**Ch 11: The Perfect Date

Orlando took me to this exquisite party that the hotel was having. To my surprise, he had our names on the list.

Yet I wonder how he did that on such short notice. I didn't bother to ask because I was too happy that he was here with me. We walked in together and grabbed two drinks. Then we mingled and danced while his five bodyguards followed us from a distance. As usual, they kept a watchful eye on us. Other than that, they didn't interrupt our time together as the evening approached.

After dancing to another slow song, I noticed it was now dinner time from looking outside. "Are you hungry?" Orlando asked, winking his eyes seductively at me.

"Most certainly," I replied, with my dimples, glowing brightly.

He kisses my temple before walking me into this private dining room with a table set for two. There was a huge long vertical window, showing a spectacular view of the horizon across the golden sands. You could even see the famous pyramids.

My breath was taken by this man. He pulled out my chair and scooched it in for me to have a seat. Always, he treats me like his princess, especially when he's being romantic.

Orlando sat down across the round table that had a golden tablecloth on it. Next, he snapped his fingers like a rich elegant man, who I knew for his wild side. At times like this, it was interesting to see his casual yet authoritative aspect.

Upon snapping his fingers, a fancy expensive bottle of wine was brought over. After the waiter poured us a glass and left, I took a sip and it was the perfect flavor.

"So tell me about work?" Orlando asked. "You haven't talked about it much when we call each other."

"I'm enjoying myself," I passively replied, and I could tell he knew something was up.

"Be honest with me," Orlando sighed because he knew when I was avoiding whatever was bothering me.

"Tom, my boss is a pain. Every time I find an artifact, he acts as if he found it, so I don't get any credit for it. It gets frustrating." I blurted out, ranting more than I wanted to.

Orlando frowned. "You know you can come back home with me and forget this job."

And this is why I never talk about work with Orlando, because he's always insisting I come back home. From the beginning, he never wanted me to travel to Egypt for this excavation. However, he never intervened to stop me. But he did try to talk me out of signing that contract with Mr. Collin.

"You know how much this means to me. I can't just walk off the job." I argued, trying not to raise my tone.

"I am worried about you being out here," Orlando confessed. "I have a gut feeling you should come home."

I sighed faintly. "I can't, this is too important to me."

"Babe, I know, but I don't feel it's safe for you to be working for Mr. Collin." He continued to confess, seemingly worried.

"Why is that?" I boldly questioned. "What is going on that you're not telling me?"

For a second, Orlando was nuanced and his eyes seemed teary. "My father feels there's a bigger picture going on here. There's a reason why you were picked for the job a trainee shouldn't be involved with."

"What reasons?" I grimaced, thinking he was being paranoid.

Orlando frowned and turned more gloomy. "For one, your age. Two, because you can read the rare language that most can't. That's why you're the only one finding things over anybody else. And three…" He stopped in mid-sentence, swallowing a non-existent lump in his throat.

"What is the third reason?" I asked, getting wary.

After a minute, Orlando's lips parted to talk. "Your professor recently disappeared at the University. He solely worked for the Collin family. The Professor helping you get this job is not out of coincidence. We feel you're being used, and once they're done with you, what if you disappear? Baby, I feel you're in danger. Please just come back home with me."

I was utterly shocked by what he said, and I didn't know what to think. My heart was torn in half on what to do. And I realized I haven't heard from my Professor in weeks.

"Orlando, please, don't scare me, I want this job," I told him earnestly. "My Professor is likely on vacation, he takes one around this time, and he never answers his phone when he does."

Orlando seemed dumbfounded. One thing he couldn't handle about me was my stubbornness.

"Alright, I understand this is important to you, but always keep in touch," Orlando replied sincerely and dropped the topic just like that. "What else did you find?"

"Well, last month, I found the first female pregnant corpse, but..." I paused, not sure if I wanna share this with him.

"But?" Orlando repeated.

"I don't know, something is odd about how she died. Her neck wasn't broken, but it appeared to be crushed. On the side of her neck, I saw two round holes resembling to look like fangs or some sorta sharp pointy teeth." I finally just told him.

He first looked at me weirdly before bursting out into laughter. "Fangs like a vampire?" Orlando teased me, and I should've seen this coming.

I burst into a hard enough uproar to pee myself. "You are so mean!" I chuckled.

"Alright, I'll be nice to my vampire nerd," Orlando giggled, winking at me. "You haven't found anybody else that once lived in the city?" he asked, just wondering.

"Oddly enough, we haven't," I shared.

Yet Orlando does it again. "Yup, that definitely sounds like a vampire to me!"

I couldn't help but laugh too, "And here, I thought you were done," I giggled.

"I lied, now I am done," he chuckles, teasing me.

Oh, the annoyance of this man of mine. At about that time, the waiter came by, and Orlando and I ordered. Since this hotel was owned by Orlando's family, they had some normal American food.

"I'll take the steak, garlic butter on my mashed potatoes, and green beans," I ordered.

"I'll take the fish dinner," Orlando said, and the waiter jotted it all down and left.

Randomly, Orlando started laughing again.

"What now?" I knew he was thinking something.

"You're going to hate me, but I have to." Orlando chuckled, not making any sense, while I eyed him strangely. "I see you're ordering that vampire repellent by eating garlic."

"Orlando!" I was shocked, but at the same time, I wasn't. He always teased me about vampires.

"Alright, I promise that will be my last joke," Orlando swore, but I wasn't sure I believed him, then he stood up, reaching out his hand. "May I have this dance with my fiance?"

The way he used his words was indeed majestic.

"I'd love to," I gleamed, lacing my fingers into his hand.

We slowly danced together while I rested my head up under his neck. I felt so safe and warm in his arms. Tonight was the perfect date.

~~~

After we ate, we went up to his room and made out in the pool for hours on end as we talked between our kisses.

"It's getting late, I should head to bed," I frowned sadly.

"Yeah, I must agree," Orlando replied. We both got out and dressed into something for bed. After kissing him goodnight, I crashed, going to sleep.