"You wanna go out for dinner?"
She suggested to take his mind off things.
"Absolutely."
He said.
"I know a great place, and it's close to here."
"What should I wear?"
"Something nice."
He smiled suspiciously and went in his room to change. Ariadne went to the guest room and opened her suitcase. She looked and looked but nothing was to her liking, if she wanted to mesure up to Arthur and his nice suits, she really had to go shopping. She sighed and picked out a burgundy skirt with a baby blue blouse, she found the outfit bland and worn out but it was the best she had at the moment. Then she closed her suitcase back up and went to the closet to store it inside. When she opened the door though, she found a dress. She thought it was beautiful and decided that it was much nicer than her outfits. She slid it off the hanger and put the dress on. It was wine red. It had short sleeves, an open back, a black belt and a full knee length skirt and it fit her wonderfully. It went great with her black heels. She put her hair in a half up ponytail and walked out of her room. Arthur was already downstairs so she walked down the stairs to join him. He was in his usual three piece and amazingly enough, his tie matched her dress. When he saw her, he immediately noticed the dress.
"Where did you get the dress?"
He asked, and suddenly, Ariadne thought he was mad that she had gone through the closet.
"I-I found it in the closet, it was nicer than my clothes. I can go change if you want..."
"No, no. You look beautiful, it's just-that dress, that dress was my mom's. I saw her wearing it in pictures."
"Seriously, I can go change if it brings back difficult memories."
"Don't, you're breathtaking. Let's go."
He told her and she wondered how he managed to stay so calm after telling her something like that, she certainly wasn't calm. He hooked his arm through hers and they walked to the restaurant. There was live music and she loved it. They were sat near a window and could watch the setting sun, it was beautiful.
"What about you? Where did you grow up?"
Arthur asked the architect.
"In Vancouver, with my great aunt. My parents passed away when I was young too."
"You're Canadian?"
He asked, surprised.
"Yeah, so?"
She retorted suddenly defensive about her heritage.
"Nothing."
He smiled and she chuckled.
"Do you have friends, Arthur?"
She asked, genuinely curious.
"Well I have you don't I? And Cobb and his kids?"
"Cobb's kids are your friends? That's a little sad."
"Well, they're much more tolerable than most people I know. Actually, I'm Phillipa's godfather."
"Aw, that's cute. I bet you spoil her rotten."
Ariadne said, a smile pulling at her lips as she made the wine in her glass spin slightly.
"Only way I know how."
He smiled cheekily. They ate and conversed some more, they learned a lot about each other. Granted Arthur had read her file so he knew she was 23 and she was studying architecture in Paris but he still learned a lot. She learned he was 30 and loved chocolate and dogs, he learned that she liked those things too. They laughed and joked around and soon the dinner was over. He payed the bill and she started to get up but he stopped her.
"Hold on, the best part of the night is coming."
"What?"
"Just sit down for a second."
She looked at him suspiciously and sat back down. Within seconds, waiters were picking up tables, staking them up and covering them with curtains while others were hiding the chairs under the curtains. People started to get up and Arthur held his hand out for Ariadne to take.
"Arthur, what's going on?"
"What does it look like? We're gonna dance, now come on!"
She laughed at his enthusiasm and grabbed his hand, following him to the dance-floor. The first song started and he lead her through the dance, he was a very good dancer.
"I didn't know you could dance!"
She exclaimed over the loud music as other couples twirled around them.
"It's something that very few people get to witness. You should consider yourself lucky."
"Oh, I do."
She assured him. He laughed and they danced the night away. It was dark out when they started walking back to his house. Ariadne shivered.
"Here, take my jacket."
He offered, being the gentleman he was.
"Thanks."
Ariadne smiled as he put his jacket on her shoulders. They got back to his house and both went in their bedrooms.
"Good night, Ari."
The nickname made her smile.
"See you in the morning."
She told him and they closed their doors.
It was the middle of the night when Ariadne first woke up. She woke up in a jump and hit her head on the headboard. It barely took a second for Arthur to come running in with a gun in his hands.
"What's wrong? Are you okay?"
He asked.
"I'm fine, sorry. Is that a gun?!"
She asked finally noticing the firearm.
"Oh, uh yeah. I thought maybe someone had broken in or something."
He flipped the safety back on and sat down on the bed next to her.
"What happened?"
He asked as she rubbed her head.
"I just woke up and banged my head. I'm sorry I woke you up."
She reached over to the nightstand and flicked her totem to make sure that this was really reality.
"It's fine."
"How did you even wake up? I didn't make that much noise."
"I'm a very light sleeper."
"Oh."
"Are you sure you're okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Uh, yeah. I'm fine just a bit shaken up."
"Okay, well, goodnight."
"Goodnight."
She responded and he went back to his room. She found that she missed his presence and the sense of security it brought her, but she shook it off and went back to sleep. When she woke up, she could already feel the strong beams of the sun on her face. She opened her eyes and smiled, she couldn't remember the last time she had woken up feeling so at peace. She slid out from under the drapes and opened the curtains fully, the whole room was illuminated. She put a dressing gown on and walked down the stairs to make some coffee. When she arrived downstairs though, she was pleasantly surprised to find out that Arthur had already made coffee, and breakfast.
"Good morning, Ariadne."
He told her without even turning around from the stove.
"Hi, I didn't know you cooked."
She smiled. He chuckled and transferred the food from the pan to the plates. He turned around and put the town plates on the table.
"Thank you."
Ariadne smiled.
"You're welcome."
"So what are we doing today?"
"We're going to the hospital."
He must have seen the horrified look on her face because he immediately caught himself.
"Don't worry, it's just for my routine check for my heart."
"Arthur, I don't like hospitals."
"No one likes hospitals."
"No, you don't understand, I absolutely hate hospitals. Always have."
She said, already playing nervously with her hands.
"I just don't want you to be alone here. You could be in danger."
She sighed, this wasn't a fight she would win.
"Alright, I'll go with you. But I'm warning you, it's your fault if I cry."
"I'll bring tissues."
He joked and they ate breakfast. When they were done, she insisted on doing the dishes, since he cooked, and they got dressed. Ariadne chose a blue sundress with a white t-shirt underneath and Arthur wore his usual three piece. They decided to walk to the hospital because even though it was long, the traffic would be horrible. They arrived soon enough and Arthur signed in to wait for his appointment. As they walked through the halls, he could feel her hand squeezing his increasingly harder until it hurt.
"Ariadne are you okay?"
He looked her in the eye and only found panic and helplessness.
"No, I told you, I hate hospitals."
He knew she would make him feel bad for making her come with him.
"It'll be okay, don't worry."
"I know it will, I'm not worried about you, well I mean, I am but it's not that that's freaking me out. I just really hate hospitals."
He let go of her hand and put his arm around her shoulders instead, in hopes of calming her down.