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We enter the plane, and a combination of different seats is available. We take a seat at the table.

“Can I get you anything to drink?” Claudia asks.

Cal turns to me. “Champagne?”

“That would be lovely,” I say smiling up at Claudia.

I’m beginning to feel like I’m caught in a dream. Is this how Cinderella felt when her fairy godmother turned up, and she found herself heading to the ball?

Claudia returns with two glasses of champagne.

Cal takes them both, passing one to me.

“To an evening to remember,” he says, clinking his glass to mine.

I find myself drowning in his eyes.

“There is little to no doubt about it,” I tell him honestly, taking a sip, savouring its sweet flavour.

When this dream finally comes to an end and we part company, I will forever have these memories to sustain me of my time with this man.

We landin Paris and are met by a limousine. Cal has gone all out. He still refuses to tell me where we’re going, and I’ve decided I’m happy to sit back and enjoy the ride. Simply spending time in this man’s company is enough, and asSamuel encouraged, I’m going to enjoy every moment while I can. No regrets.

We pull up outside a restaurant and once again, Cal takes my hand.

We’re led to our table, where the maître d' pulls out my chair for me. Only when I sit down and look up do I realise the restaurant overlooks the Eiffel Tower in all its nighttime glory. It stretches high into the sky, its lights shining over Paris.

I clasp Cal’s hand over the table as we finish our main course. I have never tasted food like this, and I doubt I will again.

“I don’t know what to say,” I tell him truthfully. “This whole day. It is not what I expected when I got up this morning.”

“As long as you’re enjoying yourself,” he tells me. “I wanted us to get away, have an evening where we can be Cal and April again.”

“Can we ever be those two people again?”

They were an illusion.

“I believe we can be what we choose,” he tells me drawing my hand to his lips.

If only life is that simple.

I look into Cal’s eyes and wonder what he would think if he knew how I raised the money for the dance studio. Will he look at me the same way?

I know he won’t.

So, for now, I push it to one side and enjoy the sex and the time I am spending with this man. I'll protect myself because my past choices will come back and destroy my present, so the only thing I’m left with are the memories, like so many times in my past.

“Hey, a penny for your thoughts,” Cal asks, his hand touching my cheek.

I give him a shy smile. “I’m just overwhelmed. This is…”

His face breaks into a grin. “Not the end—there is still one more surprise.”

“Cal,” I say, unsure my heart can take much more of his thoughtfulness. I quirk a brow instead. “And how are you going to top the most beautiful food, with the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower?”

He sits back, my fingers still intertwined with his.

“A beautiful woman once told me she always dreamed of watching Swan Lake.”