Things calmed down on the way to the restaurant. The ride there was quite nice. We talked about our days and it turned out Stefan's was quite interesting. He had some big meeting with a company in Japan and they wanted to co-operate and expand the business over there. When asked if he was going to have to move to Japan he answered "Are you kidding me? All they eat is Sushi! I wouldn't last five minutes." making me laugh and joke with him the whole way about how he would look really sexy in a kimono.

Arriving in a car park, I realised that I hadn't taken in where we were going. I was so enraptured in the conversation with Stefan that I had not realised the streets we had been passing or any streets signs indicating where abbots in London we were. The car park seemed quite smart so it wasn't somewhere ordinary we were going to. Getting out of the car, Stefan came over to my side to stand in front of me.

"Right we have two options. You can either go for my world or your world. Make your choice." What? I looked at his with a very confused expression.

"What are you on about? What do you mean your world or my world." I really wasn't getting what he on about here.

"Well when we met I told you that all I had ever known was my world and I would give up my world to have a life like yours with someone that I loved. You can now make your mind up. Would you like to see what it is like in my world...or would you like to stay in yours tonight and we can just go on a regular date?" He asked looking very nervous but I couldn't work out why. Was he expecting me to just pick his extravagant world and have him spend lots of money on me? Or was this a test? Either way I knew what I answer would be straight away.

Showing him a huge grin I said to him "Well... since all you have ever known is a life of luxury...let's go for my world." Gleaming, Stefan grabbed my hand and he walked me out of the car park. Turning round the corner I realised where we were. We are in Piccadilly Circus and The Ritz hotel was right in front of us! Pointing to it Stefan said

"If you had chosen my life that was where we were going to have dinner tonight." My heart sank a little. As much as I knew that I couldn't even afford a bottle of water in there, it would have been amazing to dine there. But I had made my choice and I was going to make the most of it.

"Come with me I know a really good place we can go." I said grabbing his hand. I walked with him for about ten minutes to the front of a small italian cafe.

"It's nothing special. Just somewhere I like to go." I say walking in and sitting down at a small table covered in a standard red and white checkered cloth. The sound of italian music played throughout the room from a small CD player in the corner and a girl came over to ask for drinks and gave us menus.

"I think it's perfect." He answers speaking for the first time since we arrived. "How did you find this place?"

"I was walking one day during my lunch break and visited it. I come in here now every chance I can."

"I love it here. It's quiet, no one around to bother us and... it's normal." He said taking my hand on the top of the table.

We ordered our food and started eating when Stefan asked me "So what was that all about earlier?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked

"When you said I might have been in the paper twice this week?" He asked. Oh no. In my head I was wrestling with the thought of telling him or the thought of making up some random nonsense so it won't bother him. In the end I thought to myself that if I didn't tell him, my conscience would be telling me otherwise later on. So I told him the truth.

"Oh don't worry it's nothing really. My boss asked how last night went and I told her the basics but it had gone round that I stayed at yours the night of the party so she asked and - of course- I told her nothing happened and I mentioned that I was going out with you again-in confidence I should add-tonight since she is one of my friends. But then she went on a rant and said I needed to write about tonight because it would be great for the magazine but I didn't want to because it would mean that I would be writing about something that is private and I didn't think that it was fair."

His face suddenly turned stone cold. Crap he didn't look okay with this. "Right" He answers a bit unconvincingly

"But it's fine. I managed to convince her that it wasn't fair and there is no article anymore. I promise. I would never do that to you. She said to me to not worry and that she would find a story elsewhere and to enjoy tonight." I blurted out a little too quickly. Stefan still looking a little unconvinced sighed.

"Yeah, well, it would not be the first time that this sort of thing happened. Undercover reporter, 2 years ago tried to do the same thing until I saw her hidden camera disguised as a button." I couldn't help the sad face I pulled when he told me that.

"Oh my God that is terrible! How could they do that to you?"

"Well that's what happens when you have your face in the tabloids. Everyone wants that one bit of information that they can twist and use to attempt to ruin your reputation that you've tried to build up. That's why my brother Damon doesn't make himself known as much as he can. We get no private life Elena." He answered looking at me slightly disappointed. I could tell that he still was not convinced that I was not looking for a story. Thinking it might prove my point if I got onto a more personal base, I weaved one of my hands into his spare one that was resting on the table and looked directly into his eyes to make sure my point came across.

"Please Stefan. You have to believe me. I would never do that to you. Yes I am a reporter but I don't want to really be doing this type of work. I would rather be writing about more serious things in the news rather than about some celebrity I don't quite care about. I am not out with you right now to make a story. I am out with you because I want to."

Looking at me clearly weighing up some thought in his head he nodded his head. "You swear you're not trying to get a story? This is your chance to come out clean here before I find anything on you" He joked

As much as I found his remark funny I had to make a stand. "How can I show you that I am not out for a story? I wanted to go out with you tonight because I had fun last night and I wanted to see you again."

I think that got through to him "I liked last night too... Okay I believe you Elena." He answered intertwining our fingers into a more of a relaxed position. "You know if you had picked my world tonight I think you would have liked it."

"Probably. But I thought you could do with a bit of normalcy. You say you never get it, so I wanted to give you it, even if it is for only an hour in a small cafe with a random girl you only met a few days ago."

"Well thank you. I quite like this normalcy thing going on here." He joked raising his drink "To having a normal night" making me laugh and clink my glass against his. It was nice to just relax for a change. Finishing our meals and having a mini argument over who paid for the bill (Stefan won on account that it was a date and it was the man's duty to pay - not that I was complaining much since I could barely afford rent as it was) and walked out towards the direction of the car.

"Thank you for this. Would you like to come back to mine for a bit?" Stefan asked while we were walking.

