20. Chapter TwentyChristian
Chapter Twenty
Christian
“ W hat do you think about this one?” I asked and brought the shirt closer to the screen.
“I can’t see it properly. You know that, right?” Allison’s voice was light with laughter.
I moved further back from the camera to give her a full view of the flower-patterned shirt I got for the date with Fiona.
It would be our first date, and I was determined to look my absolute best.
“It’s a nice shirt,” Allison reported back to me, and I smiled at the screen. With the shirt now sorted, I laid it on the bed and walked over to the wardrobe to pull out the pants I hoped would go with it.
“I can’t believe I’m about to go on a date with Fiona,” I said and grinned widely.
“All of which would not happen if you didn’t listen to me,” Allison said. “Come to think of it, it would have happened a lot sooner if you had actually listened to me when I told you to tell her.”
“I was petrified.”
“I’m literally your sister and her best friend. I most definitely would not be egging you on if neither of you felt the same way.”
I pursed my lips. “I most definitely wasn’t thinking about that.”
Allison laughed out loud, and I grabbed the pants, and turned to face her.
“I’m glad you both got to confess your feelings, and are now going on this wonderful date that is going to give way to a wedding.”
My eyes widened. “Did she say anything?”
Allison laughed even louder. “Y’all haven’t even gone on one date. You might go out with her and discover some bad habits that would put you off for life.”
I joined her in the laugh, but I shook my head vehemently. “I don’t think Fiona can do anything at this point that would scare me off her.”
“You say that now.”
I laughed again.
“Oh, look who’s calling. I have to be an emotional support system for my best friend. Your turn is over. Make sure to tell me all about the date.”
“Fiona will tell you.”
“I’d like both accounts.”
Allison hung up, and I threw my head back, staring at my ceiling. When Allison told me she found me an assistant, I never thought I would end up here with Fiona. It filled me with warmth to know that my sister was on the phone picking up Fiona’s clothes just like she did for me. Knowing my sister, she was going to do everything in her power to make sure that we ended up in something similar.
The prospect thrilled me.
****
I rang the doorbell, and almost immediately the door opened to reveal Fiona. I was thrilled to see her. Before I could get a word out, she threw her arms around me, and I was quick to hold her. We haven’t kissed again since we confessed our feelings, and the tension between us has only grown stronger. I was hoping that by the end of this night, we would have had that chapter covered.
When we pulled away from the hug, I stepped back to take in her outfit. She did the same to me, her eyes going from my head to my toes. Allison had dressed us in nearly the same attire. I was wearing a white shirt with flower prints; the only difference was that my flower prints were larger than the ones on her dress. My pants were black, and we wore the same colored shoes.
Hers were flats because we decided to go to an amusement park for the first date, and there would be a lot of walking. I wore sneakers.
“You look amazing,” I said to her with a smile on my face.
“You too.”
Liam gave me a thumbs-up as I stepped into the car after Fiona. And I grinned at him, unable to help myself. I was way happier than I was before Fiona started this job. I was glad that she returned to Laketown to take the job. I have no idea what I would have been doing if she didn’t show up here.
I don’t even want to think about it.
“Are you excited?” I asked, and linked our hands together. Fiona nodded enthusiastically.
“We’re going to go on a lot of rides, right?”
“We’re going to do whatever you want,” I said to her.
Fiona shook her head, “we’re also going to be doing what you want too.”
“We’re doing what I want right now,” I said, and she looked at me with confusion.
“What’s that?”
“We’re holding hands, going on a date,” I said, lifting our linked hands up for her to see. “You don’t know how long I’ve waited to do that.”
And because Fiona was Fiona, and she liked to bring up the fact that she had this huge childhood crush on me when I wasn’t even looking her way, she reserved the right to outdo me at whatever desire I thought I was feeling.
“These are all things I’ve wanted to do, too,” she said to me with a grin. “I’ve had the biggest crush on you for nearly all of my life.”
Unable to help myself, I laughed loudly and kissed the back of her hand. “I’m glad I got the chance to catch up to you.”
She grinned back at me, and lifted my hand to place a kiss at the back, too.
Liam pulled up to the amusement park just then.
“You can take the rest of the day off,” I said to him as we got out. “We’re going to return home with an Uber, don’t worry about us.”
Fiona and I waved as Liam drove off, our other hands still linked.
“What are we going to do first?”
