Danica rushed downstairs and hollered, ��Aziel!��
Immediately, Aziel hid behind Troy, wrapping his arms around Troy��s waist. ��I am so sorry, Troy.��
A smile evolved on Troy��s face and he ruffled Aziel��s hair. ��It��s okay. It was only an accident.��
��Aziel, how can you be so irresponsible?�� Danica spoke up, putting her hands on her hips. Imaginary smoke was coming out of her ears. ��And why are you hiding now? You will be punished now because of your irresponsibility. You broke Troy��s camera.�� Danica kept scolding Aziel, who was still hiding behind Troy, while Troy was busy admiring Danica. She looked so cute even in anger. She seemed perfect to him.
Aziel pinched Troy, bringing him out of his trance. ��Stop staring at my sister and save me. She will punish me,�� he whispered to Troy.
��Why are you not showing your face? Does it look like I am playing hide and seek with you?�� Danica approached Troy and grabbed Aziel��s hand which was hugging Troy��s waist. ��Come out.��
Troy grabbed Danica��s hand and cleared his throat before speaking, ��Dani, it��s okay. It was not his fault.�� Practically, it wasn��t fully Aziel��s fault because Troy was busy looking at Danica when Aziel was running around the house, playing. If Troy paid attention, he wouldn't have dropped his camera, so it was his fault more than Aziel��s. He couldn��t let Aziel be punished for that.
��No, Troy.�� Danica pulled her hand back from Troy��s grip. ��He broke your camera. He is being very naughty these days.��
��But it is my fault as well because I didn��t notice him when he ran in my direction. Let's just be glad that no one got hurt,�� he pointed out. When Danica opened up her mouth to argue, Troy said, ��No more talk regarding this topic. Let��s go. We are getting late for our date.�� He entwined his hands with Danica and made his way out of the mansion after Aziel mumbled a small ��thank you�� to Troy for saving him from Danica��s wrath.
Aziel also thought that Troy was Danica��s boyfriend now and Danica didn��t explain it clearly to him because he was still a kid. He could blurt out the truth to anyone unknown if he knew it. So it was better for him to know what the world knew, ��Tronica was real��.
Gabrielle, Tatiana, Hernan, and Trevor watched the couple go on their first date. They smiled in happiness.
��At last, they are going on a date,�� Gabrielle said with a sigh in relief. ��Thank god Aziel broke the camera on Hernan��s command. No camera, meaning the date is real now. They can��t vlog today.��
��They are slower than a tortoise in case of love,�� Hernan commented, which made the four of them laugh.
��This calls for a celebration because it is the first step to make Tronica real,�� Tatiana squealed in excitement.
Trevor nodded his head. ��Let��s celebrate with some champagne.��
Meanwhile, Troy and Danica were in the car. Troy was driving the car, while Danica stayed quiet. She was mad at Aziel, and Troy could sense it.
��By the way,�� Troy started speaking, ��Did you know?��
Shifting her gaze from the window to Troy, she raised her eyebrows. ��What?��
��You look very cute when you get angry,�� he spoke up, and Danica could feel her cheeks heating up.
She moved her gaze back to the window, a smile urging to form on her lips. ��Thanks,�� this was all she could mumble.
___
When Danica noticed the five-star hotel Troy brought her to, a gasp escaped her lips. Why here? she thought to herself.
��Come on,�� Troy said to her and entwined his hand with hers once again.
They went inside and when the receptionist saw Danica, she said with a big smile on her face, ��Dani? It's such a surprise to see you here. How are you doing these days?��
��Fine, Ayna,�� responded Danica, hearing which Troy's eyes widened.
Ayna? Shit. Troy realized what he had done. How could he forget such an important detail? This was the restaurant of Brody Waylon, as in Danica��s father. He was a famous chef, after all. Every staff here recognized Danica and bringing her here was like rubbing salt to her wounds. She would remember her parents as long as she stayed here.
��Let me show you your table,�� Ayna said and started walking.
Danica was about to follow her, but Troy stopped her. ��Dani, I am sorry I forgot. We can go somewhere else a���� she interrupted him.
��It��s okay, Troy. I am fine.�� Danica flashed him a smile with her dimples.
There it was the smile, which she uses to hide her sadness, he wondered. Nonetheless, Troy nodded, and they followed Ayna to the table Troy especially booked for the date. After pulling a chair for her, he sat down as well. They placed their orders at first. Once the orders were placed, they had time to talk.
��I know it was supposed to be a fake date, but I don��t have the camera with me right now. So���� Troy trailed off.
��So we can take a picture and post it on our social media,�� she suggested, which seemed like a nice idea to Troy. She took out her phone and got up. When she was near Troy, she placed her cheek on his, which surprised him. ��We have to click a convincing selfie,�� she informed him. She didn��t fully lie, but she wanted to have a picture with Troy as well, because it was her first date, that too with the guy she loved. Her hands were cold in nervousness due to the stunt she pulled, but she was not embarrassed, rather she was proud of herself for being so bold.
Without uttering a word, Troy just posed for the picture and both of them clicked plenty of selfies. When Danica went back to her seat, she clicked funny candids of Troy, and after he noticed that, he said, ��Seriously? If you wanted to click my pictures, you could��ve told me. Why click candids? Candids are ugly.��
Danica burst into laughter and showed him the pictures she clicked. ��No, these are beautiful. See.��
��Ew, not at all,�� Troy commented in disgust after seeing his candid pictures. ��I look like I am done with life in this picture.��
Hearing Troy��s comment, she laughed more, which made Troy laugh as well. They talked about more things while having their dinner. However, this entire time, Danica felt that someone was watching her. She looked around repeatedly but found no one suspicious in particular. Troy noticed Danica worrying about something, but he didn��t ask about it. He was waiting for her to open up, which he doubted she ever would.
A few fans spotted Troy and Danica and clicked their pictures, posting them online. Some of the fans tried to talk to them, but the hotel had rules and one of them included that anyone disturbing other��s privacy shall be banned from there.
��Troy, I want to tell you something,�� Danica spoke up, after mustering enough courage to even talk about it. Troy waited for her to speak, as he continued having his dessert. ��It's about why I left.��
It caught Troy��s attention because he was doubting whether she would tell the truth to him ever or not. But now, she was ready to tell him everything. He dropped his spoon and placed all of his attention on her. This was the moment Troy was waiting for, and he hoped that everything would slowly fall in place after Danica started opening up her bottled emotions, which she needed to share with someone. But little did he know, it wasn��t as easy as it seemed like.
Danica took a deep breath and opened her mouth to speak. Just then she got a really bad feeling about it as if telling him right now would be a bad decision. She also felt being watched at that moment. She didn't want to risk his life, so she let out, "Never mind."
As soon as she said that, Troy had the urge to bang his hand on the table but he restrained himself and let out a deep sigh with his eyes closed. I should stop expecting anything from her by now, he told himself.
Danica fiddled with her spoon and asked, "Tatiana told me that you were very upset after I left��"
"Who wouldn't be? Also, it's not like my life stopped after you left." He didn't even try to cover up the bitterness in his voice.
"Troy, I am s��" she was again interrupted by Troy.
"Never mind. Are you done? I want to go back home," Troy urged and got up from his seat. He had already paid the bills, so he only waited for Danica to stand up before making his way towards the exit, leaving Danica speechless.
Danica wanted to apologize to him for hurting his feelings, but he was acting like her absence didn't bother him at all, which was definitely a lie.
On the other hand, Troy felt betrayed. What was it that she couldn't tell him at all? And if she couldn't tell him, why even give hope? Now he had decided to not hope for anything. She would never tell him the reason, neither would he listen anymore.
