|51| • Everest
I wasn't entirely sure why Amelia didn't tell Abel that the competition in the culinary school was going to be today, I also didn't know if it was entirely my place to spill the beans because the shock on Abel's face made me regret ever bringing it up.
I had come to the mechanic workshop to tell them that I relocated but would still be coming here.
Seeing as I didn't know what else I wanted to do, I decided to stick to this one for now.
Abel then asked if I was going to work today, that was when I sarcastically made a comment about forgetting Amelia in the culinary school. He seemed shocked to say the least.
"Wait, she's doing that today? Are you serious?
" Abel's eyebrows scrunched up, as though he was trying to remember if she ever brought it up.
Nervously, I shrugged, trying to wave it off but he didn't let it go.
"Why didn't she tell me? Did she think I wouldn't want to come?
Ramona would be thrilled to go support her!
I would too!" He sounded hurt, taking the towel to wipe his face.
Feeling awkward, I shrugged. What was I supposed to say? It kind of felt good that I was the first person to know she was going today — heck, I even drove her there. Clearing my throat, I folded my arms.
"I wanna come!" Guy said with a grin, raising his arms up.
I snorted, "No way, you're just going to freak her out.
" Abel's words voiced out my thoughts. The only reason I wasn't in the car waiting outside the auditorium was because I wanted her to take this on her own.
I knew this was a big step for her, and even though it tugged at my heart, Amelia needed to toughen up.
"But—" Guy stuttered with a pout, Abel snorted, giving him the middle finger.
"Go back to work, will ya?" Laughing at the pair, I checked the time to know when I'd start heading back.
Amelia did say it was going to take a while, staring at her number, the tug on my heart increased.
We'd barely been apart for a while, but I missed her. Gosh, I sounded like a wimp.
"Everest, I've been meaning to ask," Abel began, taking my shoulders to pull me into a more quiet place. I hummed, crossing my arms when we were away from my ears. "What?" I knew this was about Amelia, or at least our relationship. When Abel sighed, massaging his temple, it proved my point.
"If Amelia does get in, the journey from our house to the place would be a lot. My dad said the school is hours from here. What...what exactly are the both of you planning?"
I tensed. Right, we were yet to cross that part.
Pursing my lips, I thought of the best way to put it.
Telling Abel she was going to be staying with me seemed like a big step — if he was asking, I was sure his dad hadn't told him of the agreement.
His baby sister, living with the man she loved (yes, I had to point that out), all alone a big deal.
Even I knew it was a big deal for me, the last person I tried to live with was Florescent.
It didn't last though, because she moved in just a month before I proposed and broke it off the following month.
Somehow, I got anxious. What if things weren't as rosy as I dared to imagine?
What if Amelia saw a side of me she didn't like?
A side that wasn't the big, fearless ex-military man.
Would she be disappointed? I knew being vulnerable with her was a massive step for me, but if it happened again, would she get fed up?
Ah, these thoughts were doing my head in.
"Everest, I asked a question." Blinking back to where I was, the realization hit me that I'd been staring blankly at Abel for a good minute. Breaking the growing tension with a chuckle, I cupped the back of my neck.
"Well, as I said...I relocated."
"So?" Abel seethed, goodness, this boy was protective. "And I did ask her if she'd like to be staying at mine during the weekdays, to ease the journey. I mean, she said yes and your dad was fine with it."
Abel scoffed in disbelief. "Wait, my dad said he was fine with it? A-and he didn't even tell me!" His hand went to tug on his hair. "Geez, that old man is something. No wonder he had been pouting since last week." Abel muttered to himself, taking a deep breath.
"Alright, I was just wondering. And— just— don't get her pregnant yet.
" He stumbled over the last part, narrowing his eyes.
The look on Abel's face told me he was flustered, goodness, I was too!
Get Amelia pregnant? That hadn't even come to mind yet!
We agreed not to have sex until...heck, I didn't even know until when.
Yet here he was, talking about a whole baby!
"Gosh, Abel. No! I'm...I'm not planning to do that."
"Good."
We looked away from each other, embarrassed.
"So, what do you say taking me and Ramona to go support my sister?
" Abel said, crossing his arms. Amelia would sure be surprised to see them, grinning at the thought, I nodded.
"You can go dress up when you're ready, I show you the way.
" Guessing he and his girlfriend probably wanted some privacy, he was going to drive behind me while I showed him the way to the culinary school.
Abel agreed, and we parted ways, deciding to meet at his house in an hour.
After greeting the guys, I entered my truck and exited the mechanic shop.
To be honest, I felt nervous, I wanted Amelia to get into the school, she'd been really excited about this.
Chewing on my lips, I muttered a prayer to God that she'd get in.
Somehow, I found myself in a flower shop. Turning off the engine, I stayed in the car, contemplating whether to get her flowers or not. It was a congratulatory gift, but wasn't that being faster than my shoulder? Chewing on my lips, I thoughts of both outcomes.