**
At Fiona’s decree, we got hair bands first. A cat hair band for her, and for me, a lion. We took pictures together, first alone and then together. I placed a kiss on her cheeks in some of them, and other times, I ventured a lot closer to her mouth.
Fiona didn’t seem disturbed by how close my mouth was inching towards her with every new picture we took.
“I’ll win you a teddy bear,” I said as we walked past the section. She shook her head at me, wanting to ride either the carousel or the Ferris Wheel. “They’ll be right there when we’re ready to go, and I’d like to see you hold something I labored to get.”
Fiona blushed but rolled her eyes to cover it up. She followed me to the stall nonetheless. I received the gun and the bullets required. I was determined to win her the biggest one.
On my fourth round, I realized I wasn’t any closer to winning the teddy bear. The longer it took me to hit it, the more frustrated I got. I didn’t want to disappoint Fiona even though she kept telling me that she was fine without it.
“Christian, really, it doesn’t matter.”
I hit the bullseye no sooner than the words had left her mouth. A cheer left my mouth, and turned around and picked her up, spinning her around. Fiona’s laugh rose higher than the fan club I had gathered with all my effort.
Except my effort didn’t really win us the teddy bear, I had my eyes on. It didn’t even win us the second or third biggest one. We got a regular-sized teddy bear, and I couldn’t help the glare I sent towards the stall owner.
Fiona pulled me along, smiling her disarming smile at the man. I let her drag me toward the Ferris wheel. She was the reason we were here, and I was determined to make sure she felt on top of the world.
I wrapped my arms around her as we stood in line for the Ferris wheel, and placed my mouth close to her ear. “Are you having fun?”
I felt her shiver in my arms. Fiona nodded. I grinned even though she couldn’t see me.
“Good.”
Fiona leaned into my hold, and I wrapped my arms tighter around her. All around us, people stood with either their friends or lovers, waiting to get on the Ferris wheel, or walking around with some snacks.
The cotton candy we got was gone, and I looked around the park, trying to find something sustainable to eat as soon as we got off the Ferris wheel. I saw a hot dog stand and made a mental note of it.
“Do you remember when we came here as kids?” Fiona asked, pulling my attention from our environment and back to her.
“We didn’t come,” I said, and hugged her tighter. “We were forced to bring you and Allison along.”
“Hey, we had fun.”
I remember being pissed at Allison for suggesting that I bring them to the amusement park, especially since I was supposed to hang out with my friends. But then, my friends had agreed to go to the park with us.
Even I couldn’t deny that. It was true, and we had fun together. I still couldn’t believe that I thought of Fiona as nothing more than my sister’s best friend back then.
“Oh, I understand how it was fun for you. You were all over me. How couldn’t I tell back then that you had a crush on me.”
Fiona tried to move away from my arms, but I held on tighter to her, laughing the more she struggled. The couple in front of us turned around to look at Fiona, who moved back into me with her head bowed. She muttered an apology, and the couple were quick to accept.
“I can’t believe you liked dumb old me.”
“You weren’t dumb.”
I was going to reply to her, but it was our turn to get on the Ferris wheel. We took our seats and got buckled in.
“This is so exciting.”
I nodded in agreement.
After a while, the Ferris Wheel rose to the sky, and I looked down at the world beneath us. I wanted to make tonight memorable for her, so I cleared my throat. Fiona looked at me with raised brows.
“I love you,” I said, and the blush that took over her would make anyone think it was the first time I was saying the words to her. She looked down at her hands, in a desperate attempt to calm herself down.
When she looked back at me, I brought my face closer to hers. Fiona blinked, and I smiled at her.
“Be my girlfriend,” I said to her, and her eyes grew wide. Quickly, she nodded, and I took the opportunity to press my lips to her. It was nothing like I imagined it to be. Her lips were soft, and her hand clung lightly to my shirt.
When I pulled back, her eyes were still closed. I took the chance to kiss her again, pressing my lips to hers. This time, I moved my lips, and Fiona kissed me back. She moved closer to me, as close as the belts strapping us would allow.
“Come home with me,” I asked, and Fiona nodded again before kissing me this time.
I grinned into the kiss because this might just be the happiest I’ve ever been, and the woman of my dreams was in my arms, kissing me. It felt like I was on top of the world, and the butterflies in my stomach took the chance to be a stampede of elephants.