"Sure. I'd like that." I answered. As we walked I felt our hands collide against each other a few times. Thinking that I might as well go for it, the next time our hands collided while we walked together I grabbed his hand and intertwined our fingers. This was soon becoming my favourite place for my hands to be. It was comfortable and seemed right. Before I could finish enjoying the moment, I heard Stefan say to me quickly in a low, urgent voice.

"Elena you need to follow me now. Don't let go" And he started to break out into a jog. Following behind him running as fast as my 6 inch heels would let me, still holding his hand I looked around to access the situation. I suddenly saw a figure I recognised. Shit! It's one of the girls I normally see in the office with a camera! How did they know where I was? Luckily we weren't far from the car park and Stefan and I dove into the car and raced out towards the main road to discover a small group of photographers had appeared. I don't know how Stefan could drive away from the crowd because all I could see were the flashes from the cameras blinding my eyes.

We arrived at his house and all I could see were cars littering the street outside his house and people with those cameras flashing again and again as we got out of the car and ran into his house. How did the word get out that I was out with him? How did they find us? What on earth was Stefan going to think when we got in? We ran inside the house and made sure the door was locked. The look on his face was one of being upset and angry as he walked further into his corridor stroking both hands through his hair out of frustration.

"Why Elena?" Was all he asked me in a calm but unnerving manner when he turned to face me.

"Why what Stefan?" I felt to ask even though I knew where the conversation was going.

"Why did you lie to me?" He asked me again in that unsettling calm manner. It was like his character had turned cold. This was not the Stefan I had known over the last couple of days and I knew this was not going to be pretty.

"But I didn't lie to you. I promised you that I did not want a story and I still stand by that."

"Stop LYING to me Elena!" He shouted at me "How much are they offering you for this job eh? Pretend you're the girl who got the heart of the celebrity, date him for a while and then throw him in the trash after you have enough information for a story eh?"

"No it has never been like that I-"

"I don't believe you! All I wanted was normality. I thought I had that from you Elena. I told you that the last reporter got found out and here you are. Found out already by your own people. You let them know where we were going didn't you? Told them that you would take me somewhere remote so you could get the best photo opportunity?"

"No! Not at all! I know it looks like that but it must have been my boss! I don't know how she got hold of where we were going since it was a last minute decision but she knew we were going out today. For all we know it might have been the waitress in the cafe. I don't know Stefan. Either way I don't like this as much as you. I never wanted this to happen today and I'm sorry that it has. I promised you an normal date and this is not normal."

"You're right Elena. This is not normal at all! This is me and my fucked up life! This is someone who has every second of their day mapped out all over the headlines and then twisted to look like the bad guy! I don't want this life but I have it and I have to deal with it. You know all about it! You're one of the bloody culprits working for those magazines!" He shouted at me. I was still standing in front of the closed door and doing my best not to cry. I was watching this man that I like practically break in front of me and accuse me of setting this date up to get a story. I'm hurt by the accusation but to be honest it's all there in front of us both. It's not something I can't deny it does look like I planned it or like I could have planned it.

"Do you even like me Elena?" He asked with pain in his voice. My head which was currently staring down at the floor shot up to his with hurt written all over my face. "At least tell me that some of the effort was worth it?"

I look up at him and stare directly into eyes full of hurt. It made my heart melt to think that he thought of me this way. "Of course I do. I wouldn't have agreed to going out with you today otherwise."

"What about the other night when you stayed over then. Was that planned? When we kissed? Was that all part of the plan or a bonus?" He sneered. This time he had gone too far and I snapped.

"Are you listening to yourself Stefan? You saw the messages yourself. You knew what was going on with Caroline and Matt! You knew I could have gone back but you offered for me to stay here to save the embarrassment in the morning! And how dare you ask me if that kiss was a bonus and was everything planned. No it wasn't. NONE of this was planned. I wasn't expecting to have feelings for a guy I've only met a few times, let alone someone who is as wonderful as you!"

"Don't give me that 'I have feelings for you' crap unless you mean it Elena! There are photographers and journalists on my doorstop who will be there now for the next few days watching me and taking photos of me everytime I go in and out of the house! I have to put myself on lock down from work and let Damon cover everything that I can't over the internet and with conference calls! He gets the easier life because he is not the public face of the company. I got chosen for that when we started all of this and now look at me! I'm being followed by girls who don't even like me just so they can sell their story and I'm stuck in my house watching re-runs on tv until they all decide to go home because nothing is happening! Is that what you were expecting Elena? You wanted me to tell you all about living here? You wanted to know why I would give up all of this in a heart beat if given the chance? Well now you know! Go out and write that in your little story and get out of my house!" He shouted in my direction before walking towards the kitchen.

"No!" Was all I could say to that revelation which caused him to stop in his tracks. He turned around to face me. I was not going to give up this fight and I don't care if I was being stubborn.

"What did you just say?"

"No! I am not going anywhere. I don't care. I will stay here with you until we can talk about this like adults.

"Adults? What are we five? We are adults Elena. This is how we get things done around here! You don't even care about me so why should I care about fixing things with you?" He answered finishing in a calmer voice. "How do I even know you are telling me the truth about anything you are saying to me? Say if you were. What would happen next? You are still a reporter Elena. You are in the media as much as I am. We are going to be followed everywhere for this. How do I know you are not trying to pull a publicity stunt for your column using me as bait?"

Giving up on holding everything back, tears now poured down my cheeks from hearing Stefan practically pour his heart out, I started to walk towards him until we are almost face to face. "You are going to have to trust me." Was all I could say before I grabbed his face in both of my hands and kissed him softly on the lips. I felt a slight struggle from his end before he calmed down. I let go and moved my face from his. "That is how I feel about you."...