Anyone Else But You

Chapter 17 - When you wish upon a star

“I overheard you and your sister talking about it once, then I noticed it was on and I thought it would make a good date movie. It is a love story after all.” He smiled down at her and her heart skipped a beat, she hadn’t really realised before but Jasper really was gorgeous; well she’d noticed but it had never really registered.

His features fit his face just right, his lips were slightly plump and totally kissable, his nose was cute and his hair lay perfectly tufty, looking like he’d just woken up and pushed his hands through it. However all these were nothing compared to his eyes, they say they’re the window to the soul and that was exactly right for Jasper; they conveyed every emotion, every feeling and the look he was giving her at that precise moment was turning her insides to butterflies and mush.

They headed into Arsenal tube station and downstairs towards the platform, they stood hand in hand smiling at each other as they waited for the train. After a couple of minutes the tell-tale rush of wind blew through the tunnel and the mass of people waiting to board moved to the yellow line that was the boundary between platform and tracks. They waited for the hundreds of commuters to exit through the doors in their pinstriped suits with briefcases and umbrellas before they stepped into the carriage.

There were no seats left so they leaned on the cushions by the small door at the end of the carriage, Maddie perched her bum on the high seat while Jasper stood in front of her blocking her view of the rest of the carriage. He grabbed onto one of the hanging handles as the train set of with a bump at rocket speed.

“So John Hughes films, huh? I wouldn’t have thought that was your scene.” She tilted her head to the side and shrugged her shoulders at him.

“Why not? I’ve always been a bit of a hopeless romantic. The Breakfast Club has to be one of the best high school films ever made, I mean come on!” He raised his right fist into the air exactly like the character Bender did in the film and grinned at her. The jolted round a bend and sent her lurching to her left, Jasper quickly shot his arm out to catch her and prevent her from falling flat on her face.

Maddie grabbed hold of his arm to steady herself and found herself standing close to him again, she looked up into his face and smiled coyly. Stretching her face up to his she captured his lips with hers, he pushed her back into the cushion and moved his right hand up to her hair. They continued to kiss until somebody cleared their throat next to them, the two of them broke apart and realised that the train had stopped and that someone wanted to get past them and into the carriage.

Maddie looked away embarrassed as her face flushed and Jasper moved to her side to clear the way. She cautioned a glance up at him and saw him smiling at her, they both began shaking with laughter as Jasper took her hand in his. They managed to keep their hands and lips away from each other as they travelled the Piccadilly line down to Leicester Square.

After queuing with more commuters they emerged hand in hand into the evening dusk, they headed into the trees and stopped to look at the statue of Charlie Chaplin. He smiled down at them giving his permission for the couple to continue with their date. Jasper lead the way towards one of the streets off of the square and into one of the Georgian buildings that now housed a cinema.

The foyer was filled with people standing around chatting and waiting to buy tickets and popcorn, Jasper pulled her towards the queue and reluctantly let go of her hand to get his wallet out of his pocket. Maddie reached for her own purse but froze when she saw the look on Jasper’s face. “Don’t you dare! I’m paying tonight, for everything. It’s a date the man should pay.” He gave her a serious look and she removed her hands from her purse and held them up in surrender.