Tricks of Fate

Chapter 32

******** Cliffhanger Warning *******

[Barry]

It was early evening when the West’s took their leave and Iris took the chance to slip away as well. I let her go with a promise to be at her door by 8pm that night but by 7:30pm I stood in front of the mirror, nervously inspecting my image. My reflection had on a plain, white, button-down shirt; with a semi-formal black jacket and skinny jeans to match. It was, without exaggeration, my fifth outfit and with a brief glance at the mirror I decided that it would have to do. There was no time to drive so I ran myself there, flashing past a florist for a bouquet of flowers and prayed that I wouldn’t mess my outfit up on the way there. I arrived, breathless and took a moment to pat my hair back into place and regain my composure. The door opened before I could knock and my jaw dropped as I took in the vision in front of me. Iris stood in the threshold with a white, bare back, knee length, chiffon dress that yelled ancient Greece. She matched the dress with a pair of gold pump heels and her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail. I finally understood what it meant to be awe struck because in that moment I was so stunned that I forgot how to breathe.  As beautiful as she looked the one thing that sold the look for me was her smile, which unfortunately fell in response to my paralyzed reaction.

“What’s wrong? Is it too much?” she asked, breaking me out of my fan boy moment. It took me a while to remember how to speak but I finally managed to blurt out a ‘no’.

“You look… wow… you look amazing.” I stammered and she cast her eyes down as a slight blush tinted her cheeks, or was that her make-up?

“Thank you, you clean up pretty good yourself.” She answered with a shy smile that made my insides turn to mush. Calling upon what little strength I had left in my body I extend my arm out to her and with my most charming smile ever, asked:

“Shall we?” She looked up at me through hooded eyes, took the flowers from my hand and looped her arm in mine, responding

“We shall.” Iris closed the door behind her and we walked, arm in arm, to the elevator. Just as the lift reached her floor we heard her neighbours door open. A shirtless, blonde, pretty boy walked out and devoured her with his eyes.

“West?” he mused, his question laced with a light trace of lust. Iris turned to face him and he leaned against the frame in and awkward attempt to look casually sexy. At least I thought it was awkward.

“I got your coupons,” he said with a dangerous grin on his face. Iris followed me into the lift and before the doors shut she whipped around and said:

“Sorry Eddie. I’m a taken woman.”

[Iris]

It was a beautifully cool night and I kept getting flash backs to our night at the beach. The only difference was that instead of waves crashing across the shore we heard the distant buzzing of the city’s night life. The air was filled with an unspoken promise that left me excited, I had no idea what Barry had planned but I trusted him with my life and knew that no matter what, as long as he was a part of the plan, I’d love it. We walked in a comfortable silence, in the middle of a sufficiently lit park, till we reached a gazebo by the lake and my mind was completely blown away. Twinkle lights and a candle lit dinner, complete with champagne and even a waiter waited for us all with a stunning backdrop of the city lights and the silently gentle swish of the lakes waves.

“Umm… how did you put all this together?” I asked in disbelief.

“I called in a favour,” he said with a satisfied grin on his face. He led me to the table and, like a true gentleman, pulled my chair out for me.

“Well, it seems that Chivalry isn’t dead after all.” I remarked as I sat down and he helped push my chair in under me.

“And please, thank your ‘favour’ for me,” I added. He sat down across from me laughing and said:

“Ok, I’ll cave. It was H.R.”

I laughed wide eyed and said:

“I should have known.”

The evening progressed naturally and we just talked like two normal people getting to know each other. I found out about Barry’s old love for anime and that the shy geek look wasn’t just a scheme to attract the college girls. He found out about my brief moment as a ballerina and I even told him about the time my dad confiscated McSnurtle from me.

“Wait you’re telling me that all this was because of a record?” Barry asked in between laughs and I answered,

“Yeah, he has an undying admiration for his record collection.”

He carried on laughing and I took in his features. He looked so happy, and something about the way his smile reached his eyes made me fall for him all over again. He stopped laughing and looked at me then covered my hand with his and said,

“Yeah, well I know what that’s like.”

I looked at him, taken aback by his sudden, yet not uncommon, show of affection. We stared at each other, our eyes and hands conversing in the silence and for that split second all was right in the world. The waiter came in, interrupting our little moment and offered to refill our flasks. We nodded and once we had both been served Barry held up his glass and proposed a toast.

“To finding McSnurtle and keeping me away from cartoons with subtitles,” I laughed and raised my glass before he continued.

“And to me spending the rest of my days trying to figure out how to keep that smile on your face,” blushing I added:

“To love.” 

“To love,” he echoed and with a click we brought the glasses to our lips and took sizeable gulps, our eyes never leaving each other. Seconds later I felt flushed and my head began to spin. Barry’s glass slipped and crashed on to the floor. My eye lids grew heavy and I as I drifted into unconsciousness the last thing I remember was hearing the waiter’s voice whispering:

“Sweet dreams.”

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OK so turns out I was counting the prologue as Chapter 1 when... Well it wasn't so there aren't 5 chapters left there are actually 4 😁🤗.

Don't worry your torture is almost over. Sorry about all the cliffhangers🙈