The Magic of Love

Chapter thirteen

"Don't worry, we'll find the ring", Oliver said as we walked to the lift to head back to the foot of the mountain, pick up the car, and go to the second address - the restaurant, to search for the ring.

"I know", I said, "but I'm still upset."

"Because we didn't find the ring or due to Mr. Harris's attitude?", Oliver asked.

I thought, "Maybe both."

Oliver came over and hugged me over my shoulders, pulled me closer to him, and said, "Don't let it bother you that much. You're unlikely to meet him again, and that was only the first address. We have two more to check. We'll find it!"

I smiled. I didn't know if he believed his words or not, but I was glad he wanted to reassure me. It was so nice of him!

***

"Well, this time the lift trip went without troubles", I said as I put on my seat belt.

"Yes. You have no idea how happy I am about this!", Oliver shared, "But I'm sorry I went silent again. It's just... when I'm nervous, I'm not much into talking."

"Yeah, and you're scratching your neck, too", I said.

"What?!"

"When you're nervous or worried, you do this", I replied, and repeated the movement I'd seen him do several times - in the bakery, as we got on the lift, and when we were waiting for Mr. Harris in front of the cabin - I raised one hand, scratched the back of my head, then squeezed it and rubbed it down. Well, I did it as similar as it could be because it's different with long hair as mine and with bare neck as his.

"You've noticed it!" He exclaimed.

I shrugged, "It made an impression on me."

He smiled contently.

"Yes. My mother says I picked it up from Dad, and then I added my own signature to it by squeezing and rubbing it down", Oliver laughed, "It's quite funny, you know, when we all get together, and I do it. Then all of my relatives dart me with questions - Are you okay?, What's wrong?, How to help?, What happened? and so on."

I giggled, "I can imagine."

We continued smiling silently looking forward.

"And when you're nervous", Oliver broke the silence, " you giggle and even burst in hysterical laugh."

"Ah!" I sighed theatrically. I barely could suppress my smile, when I asked, "What gave me up?!"

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow, asking with his eyes "You're joking right?!" 

But then his face lightened. Oliver grinned and added, "Besides, you use jokes as a defense mechanism."

"Touché. Yes, that's right", I shrugged my shoulders, and confessed, "Ever since we lost mom, jokes and laughter became my coping and defending mechanism."

I didn't look at Oliver, I just heard him sigh.

"I don't know if it's the best coping mechanism, but it helped me when we were up on the lift", he said, smiling.

"So you think it's useful?", I asked.

"I don't know. It might be", he smiled again, and only a moment later he regained his serious expression, "However, again, please excuse me for not talking on our way going to the mountains and then to the lift. I left you thinking I was angry with you or something."

"Yes, I thought so. And then I decided you just weren't a talkative person", I admitted.

"Ohh, nothing could be further from the truth", Oliver laughed. "There are times when I'm such a chatterbox - you can't make me stop talking. You'll see." 

He smiled at me and I blushed again.

"Except when I'm not worried, then all my talkativeness seems to disappear, hiding somewhere", Oliver confessed, and we both laughed. "That's another reason why it's not difficult for my relatives to understand when something bothers me. "If you keep quiet, then something is definitely wrong", my brother always says", he shared.

I smiled. It made me feel warm and happy, listening how much his family loves him, and how close they are.

"And again, I'm really sorry for putting you once more in that position - to bear with the silence, on the way down of the mountains!"

I eyed him, his brows were furrowed with worry. "He's so cute", I thought, and felt the heat in my cheeks as blood rushed in, exposing me embarrassingly.

I looked down at my hands, letting strands of hair to fall and hide my red cheeks from him, and I replied, "No worries."

I sighed and looked back at him, his gaze was fixed on the road.

"This time I didn't mind the silence. It wasn't awkward anymore", I shared.

He looked at me and said, "No, no it wasn't."

And then we both added simultaneously, "Actually it was quite pleasant."

We smiled at each other. He felt it too, I saw it in the gleam of his eyes. The snowball fight and the laughter we'd shared have changed the dynamics between us for good. Oliver wasn't stranger anymore. Actually he stopped being one from the moment we got off the chairlift on the top of the mountain. From then on he became something else.