8. Chapter Eight – Lily
Lily
There's one good thing about sleeping poorly after drinking: it means I sleep even better the next night. So I spend my Sunday sleeping in until noon and taking a walk around the neighborhood.
Well, a short walk with a large cup of iced coffee and my little portable fan in my hands to combat the temperatures. I don’t make it longer than half an hour regardless, because the heat and humidity are just sweltering.
After answering some e-mails and evading Lucy’s curious messages asking if I’ve run into Adam again and demanding to know all details, I go to bed early with the air-condition on high blast.
Is there such a thing as stocking up on coldness? I wish there were, because my plans for Monday are all outside.
When I wake up, I’m well-rested and ready to go, a wide smile on my face from the second I’m awake .
Finally. Today is the day.
From the very beginning, I knew I wouldn’t visit any lectures today. The topic of this fine Monday is the usage of AI to optimize cost. Which is an important topic, but the summary revealed that today’s lectures are all about cutting corners and replacing human creativity with artificial.
After a short conversation with Millie and Kayla, we agreed that it’s not a direction Siren’s Talent is going to pursue. I don’t need an algorithm to predict what beat is going to be the next big hit, thank you very much. Tomorrow’s focus is going to be how AI can improve tools for bookkeeping and make people’s job easier, which plays more into the area I can see Siren’s Talent utilizing it.
So, I decided to take this fine Monday off and have a weekday to myself.
Felix was also more than happy to extend his weekend. He decided to make a short trip to Kyoto instead, leaving by Shinkansen, the Japanese high-speed trains, on Sunday morning and returning some time this evening.
So now that I have the whole day to myself, with no assistant teasing me about my hobbies, what better way to spend it than at an amusement park?
The grin doesn't leave my face, even in the breakfast room. I’m here later than usual. With the amusement park only opening at nine, I figured I’d wait until most conference attendees were done with their breakfast. No dice, though; the room is still packed .
God, I'm so giddy I can barely stomach breakfast. I get myself a bit of everything and bite down a few pieces until I give up and decide to leave and get some breakfast on my way to eat in the park. Along with the obligatory iced coffee.
Adam shoots me a curious gaze as I walk past his table, but I act like I didn’t notice him, feeling his gaze linger until I round the corner to the lobby.
God, I'm excited. There’s a spring in my step as I pull my bag’s handles over my shoulder and make my way to the closest coffee shop, trusty portable fan in my hand and having a little Beyoncé flying hair moment.
The baristas hand me an iced coffee as soon as I step up to the counter – looks like I’ve made an impression – and I get myself a little pastry for the train ride before I make my way to the station.
Halfway to the station, I realize I'm being followed.
Damnit. I shouldn’t have gone to breakfast to begin with. Quickly, I take out my phone and take a selfie, showing Adam walking not too far behind me, before I pull up my chat with Lucy.
Lily : Told you, he's everywhere.
Lily : *Picture*
I don't expect her to reply, but my phone lights up immediately.
Lucy : Make a run for it! :D
Lily : I will do no such thing.
I do, however, look around to see if there’s any way I could lose him without having to make a huge detour. But the streets here are wide and straightforward – not a chance at slipping through alleys or hiding in stores until he’s gone. With a deep sigh, I continue on. Maybe I’ll manage to lose him at the station.
Lucy : Then ignore him. Have fun today! Get me a souvenir!
Lily : Will do. Thanks. 3
Only a few more corners to the station and I do play with the thought of hiding in a store. Sadly, none of them seem like good hiding spots.
So finally, I descend the stairs to the station, watching Adam from the corner of my eyes when I turn and in window reflections.
This little chase is definitely not what I had envisioned for this morning. What I also hadn’t envisioned within all the excitement for today was how goddamn busy the station would be at this time of the day .
Rush hour. I should have remembered that.
And rush hour in Tokyo. Really something else.
The spring in my step is definitely gone now, because there’s no damned space to spring. It’s so packed that all I can do is move in the masses.
Before I know it, I don’t even think about Adam anymore. I’m way too busy trying to make my way to the platform without running into any people or stepping into their heels.
