Weeks had gone by, Robert and Cora had several dates, they were really enjoying each other's company. Robert had asked if Cora wanted to meet Violet, but Cora wasn't ready for that confrontation. She was finally letting the incident with Mr. Bricker, slip to the back of her mind. But she wasn't steady enough to face Violet.

At Easter there was a huge charity event, a lot of companies were attending and had something for auction. Robert offered a look in the advertisement of a company. People were bidding, and Robert was loving every minute of this event. He loved it when companies worked together. He knew Harold had a stand to but wasn't able to leave his own stand to look if Cora may had come. He had heard Simon Bricker was also auctioning a painting, but he didn't see him yet. Maybe that was for the best.

The event was coming to a close, all the bidding was done. And everybody was enjoying a drink and talking business.

Cora had delayed her arrival at the event, she knew Mr. Bricker was there, and she wasn't sure how she would handle seeing him again. But she had promised Harold she would come. So, she walked over to his stand. She hadn't spotted Mr. Bricker yet, but she was aware he was somewhere in the room. "Cora, dear sister, you came, I wasn't sure if you were ready for it" Harold embraced her.

"I am still not sure if this was a good idea, but I have to see him one day, so why not here where there are a lot of people, it feels a little bit safer" Cora replied, "Did you see Robert?"

Harold smiled: "Go look for him, I can handle it here myself"

Cora walked away, looked over her shoulder and saw Harold still smiling at her. Both her brother and mother had changed after the incident. So, there was one good thing she got out of it.

Robert felt a hand brush over his back, while he was talking with a potential new costumer. He looked and saw Cora standing next to him. "I won't disturb you, I will come back later" he heard her saying and she walked on. He kept an eye on her, just to know where she was going, and how could he not look! She was dressed in purple pants, with a black top. When she walked you could see it was pants and not a skirt, but when she stood still it could also be a skirt. She looked stunning.

He saw her standing at the bar to get a drink, and a man stepped next to her. He touched her hip and he saw Cora stiffen up. Something was wrong, why was he touching her there, and why was Cora's face all white. He saw her stepping back, but the man held her back, his arm now around her waist, and then it clicked, this was Simon Bricker, how did he not recognize him earlier. Robert sprinted, without thinking, towards them.

He punched Simon in his face and pushed him away from Cora. Both fell to the ground, and he felt Simon struggling underneath him. He sat up and was ready to throw another punch, when he heard: "Stop it, please stop" it was Cora pulling on his vest. A crowd had gathered and he recognized Susan's face. It was full of disgust. He brushed Simon away, got op, straightened his clothes and walked to the men room.

Susan was following him. "You really think I want to marry someone like you? You can't do this, what's wrong with you. Just tell you mother it is off. I don't hear anything from you for months, and now this? No, we are done, you hear me, we are done"

Robert's ears were ringing, and he only thought, well good riddance, I will not miss you. He fully ignored Susan and got in a private stall. Where he scooped water in his face. There was a knock on the door. "Not now Susan, I don't care what you think or want, I will never marry you" he heard someone scraping their throat.

"I am happy you are not going to marry Susan, but can you please let me in"

He recognize her voice. It was Cora. Robert opened the door and saw her face, still white from what had happened, and the sparkle he saw just before in her eyes, was gone. "I am sorry Cora, I shouldn't had done that, but when I saw him touching you, my light went out and I reacted without thinking"

"It wasn't a smart move, but I love you for it. You saved me, and I don't care how you did it. I am thankful." Let me see your hand. Cora took his hand and looked at his knuckles, one was bleeding a little bit. Cora picked up a towel out of the basket standing on the sink, made it wet and cleaned his hand. "Can you tell me, who Susan is and why she thinks you are going to marry her, is she the one your mother wants you to marry?

Robert shrunk a little bit because his knuckles were hurting. "Yes, Susan is the one mama wants me to marry, but I can't, I know I want to be with you, I never felt anything like this before. And did you look at Susan? She looks like a troll next to you"

Cora chuckled: "You can't say that. But I must admit, her face looks like she hates everything in this world." She looked up at Robert's face, she felt all weak inside when she looked in his eyes. "I am really thankful you are not going to marry that woman" she gave him a kiss on his cheek, straightened his vest and said: "Come, we need to go. You need to clean up your stand and then I will bring you back home"

"Can you ask my assistant to clean up the stand, I will wait for you outside. I can't show my face in there right now."

Cora went inside to arrange it and told Harold she was going to bring Robert back home. Harold winked and said: "He is a good fighter"

Back at Robert's place, he asked if Cora would want to come up. He could make an easy dinner for two. Cora agreed, they spent the evening sitting at his kitchen table. Chatting about anything and everything.

After they cleared up the table and the dishwasher was running, Cora was standing in front of the sliding doors looking out. Robert stepped next to her.

"Come outside with me" he said after a few minutes, "from this apartment you have the best look over London"

He didn't lie, Cora thought, it was indeed beautiful, especially at night, all those lights everywhere. She leaned against his side and had wrapped her arm around him. "Thank you again for what you did, I didn't know what to do, without making a scene"

Robert laughed out loud: "So I made that scene for you"

Cora looked up and leaned in for a kiss, he answered her kiss passionately. He discovered her back with his hands. She was so thin, but muscular. He could feel her shoulder blades and the rounding of her shoulders. He stopped abruptly.

"What's wrong?" Cora asked.

"Can I do this? Can I touch you, are you really ok with it?"

"Robert, I know I am safe with you, and I want to feel you."

"Oh, Cora, I do love you, really I do." Before she could say anything, he started kissing her. He moved his tongue, checking if she was ok with it, but she answered fully, pressed her body against his and her hands were tightly gripping his back. He felt his body reacting, but suppressed it, this wasn't the time. They shared some more intense kisses, until both needed air.

"Robert, do you really mean that? Do you really love me, because I do, I love you, I wanna be with you"

Robert didn't answer , but picked her up and kissed her even more intense. "Was this answer enough" he asked.

Cora nodded. "Maybe it is time to go and meet your mother soon"