Belfast Hotel

Mitchell agreed to accompany Diana to where she would meet Ryan since she had nothing to do at the house. They met downtown and Ryan was wearing a casual wear but not too causal. The moment Diana saw him, she realized that Ryan could basically make a casual wear look so classy. He hugged them both and seemed quite surprised to see Mitchell with Diana. Instinctively, Diana told him that she was just there to make sure that she had company before they meet. So Ryan ordered for a cab and paid for Mitchell's drive home.

"Now, where are we going this fine evening?" Diana asked

" I think it would be best that it should say as a surprise. But just to put it out there, we are not going to one place for the majority of the night " Ryan answered as he called for a cab for them and they got in

"To Belfast hotel" he instructed the driver

When Diana heard this she was quite impressed, Belfast was one of the top hotels in the city but it was located in the outskirts of the city where not much activity took place. Judging from the way she looked at Ryan she saw him as man who had class but kept things on the low. In her honest thought, she didn't see him as a man who could actually afford to take someone on a date to Belfast but this also intrigued her for he was going an extra mile. But on the other hand what she didn't know was that this reservation at Belfast wouldn't even make a dent in his bank account. Ryan wanted to see how she would react to this but when she didn't mention anything about the depth of someone's pockets for a person to go to Belfast, he took that as a positive. But he could see it on her face that she was indeed impressed by his choice of place for the date. In the car they engaged in small talk getting to know each other more but Ryan specifically tried to evade any topics that would end up leading him to talk about his exact line of work or what he bagged at the end of each month or on an annual basis. It had become so common that whenever this topic would come up and when he said the truth, whoever the girl was, she would instantly have more interest in him. This came to teach him that money does indeed make you look more handsome and become more interesting. He didn't want any of that, he could literally have any girl he wanted just by flashing his net worth. And don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that all women are attracted to big pockets, no, I'm saying that women would most likely choose a happy and comfortable life when it comes knocking at their door. Ryan learnt this through actual experience.

All that he wanted was someone to love him for who he was. Just once in his life to feel appreciated for being who he was rather than what he had and he had a good feeling about Diana. During their small talk Diana brought up the topic about him on whether he had a girlfriend or not. And when he denied this, she brought up the phone call that he received when he was with her during the sleepover.

"Are you sure you don't have a girlfriend?" She asked

" I'm positive, let's just say the market has been very unfavorable for me of late " he answered

" What about a fling, you know? How do I put this, aah, a sneaky link? " She asked while giving him a naughty look

" Not even that, I guess it reached a point in life where I just didn't want to play games anymore. Take this from me, when someone gets into a no strings attached relationship in the end, strings do get attached. I've learnt that the hard way" he told her

" Okay okay. I know this is uncalled for but what about that phone call you got when you were with me? It's one thing ignoring a call but that didn't seem like it was just someone calling to check up on you" Diana said

" Well I ended up answering the call " Ryan told her

" But it wasn't the same caller, your mood changed from being pissed off to being calm. But despite that, it still involved a woman" Diana said

" I knew that that call would bug you. All I can say is that it was just something that I've been trying to avoid for some time" Ryan answered her with a smile

" Something or someone? " She kept pushing. Ryan's pouted his lips as he tried to think on how he would answer these questions without making an issue. He could tell that she wanted to know the truth but sometimes not telling the whole truth is the best way to go.

"A little bit of both" he finally answered her. He could see that she was not contented with his answer but she stopped pressing on with the questions. But just to reassure her, he looked at her in the eyes and said, "it's not something that you have to worry about."

As he told her this the driver is was just pulling up to the grand hotel where they were ushered in by the hotel staff. Diana had never stepped foot in the hotel and for her it felt like she was now living in the descriptions she had heard about the place. And it didn't disappoint. The interior was just breathtaking. Inside the hotel there were some tables here and there with some prominent people of the city including the mayor and other delegates. At the far back there was a band which was playing some jazz. It felt like paradise to Diana and this brought up the question, how could Ryan possibly afford this?