When I finally reach it, I groan upon seeing the masses in line for the next train. One thing I appreciate about Japan is how orderly they wait for the next train to arrive and how smoothly that allows them to let people out and then get onto it. I wish that worked everywhere in the world.
A glance at the platform screen tells me that the next train will arrive in two minutes, and the next one I can take after that will take another ten minutes. With a sigh, I position myself near one of the doors, which deepens when something in the corner of my eye catches my attention.
I’d hoped I’d lost him, but there he is, trying to hide behind a pillar. Crossing my arms in front of my chest, I fixate him with a hard stare that makes him leave his hiding spot and make his way over to me.
“Where are we going?” he has the nerve to ask cheekily, and I regret not continuing this little cat and mouse game. I could have pretended to get off at some random station. Then again, I don’t want to be responsible for a rescue team to search for him when he inevitably gets lost .
“We?” I raise my eyebrow at him and cross my arms in front of my chest. “There’s no ‘we.’. We agreed on Tuesday.” I take a sip of my iced coffee as I wait for his answer. God, there’s nothing better than an iced coffee on a summer morning.
“We did. But it looks like your company has the same view on AI as Croney, so I figured you had a better plan. So where are we going?”
I pinch the bridge of my nose between my eyes and take a deep breath.
“Fairytale Land,” I tell him, and by the twitching of the corners of his mouth, I can tell he’s about to burst into a chuckle. “Not a word.”
“Fairytale Land?”
I nod, lifting my chin as I dare him to make fun of it. But instead, he schools his face and nods.
“Alright, I can think of worse ways to spend my day.” I roll my eyes as I drink the rest of my iced coffee. Taking it on a rush hour train just seems reckless.
“I didn't say I'm up for company.” I walk over to a bin and toss the paper cup that now only has ice left in it.
“You’re going to have it anyway.”
I purse my lips, silently seething as I walk back to where he’s standing. The only reason I don't reply and tear into him for disrupting my plans is because in that moment the train arrives.
Following the queue’s lead, I step aside, pulling Adam with me, so those exiting the train can pass through the people waiting at both sides of the door. Ah, efficiency. I love it .
“I think I want to wait for the next one,” I mumble and grimace when I see how packed it is through the windows. People are standing pressed against each other and clinging onto the handrails, looking every bit as unamused as I feel.
“We’ll be fine,” Adam says and nudges me towards the door. “Plus, I bet the next one is going to be just as full. Come on.”
Taking a deep breath, I take the lead and push my way inside, Adam right on my heels. We make it to about the middle of the train when I don’t think I can take another step forward. Just as I’m thinking that, there’s a strong push from behind me, making me take another step.
Finally, the doors close and I look around for a handle to cling onto. Truth be told, even if I were to lose my balance, I physically wouldn’t be able to fall. There’s pressure from all sides keeping me in place.
Still, I lift my hand to one of the handrailings and cling onto it for dear life at every curve.
“Oh wow,” Adam wonders out loud and chuckles. “I've seen videos of Tokyo Rush Hour, but I never thought it would really be this intense.”
“Well, it is,” I reply in a quieter tone. “Now shush.”
He nods, apparently only now realizing that despite the mass of people in this train, it’s so quiet you could hear a pin drop if it weren’t for the sounds of the moving train.
The train goes into another curve and the weight of everyone around me leaning into it pushes me right against Adam.
“Sorry.” I look up at him, but he shakes his head .
“All good. It’s not like you can help it,” he mumbles with a grin, and I sigh. In another situation, I would probably very much enjoy being pressed against him. He smells really good and it would be a lie to say that leaning against a man with wide shoulders and hard muscles under his dress shirt is uncomfortable.
The only thing uncomfortable about this is the fact that literally nothing is ever going to happen between us.
It's a long train ride, where we’re jostled by the train as well as the people who leave and get onto the train, and I spend about half of it pressed against Adam, my nose practically buried in his shirt, until finally we reach a station where most of the passengers get off.
Finally, I can take a step back, but I can't quite manage to look him in the eyes, my cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
God damn it, Lucy was so right: I have a crush on him.
The rest of the ride is awkward. Wordlessly, we get seats once there’s enough space and I am hyper aware of the fact that our thighs are touching. Ignore it, Lily. Ignore. He’s just a business friend.
