Chapter 7: Date with a Billionaire

On Friday night, Scott texted Florence with the time he’d pick her up the next day so they could have dinner together.

She spent her entire morning and afternoon on Saturday staring at her bed where she had tossed all the clothes she had so she could decide what to wear, but nothing seemed good enough for a date with someone like Scott.

What was she supposed to wear on a date with a billionaire? She didn’t even know where to start. She ended up choosing a black dress, which she learned couldn’t go wrong in any situation. She picked some heels she barely ever used and applied some makeup and red lipstick.

Florence felt overdressed, so she had to constantly remind herself that she wasn’t going on a normal date with a normal person like she was used to.

Not that she went on a lot of first dates before, but she knew for certain that nothing she experienced previously could be compared to this.

When her phone buzzed on her bedside table, her heart started to race. It didn’t help not having someone to talk to about the situation she was in. She didn’t think it was a good time to tell Emma about it. Her friend was probably going to freak out over something that Florence didn’t even know was going to last more than one night and dinner.

So, she decided to keep it to herself until she knew it could be something more concrete. Not that she was expecting it to happen either.

It was more than clear to her that Scott was going to dump her after tonight. There was no way he’d keep this delusional situation to move any further.

Florence convinced herself that Scott was probably just bored of his billionaire life and wanted to try something different, and she turned out to be his option for it.

Trying to tell herself not to feel hurt after that happens was the hardest part.

She grabbed her phone and read Scott’s text message.

“I'm here.”

She rushed to pick up her purse and tossed her phone inside of it, praying that her parents didn’t ask her where she was going. If it happened, she would have to lie.

But of course, she was hoping for too much.

“Honey, where are you going?” her mother called out from the living room when Florence passed by the door trying to get to the hall.

“Er… Hm, hi mom, I’m going out with Emma,” Florence said, avoiding eye contact with her parents. She hated to lie to them, but it was for a good cause. She didn’t want to give them false hopes or hear the warnings they’d give her about going out with a stranger.

“Oh, okay. Have fun then. Send her a kiss from us,” she said, waving Florence goodbye, and turning her eyes to the TV again.

“Be careful, Flo,” her father screamed, but Florence was already at the door.

To say that she was impressed when she got inside Scott’s car was an understatement. She had seen his car the other day in the parking lot, so she already knew what to expect from it.

She also knew what the man looked like, so it wasn’t supposed to be a surprise. But that was exactly what caught her off guard. She seemed to forget how handsome he was while they were apart.

He was wearing a suit, like every other time she saw him, and his hair looked as perfect as always. But maybe it was the situation they were in that made Florence look at him in a different way.

The way his eyes glowed while admiring her figure and the smirk that crossed his lips were certainly going to give her a heart attack if she stared at him for a little longer.

She could feel her cheeks burning and she tried to hide it by covering them with her long hair.

“You look stunning,” he stated by her side, and Florence prayed that he couldn’t hear her heart pumping hard against her chest.

“Thank you,” she murmured, looking back at him for a second. Another mistake. “You look handsome too.”

Scott’s smile widened and he started the car, getting into New York’s busy traffic on a Saturday night. He took them to a nice part of the city, an expensive one, nonetheless.

Florence knew he wouldn’t take her to a simple restaurant, but no matter how hard she tried, she still couldn’t feel comfortable in a place with so much luxury and expensive dishes.

She tried not to let it show, but she also didn’t trust herself to choose her own food, so she asked Scott to make their order since he knew the restaurant better than her.

They exchanged some small talk before the wine arrived, where he asked about her job at NYU.

She also took the opportunity to ask him about his company and if it was something he enjoyed doing, but she didn’t feel like she had the right to dig any deeper since this was the first time they were having a real conversation.

During the entire dinner, Florence tried to ignore the stares she constantly felt on her, on them. It’d be easy to think that rich people wouldn’t care about anyone else’s life, but apparently, she was mistaken.

“You’re not really comfortable in a place like this, right?” Scott asked in a joking tone, bringing her back from her internal analysis.

“Oh, no, that’s not it,” she lied, but she could tell he can see right through her. “I'm not that good at faking it, am I?” she smiled, embarrassed.

“Not really,” he answered, his smile still blinding her. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable though. I’m really sorry.”

Florence felt the butterflies in her stomach going on a spiral rollercoaster.

“Please, you have nothing to apologize for. I really liked dinner,” she said honestly. She was uncomfortable with the luxury around her and the people staring, even though in a very discreet way, but she couldn’t say she didn’t enjoy the food and their conversation. “This was the best food I have ever tried in my life.”

“What is it that makes you feel uncomfortable?” he insisted. “Is it just that you’re not used to a place like this or you simply don’t like this lifestyle?” he asked with genuine concern in his eyes.

Florence didn’t want to hurt his feelings, because she could tell he was trying his best to please her, and not in a forced way. During the entire time, he really paid attention to her, making sure her glass wasn’t empty, asking if she wanted anything else and if everything was to her liking.

She took a sip of her wine and cleared her throat before answering.

“I think it’d be unfair to say I don’t like this lifestyle. Anyone could get easily used to it after a while,” she confessed with a timid smile. “I guess I just feel better in my comfort zone, you know? Doing things in a simpler way.”

Scott nodded.

“I agree. If I’m being completely honest with you, I don’t like this lifestyle. And I can say this because I’m used to it, but it hasn’t grown on me, even after a while. I won’t be a hypocrite to say that it’s not good to have money and have the best it can offer, but I enjoy simple things too.”

Florence was surprised by his sudden confession, but she loved to see that he was comfortable enough to share his feelings with her.

“Let's make a deal,” he suggested, piquing her curiosity.

“What deal?” she asked.

“Since I picked the place for our first date, the second one will be on you.” He wore his best smile to persuade her. As if that was necessary.

Florence didn’t know what mesmerized her the most, the fact that Scott appeared to be more handsome as the hours passed, or the fact that he wanted to go on another date with her.

“Are you asking me out again? On a second date?” she managed to say.