Chapter 12 #2
‘Good idea,’ I agreed, racking my brain to think of other romantic things someone might do in a park.
‘Maybe we could just… take normal photos of us observing things? You could show me your favourite parts and take photos of whatever is interesting? I think that’s the most logical thing.
I mean, if this was a real first date, which of course it isn’t, it’s not like we’d be holding hands or kissing. ’
Tingles shot up my spine and I chastised my body for reacting just because I’d mentioned the word ‘kissing’. Honestly.
‘You are right. We should not overthink it. But first, we will sail a boat.’
The boat sailing was fun. After Gabriel showed me the Medici Fountain which was apparently really famous and twenty white marble statues of French queens and other important women from France which I enjoyed seeing, a text came through telling us that lunch would be served in the picnic area.
When we arrived, the guests we’d seen earlier at the rooftop were gathering around the Love Alchemists who were distributing little picnic baskets. Once we’d got ours, we found a spot to lay everything out.
‘You said that a picnic would be a good idea!’ I said to Gabriel. ‘And it’s great that they’ve given us a blanket. You wouldn’t want to get grass stains on those cream shorts.’
‘I am sure it will be fine,’ Gabriel said as he laid down the blanket then opened the basket.
Just looking at the food inside made my mouth water. There was an assortment of cold meats including ham, slices of what looked like roast chicken, salads and dessert.
They’d even provided juices, mineral water, glasses and real plates and cutlery. I was quickly realising that the Love Hotel always went the extra mile.
After arranging everything on the blanket, I poured Gabriel a glass of water and a glass of OJ for myself, then we got stuck in.
‘We should take a photo together, before we finish the food,’ Gabriel suggested.
‘Good point,’ I said.
‘I know this is not a first date, but for the purposes of the photo, perhaps it would be better if you were not sitting so far away.’ Gabriel raised an eyebrow.
I’d positioned myself at the edge of the blanket at the farthest point to create as much distance as possible between us.
‘Um… okay.’
A wasp started buzzing around the leftovers on my plate and I jumped. Ever since I’d got stung on the arse when I was a teenager, I’d hated them.
I quickly moved over to Gabriel’s side of the blanket, glad to escape the threat.
Gabriel pulled out his phone and angled it in the air with one hand as he held up his glass with the other.
‘You should get your glass too,’ Gabriel suggested.
Given the circumstances, I didn’t feel like we should really be toasting anything. But seeing as we were here and needed to complete the tasks, I reached for my glass cautiously, trying to avoid the wasp that was buzzing dangerously close to it.
After grabbing my drink, I returned to Gabriel’s side, plastered on a smile, then held up my glass.
‘To Paris,’ Gabriel said. At least he hadn’t made a toast to us.
‘To Paris,’ I said, clinking my glass with his.
But just as he started taking photos, a loud buzzing surrounded me and the wasp landed on the hand that was holding my drink.
‘Shit!’ I jumped, tossing my hand in the air to shake it off, sending the glass flying.
I started running around like a lunatic, batting the air and squealing as I tried to escape the wasp who seemed hellbent on following me. I must’ve looked ridiculous, but I didn’t care. There was no way I was getting bitten on the butt again.
Not today, stinging Satan.
‘It has gone,’ Gabriel said.
‘Are you sure?’ I called out.
‘Certain.’
I paused, then scanned my body to see if there was any sign of it hovering. The buzzing had definitely stopped.
‘Oh, thank God,’ I said, my shoulders instantly loosening.
But when I looked over at Gabriel, I winced.
I hadn’t realised before but when I’d tossed my glass in the air, it’d landed on Gabriel and now the juice was all over him.
Well, more specifically, all over his crotch.
And thanks to the colour of the juice and his light-coloured shorts, it looked like he’d had an ‘accident’.
‘Shit!’ I said, grabbing a thick white serviette and launching at him to mop it up. ‘I’m so sorry!’ I said, rubbing the serviette over the wet patch.
‘At least offer to buy me dinner first!’ Gabriel laughed.
‘What?’ I looked up at him to see him smirking. Gabriel gestured between his legs and when I saw where my hand was resting, my eyes popped. ‘Oh, fuck!’ I sprang back. ‘I didn’t mean to… I was just trying to…’
‘Last night you told me that you were not interested in me romantically but now you are rubbing my dick on our second date?’ Gabriel raised an eyebrow.
‘I didn’t realise I… I…’ I stuttered as embarrassment washed over me.
My eyes met his and seconds later we burst out laughing.
I couldn’t believe what I’d just done. I was so focused on trying to mop up the mess I didn’t even think about how inappropriate it would be.
‘Please don’t report me for sexual harassment,’ I pleaded.
‘Hmmm.’ He narrowed his eyes whilst a playful smile tugged at his lips. ‘I will think about it.’
‘I promise it won’t happen again.’
‘C’est dommage,’ he said.
‘What does that mean?’ I frowned.
‘Would you like any more food or should we start packing everything away?’ Gabriel replied, avoiding answering my question. I wished I’d paid more attention in French lessons at school so I could understand what he’d said.