When the train arrives at its final stop, we change platforms to another one and then, finally, I see the themed hotels as we drive past and the amusement park’s castle in the distance. All the anticipation comes back with a vengeance when we disembark, greeted with songs from movies blasting from the speakers and so many other people who obviously have the same destination as we do.
God, I love it here.
"You need to buy a ticket online," I inform him as we walk down the stairs to the exit. "Also, just saying, I have stuff I want to do. I'm not going to play babysitter, and I don't want to hear a word about my choices if you decide to join me."
A part of me hopes he’ll split with me to do his own thing. After all, he knows the way now and I doubt he and I have the same definitions of what a fun day here is going to be.
"Alright," Adam says with a nod and starts chuckling as he pulls out his phone to book a ticket, still keeping up with me as I walk out of the station.
A part of me hopes it’s sold out. Then again that means it’s going to be super packed in there as well, and I guess having Adam tag along would be the lesser evil.
But before that, I need another coffee. Good thing there’s a shop right by the train station. Adam starts chuckling when he notices where I’m going, putting away his phone.
“Got a ticket.”
“Good for you, I’m getting a coffee.”
“Of course you are.” He shakes his head at me, but I ignore his antics. The caffeine has left my body along with patience as I was squished between a sea of people. Time to re-charge.
"Don’t judge," I scold him. "It’s hot, and I’m grumpy, so unless you want me to be insufferable for the rest of the day, you might want to shut up and let me get my coffee. This particular coffee shop might be overpriced. I'm pretty sure it's going to be even pricier inside the park. ”
He whistles through his teeth at my little outburst, but I can’t find it in me to care. Instead, I wrestle my portable hand fan out of my bag, sighing happily when it brings a bit of relief.
“Didn't peg you for the kind of woman who would consider the price of an iced coffee.” When I look up at him, amusement is written all over his face.
“You underestimate me.”
Coffee is one of the few things that I will never skimp on. Just like on my fancy coffee machine at home, because at this point, it’s my elixir of life.
Thank goodness there are only two people in line ahead of me when I get in line, and before I know it, I have the ice-cold coffee goodness in my hands and hum happily as a sip of the cold goodness flows down my throat.
“Now I'm ready. Let’s go.”
There’s still a way to go until the entrance. I hum along to the music from the speakers, bopping my head to the melody, all in all in a better mood now that we’re here and I have a cold drink.
We get into the park without a hitch, one of the benefits of not queuing to enter right at opening time, I guess.
Obviously, it’s not sold out if Adam still managed to get a ticket, and thank God, it looks like a pleasant amount of people in here. Not so little you feel weird for being one of the few, and not so packed you can barely walk a proper speed.
When the first merchandise shop comes into sight, I immediately make a beeline for it .
"What are we doing here?" Adam asks.
"I'm buying souvenirs for Lucy, my sister-in-law," I announce with a happy sigh and hand him my coffee. He takes it, seemingly out of reflex, as I’m heading straight for the headbands. It’s a lie. Lucy might love some of these characters but I’m totally shopping for myself. He doesn’t need to know that, though.
Goddamnit, they have so much cute stuff. I restrain myself, though. I don’t want to have to carry all of this around for the whole day. The one thing I can’t walk away from though is the shelf with headbands and hats.
I select one I like and then another that I just know Adam is going to look ridiculous in, with his overly serious black t-shirt and jeans combo. Who in their right mind even wears a dark shirt when the sun is blasting from the sky?
The lovely cashier removes the tags of my goods for me, and before Adam can even open his mouth to object, I turn around and put it on him.
"Adorable," I state dryly, pursing my lips to keep them from revealing how funny I think he looks, "Beige fluff suits you."
I still, gauging his reaction when he doesn’t say anything at first. Once I see the corner of his mouth twitching for a grin, I walk to the closest mirror and put mine on. His might be beige fluff, but mine is white with pink accents and it looks cute as hell.
"And white fluff suits you ," he says, finally giving in to the grin when I turn around and he hands me back my coffee. “ Very cute.” I scowl when he says it in a high-pitched way, just like you would talk to a small child. He reaches up to take it off, but I shake my head at him disapprovingly.
