It's too soon

"What?" Jeanne asked in surprise.

Roman who got the question raised one of his eyebrows. "We're you didn't hear me? I said, change your clothes. Your appearance is inappropriate. We'll be kicked out of the restaurant if you keep that appearance."

"Wait a minute, restaurant? Why did you take me to a restaurant? I asked you to take me to the city park and you agreed to it. Why is a change?" Jeanne asked as she massaged her forehead.

She decides to put hope in Roman to save herself from a breakdown. She was so depressed. She was at her lowest point after being weighed down by her responsibilities, after too much interaction with sweet-mouthed liars, and after she knows that her simple wishes will never come true.

Jeanne doesn't have someone close that can be entrusted to hear her vent or to share her pain. Her friends were liars, they were not good. If they knew her thoughts and pain, they would use it for their profit, or worse, they would use it as material to blackmail her continuously.

She wasn't close enough to the servants in her house. As for Maiya, although she was trustworthy, Jeanne never thought that woman was suitable to be entrusted with her private problem or thought.

With all that, automatically, Jeanne's hopes fell into Roman's lap. He is her future husband. So, before she said yes and then married him, she had to affirm whether he could give her affection and warmth.

And more importantly, she wanted Roman to save her from the madness that chased after her sanity. But...

"Because a park is an awful choice of a place to date. I doubt there's anything interesting stuff or things that can impress you there. Did you know, there's a lot of poor people gathered there. I wonder, why would you take me to such a place, to walk among those unpleasant people?" Roman explained in an arrogant and resentful tone.

Jeanne knows that Roman had a nasty personality but she never expected to be this worse. His words earlier made her begin to wonder, did she make a wrong decision? Was she wrong to place hope in him?

The girl shook her head to discard those questions.

I'm too quick to make any conclusions as I don't know it well enough. Behind its ugliness, maybe there is a kindness I was looking for. I want to make sure of that. So, for now, I'll play along with its wishes, Jeanne thought.

"Okay, I'll change my clothes. In exchange for it, leave your car here. We're going to use my car."

Roman snorted. "Does she have to come with us?"

"Maiya won't bother us. More than that, do you want to go against my mother's rules? You know she always told me to take Maiya wherever I went."

"But your parents have gone missing."

"Yes, I know it but I have to make a report on this matter. If my mother comes back and I didn't have some proof about our date, big trouble will come to me."

"...All right," he said with a slight annoyance. "We're going to the Whale of Randele and which car should I use?"

"Choose as you please as long as the three of us can fit in it."

Roman makes a light wave as a sign of understanding. The boy then got into his car and took it to the mansion garage. On the other hand, Jeanne went to her room to change her clothes.

She now knew they were going to visit a pretty classy restaurant. So, this time, she used a red dress along with High Heels to look graceful and to fulfill the dress code of the said place. She also changed her make-up to a little serious.

Moments later, she looks a lot prettier than before but she doesn't quite like this kind of appearance.

With a slight huff of irritation, Jeanne left her room. At the front door, she saw Roman again. But this time, he was accompanied by Maiya who was standing in front of the back door of her car.

"Look at that, don't you look so lovely and perfect," Roman praised.

Unfortunately, the boy didn't know that Jeanne loathed a word, which is perfect. But, she do feel a little bit of happiness when she was praised as lovely.

Hiding her displeasure and showing her happiness, Jeanne walked to Roman. She smiled and said, "Thank you."

The boy's cheeks turned red and he made a sound, "ehem!" to hide his embarrassment. He looked at Jeanne and said, "Come in."

Automatically, Maiya opened the back door. "Please, young lady."

Jeanne shook her head. "I'll sit in front, beside Roman. It would be rude if I sat in the back when we were going on a date. Get in Maiya, you're the one sitting in the back."

Hearing her words, Roman couldn't help but smile. And then, his face was getting more flushed so he immediately got into the car. He didn't want to show his pathetic side. Jeanne follows Roman to get in the car. In the blink of an eye, a black BNW M235i drove away from the mansion.

On the way to the restaurant, Whale of Randele, Jeanne invites Roman to talk. The girl lead the conversation because she wanted to know more about him.

Jeanne knows a little about Roman's nature. They do have met and chatted frequently over the past three years but they were always talking about their parents' business or another theme that was not far from it. Because of that, she only knew his bad outer shell, not know what was inside him.

So, here was Jeanne, trying to understand Roman.

Their chat was pleasant at first, but as time goes on, she was a little disappointed and then disappointed.

The boy was arrogant as she know. He always exaggerates the simple things he does and makes it look great more than it should be. He throws off her opinion on something and just blindly believes what he knows. He also told too many lies. Jeanne asked for an answer using several different questions and the answers given by him were varied.

His outer shell was his true self!

Maiya shook her head while Jeanne's heart was in turmoil. She still didn't want to admit that she made a wrong decision.

It's too soon to judge it, she said again, in her heart.

Dozens of minutes later, Jeanne and Roman arrive at the Whale of Randele, a three-star restaurant that Jeanne doesn't care about.

"Let me escort you," said Roman, who extended his hand.

Jeanne accepted it and they walk in together.

Yes, this restaurant is comfortable, the service is satisfying, and they serve such delicious food. But, unlike what Roman promised, spending time here didn't impress or make Jeanne satisfied.

The situation worsens when Jeanne has to...

"...It's my friend, Kenneth. He is the first son of the owner of this restaurant. We get along well and I asked him to let me rent this whole restaurant for our lunch in exchange for his debt." A big smile appeared on his face. He look so proud as he narrated his achievement.

Jeanne looked around, looking at this deserted restaurant. "Do you have to rent this whole place just for our lunch?"

"I'm doing this troublesome matter for you, I want something special. Mainly when I use all my negotiations ability to get this opportunity. Not to forget, he also gives me a forty percent discount to rent all this place so I don't want to waste it," pompous tone paints his voice. And clearly, he wanted to be praised.

Jeanne was aware of what he wanted so, "as always you're good at it, you're amazing, Roman," she said a little compliment. And of course, it was just a lips service without any meaning behind it.

Hearing a little praise from her made him happy.

Hearing all of his big, worthless achievements made her irritated.

It's still too soon, Jeanne thought again and again. She still believes that later, Roman will show and give her his kindness. And although her mind became more complicated and her trust in the boy eroded as time goes on, still, she grasped this drifting straw firmly.

She didn't want to drown just yet.