CHAPTER 11 - THE DATE (PART 2)
Sydney's eyes grew even wider as she took everything in. The terrace was about the size of an average room, but seemed much more spacious. Old wooden beams with green vines woven around them rested on supports, giving the impression of a "roof" without blocking out the evening sky, which was dusted with pearly-white stars. More hanging baskets hung from the beams and various other plants surrounded the impressive centrepiece - a small, marble, candlelit table, set for two, complemented by two elegant chairs and a silk table-cloth.
Syd, suddenly realising that her mouth had dropped open, closed it and looked over at Vaughn, who had made his way to the end of the terrace and was leaning on the red brick wall, admiring the view over the ocean.
Vaughn noticed Sydney beside him and turned to face her. 'God, she's beautiful' he thought. Her dress fit her extremely well and clung to just the right places and her hair was swept off her face with only a few soft wisps hanging down to frame it. Pure beauty was radiating off her, and the waves were hitting him hard. "Am I dreaming?" Vaughn unintentionally thought out loud. In reply he felt a soft pinch on his arm. "Hey," he said playfully, feigning that he was hurt. "Well, you thought you were dreaming," Sydney said just as playfully, "I was just proving that you weren't - this is real." She gave him one of those remarkable dimpled-smiles and Vaughn quietly sighed. 'Good job Michael, you've fallen for her so hard your heartbeat almost triples every time she smiles - and the meal hasn't even started!' he thought, this time remembering not to say it out loud.
Hearing Vaughn's sigh, Sydney immediately tensed up and a worried expression made its way onto her beautiful face. "What's wrong Vaughn? I heard you sighing, is this all ok?" she asked him softly. "It was a content sigh, don't worry Syd, I was just thinking how perfect this is and how lucky I am to be doing this with you" Vaughn replied tenderly, and then added teasingly, "You didn't think for one second that I was disappointed in what you've set up? Did you?" Sydney looked down at an unidentifiable piece of dirt on the floor, which had suddenly become immensely interesting and sheepishly nodded 'yes'
"Sydney, I could never be disappointed with you or anything you do. Like I said, you are the most beautiful, amazing, strong person I know. Never doubt that" Vaughn reassured gently and then suddenly realised that maybe he was being a bit to romantic for the 'first date'.
Sydney was truly touched by his words and for about the 500th time in her life, was still stunned at how he could always say the right thing to her. She knew she was still blushing after the 'beautiful' comment but didn't care. "Vaughn, thank you" she whispered, gazing into his deep green eyes for just a second, and then returning her gaze to the ground, afraid that if she looked at those eyes any longer she might get lost in them forever. Sydney could feel tears taking their usual place in her own eyes - a not so uncommon occurrence in her life, the only difference was, now, they were tears of happiness.
Vaughn must have seen her eyes glistening with unshed tears, for suddenly, she felt the strong, muscular arms of her handler wrapped gently around her. His embrace was so solid and comforting and she felt so safe and protected in his arms, yet it was still all so gentle - another thing which amazed her about Michael Vaughn.
All too soon, their loving embrace came to an end and the two made their way to the table, noticing that dinner was just being served.
"Mmmmmmmmmm," Sydney murmured out of pure delight, "this smells wonderful." She smiled at the chef, who smiled back and then proceeded to leave, along with the butler who had just poured drinks. "I agree," added Vaughn, before taking a sip of his chardonnay. "And this is just the starter," added Sydney with another smile. She looked down at their plates which housed half an avocado, filled with prawns and seafood sauce; the whole dish decorated with sprigs of parsley and decoratively arranged lemon slices.
They ate quietly for the rest of the meal, exchanging only glances and wide grins every time a new dish arrived at their table. Talk was minimal, only a few childhood anecdotes scattered between compliments (mostly to her) and deep gazes. There just seemed no need to chat all the way through this exquisite meal when they could convey all their emotions through their eyes. However, even through the small amount of conversation, Sydney realised that Vaughn knew so much more about her then she knew about him and silently made a promise to herself that she would ask him all the things she wanted to know later, like - what his favourite colour was? What his school was like? Whether he had siblings, who he shared his first kiss with...ok, maybe the last one wouldn't be so appropriate given that it may well lead to discomfort and something she wasn't sure if they were ready for yet.
The best 2 hours of her life sadly came to an end after the most delicious dessert of fruit sorbet. They had both purposely eaten slowly, to prolong the whole experience, neither wanting it to stop - but it had to sometime. 'Not that this is the end of the night' Sydney thought with a smile. They stayed seated for a while longer, finishing off the wine and talking a little bit more then they had during dinner but decided to go for a long walk on the beach to talk properly - both still afraid of cameras or bugs.
Vaughn was the first one to stand up. He walked over to Sydney, and pulled out her chair so she could stand easily. 'Oh, he is such a gentleman' Sydney thought lovingly.
"So Miss Bristow, would you care to accompany me for a moonlit stroll along the beach?" asked Vaughn with a playful twinkle in his eye.
"Certainly Mr. Vaughn," replied Sydney in the same tone of voice as he had used.
So they made their way down another set of steps, just like the ones at the villa's entrance, which led right down onto the beach. Sydney's strappy, very high-heeled shoes were impossible to walk in on normal ground, let alone on sand, so she carefully took them off, leaning on Vaughn for support.
Once that small task was completed, Vaughn and Syd were free to gently stroll along the soft sand under the star-filled black velvet sky.
'This really is heaven' thought Sydney again for the millionth time that night, before taking Vaughn's hand and setting off along the deserted beach.