"You're not serious. I have to wear this the whole day?"
His eyes grow wide and he walks past me to take a look at himself in the mirror as well.
"Oh, deadly," I say with a serious nod. "If you're going to tag along with me for the whole day, you better bring the mood with you, or I'm going to ‘lose’ you somewhere in the park.” I lift my hands for air quotes and bite my lip. The image of him having to wait for me at the lost kids’ area is kind of hilarious.
"Alright, alright." He raises his hands defensively, his shoulders sagging. "You're the boss."
"That's what I like to hear." I grin and stride ahead. "But let me be honest with you, I'm mostly here for the vibes. Queuing for 90 minutes to ride a 3-minute ride is just not something I have the patience for. So, my first order of action is to take a stroll, feel the vibes, see if we find a prince or princess. It's Lucy's birthday soon and I want to see if one of them will record her a birthday message."
"So what's the plan?" Adam asks again.
"You're such a planner," I playfully scold him and roll my eyes. "Just go with the flow, see what you want to do. Or are you trying to stress me out?"
"I would never," he promises and raises his hands in a defensive gesture.
"I don't have a plan, Adam. We're here, at one of the happiest places on earth, and we're going to do whatever the heck we want to do. You want to queue for a ride? Go ahead. Tell me if it has less than thirty minutes waiting time and I might tag along. For now, I’ll walk around aimlessly, try out cute-looking food and watch fireworks in the evening."
"Well, let me check." Adam pulls out his phone, and I'm sure he pulls up the app to check for the waiting times. His eyes widen the more he taps on his screen, and I try to contain my grin when he puts it away again and states, "Looks like I'm right with you."
"Splendid," I tell him with a giggle and stride ahead, my eyes dancing over the cute buildings and trying not to stumble over a child.
The first thing I see is a statue of the founder and I hurry over to for a selfie.
"Would you like me to take a picture for you?" Adam asks amusedly, already extending his hand to take my phone from me, but I shake my head.
"No, thank you. You see, it's something of a tradition." I make a duck face and snap the picture, placing the frame so the castle is visible in the background. It's the perfect shot to send to Lucy.
"It's a little game I have going on with my sister-in-law. Whenever either of us is at any of these amusement parks, we take a selfie with the statues and send it. But it has to be a selfie."
"That' s interesting," he says, but looks so confused I’m not quite sure I believe him. Whatever, he doesn’t have to get it.
The further we walk, the wider my grin gets as I take pictures of the castle and its surrounding park, marvel at the cute rides and shops, and finally find an area that didn’t even exist the last time I was here.
Despite the horrendous wait times for all the rides, it's not that crowded here. Sure, there are still plenty of kids, strollers, and lots of people not watching where they're going, but that seems to be a global phenomenon at these parks. I’m just glad I don’t have to stop every two meters because someone walks in front of me without looking.
We finally reach the carousel behind the castle when something in the corner of my eyes catches my attention.
"Stop," I say, coming to a halt and turning sharply. "There’s a princess." I grin and walk right over to where a crowd has already formed.
It's Sleeping Beauty in all her beautifully dressed glory, surrounded by a crowd of people who all want a picture with her. It takes me a minute to realize how exactly they’re managing it, because I can’t see a queue.
People just gather around her, and it looks like she picks the next person to take a photo with her right out of the crowd. Interesting.
And there’s not a chance for me to get one, seeing as there are at least five rows of people in front of me.
"You should go there," Adam suggests .
"I'm good," I reply, but I still take out my phone to snap a picture from afar just to send to Lucy, because she adores Sleeping Beauty. "Maybe if we run into her again later.”
The sun is still glaring and we walk into another shop to escape the bright light for a moment. Instantly, my eyes scan the goods – maybe I can find another ridiculous accessory to push onto Adam. There are notebooks – boring – keychains – boring - and then… hell yeah!
With a wide grin, I grab two plush toys and walk over to the register, but before I can pay, Adam swipes his card over the machine.
"Hey, I had that," I scold him, startled by his sudden appearance, but he shakes his head.
"You had the headbands, it's my turn."
My shoulders sag and I shake my head at him. Can’t really argue with that.
"Alright," I shrug and hand him one of the plush toys wordlessly.
