We were at the shop for nearly 3 hours. We had such a blast, and we laughed so much that my throat got raspy.
I was driving her home now, and I knew I wanted to see her again. I didn't want to push my luck, but I didn't want to miss out on asking.
"I know I haven't even dropped you off, but I want to see you again," my eyes still on the road and I glance over her.
She giggles at my comment, "Jumping the gun aren't ya?"
I laugh, "I know, but I just had such a great time."
"I had a pretty great time too," she shyly smiles and looks down at her hands.
"How about tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow?"
"Yeah we can go out and do something fun."
"Mmm.. Alright. I don't work tomorrow so that should be fine."
"Great! Is like 3 an okay time for me to come pick you up?"
"Yeah, I think so.. What are we gonna do?"
"Something fun, don't worry about it, you'll love it."
"Alright sure," she gives me a smile again, "What sure I wear? Like in terms of a dress, or jeans or..?"
"You can dress casually. It's probably best if you're comfortable."
"Well sounds like a plan," she looks over her shoulder and out the window.
I pulled up in front of the CVS and she unbuckles herself.
"So top floor huh?"
"Yeah..."
"Must be nice to have a whole floor to yourself."
"Oh no I don't have the whole floor, someone lives across the hall. There's two condos up there."
"Ahh I see, well I guess I'll let you go," I laugh.
"Yeah I should go.. Gotta rest up for tomorrow."
I smile again, "I'll see you tomorrow."
She steps out of the car and gives me a little wave as she walks away.
As soon as she's through the building doors I can see her jumping up and down.
---
Olivia
I went for a run this morning at the gym that's downstairs. It's too cold to be running outside at this point, and I had the jitters.
I know I just saw Chris yesterday but I was excited to see him again. I was also a little nervous to be totally honest. I wasn't sure what we were going to do, and I didn't want to make a fool out of myself. So far he's seems pretty amazing and I really want to get to know him more.
I was also nervous because I don't think I've mentioned my age to him. It's not like it really matters.. at least not to me, but I haven't brought it up. I know his age because I read his chart at the hospital. It was a 17 year age difference. It was a lot. But I can't really feel an age difference. Well except when he says a few different phrases. But we got so well along. We always had so much to talk about. I felt so comfortable around him.
I knew I had to bring it up because I don't know if it's going to be a concern for him. I really hope it wouldn't be but... I just don't know.
I jumped into the shower to try to clear my mind and wash off all the sweat from my run.
Afterwards I made myself a quick lunch and thought about what I could wear. He said it was casual. That I should dress comfortably. So jeans? Or should I go with leggings? I'm honestly more comfortable in leggings, so I decide to go with that.
I go with a plain black t-shirt and I pull on an oversized sweater. I put my hair up in a messy bun and call it good. I didn't really want to put on any makeup but since it was a date I might as well.
My skin wasn't by all means perfect, I had pretty dark under eyes despite the amount of sleep I tried to get. So I put on some concealer, some mascara, and tinted lip balm. Maybe I should add a little blush as well.
By the time I was finished getting ready it was barely 2pm so I decided to watch some Grey's Anatomy. This show was really endless.
I ended up making myself a snack as well, so when Chris had texted me that he was downstairs I was full and finished two episodes. Thankfully they're weren't excruciatingly painful so I didn't have makeup run down my face.
When I got outside he was parked in the same spot but was waiting for me outside leaned against his SUV. He had on jeans and t-shirt that looked two sizes to small. Granted even if he wore a shirt that fit him I feel like his arms would still be bulging out.
"Hey!" I ran up to him.
"Hey there," he smirked. "You look good."
I blushed, "Thanks."
"You ready?"
"Yeah, let's go," I gave him a smile.
He opened the door for me and I slid in as he closed the door and jogged to the other side. Man he was a big guy. His shoulders looked huge, and I couldn't help but stare at him.
He laughed as he watched me stare at him in awe.
"Do I have something on my face?"
"No," I looked down at my hands and mumbled, "You just look really good."
He laughs again and starts driving.
"Thanks Liv."
We drove the rest of the way in silence. Mostly due to the anticipation of where we were going. But also because of the nerves.
It felt kinda nice that Chris complimented me, even when I was dressed down. I blush again at the memory of him leaning against his car. How his lips went from an "O" to a smirk.
"Hey Liv, we're here," he placed his hand on my shoulder and I jumped.
"Oh sorry. Uhh great," I give him a shy smile.
"Okay let's go in," I nodded as he jumped out of the car and ran around to open the door for me.
"What is this place?" I asked him as I gave me his hand to help me out of his tall car.
"You'll see," he smirked and guided me in.
When we walked in the big building was full of games. It had a section with arcade games, a huge rock wall and what looked like from a distance go-karts.
"Woah..."
"It's cool, huh?" he gave me a smirk.
"It's pretty cool yeah, but it's empty?"
"Yeah I sort of rented out the place."
"You what?"
"I just thought we'd enjoy it more if we had the whole place to ourselves."
