Take My Breath Away

Without any hesitation, Sheffield devoured the dessert, and afterward he took a deep breath and patted his belly. "That was some seriously rich chocolate! The taste? Amazing."

"You said you didn't like desserts. Why are you pretending to enjoy it?"

"I like sweet foods!" Sheffield declared. Then he stabbed his fork into a piece of tiramisu in order to prove his point.

Evelyn was positive he denied liking sweet foods. At least, he did the last time that topic arose. "You said you didn't, though. Remember when I brought you a dessert at work, before we got back together?"

"I was pretending. You wanted to get back together with me, and I wasn't going to make it easy for you. But really, how could I not eat something you got me? I ate all of it."

Evelyn's mind wandered back to that day. "But I threw it away. That's gross!"

With no intention to hide what he did, Sheffield told her, "I got it back. Besides, you tossed it, box and all. It was still in the package. It's almost like you never threw it out."

Evelyn was surprised to hear that. "All right. But your assistants! They probably saw you do this. They must be wondering why their boss dug through the trash to find something to eat."

"Who cares? The point is I didn't waste anything you bought me!" He didn't care what other people thought of him. He only cared about Evelyn.

Evelyn didn't know what to say. "Anyone tell you you're stubborn?"

"No. They wouldn't say something like that. Not if they wanted to keep their jobs."

"You're really stubborn!" She envied his determination.

"Thank you, honey. I'm flattered!"

They agreed to dine on French cuisine. Sheffield made a reservation at Bateaux Parisien, the floating restaurant on the Seine River, in advance. Alain Ducasse served as the chef at that floating restaurant. He is the godfather of French cuisine, preferring locally sourced ingredients and a naturalistic approach to cooking. He's a nine-star chef, and is considered to be among the best in the world.

The dinner also doubled as a boat tour. During the meal, they could enjoy viewing historic sites on both sides of the Seine in Paris.

Sheffield and Evelyn decided to try the specials. Evelyn ordered escargots (roasted snails slathered in garlic butter), foie gras (duck liver), French truffles and French steak. When she saw the next dish on the menu, it reminded her of the blind date with Joshua. She asked, "Honey, would you like some bouillabaisse?" On her date, she had only one sip of the soup after it was served.

"I'm not a fan, beautiful. But if you like it, I'll eat it with you," replied Sheffield with a smile on his face. Not only didn't he like it, but he really loathed it.

When Evelyn ordered that dish, he had thought, 'What if Evelyn likes this? Should I eat it even if I can't stand it?'

"I don't like it either. Forget it!" she said.

He breathed an inward sigh of relief.

They had the same tastes as well as the same hobbies, which, in Sheffield's opinion, could solve a lot of problems.

They were having a great time on their trip. After they left France, their next stop was Italy, then Germany, and the last stop was M Country.

When they touched down there, they were met at the airport by a presidential convoy. The president's security detail drove the couple to the leader's office to have dinner with the big guy himself.

The president was there to greet them.

Evelyn was shocked. She wondered how Sheffield knew the president. But she didn't show any doubt while eating. She was elegant as ever and answered the president's questions politely.

While Sheffield was conversing with the president, she listened quietly.

Then she realized that Carlos and the president of M Country were on good terms. On their wedding day, the president of M Country had to skip the wedding due to his schedule. But on the next day of their honeymoon, he paid a visit to Carlos and Debbie.

She also figured out that they weren't here for the view. In fact, there was no tourism industry, nor were there any particularly beautiful scenic spots. Why did they come? Sheffield wanted to show her the place he lived, and show her around.

After having dinner with the president, they climbed into the limo and were taken to the place Sheffield used to live.

When she finally had the chance, she asked, "Why are you on such good terms with the president of this country?"

Sheffield replied, "Two reasons. One: I have a good relationship with his son. The other is that... I worked for him a few times. I worked up some weapon designs for him."

"Weapon designs? But you design the weapons for 3D shooters and stuff. The president also play games?"

Sheffield was amused by her confused look. He kissed her long hair and whispered in her ear, "I can also design real weapons..." The weapons he designed were practical and powerful.

Evelyn widened her eyes in shock.

After a long while, she asked, "Is there anything you can't do?" He was insanely talented. She had to admit he was much more capable than she was, and there was much more to him than she first thought.

"Of course. There are quite a few things I can't do. For starters, giving birth to a baby..." The man chuckled in her ear, "I could never do that!"

Evelyn rolled her eyes at him. "Do you want to give it a go?"

"Not really. But I'd like to have another baby with you." Evelyn was about to turn 32. If they waited any longer, it would be more difficult, and possibly dangerous.

Evelyn touched her belly and said, "Maybe I'm already pregnant." They hadn't used protection since their engagement.

"You can't be pregnant yet. I need to work harder!" He paid attention to how she felt, and felt her pulse from time to time. As near as he could tell, she wasn't pregnant.

Evelyn pinched his hand and answered, "Let nature take its course."

"Yes! Sounds reasonable enough."

By then, they came to a place quite familiar to Sheffield. "Hey honey, come here!" he said. Then he took her into a dirty, run-down alley.

There were two families living there, and two old bikes were parked at the door. It looked like nothing special.

"This is where I used to have gang fights. The principal liked to come around with a flashlight to bust us. My classmate lived in the innermost alley. As soon as the principal arrived, we hid in his house. Anyone who couldn't walk, we just dragged 'em in there with us. The principal couldn't find us, but someone reported us later."

"Did you get in a lot of fights?" she asked. It sounded like Sheffield used to be a bad boy.

With a smile on his face, he said, "Yeah. I learned martial arts in the dojo at the beginning, guided by teachers. I sharpened my skills by getting in street fights."

"Okay." Evelyn had nothing else to say to that.

"Let's go. There's nothing special here. Wanna see my old school?"

"The school you and Gillian went to?" She remembered that he once said he and Gillian were the popular kids at school.