My Ex-Boyfriend From Kindergarten

Chapter 24: Forgetful Like Lucy

Ever so slowly, I opened the door of the dressing room. I had to lift my gown a little bit when I walked out to the hallway. If I had known I would be wearing a ball gown today, I would have brought a pair of heels so I could walk in it properly. But no, I was wearing sneakers. Not that people could see my shoes. But an extra inch or two from heels would have helped.

From the hallway, I could hear Mr. Cruz and Cairo talking.

“Splendid. Any girl would fall in love with you in this costume,” I heard Mr. Cruz say with delight.

“I don’t think she will, Mr. Cruz,” Cairo said.

“Nonsense,” Mr. Cruz said. “Now stand up straight, she’ll be out any minute now.”

I waited a few seconds before coming out of the hallway so they wouldn’t think I eavesdropped—I mean, overheard them speaking. I tried not to look straight away at Cairo, but my eyes betrayed me. There he was. He was dressed up as a prince. He certainly looked the part. If I could describe the way he looked with one word, it would be stunning. If I could describe the way I felt when I saw him, butterflies. Just butterflies going crazy in my tummy.

When I realized we had been staring at each other for a few seconds already, I took my eyes off him. It was a fairly hard thing to do. Thankfully, Mr. Cruz was there to catch my attention. He was smiling while looking at me, with his hands clasped together. He had a look on his face, as if he was an artist who just finished his masterpiece.

“You look lovely, my dear,” he said as he approached me.

“Thank you, Mr. Cruz,” I said.

He then took me by the hand and led me to Cairo’s side. In a matter of seconds, Cairo and I were already standing next to each other.

“You look…” Cairo looked me in the eyes.

“Yeah?” I was waiting for him to finish his sentence.

“The way you always look,” he smiled at me. “Beautiful.”

I was absolutely, positively sure that I turned into a human tomato again at that point. I had to break off our eye contact before he could realize how I was feeling.

“Um,” I looked to the side. “You don’t look too shabby yourself,” I said as I hid my smile.

It was only then that I realized Mr. Cruz had disappeared. I was about to ask Cairo if he noticed where Mr. Cruz went, but then he reemerged from the back door, with a camera in hand and a big smile on his face. I had a good guess what was about to happen next.

“Would you mind if I took a picture?” he said as he walked past the cash register. “I love taking pictures of people wearing my costumes.”

“What do you say, Dune?” Cairo looked at me with a hopeful smile.

“Um,” I thought about it. “Will we get a copy of the picture?” I smiled at Mr. Cruz.

“Yes, yes. Of course,” he said.

Mr. Cruz asked Cairo and I to stand closer together, and we did. I could feel my heart racing. Was I blushing? I can’t. I don’t want to have a photo of me taken with me blushing while standing next to Mr. Prince Charming.

“Beautiful,” Mr. Cruz said after he took the first picture. “Let’s try to get a more, eh… romantic shot, shall we? After all, you’re portraying a prince and a princess,” he smiled.

A romantic shot??? What pose did that entail?

Cairo didn’t know what to do. I didn’t have a clue either. But Mr. Cruz knew exactly what he wanted for the picture. He asked Cairo to put his arm around my waist. I was nervous about that. I really didn’t want to be blushing the whole time. Cairo seemed unsure how high or how low he should place his hand. He kept repositioning it, which made me laugh a little. Hey, it was nice to know I wasn’t the only one feeling nervous.