INNOCENCE (Completed)

Chapter 22

"Trust me." he said, gazing into my eyes.

'Should I?'

The warmth of his palm was spreading throughout mine creating little tingling sensations through my entire body, distracting me from my own thoughts.

"Follow my lead." he gently whispered.

He made a step and I followed, doing every step he made. I was so nervous that I kept my head down and kept looking at my feet so that I won't clumsily end up falling or tripping. I bit my lower lip and kept staring at my feet moving. I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of Daniel again.

"Eve,"

I looked up and found Daniel staring deeply into my eyes upon softly saying, "Don't worry about it too much. Don't think about anything. Just look at me."

He didn't need to tell me that twice because the moment our eyes met, it was as if nothing could pull as apart. I was mesmerized by his crystal blue eyes which would turn pale if the sun would reflect in his eyes and cerulean blue in the shadows.

He's a very good dancer.

No surprises there.

I was so lost in the moment that I didn't notice I was already not thinking about it that much as before until he leaned in to whisper in my ear. "You're a natural."

I lightly laugh at his compliment and smiled at him as he let me go and spun me around back into his arms. I was enjoying myself and so was he. We danced for who knows how long. We finally stopped as soon as the music from the music box faded but we never moved away from each other.

Daniel held me in that position for a few moments and gazed into my eyes and smiled, asking, "That wasn't so hard now, was it?"

"It wasn't that hard like I expected it to be."

He smirked at me and cockily said, "Well, after all, your partner is exceptionally skilled."

I scoffed, lightly hitting his chest with my palm. "As if!"

He laughed then said. "Don't be so harsh."

"It's your fault." I said, blaming him as I slightly giggled.

"I'm really looking forward to my prize." he suddenly brought up as he leaned down closer to me.

I looked away before he notices my slowly creeping blush, mumbling, "Right."

He smiled before slowly letting me go. It felt so cold and lonely when his warmth was gone.

'Why am I feeling so weird?'

He gave me a glass and poured me a small amount of wine and did the same with his own glass. He raised it and clinked it with mine before saying, "To a great practice."

I merely shook my head and smiled as I toasted my glass with his.

"To a great practice."

He drank his and I sipped mine, eyeing him. As he locked his eyes with mine once again, I wondered if I should ask him about my dream but maybe it's too unbelievable to believe in, is it?

~

After the rendezvous at the old mansion, we went back and I went to the art studio Zia had shown me where I would paint. As I walked in, I inhale the familiar scent of oil, pastels and paint.

I walked towards the pile of empty canvasses set near the tall glass window. I pull out one empty canvass that was about a meter long and wide; and placed it on the stand. I sat on my stool staring at it. An empty canvass ready to be painted-- ready to show a picture that would mean something, represent something that could show how Arxian is beautiful in the eyes of a person who has experienced its wonders.