"Whatever, I'll just get it." After much debating, I got out of the car to get my girl a bouquet.
The scent in the flower shop was lovely, with different scents forming together to leave a pleasant one.
I smiled, inhaling from it. Taking a look around, I wondered which she'd like the most, roses were too obvious, I wanted to get a bouquet that would light up her eyes.
One she'd smell and let out those cute giggles of hers. Chuckling, I continued to look around.
"Hello, sir! What type are you searching for today?
" A bubbly voice asked, looking beside me, I was met with a chubby lady.
She had a pink apron covering her flower dress, and a flower headband holding her brown curls.
She was really embodying this flower shop, wasn't she?
"Hey, uh, I don't know which I'd like actually. It's, it's for my girlfriend."
Her eyes lit up, grinning from ear to ear, "Does she have a favorite flower?"
"Thing is, I want to get one that symbolizes something.
..something dear to a person." The lady hummed, moving swiftly to an aisle as though she knew what I wanted.
Coming back in a minute, she brought along a single baby pink flower.
I didn't know the name but with a simple glance, my heart warmed at how pretty it was.
"This beauty is a Chrysanthemums. It simplifies the sweet words 'I love you'." She held it out for me to touch. I did. It was beautiful, lovely. Like her.
"I'll take a big bouquet of that."
The woman smiled, "I had a feeling you'd love this.
I'll wrap it up for you! Come, let's go to the counter.
" I followed her, my mind in several places.
If Amelia did get in — which I didn't doubt for a second, she'd come live with me.
..that was a big step. Perhaps the reason I was nervous was because the first time I did this didn't work out as I wanted it to, was it wrong to compare both situations?
"All set!" The woman's voice pulled me from my thoughts, smiling, I took the bouquet and paid the amount before going into the truck.
Abel did ask me to meet him at their house, so I could direct him to the venue.
Driving into her neighborhood, I parked the car away from their front gate, relaxing in my seat.
As I checked the time, I wondered what they were doing right now in the competition.
Was Amelia feeling nervous? I honestly hoped she'd made friends by now.
Knowing Amelia was a big timid when she was around a crowd.
It didn't take long for Abel to open the gate and reverse his car out of it. Getting down mine, I went to the pair when they had finished locking the gate and turning towards the road. Ducking my head, I tapped on the window. He winded down.
It was a bit surprising that I happened to encounter Ramona the way I did, the day her car broke down.
Grinning, I waved at her. "Nice to see you again, Ramona.
" She smiled, waving back. "Now, let's go support you girl!
" She squealed, clapping her hands. Abel grunted, "You mean my sister.
" He muttered lowly making me stifle a chuckle. Ramona huffed, nudging the man.
"Yeah, yeah. But she's his girl. Isn't that right Everest?" She winked, "Damn right she is." Romance giggled, nodding her head before sticking her tongue out at Abel.
"Be right behind me, alright?" I said before leaving to my car.
The journey was a bit long, I just hoped traffic wouldn't delay us from seeing Amelia on time.
In about two and a half hours, I was pulling into the cooking academy, from what I could see, they were probably done now.
A lot of people gathered outside, some seemed to be celebrating while some were crying.
This made me tense up. Was the trial that brutal?
Turning off the engine, I came out of my Hilux, trying to see if I'd catch a glimpse of Amelia.
Soon enough, Abel's car parked beside mine, he and his girlfriend coming out.
From the look on his face, he seemed nervous.
"So, where is she?" He asked, coming towards me. Shrugging, I took another look around.
"Awn man, I thought we'd at least be in time for the finale or something.
" Ramona huffed, squinting her eyes because of how the sun blared in our direction.
"What if she's still inside? O-or she locked herself in the bathroom or something.
" There he went again, Abel the overprotective brother.
I couldn't help but chuckle. "I'm sure she's fine. Let's go inside and check."
I didn't have to tell him twice, he was already strutting into the hall, Ramona trying to catch up to his swift steps. Pursing my lips, I decided to go back into the car, getting out the bouquet and dozing myself in another round of perfume.
Locking the car once more, I took a deep breath before moving into the auditorium.
Truth be told, I was probably more nervous that Abel, I simply tried to control it.
My mind kept buzzing with negative thoughts, I just wanted her to get in, a step into her bakery dream.
It was a bit nerve wracking that if she didn't pass, she may have given up on that dream already.
The auditorium was cool, which was surprising, considering how much people is occupied, the crowd had scattered all over the room, making it almost impossible to find my little lady. How did they expect me to find her this way? Calling Marco Polo? Geez.
Scanning through the crowd, I got a glimpse of a similar cloth I saw in Amelia earlier this morning, grinning to myself, I moved closer to the person.
