. "I thought it would be a good idea to walk after eating such a large dinner. We can"t have you being bloated tomorrow, Will might have a fit if you go in and can"t fit into your dress."
Elle smacked his arm. "Then don"t feed me so much in the first place!" She complained. She picked up her pace and started walking in front of Adam, but he easily caught up to her.
"Don"t be mad, I"m just joking." He said with a laugh.
But Elle began walking even faster. "I won"t walk with you anymore." She insisted.
"Fine then. I"ll go on ahead." Adam began taking longer strides. He quickly outpaced Elle, leaving her jogging to catch up.
"These are heeled boots, they"re hard to run in." She complained as she caught up to him.
Adam reached out and took her hand in his. "If we walk like this we"ll both be forced to keep pace with the other."
Elle was rendered speechless. Adams hand was much larger, Elle"s hand was encompa.s.sed by his. Elle looked down at her feet as they continued to walk; she didn"t know what sort of look she had on her face right now. Her long hair fell straight, hiding her red cheeks.
"Do you treat all your models this well." She asked faintly.
"No. From the start you were a special case."
The sun was setting, and the late November evening was cold. Yet the warmth of Adam"s hand seemed to radiate throughout her body. Despite the chilly air Elle felt incredibly warm.
Eventually it began to get too cold and too dark so they headed back to the car. Afterwards Adam took her to get something to warm themselves up with.
"You can treat me this time." He told her.
Elle quickly ran into the store with a smile on her face. She returned a few minutes later with two steaming cups of tea in her hand. They sat in the car while they drank and enjoyed a light conversation. Elle"s anxiety about tomorrow was already long forgotten.
Elle didn"t know how so much time pa.s.sed that night. They drove around for a little longer, and by the time they arrived back at her house it was already past ten o"clock.
"Thank you for tonight." She said sincerely as she got out of the car.
"It was my pleasure."
They parted and Elle staggered into the house, tired and longing for her bed. The house was empty and quite, she supposed everyone else had already gone to sleep. Elle returned to her own room quickly, changed her clothes, and stumbled into bed.
That night she slept undisturbed; she had no dreams, just a peaceful night of rest.