Deep tugged away in her coat, Cora tried to put her nose further into her shawl. Her hands were covered in woollen gloves, one was warm inside a pocket of her coat, the other one resting on Robert's arm. He had asked her to come to Oxford Street. She was surprised by his request. It would be the first time they went to the city centre together.
When he spotted her coming out of the subway station, his face had lit up. His cheekbones rounded while he smiled at her. He was so adorable she had thought. With big steps, he came toward her, directly put his hands on her face, and pulled her in for a passionate kiss. She had been ducked away in her shawl when the wind hit her in the face, but Robert's kiss made her all warm again.
Unwillingly she made herself step back when he did not stop kissing her. "I love kissing you, but we are in the middle of the street."

"Nobody cares that we kiss each other," Robert said while kissing her again.

"Maybe they do not care about the kiss." She chuckled. "But they do care that we block the pavement." Cora took his hand and pulled him to the side, where she kissed him again. Still leaning against him, she looked up. "This is the first time we are doing something in the city centre, I did not know you liked shopping?"

Robert wrapped his arms around her. "There is more we can do here than just shopping." He kissed the tip of her nose. "We should go, otherwise we will miss it."

Cora noticed that people had gathered on the street, something was going to happen, but she did not know what. She was trying to hide in her shawl and coat, the wind was freezing today. Robert put his gloved hand on hers, it will start soon, then we can go and hide inside. He softly brushed over her hand. She had learned not to question him too much. She would wait for what was going to happen instead of asking about it. Luckily it did not take long, all of a sudden, the street was full of light and ooh's and aah's from bystanders.

The Christmas lights had been turned on, and Cora had never experienced something so magical. She had seen the lights before but had never been at the lightning moment. The way the people reacted made it even more magical. Robert looked at her and smiled. "I am glad you like it." Wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

Cora leaned closer against him. "I do, this is magical."

"Come, we will go and get a hot chocolate."

"That does sound delicious."

Robert stopped a cab, what surprised Cora, there were enough places here where they could get hot chocolate. "Where are we going?" She asked while they got in.

"You will see."

"I realised that I never showed you my apartment, so here we are." Robert opened the cab door for Cora.

"Darling, that did not matter. You almost do not spend any time here anymore." She took his arm and stepped out of the car.

"I know, but I want to show you every aspect of my life and this place is part of it."

Cora hooked her arm in his. "I love to see it." She looked up at the building. She had no idea what to expect, it felt like an office building.

She followed Robert inside, they got in the elevator and stopped at the top floor. When he opened the door, her jaw almost dropped. She had seen the size of the Abbey, but this apartment was on a different level. She did not know you could live this spacious in the city centre.

"Welcome to my second home. Or may I say, property, this has never felt like a home."

"You could make it more homely," Cora said softly while looking at the mainly white living room. On the floor was a white marble. "This is a bigger apartment then I had imagined." The living area was very spacious, and she could see the large kitchen behind it. She did not know how many rooms this apartment had, but according to the space she could see, it could not be just one.

"Officially it is a duplex penthouse. Come, keep your coat on, I want to show you to the top floor. We have a stunning view over the city from the roof terrace" He almost ran up the stairs. Cora followed chuckling.

"Tada." Robert opened the big sliding doors towards the terrace. He had asked John to prepare for him and he had delivered. The fireplace was lit, the terrace heater was on and in the outdoor kitchen, he saw the pot with hot chocolate. The sofa was covered with warm blankets. He was glad that the building blocked most of the wind.

Cora walked towards the edge and looked over the city. He had not lied; it was a beautiful view. She felt him stepping next to her and she wrapped her arm around his back. "Look we can see Christmas lights even from up here. This is beautiful."

Robert pressed a kiss on her temple. "So are you."

Cora turned towards him and kissed him tenderly. "I thought we were going to grab a hot chocolate, but this is even better." She snuggled against his chest.

"Oh, but we are having a hot chocolate. Let's sit down."

Cora shivered a bit. "I do not want to spoil the mood, but maybe we should go inside."

Robert's shoulders dropped. "The sofa area is quite cosy and not directly in the wind. If you think it is too cold, we will of course go inside."

"You can keep me warm," Cora said, while she wrapped herself in a blanket. She took off her coat, it was more comfortable without it, and the heater did give a lot of warmth. She would not go inside, not when Robert had clearly looked forward to this evening outside.

With two steaming cups in his hands, Robert walked towards the sofa. "I have some ways I can keep you warm." He gave Cora one cup, while he sat down next to her. Cora lifted the blanket and wrapped it around Robert's waist. He had also taken off his coat. "Enjoy your hot chocolate, Milady."

Cora smiled at him and sipped from her cup. "This is quite nice. Never could I imagine that it could be this cosy in the middle of the city centre." She snuggled a bit closer to Robert.

"I should have showed you this place earlier."

Cora put her cup down and put her hand on his stomach. "Do not stress about that my darling. You showed me now."

After a while where they talked about little things Robert suddenly said: "I am not sure if I have a spare toothbrush here, I will need to check."

"Are you asking me to stay the night?" Cora teased him.

"I was not aware I needed to ask; I was suspecting you to stay to be honest. But you are right, I should have asked."

"Do not be silly. I thought we passed that station." She yawned. "I was fully expecting to have you next to me tonight. I just did not know what bed we would end up in."

Robert laughed out loud, "Who said we will end up in a bed?"

"This sofa is big enough, but I am afraid it will not be warm enough to stay the whole night here. But there were three options: my Richmond house, your Richmond house or this apartment."

"Do you have a preference?" Robert brushed with his fingers over her neck.

"We are here now and if you have that spare toothbrush, why would we go somewhere else. I have better things in mind that I want to do with you, then travel back to Richmond."

Robert got up. "Let me clean this up and see if I have that toothbrush."

Cora followed him and when he stopped to turn of the heater, she pressed herself against his back. Her hands firmly on his chest. "Thank you for showing me the lights and this place. I do love you." Slowly she moved her hands up and down.

Robert put his hands on hers, he pulled one up and kissed the palm of her hand. "I love you more."

"Oh? Do you? Are you sure?" Cora said, while she pressed kisses to his shoulder blades."

Suddenly Robert turned around and scooped Cora in his arms, she wrapped her legs around him. "I am not sure; I just know that my heart if filled with love for you and that I will never let you go. Never."