"What am I supposed to do with this?" He turns it in his hand, tapping at the little clip on the underside and I grin. He's so adorably clueless. One of the cashiers is watching us with a grin as I take it from his hand and clip it onto his shirt so the little chameleon plush sits on his shoulder.
"Now you've got a little companion,” I say cheerfully.
"That's cute and ridiculous," he remarks, but the smile on his lips reveals that he secretly likes it .
"Here, help me put on mine." I hand him the little fish, and he obliges. Big mistake. Suddenly, he’s very damn close. Almost too damn close. I can feel his breath against my hair and I can see each little crinkle in the corner of his eye and the few grey hairs starting to speckle through the black ones.
Calm down, Lily. Breathe through it.
Finally, he is done and I’m not sure whether to mourn or be happy about the distance between us.
"Wonderful,” I say nervously as he gives the fish a little pat to test If it will hold. “Let's keep going."
I don’t wait for an answer before I turn around and walk off, my hand shaking with nervousness and heavy breaths falling from my lips as soon as my back is facing him.
What the fuck.
Breathe, Lily.
My whole body is tense as we continue to walk through the park – although now I’m paying attention to have a bit more distance between the two of us. No more accidental shoulder bumping, because I apparently can't be trusted with body contact to this man.
Fuck.
I never thought I’d walk through this park with a man. I mean, yes, it's a prime date spot for the locals and that was even the case ten years ago when I was here for the first time.
I just never saw myself doing it. All my prior boyfriends were more into superheroes, not princes and princesses. They probably would have come along if I asked them, but I don't know. They didn't seem like they would enjoy their time here.
But right now with Adam? Being here as friends is actually fun. Although it’s obvious that he’s never been to this amusement park chain before.
“Have you never been at these parks with your brothers?” I ask him curiously and finally toss the empty coffee cup away. I kept it with me to sip on the cold water from the ice, but now it’s all gone.
“There was never any time,” he admits sheepishly and lifts his hand to scratch his head, lowering it again when his hand bumps into the headband.
“I didn’t think time would have been the problem,” I say, surprised.
“Time was the biggest problem.” He stops at a vending machine and gets himself a cold water. When he raises his eyebrow at me, a wordless question if I want one as well, I shake my head. “Our parents died when I was nineteen. A drunk driver.” My eyes widen. Holy shit, I did not know that.
“I’m so sorry, Adam.”
“Thank you. From one day to the next, I suddenly had to juggle college with taking over my dad’s company and raising my siblings. I wish I could have taken them to Fairytale Land in the US, but when they had school holidays, my exams at college were picking up. When I had time, they had important events for their extracurriculars they couldn’t miss. ”
“That sounds stressful,” I admit, reaching out my hand to give his arm a reassuring squeeze. “If you want to, maybe you can even take them today. It’s never too late for a magical childhood and all that.”
“Maybe,” he says and clears his throat before he points to our right. “What are they doing?”
Just in that moment, an announcement for the parade comes from the speakers and the two of us shoot each other a silent look before we burst into a giggle.
We find a space in the shadows and watch the parade together. He laughs at me when I get actual goosebumps during one of the songs, but that's all right, because he looks completely in awe when a float from one of his apparent favorite childhood movies comes into sight.
Before I know it, it's already noon and I'm starting to get hungry.
"All right, let's go back to the entrance and find something to eat," I suggest as we walk along a little park and I lift my sunglasses for a moment.
"How about fish and chips?" Adam nods towards one of the restaurants we can see from here, but I shake my head.
"Not a fish fan," I admit as we continue walking, sighing deeply when we have to step out of the shadows.
“How about we-” I stop in my tracks when a person suddenly steps in front of me without checking where he’s going. I’m just about to open my mouth to curse him out when he turns around and all words get stuck in my throat .
“Watch where you’re going,” my favorite villain from any movie ever barks at me and my heart melts. Quickly, I take out my phone and watch as he struts off.
Adam looks at me with crinkles between his eyebrows, utterly confused as I start to giggle, without a doubt a bright red gracing my cheeks.
“What the hell just happened?”