As I got close, my smile hesitated. Not because it wasn't Amelia, but because she was with a guy by her side — who was incredibly touchy might I add.
The dark-skinned guy had his hands over my woman's shoulder, his teeth flashing from end to end about something she also giggled at.
Wait, she giggled? So did that mean she passed?
I felt happiness bubble in me, the slight anger I felt dissipating.
"Baby!" I called out loudly, finding my way close to them.
Amelia turned her head immediately, her grin widening.
She squealed, untangling herself from the touchy man and jumping in my direction.
Take that, unknown man.
Perhaps that was a bit petty.
Quickly opening my arms, I caught her before stumbling back of the force. She hung on immediately, making me laugh. Pushing her up by my forearm, I basically cradled her while she hugged me tightly.
"Evie, Evie, Evie! I missed you so much! Guess what?!" She was practically floating on cloud 9 right now, which made me equally as ecstatic. With the flowers still in my hand, I hugged her waist, placing my head on her shoulder. There wasn't much to guess anyways.
"You got in? You are the best Gaston had ever seen? So, he kissed your toes and begged to be part of the academy?" I joked, making her giggle hard. "Only the first part is true! Best he'd ever seen. I wish!" She was as bubbly as I loved.
Placing her down, I realized it won't be so long until we began to pull much more attention that we were already.
When I did drop her, I hugged her with my left hand, pressing her body against mine.
"Congratulations, baby. I'm so proud of you.
" She beamed when I kissed her cheek, I couldn't help but lay a kiss on her lips as well.
If we were already causing a scene, a little kiss wouldn't hurt, right?
Besides, she didn't seem to care at the moment.
"I missed you too by the way." I whispered when our lips parted.
She cheesed, moving her head away as though she was suddenly aware of where she was.
"Oh yeah, I got this for you." I said, finally letting the bouquet shine.
Handing it over to her, I felt my chest swell in pride when she gasped, eyeing the beauty.
"Oh wow, these are lovely! I've never gotten these before! What are they called? It's so gorgeous!" She rambled on, inhaling the scent with a beaming face. What did the flower lady call it again?
"They're Chrysanthemums." I'd leave it to her to find out what they meant.
"Thank you, Evie!"
"I told you we should have just gone left!" Ramona's voice scolded before the pair came into view. She had her arms connected with Abel's, when Amelia saw them, her squealing continued.
"Abel? Ramona? What are you guys doing here?!" Taking the flowers from her, Amelia immediately ran to both of them, sharing a group hug the couple. "I should be pissed little sister, you didn't tell me this was today!" Abel huffed, Amelia giggled nervously, shrugging her shoulders.
"I didn't want you to go out of your way just to come see this. And, I guess I didn't want to feel embarrassed if I didn't get in." She mumbled the last part, playing with her fingers. "But!" Amelia said immediately.
"You got in?" Abel asked, she nodded profusely.
"I got in!"
Ramona squealed, pulling her into a hug, they jumped together, squealing words I could barely make out, I chuckled at the pair, what a burst of energy. When they were done giggling, Amelia turned to me.
"Oh! I'd love your you to meet my new friends! Come!" She intertwined our ah dw and took steps towards the guy I saw all over her — piss off if you think I was exaggerating — along with a fair, spotted boy and a dark skinned girl with blue dreadlocks.
The girl was the first to welcome me.
"I didn't know Amelia had a boyfriend. Nice to meet you man! I'm Kaji!" The way she was grinning, I could only guess she got in as well. Shaking her firmly, I smiled as well. "Everest."
The spotted guy — well, freckled would be a better description introduced next, extending his arms. "Arnold, nice to meet you man.
I was wondering why Amelia here was bouncing on her feet when we were done.
" Arnold said, dapping me. I patted his back, he was almost my height.
At his words, I grinned. She was waiting for me. No, she was eager to see me.
I liked the sound of that.
"Hey! Don't expose me like that!" Amelia interjected with a pout. Taking the flowers from me once more, Amelia giggled silently to herself. How adorable could she be?
Come to think of it, the guy was yet to introduce himself. Turning to him, a forced on a smile. "Hey man," I extended a hand. The guy smiled, shaking my hand as well. Okay, so he wasn't as shady as I thought he was going to be.
"It's a pleasure, call me Raul."
Somehow, I knew I wasn't going to like this guy, but nevertheless, I decided to entertain him. Whatever was going on in his little mind, Amelia was going to be mine for a long time.
Turning to face my woman, I bent my head a bit to her height, holding her waist. "Does this mean you're officially moving in with me, baby?"
Amelia blushed, nibbling on her lips. "W-would you like me too?" She asked, knowing darn well I wanted her to move in with me. Even though I was a bit worried about our possible downs, I was still well excited for her and I to live together. To be closer, but physically and emotionally.
"You know I do." I played along. This made her smile.
"Then I guess I'll have to start packing."
"Damn right you do."