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“sorry!” he chuckled softly as he took another sip of his wine. “i guess i can relate to that. i’m a self-proclaimed workaholic…” sid hadn’t been on a date… or at least in the presence of a woman who wasn’t a client… in years. his last failed relationship with maddie had made him close up. she had really hurt him. sid never let anyone in after that. he wasn’t willing to put himself in a place where he could get hurt again. but aurora had broken through his walls somehow, he couldn’t understand how. “it’s a little too cold for my liking. but it’s nevertheless beautiful. when was the last time you were there?” sid asked her, curiously. for some reason, he wanted to know more… more about what actually went down in the royal family that had caused her to be exiled. he’d been going through multiple news articles about aurora after he she’d told him the truth about her identity. but he just didn’t get it. he really wanted to. “well, i’m sid… full name is sidharth alessandro giuseppe santini. it’s a mix of indian and italian, although i’m indian by birth and italian by adoption. i was born sometime in the 90s in mumbai, india. don’t know when, don’t know where. i grew up in an orphanage before my parents adopted me.” he shrugged. “what else? i went to harvard for law school, i have one little sister… sahar, you already know her. there’s not much to say about me, to be honest. people say i’m kinda boring and i agree.”

“don’t sweat it.” she chuckles sipping her wine yet again. “you should take a break every once and a while, not that i’m one to talk though.” she says shaking her head in laughter, thinking of all the hours she’d put into her job. her eyes flickered over to him, unable to keep the blush from creeping on her cheeks, what was it about him? she couldn’t quite place it, but whatever it was, made her feel so adolescent, butterflies fluttering violently in her stomach every time she thinks of their hands intertwining, she almost misses his question. “the cold is basically in my bones at this point,” she jokes, only a slight hint of truth in her words, “but it’s been two, almost three years. i haven’t been back since star was born.” she admits the thought of what happened quickly flashing by her. “well, sidharth.” she repeats with a slight giggle. “i don’t think you’re boring at all. if anything i’m the boring one, all i have going for me is i’m a princess, and i doubt you want to hear about that.” aurora was never really one to talk about life in the royal family, in all honesty she didn’t think anyone would care, and technically sid was the only person who knew. “but i guess since you told me about you, it’s my turn, what do you wanna know?” she asked raising her eyebrow, he basically already knew her biggest secret.

“i’m not much of a pastry kind of guy but i think i can give it up for a day for your sake, you know…” he chuckled and took the glass from her. “you really weren’t kidding when you said that you made enough food to feed a village. all this food, makes me think of when i worked at the hague. i used to spend my weekends in oslo, just constantly flying back and forth with some friends.” sid took a sip of his wine. “well… what do you want to know?” sid asked, smiling. “i’ll tell you everything you want to know…” it was the least he could do after what she had told him.

aurora let’s out a fake gasp, “you’re really just all about hurting my feelings tonight, huh?” she teases laughter lacing her voice, taking a sip of her wine before responding, “i will admit i do tend to go a bit overboard when it comes to cooking, but i can’t help it — it’s what i’m passionate about.” she listens to the story intently, the thought of norway cheering her up, slightly, “i haven’t been back in a while, but oslo is beautiful this time of year, i almost miss it.” she says before biting her lip in concentration, “i’m not sure, tell me what you want me to know, i’m atrocious at getting to know people.”

“oh right, i remember… everyone loved that cake.” sid noted as he nodded. “dessert… isn’t that more of your cup of tea?” he asked as he laughed softly and turned over to look at her. it was surprising to him that an actually princess, whom aurora was, had actually managed to master the art of cooking. personally, he considered himself a decent cook. having lived alone during his harvard days, he had learned to cook in order to feed himself. and when he moved back to new york, he had parker to feed. “so, what are we waiting for?” he asked, his hands not leaving his pockets as he spoke to her. he was slightly amused by the fact that she was nervous. he found it sort of adorable, in a way.

“really? that’s great!” she said happily, she was always ecstatic when people liked her work, always looking for some way to improve her work. “well sorta? i’m technically a ‘chef’ but i like to focus on the pastry side of things.” she said with a small shrug, she was never one to brag, in fact she almost resented doing so. “well, nothing now.” she says with a small laugh, leading her way towards the dining room. she grabs two wine glasses from the cabinet, pouring two glasses for them both. “here you are.” she says handing him a wine glass, “feel free to help yourself, there’s lefse, raspeball, pinnekjøtt, köttbullar, janssons frestelse, and a few other things.” she takes a sip of wine, “tell me about yourself, i feel like i hardly know my next door neighbors.”

after years of living right next door to each other and not knowing who she was, it felt strange that sid was going to aurora’s apartment. aurora, the runaway norwegian princess, his nextdoor neighbor… it still hadn’t sunk in. but nevertheless, he showed up at her door with a bottle of wine, a polite gesture in response to her dinner invite. “hi.” he smiled at her as he stepped inside of her home, turning around to look at her and handing her the bottle. “i thought you might like some wine. i didn’t know you knew my sister. small world, i guess.” he chuckled. “you didn’t have to do all of that. i’m not that much of a picky eater.”

as she opened up the door with a shaky breath and greeted him, her breath suddenly hitched in her throat, “h—hi.” is all she sputtered out, aurora wasn’t expecting much but she never knew that someone could look so...captivating. “oh.” she says in geninune surpirse at the gesture, “you didn’t have to but um— thanks a lot.” she’d never felt more clusmy with her words before this moment. “very small, i only met her because i made her birthday cake.” she admits with a shrug. as he laughs so does she, she can’t help it, it’s infectious. “if you think this is a lot just wait until you see dessert.” she says with a small giggle.