Instead of answering, I continue looking after the man. God, I love that villain, and I am happy to say that the actor is doing him absolute justice. He's walking along the street like he owns the place, and holy hell, he can own me.
“I just ran into my favorite character,” I tell him, making his eyebrows shoot up instantly. He points between the character, who has by now gotten swarmed, and him and I burst into a giggle.
"I hate to say it, but the resemblance is uncanny."
"Right? You can just take a selfie with me," he suggests with a grin, striking a pose with his flexing bicep in the air and pressing a kiss to it, making me roll my eyes.
“I’m good, thank you.”
"Hey! Pretty woman who doesn’t watch where she’s going!" a loud and deep voice suddenly booms from our right, and I stop in my tracks, goosebumps making the hair on my neck stand up.
Somehow, the character has left his fan group behind and is suddenly standing only inches away from me, nose to the sky and arrogant look on his face on fleek .
"I saw you watching me, and while I'm totally unavailable, you may come over and have a portrait with my girlfriend and me."
"Not your girlfriend," a female voice shouts, and that's when I realize the princess from his movie is standing right behind him as well. Jackpot.
"Oh, sorry, fiancée," he corrects himself and I can see the princess rolling her eyes and shaking her head. I can't help but grin.
That bickering between the two of them reminds me of someone. A someone who’s looking the villain up and down, then crosses his arms in front of his chest, making his biceps pop beautifully.
The villain and princess are still at it, entertaining the crowd as he walks back to his princess's side, like this little stunt never happened.
"That was amusing," Adam chuckles and visibly relaxes when the villain takes his spot in the crowd again.
"Definitely unexpected," I agree with a nod.
We’re just about to turn around and look for a restaurant when he catches our attention again.
"Hey you!" the villain shouts over the crowd and waves at me. "You may come over now."
Oh god. The whole crowd turns around to look at us, and I want the ground to open up and swallow me whole.
Well, no getting out of it now .
"God, this is awkward,” I whisper as we walk closer, red as a beet when the crowd parts for us. “Can you take the picture?" I ask Adam but the villain has other plans.
I step between him and his princess, but he stops Adam before he takes the picture and demands he get into it as well. So he does, handing my phone to one of the uniformed employees to take the picture.
We thank the characters profusely before we leave and when I pull up the picture, I realize that he's positioned us so that he almost completely covers Adam’s face with his bicep.
"I'm going to get this framed," I giggle as we walk away from the crowd, the booming voice of the villain becoming more and more distant.
"Wow. Hilarious,” Adam says dryly, and I grin, slightly zooming in to the biceps. Is it real or just a really good silicone suit? It definitely looks real.
“Damn,” I whisper and zoom into the other one. “What a swoon-worthy guy.”
“You know he was just doing his job, right?" Adam raises his eyebrow at me, and I roll my eyes.
"It's called delusion, Adam. That's what this whole park operates with. Just let me pretend I'm a pretty princess and villains want me."
I chuckle and put my phone away, but not before sending the picture over to Lucy and Felix because it's hilarious.
Lily: “Here, you wanted a picture of Adam.”
The day passes in the blink of an eye. One moment we get accosted by a villain, the next it’s already evening. We got some amazing food, found more characters, and we even went on a ride that re-opened after a technical issue right as we walked by it and only had a few minutes’ waiting time.
Just when I lose hope, we finally run into Lucy’s favorite princess and I can ask her to record a birthday message for her. Then I ask a few other characters for good measure, after we’ve taken a picture with them.
And then suddenly it's already dark, and the fireworks show, signaling that the park closing is about to begin.
"You know, I wasn't so sure about you, but I actually had fun today," I admit, nudging Adam with my shoulder as we try to find a good place for the fireworks show.
"I had a blast as well." Adam grins and nudges me back. "Thanks for letting me tag along."
"You didn't really give me a choice," I remind him and shake my head.
We find a spot right as the announcement for a 10-minute countdown blares through the speakers. When I look around, all I see are families with children, or adorable couples, most of which dressed in themed partner looks.
"So interesting that this park is just as much of a date spot as a family spot," Adam points out, noticing the same .
"I mean, honestly, if I had one in my city, it would be my date spot as well,” I tell him with a shrug and smile.
"You really love this park, don't you?"
