Snippet #1295383

It made Gabriel happy to see Janett smile, but her paleness still bothered the man. When she ordered a glass of water, he realized she still didn't trust him - and who could blame her, really? He sipped his whisky thoughtfully, before putting it down and looking her in the eyes. He said:

"I understand that you are weary of me, Janett. But let me assure you again, that I'm not going to try anything underhanded. This is a date, not a business meeting. I promise you, I shall not involve whatever business we may have together or against each other in our roles as enemies, in our date." He leaned slightly across the table as he looked her in the eyes, and said: "I won't ask you to take my word for it, but at least let me reassure you on the point."

When he asked her if she was alright, Janett let slip a sigh. She swallowed hard, and then made a nervous gesture of wiping her face. Gabriel witnessed it with concern. It was clear that his date was not feeling well, and as a gentleman and her date of the night, it was up to Gabriel to remedy it. Before he could try, however, she met his gaze, and spoke:

"The flowers were unnecessary."

Gabriel was taken by surprise, and then let out a short laugh. "A lot of things we do in life are not strictly necessary, Janett. But we do them anyway - because it makes us feel good, or because we hope it will make people we care for, happy." He frowned, then added, as he leaned forward, placing his hand on hers: "I may be your enemy, Janett. Fine, so let's work against each other during working hours, if that's what our paths in life compels us to do. But I don't want you to hate me." He made a pained expression as he added: "Knowing you do...hurts me more than anything else in this world."

He sighed before he continued: "I don't want to be your enemy. Competition, maybe, but never enemy. And if I can make you happy, Janett...if I can do anything for you...I'll do it, regardless of what it takes." He squeezed her hand just slightly, with a gentle smile. "You look like you could use something stronger. How about a glass of wine?" He turned to a waiter walking by, and said: "Waiter, could you bring in the special wine, please?"

"Of course, Mr Cross. Right away." The waiter nodded, and hurried away, only to return soon after with a bottle and two glasses. He carefully placed the glasses in front of the two, and with almost delicate movements, opened the bottle, and poured some wine into the glasses. Afterwards, he placed the bottle on the table, and left as silently as he had arrived. Gabriel carefully shot one of the glasses to Janett, and then sipped his own, nodding to himself with approval.

"This is a 1945 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild Jeroboam." He explained to her. "I bought the world's last cache of ten bottles, at an auction in Genoa in 1997. Back then, I was still a snot-nosed kid with too much money on my hands. This is the first of the bottles that I have ever had opened. It is said that this is one of the world's finest wines ever to have been made. And so, I can think of no person I would rather drink it with than you."

He leaned a bit forward again, and asked with a joking wink:
"Now, Janett, will you promise me to please try to enjoy our date tonight?"