MR. SERIOUS | ✔️

REAL WITH YOU

CHAPTER 31 - REAL WITH YOU

The bell above the café door jingled like it was trying to match the vibes of the table by the window, aka, where Aurora and her inner circle had taken over. The scent of cinnamon buns, espresso, and almond croissants drifted lazily through the air, but even that couldn't compete with the static buzz of anticipation hanging over their corner of the room.

Zara leaned forward with narrowed eyes, sipping her oat milk latte like she was about to interrogate someone. "Okay, but what happened yesterday? You've been smiling like you swallowed the sun."

Aurora blinked down at her chocolate croissant, trying, and failing, to hide the grin tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Nothing," she said innocently, and then her voice cracked just slightly, like her heart couldn't contain itself.

Liv side-eyed her. "Girl."

Alina arched a perfectly manicured brow. "We've known you since, like, puberty. Spill."

Aurora opened her mouth, then paused, heart hammering in her chest like a drumroll. She couldn't believe she was actually about to say it. Her cheeks heated, her fingers curled tighter around her coffee cup.

"I have a boyfriend," she blurted, voice high and giddy and not at all casual.

It took precisely 0.2 seconds for the entire table to descend into chaotic, screaming madness.

"WHAT!?"

Zara straight-up launched a napkin into the air like it was confetti. "NO, YOU DO NOT!"

"SHUT UP!" Liv screeched, slamming her palm on the table hard enough that the cutlery jumped.

"YOU MEAN...LUCIAN? LIKE CEO THORNE?" Alina practically fell off her chair.

"Yes! Yes, him!" Aurora laughed, covering her face as her cheeks lit up. "He asked me yesterday. At a flower field."

Zara threw her arms around Aurora in a full-body chokehold of joy. "Oh my god, your first boyfriend is a full-blown billionaire with cheekbones that could murder."

"I'm dead," Isla mumbled, fanning herself with the dessert menu. "I'm spiritually deceased."

"And he took you to a flower field?" Liv shrieked. "He's a walking growl and he took you to a flower field?! He's gone."

Aurora melted into her croissant. "He really is..."

The girls spent the next half hour riding the high, stealing bites of each other's pastries, and reliving every single tiny detail. Aurora told them how he'd looked at her when he asked, like he couldn't believe she was real. Like the world made sense only when she was in it.

And then...her phone buzzed.

Mr. Serious: Where are you?

Tulip: Café with the girls. Why?

Mr. Serious: Come to the office. Just want to see you.

Cue her heart launching out of her ribcage.

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When Aurora stepped out of the lift on Lucian's executive floor, her stomach did a little somersault. The entire place hummed with quiet, focused energy, except her. She was still floating on a cloud of whipped cream and tulips.

Lucian was waiting for her at the end of the hall.

He didn't say anything. Just looked at her, expression unreadable, but softer somehow. She walked up to him, almost in a daze, and stood on tiptoe to press a kiss to his cheek.