"Yeah,” I admit and close my eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. When I open my eyes, I try to burn this moment into my memory. "I mean, you know the deal. Work doesn't ever completely leave us. But here in the parks..." I shrug, and when I look up at him, before I can even finish the sentence, I know he gets it. "I don't have the urge to look at my phone. I don’t think about work here, not for one second. At home or anywhere else, I'm on my phone or laptop constantly, worried that I missed an important email, call, or message, that there’s some scandal breaking I need to be aware of. These parks are one of the very few things that make my mind shut up and just live in the moment." I quickly avert my gaze. "It might be a marketing slogan to some, but to me, it really is one of the happiest places."
"Yeah. I get it," he says softly.
When I look up, I meet his eyes and my breath hitches. He's looking at me with such adoration, and I quickly look away because I can't quite deal with it.
What's going on here? This is the second ‘moment’ we’ve had today. I can’t deal with this. Clearing my throat, I turn to the castle, subtly trying to get a few centimeters of space between us.
Whatever this is, I have to nip this in the bud.
Lucy was so right. I have a crush. And today didn’t help .
The way he went along with all of my whims? The way I caught him staring at me with a smile in his eyes from time to time? Even the topics we talked about, like who in their right mind unpacks a traumatic family upbringing to their coworker?
And why am I calling us coworkers now in my head? We’re goddamn rivals! He’s supposedly the villain in my story and I in his.
Before I can decipher it further, all the lights go out, and music that never fails to bring goosebumps to my arms blasts through the speakers as the fireworks show begins.
Instantly, I’m entranced, only realizing the distance between us lessened when his shoulder bumps against mine. Before long, we're standing shoulder to shoulder, our sides touching. I’m hyper aware of him, the warmth where we touch, and I can feel his every breath.
Adam moves, and I’m about to sigh in relief when his arm snakes around my shoulders and it gets stuck in my throat and I gulp past it.
My heart is beating so fast, I'm scared it might jump out of my chest and it feels like every single muscle in my body tenses as I stay ridiculously still in this hold.
"Sorry," Adam says lowly and slowly lifts his arm. "Should I-?"
My eyes are wide like a deer in headlights. And I very much feel like one .
We’re about to cross a line. Both of us are already balancing on it on one leg, about to somersault over it.
What’s the worst that could happen right here and right now? I bit my lip, thoughts racing. Nobody has to know. It never has to go further. But right here, right now is probably the most romantic moment I’ll ever get in my life with a guy I’m crushing on anyways.
Nobody has to know.
"No," I shake my head, surprised at my own voice, and he puts his arm back, pulling me against him. Finally, I allow myself to relax and even melt against his chest, my emotions running amok. My favorite song of this show begins playing on the speakers, and suddenly, what I'm looking at is not the castle and movie projection or even the pyro anymore, but Adam's face, lit up by the fireworks, sparks dancing in his eyes.
He holds my gaze, until his eyes flutter closed and before I can even fully grasp what's happening, he presses his soft lips against mine.
I take a sharp breath, scared I’m just dreaming, that I’ll just wake up and none of this will have happened.
Because this can’t really be happening, right?
But then he cups my face with his hands, and my eyes flutter shut and I allow myself to melt into the kiss and kiss him back, my hands running over the fabric of his shirt, until I lock them behind his neck.
The kiss makes me forget how to breathe. How to feel anything aside from him. How to think .
A loud boom makes the two of us freeze before we realize that we're still in public, and there’s still a firework show going on. He breaks the kiss, staying only millimeters away from my lips for a breath, until a smile spreads on his lips and his thumb strokes my cheek with a gentleness that might just make me cry, before he lets go of my face and leans back next to me with his arm around my shoulders.
I feel him chuckle when I lift my hand to touch my lips in disbelief. They are still tingling the feeling of his lips burned into them.
The song switches over to the next one, but I can barely pay attention. Everything feels like it's happening through cotton, like I'm in a dream, just a sliver away from reality.
Maybe I am, maybe there's still alcohol in my bloodstream making me hallucinate this, but this feels real. Adam feels real. A little too real.
When I look up at him, he pulls me closer to him and presses a kiss against my temple.
Fuck. I am in so much trouble.