‘I’m stuffed! Let’s pack everything away. Do you want to try and sort out… that in the toilets first?’ I gestured to his shorts.
‘It is not important,’ he shrugged. ‘I do not think water will be able to get this out and if I try, it will make it worse.’
‘I’m so, so sorry! And to think I was worried about you getting grass stains on your shorts and I ended up tipping orange juice all over them! Let’s find a shop and I’ll buy you another pair.’
‘Do not worry. Let us tidy up.’
‘Okay.’
Once I’d thrown away the rubbish and Gabriel had packed away the plates, he stood up and shook off the blanket. My gaze dropped between his legs again where the orange juice had left a very noticeable stain.
‘You all finished?’ Sammie came over to us.
‘Oui,’ Gabriel confirmed.
Sammie went to take the basket from him and then she stopped abruptly. When I followed her gaze, her eyes were fixed on Gabriel’s crotch.
‘Oh!’ she gasped. ‘You er… did you have a little er… accident? The toilets aren’t far if you—’
‘I spilt orange juice on his lap!’ I jumped in, keen to set the record straight. ‘There was a wasp and I got flustered and dropped my glass.’
‘Ohhhh!’ Sammie said, as understanding washed over her. ‘I thought that maybe you’d—’
‘Pissed my pants?’ Gabriel cocked an eyebrow.
‘Er, yeah,’ Sammie said sheepishly. ‘It’d be nothing to be ashamed of if you had. Incontinence is quite common. One of my friends said her bladder hasn’t been the same since she had kids. She can’t cough or laugh without a bit of wee dribble leaking out.’
‘Wee dribble?’ I stifled a grin. ‘Never heard it called that before.’
‘I don’t think it’s a technical term,’ Sammie smiled. ‘All I’m saying is, my friend’s never without her special pads. I think they do them for men too. I could get some for you if—’
‘That is very kind of you, Sammie,’ Gabriel interrupted. ‘But I do not need them. It really is just orange juice.’
‘Oh, okay. Sure! Sorry! Well, then I’ll just take this from you.’ She picked up the picnic basket. ‘And, er, if you need anything, like a fresh blanket to wrap around you or to go back to the hotel to change, just shout and we’ll get it sorted!’
‘Merci,’ he nodded as Sammie walked away quickly.
Poor Gabriel must’ve been mortified by that conversation. I knew I would’ve been. Sammie was right though. My bladder wasn’t the same after having Ricky.
‘Let us go,’ Gabriel said.
As we walked, more and more people stared at the stain, but somehow Gabriel seemed oblivious.
‘Are you sure you don’t want something to cover it up?’
‘Laila.’ Gabriel turned to face me and rested his hands on my shoulders.
The sensation sent a bolt of electricity shooting up my spine.
‘Please do not worry. I really do not care what anyone else thinks. If they want to believe that I peed my pants, let them. When we leave the park, maybe I will buy a new pair of shorts or maybe I will not.’ He shrugged.
Wow.
Gabriel really didn’t care about other people’s opinions.
I wished I was half as confident as he was.
If the roles were reversed, I’d probably spend hours in the loo scrubbing at my dress or I’d wrap myself in the picnic blanket and find the quickest way back to the hotel which involved seeing the minimum amount of people.
‘Fair enough,’ I said.
‘And it is not all bad.’
‘No?’
‘I have never had so many people staring at my dick,’ he grinned.
‘I find that hard to believe,’ I blurted out.
‘Why? Have you been looking, Laila?’ The corner of his mouth twitched.
‘No! Of course not!’ I said quickly. ‘I didn’t mean…’
‘No?’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘Then what did you mean?’
‘I just meant that… I’m sure that you get a lot of attention. From women. And probably from men too.’
‘Why would you think that?’ He tilted his head playfully.
God, this was awkward.
How did I get myself into this conversation and most importantly, how could I get myself out of it?
‘Because you’re… because of all this.’ I gestured to his face and body.
‘This?’ He frowned. ‘What is this?’
‘Oh, come on.’ I rolled my eyes. ‘You’re a smart man. You know what I mean.’
‘So you think I am smart? And that I have all this.’ He mimicked my gesture of signalling his face to his toes with my hands. ‘Two compliments in one afternoon. Merci. I am honoured.’
He laughed and the deep rumble made me smile.
‘You should be! Now I can see that you don’t want to cover up because you like the attention.’
‘Strangely, I do not like attention. But I also try not to worry about things that are not important. Having juice spilt on your shorts is not a big deal. It could have been worse. It could have been hot coffee.’
‘Ouch!’ I winced.
‘Things happen. It was an accident. At least that is what you told me… If you wanted to touch me, you could have just asked…’ He raised a suspicious eyebrow.
‘It was!’ I gasped.
I was telling the truth. I was so focused on getting the stain out I didn’t even notice I was rubbing his dick. If I did, maybe I would’ve paid more attention to how it felt.
No, no, no. I chastised myself.
Those thoughts were not allowed.
‘Je rigole!’ He laughed again. ‘I am joking.’
‘Phew!’
‘Come on,’ Gabriel smiled. ‘There is something else I would like to show you.’