"Oh Chris, this is too much, you didn't have to do that."
"No I didn't, but I wanted to. Plus I wanna impress ya."
I laugh, "Alright, well... What do we do first?"
"Hmm..." he scans the room and sees our options, "Last one to the race track is a rotten egg!"
He sprints to the go-kart track and obviously beats me to it.
"Hey! That was cheating!"
"We have no rules today honey," he smirks again and jumps into the nearest go-kart.
I followed behind and jumped in another one. He's a lot bigger than me so it took him longer to buckle up. Once he finally turned the thing on I was already speeding away.
He managed to eventually catch up, but much to everyone's surprise I beat him, by a hair, but I beat him.
"Woohoo!" I jump up in down from the excitement and adrenaline.
"You may have won the battle, but I'm gonna win the war baby," he walked backwards towards the laser tag, as if to taunt me, and ran into the maze.
It's pitch black in here apart from the strips of neon against the walls that crisscross through. I can see a bit against the back wall there is vests and laser guns hanging. I run to the back and suit up as quickly as I can. As soon as I put it on it makes a zooming noise, letting me know we were starting.
I dart my eyes around and I couldn't see or hear Chris. I decide I'm gonna beat him so I fall to the floor and army crawl to get around.
The walls in here are slightly lifted off the ground so I can see his feet from a distance. It seems like he's waiting for me to show up so I try to crawl to the back of the room from his direction. I can see him looking over his shoulder as I walk up to him and shoot him in the chest.
He whipped his head at the sound of his vest dying and stared up at me with wide eyes.
"Gotcha," I smirked.
"Dang Liv where'd you get all this skill? Medical school?"
I laughed, "Nah, I was just born with it."
This time I ran over to the rock climbing wall. There was actually a worker sitting nearby and he helped me get harnessed in. Chris followed quickly behind. We asked the guy if he can shout "ready, set, go" for us since we knew one or the other (most likely Chris) would most likely cheat. As soon as he shouted out "go" we made our way up, but Chris beat me by a long shot. About half way up the way I realized I didn't have half the upper body strength I thought I had, and obviously that wasn't a problem for Chris.
So when he made it to the top he rung the bell and gave me a huge grin.
"Gotcha!" he repeated back to me.
I laughed as I made my way up, not bothering to stress my body by going any further.
"Thanks."
"No problem," answered the guy. He couldn't have been older than 21 but he was big. I guess that made sense since he was working the rock climbing wall.
I sat on a bench nearby as Chris took off his harness. That thing looked so tiny on his big body, it's a miracle it didn't rip as he climbed up.
He smirked as he caught me looking so I turned around so he couldn't see me blush once again. It was getting kind of hot from all the running around so I took my sweater off and tied it around my waist.
"What should we do now?"
I turned around to see Chris once again scanning the room.
"Let's play some arcade games, and then maybe we can get some food?" I suggested.
"Sounds like a plan!" he shook his head to side, a habit of his. This is only the second time we hang up but I'm starting to pick up on his habits and mannerisms. He's kinda cute.
We start with skee-ball, played a few rounds of air hockey, and ended on Guitar Hero. Which he obviously won on.
They had food here so we walked over to the dinning area and just took a seat in a booth. There wasn't anyone else here so it didn't take long for us to order our food.
"So how often do you get to see your family?" Chris asked as he munched on some french fries.
"Umm not too often.. Maybe once a year if I can-"
"Once a year?" he looked at me wide eyed. "I can't imagine being away from my family that long."
"I guess..."
"Do you guys not get along?"
"Not necessarily, we've just grown apart as the years have gone by. It's been hard."
"I'm sorry to hear that. May I ask why?"
"Mmm.." I debate whether I want to tell open up so soon.
"You don't have to tell me it's okay if you're not ready to talk about it."
"No it's just- My brother passed away when I was little... So I kind of grew up as an only child. But my parents knew what it was like to loose a child, a grown child."
"Oh I am so sorry for your loss," he reached out and place his hand on mine.
"Thank you," tears started brimming my eyes, "I miss him. Even though I didn't get to grow up with him."
"How old were you when he died?"
"I was 7. He had just turned 17."
"Wow," he took a deep breath and looked down at our hands. "How long ago was this?"
"16 years ago," I felt a tear roll down my face. It was so long ago, but it felt like it just happened. Like I could still hear him slam the door as he left the house.
He nodded and now rubbed circles on my back, as if letting me know it was okay to cry.
"Wait," he stopped for a moment and looked back up to me. "So you're 23?"
I sniffled and nodded.
He slowly took his hands away from me and placed them in his lap, "Why didn't you ever say anything?"
"About..? My brother?"
"No, your age," he whispered, almost as if it was wrong to say out loud.
"It just never came up."
"Mmm..." he nodded once again and stood up. "I think I should take you home."
----------
And they were just having so much fun! :(
Oof was NOT expecting that reaction.
Long one here for ya! What did y'all think?
Beijos