Cora had changed her clothes several times already, but she couldn't decide what to wear. She wanted to look beautiful, but not too eager. Her final choice was a green dress, it reached all the way to the floor, and when she moved, it moved around her body like a summer breeze. She felt comfortable in it.

She had texted Robert that same day, and he had suggested going out this Friday. He knew a place where they served the best cocktails, but it wasn't overly crowded with upper-class. She had nervous butterflies in her stomach, but was also very excited to really meet Robert, he seemed like a nice gentleman. Cora got in the taxi and enjoyed the ride, it was always nice to see London in the evening, there was a different vibe in the city.

When her father had told the family they were moving to London, to set up their business there, she was in shock. How could he take them to a country on the other side of the ocean, she had all her friends in Newport. She had struggled for a long time, but the years went by and she fell in love with the city, although making friends was hard. Once they knew she was a Levinson, the upper-class mothers were looking down on her, they were American money and that wasn't good enough or something.

Cora never understood this sentiment. But she had made some friends, and all the sons of those mothers didn't mind she was American, although she didn't like the way they looked at her. They all saw her as a trophy wife, so they could brag at parties about her. What if Robert also just wanted her as a trophy wife, she didn't think of that, what did she know about him? Beside he was a Crawley and CEO of Abbey Advertisements.

She abandoned this thought when she arrived at The Artesian. Robert was standing on the curbside, wearing dark trousers and a white shirt, it was snuck around his upper body, and Cora could see he worked out, but he wasn't only muscles. He was just a little bit taller then she herself was, it was nice to have a taller man, she could wear her heels without towering over him.

Robert couldn't stop smiling when he saw Cora step out of the taxi, she was stunning, and that green of her dress was mesmerising. He put out his hand to help her, her hand was small and soft, like he had noticed the other day in her office. He saw a light smile on her face and said: "Good to see you again, Miss. Levinson, how are you doing"

"It is good to see you Mr. Crawley" answered Cora back while she took his hand and let him guide her inside.

Robert had arranged to sit at a table in the back, so they could sit and talk without being seen by everybody, he didn't want to be disturbed. The hours went bye, they had a lovely dinner, Cora laughed about his jokes and he listened to what she had to say. She had told him she would love to do something with art, but she was working at her family business, and they needed her. Robert saw a little frown on her forehead when she talked about the business.

"Can I get you two another drink, maybe I can suggest for the lady, The Butterfly and for you theBee Sloe?" The waiter asked. Robert looked at Cora: "Are you in for another one?

Cora could feel the alcohol already affecting her body but agreed on another drink.

"Miss Levinson, am I right that your family is originally American?" Robert asked.

"I will only tell you if you start to call me Cora." Cora smiled, she felt she was flirting with Robert, she couldn't help herself. He was listening to her and made her feel at ease, she never had this feeling before and she indulged herself in it.

Robert's cheeks went red for a second. "Ok, Cora, you can call me Robert" Robert noticed how easy her name was on his lips, with Susan he was still struggling to call her Susan, even after all their meetings, but here he was with Cora, in a setting he would normally only go to with friends. He was truly enjoying himself and her company. The hours went by much too fast, he offered to bring her home. He noticed she was a little bit drunk, and he wanted to be sure she got home safely.

Cora accepted his offer to share a taxi and they sat together on the backseat, she felt all rosy next to him, she knew she better had not drank that last cocktail, but she wanted the drink, just to be longer in his presence. She could smell his cologne, and she quite liked it. How was it possible that she felt this content sitting next to him, they only just had their first official meeting, well no, she should call this a proper date. But it felt like she knew him for much longer.

The taxi stopped in front of Cora's house. Robert hurried out and opened the door for her, she leaned in for a kiss but Robert kissed her cheek and said good night. He made sure she was inside before he got back in the car.

Robert almost kissed her on the lips, but he could hold it in, and he had kissed her cheek instead. He watched her walk back inside, the way her hips moved, did something with his body, but he ignored the feeling, he also had one drink too many. He let the taxi take him home, where he fell into the best sleep since a long time.

He woke up from the ringing of his cellphone, and his heart jumped, was this Cora? He picked up the phone to see: Mama. He sat up and answered. "Why did I hear that you went out with a woman last night, other than Susan" Violet shouted in the phone.

This woke him up immediately, and his dream with Cora next to him slipped away. Robert sighed, he didn't see anybody there he knew, but gossip runs fast in these circles. He cleared his throat: "Indeed I was out with Miss Levinson last night, she is the sister of Mr. Levinson, you remember him, we had a meeting with him last Wednesday?" He tried to sound as neutral as possible.

"I don't care who she is, she isn't Susan, we made arrangements with Susan's parents, you can't abandon her Robert, I want you at my place this afternoon to discuss this escapade"

Robert put down his phone all confused and a little bit angry, he had such a lovely evening, he never had met a woman so interesting as Cora. She listened to him, but she also had enough to tell herself. She was different, she seemed to love live and make the best out of it, and here he was forced to marry Susan. The opposite of Cora, it was like black and white, no Cora wasn't black or white, she was all the colors of the rainbow.

On the other side of London, a similar scene was happening. Martha was standing in Cora's kitchen and was yelling about how she betrayed Mr. Bricker and she was lucky if he even wanted to see her again. There was already talk about their marriage and here she was going out with another man. Cora was rubbing her temples, she had a headache, and this shouting wasn't helping. Why did her mother force her in to an unhappy marriage?

"Mum!, mama" she carried on in a softer voice, "I had a lovely evening with Mr. Crawley, you might know him from Abbey Advertisements. He is the CEO of the company he took over after his father's dead. Abbey Advertisements is well known for its branding of smaller companies, and they want to work with our firm. Harold and Mr. Crawley had already several meetings"

Cora could see on her mother's face she was getting interested, Cora knew that naming Robert's company would help. Of course it meant more to her mother if she married into the real upper-class where the big names were. She had settled for Mr. Bricker, because he was a well-known name all over the country, but Abbey Advertisements was also known overseas. It made her sick that her mother was like this, why was it always about being known and being important, she didn't care if Cora was happy.

"Cora, darling, tell me more about this Mr. Crawley.

Cora decided to put her anger aside and poured a cup of tea for herself and her mother and sat down to tell her mother everything. She left the part about being attracted to Robert out of her story. While she had waited for the water to boil, she had sent Robert a text: Had an amazing night last night, miss you already xxx Cora.