Sydney's eyes grew even wider as she took everything in. The terrace was about the size of an average room, but seemed much more spacious. Old wooden beams with green vines woven around them rested on supports, giving the impression of a "roof" without blocking out the evening sky, which was dusted with pearly-white stars. More hanging baskets hung from the beams and various other plants surrounded the impressive centrepiece - a small, marble, candlelit table, set for two, complemented by two elegant chairs and a silk table-cloth.
Syd, suddenly realising that her mouth had dropped open, closed it and looked over at Vaughn, who had made his way to the end of the terrace and was leaning on the red brick wall, admiring the view over the ocean.
Vaughn noticed Sydney beside him and turned to face her. 'God, she's beautiful' he thought. Her dress fit her extremely well and clung to just the right places and her hair was swept off her face with only a few soft wisps hanging down to frame it. Pure beauty was radiating off her, and the waves were hitting him hard. "Am I dreaming?" Vaughn unintentionally thought out loud. In reply he felt a soft pinch on his arm. "Hey," he said playfully, feigning that he was hurt. "Well, you thought you were dreaming," Sydney said just as playfully, "I was just proving that you weren't - this is real." She gave him one of those remarkable dimpled-smiles and Vaughn quietly sighed. 'Good job Michael, you've fallen for her so hard your heartbeat almost triples every time she smiles - and the meal hasn't even started!' he thought, this time remembering not to say it out loud.
Hearing Vaughn's sigh, Sydney immediately tensed up and a worried expression made its way onto her beautiful face. "What's wrong Vaughn? I heard you sighing, is this all ok?" she asked him softly. "It was a content sigh, don't worry Syd, I was just thinking how perfect this is and how lucky I am to be doing this with you" Vaughn replied tenderly, and then added teasingly, "You didn't think for one second that I was disappointed in what you've set up? Did you?" Sydney looked down at an unidentifiable piece of dirt on the floor, which had suddenly become immensely interesting and sheepishly nodded 'yes'
"Sydney, I could never be disappointed with you or anything you do. Like I said, you are the most beautiful, amazing, strong person I know. Never doubt that" Vaughn reassured gently and then suddenly realised that maybe he was being a bit to romantic for the 'first date'.
Sydney was truly touched by his words and for about the 500th time in her life, was still stunned at how he could always say the right thing to her. She knew she was still blushing after the 'beautiful' comment but didn't care. "Vaughn, thank you" she whispered, gazing into his deep green eyes for just a second, and then returning her gaze to the ground, afraid that if she looked at those eyes any longer she might get lost in them forever. Sydney could feel tears taking their usual place in her own eyes - a not so uncommon occurrence in her life, the only difference was, now, they were tears of happiness.
Vaughn must have seen her eyes glistening with unshed tears, for suddenly, she felt the strong, muscular arms of her handler wrapped gently around her. His embrace was so solid and comforting and she felt so safe and protected in his arms, yet it was still all so gentle - another thing which amazed her about Michael Vaughn.
All too soon, their loving embrace came to an end and the two made their way to the table, noticing that dinner was just being served.
"Mmmmmmmmmm," Sydney murmured out of pure delight, "this smells wonderful." She smiled at the chef, who smiled back and then proceeded to leave, along with the butler who had just poured drinks. "I agree," added Vaughn, before taking a sip of his chardonnay. "And this is just the starter," added Sydney with another smile. She looked down at their plates which housed half an avocado, filled with prawns and seafood sauce; the whole dish decorated with sprigs of parsley and decoratively arranged lemon slices.
They ate quietly for the rest of the meal, exchanging only glances and wide grins every time a new dish arrived at their table. Talk was minimal, only a few childhood anecdotes scattered between compliments (mostly to her) and deep gazes. There just seemed no need to chat all the way through this exquisite meal when they could convey all their emotions through their eyes. However, even through the small amount of conversation, Sydney realised that Vaughn knew so much more about her then she knew about him and silently made a promise to herself that she would ask him all the things she wanted to know later, like - what his favourite colour was? What his school was like? Whether he had siblings, who he shared his first kiss with...ok, maybe the last one wouldn't be so appropriate given that it may well lead to discomfort and something she wasn't sure if they were ready for yet.
The best 2 hours of her life sadly came to an end after the most delicious dessert of fruit sorbet. They had both purposely eaten slowly, to prolong the whole experience, neither wanting it to stop - but it had to sometime. 'Not that this is the end of the night' Sydney thought with a smile. They stayed seated for a while longer, finishing off the wine and talking a little bit more then they had during dinner but decided to go for a long walk on the beach to talk properly - both still afraid of cameras or bugs.
Vaughn was the first one to stand up. He walked over to Sydney, and pulled out her chair so she could stand easily. 'Oh, he is such a gentleman' Sydney thought lovingly.
"So Miss Bristow, would you care to accompany me for a moonlit stroll along the beach?" asked Vaughn with a playful twinkle in his eye.
"Certainly Mr. Vaughn," replied Sydney in the same tone of voice as he had used.
So they made their way down another set of steps, just like the ones at the villa's entrance, which led right down onto the beach. Sydney's strappy, very high-heeled shoes were impossible to walk in on normal ground, let alone on sand, so she carefully took them off, leaning on Vaughn for support.
Once that small task was completed, Vaughn and Syd were free to gently stroll along the soft sand under the star-filled black velvet sky.
'This really is heaven' thought Sydney again for the millionth time that night, before taking Vaughn's hand and setting off along the deserted beach.