The heart of Cleopatra

Asterin style

Chapter thirty six

Cleo groaned as she stared back into her empty fridge. Kai is yet to make an appearance with the food Cleo told him to get. "That boy is useless." She said aloud.

A buzz from her back pocket was enough to put Cleo back on edge but when she read the text she felt calmer.

Charlie: Come outside.

Cleo furrowed at the text but when she opened her front door the mystery was soon solved. Charlie stood leaning on his car with a grin. "Nice car." She said admiring the familiar classic.

"So I've been told." He replied.

"What are you doing here?" Cleo asked.

"I was passing by." Charlie causally replied, but there was no fooling a Valencia.

Cleo smirked. "No you weren't."

Charlie rolled his eyes. "Fine, I wasn't. But I'm here now."

"What for exactly?" Cleo questioned. She was happy Charlie was here but she was equally paranoid that Kai could pull in any minute and cause a whole new chapter of their feud.

"It's date night." Charlie confidently said.

Cleo looked around in confusion. "Date night?"

"Yes Cleopatra. I am taking you on a date. Asterin style." Charlie said with a proud grin. Cleo laughed at him and shrugged her shoulders.

"Why not?" She said to herself and reached into her hideout to get her jacket and lock the door. She held out her hand for the keys but he shook his head.

"I'm in control tonight Cleopatra." Cleo narrowed her eyes at his new found confidence, hot but frustrating. "Don't worry your pretty head, I'm a good driver and I had the best mechanic work on my car. My normal mechanic checked it out and said wherever I got it from he wants to know the distributor because it would have taken him months for the parts."

Cleo smirked. "I told you Jax is a genius when it comes to fixing things. You shouldn't doubt us. If there's one thing Arcane can do, it's cars." She pushed her stubbornness aside and opened the passenger side door. Charlie groaned as she got to it before he could do the gentleman act.

Cleo watched the street lights as they crossed to the Asterin. She looked back longing to go to the other side, Arcane is a magnet to her, but so is Charlie. "I can practically hear your brain ticking, what are thinking about?" Charlie asked as he drove.

Cleo moved her head resting on the window. "Where we are going, but you won't tell me." She said grumpily. Charlie had grown bored of the annoying constant questioning of the location. He'd planned their night to his level of perfection. She wasn't the only one to learn his name was on the hit list but he figured if anything would happen at least he got a date with the most beautiful girl he'd ever met.

"Well, I think your question is about to be answered." He said as he pulled into a car park. Cleo scowled in confusion. Charlie pointed to the windscreen that displayed bight flashing lights.

"A fair?" Cleo asked with a small laugh.

Charlie nodded. "I thought we could do something normal. Why do you look like you've never seen one before?"

Cleo's smile grew. "I've been to one but not for a long time." Her mind flashed back to when her and Zeus were kids. Hade and Madeline used to take them to a fair way out of town, they spent hours playing games and eating way to much sugar. The thought of Zeus made her heart hurt, it had been days since they spoke, they're both as stubborn as each other but she imagined he was feeling lousy too.

"Well let's go then." Charlie said with a new found excitement.

That's what the couple did. They roamed around the gigantic loud and busy fair, where kids were screaming and couples were bonding. Charlie and Cleo finally looked as if they were just an ordinary teen couple who were in the first stage of a growing relationship. But these two are far from awkward eye contact and fake excuses to talk, they were hunting bad guys and fighting for their lives.

"I cannot remember the last time I had candy floss." Cleo said between bites of the pink sugar cloud.

"Neither." Charlie said right before stealing a bit from her stick. Cleo's mouth dropped in shock. Charlie took one look at her and made a run for it

"You did not just do that!" She shouted chasing the cheeky boy down the busy crowds. Cleo ran with a smile but she stopped running when she came across the classic knock the can down game. It was common knowledge that they were a complete rip off but as a kid she always won.

"Of course you get distracted by the throwing game." Charlie laughed seeing the girl mesmerized by the simple game. "Two rounds please." He called to the middle aged man working the stand before Cleo could tell him not to bother.

"I was only looking." Cleo said looking up at her date.

His eyes looked down to meet hers. "I brought you here to have fun. So games we will play." He said bopping the tip of her nose, she giggled like a nervous teen while he took the round of balls from the stand keeper.

Charlie held Cleo's set in his palm ready for her to unleash her throwing skills. She gladly took them. "Is this a competition?" She questioned.

"Well it is now." He laughed suddenly shifting to the left of her.

"Your funeral." Cleo smirked lightly throwing a ball up and catching it to feel the weight she was working with. She focused on the stack of cans as if it was a normal target. One hard throw in the centre was all it took for the tower to crash down. The small crowd around the stall cheered at just how smooth Cleo managed to knock the whole thing down in a simple hit.

"Do your worst Charles." Cleo told Charlie smugly as she put the two other balls back behind the counter. Charlie winked at her and looked to his own tower. The crowd weren't as impressed after a two ball knock down. He did well but just not quite Cleo well.

"Young love." The stall keeper said to the couple.

"Except this time it's the girl winning the guy the prize. That sounds familiar." A lady cheered stepping behind the counter, she kissed the man on the cheek and wrapped an apron around her waist ready to serve.

"My wife has a habit of kicking my butt at games too." He told Charlie rubbing salt in the losing wound. Cleo couldn't contain her laughter making both men look at her.

"Your prize." The lady said handing Cleo a soft teddy. Cleo didn't exactly have a huge collect of bears and dolls, more knives and blades but this is something she'll keep to remember her first official date.