Chapter 341: A Date in the Outside World

After the waiter took our orders, we were left alone again, and I couldn’t keep myself from smiling like a fool.

"It’s been a while since we came out for dinner like this," I said reminiscently.

"You’re right. I’ll try to take you out more often from now on," Hayden willingly offered.

My eyes widened in astonishment at his promise. I guess this meant that the tense situation between the two gang had improved already.

"Are things…better?" I dared to ask softly.

"Sort of. We’re trying to avoid direct conflict and confrontations while keeping the relationship with our clients safe. In the end it is up to the clients who they decide to do business with. No partnership with Silva is being considered unless you’re still wondering," Hayden explained casually.

"I see…" I mumble softly.

"Don’t worry too much. I want you to stay out of it," Hayden said sternly before I got too curious.

"Ok. Returning back outside would be good…" I whispered hopefully.

"Have you figured out what you want to do then?" Hayden asked as I felt his eyes on me.

Well, I had my art career now which I have been working hard on. If I can go out and about again like normal, then perhaps meeting my clients face-to-face would be a good step forward and maybe…

"Maybe I can open my own art gallery of sorts. A small one. I’ll also be able to meet my clients face-to-face to discussion commissions and I can paint them live too. If I have time, maybe I can go back to teach a little at the school…if they’ll still have me that is…" I replied wistfully after some thought.

Now that I was voicing it out loud, I realized more than ever before how much I really yearned to return to the outside world. There were just so many things that I wanted to do that couldn’t be done with me locked up in Hayden’s mansion no matter how supportive he wanted to be. It wasn’t just my career, there were many things that I wanted to do with Hayden outside too.

"Should we go to the amusement park again?" I asked teasingly.

Hayden’s eyes lit up visibly before he smiled brightly at me. He must have recalled some good memories because that was exactly what I did.

"Maybe we should," he said with a nod.

"After we get married…let’s catch up on some dates, ok?" I suggested invitingly.

How our relationship started was far from normal and I wasn’t even sure when our relationship started. However, none of that mattered anymore, we are getting married soon and what is important is living in the moment right now. I couldn’t help but wonder what if anything would change after we got married.

"Take me somewhere fun this time," Hayden replied teasingly.

"Leave it to me!" I volunteered enthusiastically.

Last time it was Hayden who took the initiative to take us to the amusement park. This time, I’ll make sure to surprise him with a cool date spot. I didn’t have any decent ideas in mind yet, but I still had time to think about it. Hayden started laughing a little at my excited reaction.

"Oh, right. My wedding dress is being tailored but what about your suit and other parts of your outfit?" I asked when my thoughts returned to wedding preparations.

"I have my regular tailor. You don’t have to worry about it," Hayden replied casually.

That made sense.

"Should we try our outfits on together just to make sure that we sort of match?" I suggested.

Hayden gave me a look that told me that he clearly thought that I was immature, or at least, my suggestion was immature.

"What’s wrong with me wanting to check that our outfit makes us look like a couple?" I asked before I started pouting.

"We can try it on together when you try on your dress for the final fitting. Ok?" Hayden said after deciding to give in.

"Yay! That’s perfect. Thank you so much…Hayden…" I thanked him before smiling at him sweetly.

Maybe it was just me, but I believed that Hayden had been softer on me as of late. He let me do things my way and he didn’t get angry that often anymore. He smiled more often too, and our conversation tended to be smooth and without conflict. I could talk to him more casually and we even laughed together more often.

"Why are you smiling?" Hayden asked as his eyes narrowed suspiciously at me.

"Nothing…" I replied but I couldn’t erase the smile from my lips.

…

Halfway through the week, I was already too overwhelmed with going through all tasks required as part of our wedding preparations. I never truly appreciated the value of having a wedding planner and organizer until then.

Lucy came back as promised with a full plan and graphic images of what our wedding would be like, and I was blown away by how magical everything was in her proposal and the photos that she sent.

"Looks good," Hayden said as he peered over my shoulder to stare down at my laptop screen.

"You really think so?" I asked, overjoyed by his words.

Hayden actually said the word ’good’ and coming out of his mouth, that just sounded like the highest praise of all. It was the right decision to hire Lucy to help us out. I stared at the warm tone flower display that Lucy had coupled with gold metal structure that resembled gates. It created the atmosphere for a flower garden but with autumn colors.

Flowers didn’t bloom during autumn but that just added to the magical feel of it all.

Personally, I thought that it was a bit much but I didn’t want to voice my concern because I knew that it was hard to get Hayden to comment on anything. If he likes it then, I was more than happy to go with whatever it was.

"Yea," Hayden replied before he turned to walk away.

He seemed satisfied with the progress that the organizer was making and because of that, I was extremely satisfied as well.

--To be continued…