Unexpected

Unexpected Part Two

It was the first time she had ever felt so relaxed around someone new, and yet, at the same time, she'd felt as if she'd known him forever.

"If I remember correctly, you weren't belting like Luther Vandross yourself, sir," she snapped back with a smile, and it grew in size at the sound of his laughter.

"Alright. You got me there," he said. "But you said you have nieces and nephews? How old are they?"

Janelle tilted her head with an eyebrow raised, which caused Zeke's eyes to slightly widen as he quickly realized how odd the question had sounded.

"Oh...No, I um...," he cleared his throat, "I have a niece from my older sister...She's four, and an only child...and she could really use some friends her age right now."

Noticing the distanced look in his eyes, Janelle nodded and squeezed his hand with a soft smile as she said, "Well, it looks like she's in luck...My youngest niece and nephew are twins and are exactly her age. I'm sure they'd love to make a new friend."

"Really?" Zeke asked with a smile. "You'd do that?"

"Of course!" Janelle said. "I'm sure my sister wouldn't mind setting up a playdate for them. Does your sister live here too? Maybe we can swap their numbers or something."

Again, the distanced look cast over Zeke's eyes as he shook his head and said, "No, she um...I'm actually taking care of her right now while her mother's uh...back in Georgia."

"Oh," Janelle softly said and nodded. "Okay. Um...Well, even still...I'll talk to my sister about it, and we'll go from there."

Zeke nodded. "Okay...Thank you."

"Are...Are you okay?" Janelle asked. "I'm sorry if it's a sore subject. I didn't mean to make you upset-"

"No, no, you're fine," Zeke said, squeezing her hand softly as he smiled at her. "It's all good. I promise. No worries."

Janelle smiled back. "You know...I was a little skeptical at first...but I've really had a fun time with you tonight."

"Really?" Zeke asked, a playful look growing in his eyes as his smile grew bigger in size.

Janelle nodded. "Yeah...even if you didn't do the run like I asked you to."

Zeke rolled his eyes as Janelle laughed. "You do know he was originally from Alabama, right?" he asked.

"But the movie started with him at a bus stop in where?" Janelle asked with an eyebrow raised.

Zeke laughed. "Fair point," he said. "And I've had a fun time tonight too...Guess we can thank our original dates for bailing out on us, huh?"

Janelle smiled as he smiled back before they both looked away at the sound of the public clock striking midnight.

"Oh wow," she said. "I didn't know it had gotten this late! I should really get home. I have an exam in the morning."

Zeke nodded as he grabbed her empty cup to throw it away before standing up to his feet and holding out his hand. Janelle smiled a small smile as she grabbed it and stood up to her feet.

"I'll drive you home," he said. "Even though she's not supposed to be, I'm sure Cady's up and waiting for me. So I should probably be heading off too."

"Oh...No, that's okay. You don't have to-"

"I've been driving us around all night, Darlin'," Zeke cut her off with a soft smile. "Why would I stop now? It's no problem at all."

Janelle smiled once again and nodded before they walked out of the park hand-in-hand.

He was a lot different from Jason. She'd give him that. There had just been something about Ezekiel Whitfield that Janelle just couldn't place a name on. She couldn't quite explain it, but the time spent with him had felt...right. And the more the night went on, the more she began to thank their original dates for not showing up. Zeke was kind, funny, attentive, and his southern drawl made her want to listen to him speak for as long as humanly possible.

But alas, all good things must come to an end, and as they walked up to Janelle's apartment floor, she began to feel saddened by the thought of having to part ways with him.

A soft sigh left her mouth as she turned her head with a small smile once they made it to her door. 'Well," she said. "This is me."

Zeke mirrored her expression. "You know, as bad as this may sound...I'm really glad our original dates didn't go as planned tonight."

Playfulness filled Janelle's features as she tilted her head and asked, "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Zeke said with a nod. "Ol' dude really missed out on something special."

Butterflies erupted in Janelle's stomach as she immediately caught on to the message in his words. "That's so sweet," she said. "I think you're special too, Zeke."

The smile remained on his features as he asked, "Yeah?"

Janelle laughed lightly and nodded. "Yeah."

The distance between them slowly grew less and less before Zeke suddenly cleared his throat and pulled away, which caused a small frown to form on Janelle's lips as she immediately began to think something was wrong.

"I should uh...let you go inside," he said and cleared his throat again. "I know you said you have that big test in the morning and everything-"

"Zeke?"

He paused and looked up to meet her gaze.

"Do it," she said. "Kiss me."

He furrowed his brows. "Are you-"

"More than anything," Janelle nodded, "Please?"

Zeke's features softened with a smile as he stepped forward and gently brought her chin up to press his lips against hers.

All time seemed to still as they stood in each other's arms, basking in the feeling of sparks that ignited within their bodies. And it was then that Janelle finally understood what it was about Zeke that made him so different from anyone else she'd ever been with.

Fate.

It was fate that had brought them together, and it was fate that made her decide to accept his offer of going to the planetarium.

And now, she was extremely grateful that she had done so.

"Wow," she breathed as they pulled apart.

"Wow, exactly," Zeke said with a smile.

"Oh," Janelle mumbled and wiped at his mouth. "Sorry. There was lipstick on you."

He chuckled and said, "It was worth it all, Darlin'."

Janelle smiled.

"So," he then said. "Does this mean we'll be seeing each other again?"

"I think you know the answer to that."

For what felt like the millionth time that night, Zeke mirrored Janelle's smile as he grabbed her chin again and leaned back in to kiss her lips.

  ~the end~