Author's Note: This is an entirely consensual but utterly cruel and awful story. If you are a kind sweet person that does not enjoy dark fantasies, I suggest you stop here and read something else.
Oliva rushed around the corner, tottering dangerously on her strappy black heels as they sought the uncertain purchase of the old stones. She didn't care. As she walked around the corner of the tram car that was slowly moving away from her stop, she told herself that she wasn't in a hurry. Not really. She was already going to get to the restaurant early. It was practically around the corner, and that was really saying something in a place like the old town district of Prague, where everything was jammed on top of each other.
She had plenty of time, but she missed Riccardo so much that she couldn't wait to see him. He'd been gone all week. He traveled so much for work, that even though she'd been in the city for almost three months studying she had scarcely seen her boyfriend more than a day or two at a time since the first week she'd been here trying to find her way around the city. She blushed lightly at the memory of how they'd met back then but pushed it away. In a few minutes his presence would be enough to make her giggle like a freshman all over again, and she'd worked hard to try to have the same effect on him tonight that she didn't want to spoil the effect by mooning over him like a lovestruck girl.
Olivia normally dressed very conservatively, with thick rimmed glasses and her dark hair tied back in a braid. Tonight though, she'd pulled out all the stops. In addition to putting in her contacts and letting her long dark hair down for the evening she'd done everything she could think of to make Ricardo regret being away. She was wearing three-inch heels that she was clearly having some trouble with, dangling pearl earrings, and a little black dress that actually showed off a touch of cleavage for once. That was something she almost never did - normally Oliva went to great lengths to hide her apple sized breasts - she was a good girl after all, but something about her new boyfriend made her want him to stare.
She hurried down the uneven steps and made her way down towards the Volta river and thought back to that beautiful day in the subway even though she didn't want to. She couldn't help but re-live their meeting almost every day since they'd met. It was straight out of a romance novel. She'd been about to travel the wrong way on the red line when he picked her out of the crowd of apathetic natives and helped her find her way to the English language bookstore she'd been looking for.
He was so different from anyone else she'd known, from that first instant. He was warm unlike her fellow students she'd tried and failed to befriend, and incredibly intense unlike so many of her friends she'd left behind to see the wider world. He was just so present and alive, unlike anyone she'd ever known. When she'd told one of her friends about him, she'd just laughed and said, 'if you like forceful men so much, just vacation in Italy - you'll find more than you could ever handle,' she recalled as she arrived at restaurant, and the waiter led her to their reserved table on a balcony overlooking the ancient river that cut through the city.
Even if there'd been a grain of truth in that statement though, she knew it wasn't right. Her Ricardo couldn't just be replaced by any other man. She'd met more than a few since she'd been in Europe. Apparently American women had a reputation of being easy, much to her annoyance, but not her. Olivia was a Catholic, and a virgin, and she planned on staying that way until she met her future husband. No matter how many butterflies swirled around inside her when Ricardo kissed her, or held her hand, that wasn't going to change for anyone - not even him.
Ten minutes later, her boyfriend arrived, but she was too lost in her complex feelings to notice until he pulled out a single red rose from behind his back and presented it to her. "I tried to find one as beautiful as you, tesoro," Olivia put a hand to her mouth to keep from squealing in delight at his sudden appearance. "But I failed as you can see. This blossom doesn't begin to capture the way you look in that dress." After his second line, her defenses failed, and one leaked out anyway. She was smitten, and it was impossible to hide it.
"Thank you," she squeaked as he kissed her chastely on the cheek, managing not to embarrass herself any further.
They flirted for a few minutes after that until the waiter took their order. Ricardo ordered the SvΓΔkovΓ‘ both of them. He never asked what she wanted at this point, but somehow, he always managed to pick her favorites. Of all the Czech dishes she'd eaten so far on this trip, this one was the strangest to her palette, but wonderfully so. It was just sliced pork loin with dumplings, but they topped everything with a sauce that was just a little too sweet. Then they left the person eating to decide how to counterbalance that sweetness with the sour cream, cranberry sauce, and lemon that was provided artfully on the side of the plate just for that purpose. It was a delight, but it paled in comparison to the company.
Between the food, the location, and the man she was with, the night was perfect. They talked and flirted for over an hour before Ricardo finally took the check, and just like always, that time was spent giving her his full attention. Even though his phone buzzed several times, he made it clear that his job wasn't as important as his time with her, and every time she asked him about work, he just turned the question around on here. "Cara - the only thing we should be talking about here is you." It was enough to make her melt, but in truth she'd practically been a puddle for half an hour already - literally and metaphorically.
Afterwards they went for a walk by the river where they were one anonymous couple among hundreds of other strolling couples. It was the perfect night for romance. It was in the air, and she wanted more. They strolled arm in arm and Ricardo told her little anecdotes from his trip and listened patiently while she told him about her family and her life back home in Nebraska.
It was the most perfect night she could have possibly imagined, but Oliva was still shocked when she turned around to find her boyfriend on one knee pulling a ring box out of his pocket. He'd picked an almost deserted spot under a bridge, so she had assumed that he was just teasing her, or pulling some kind of prank, but when he opened the box to reveal a diamond ring that looked much too expensive for her, she almost fainted.
"Tesoro--" he spoke, as she tried desperately to cut him off, even though the very idea that he might be proposing to her made her want to weep with joy.
"No Ricardo - please. We can't," she interrupted, "It's too soon, what if this isn't really love. What if it's--"
"Oliva... mi amore..." he brought one hand to his heart, while the other continued to hold out the ring. "If we have found each other... If we have found love already... then what else should we wait for? My heart burns for you, and I want you to wear this ring so that you are mine and mine alone as long as we both should live on this earth."
