CHRISTIAN'S P.O.V
"FOR GOD'S SAKE, STOP looking at me like that, Lucas," I grumbled, flipping him off but he didn't even react. I took a long sip of my iced-coffee. "It's not that big of a deal."
"It's not a big deal? It's not a big deal?" He snorted, shaking his head. "It's like saying that Messi signing my t-shirt isn't a big thing, Christian. It's what you'd call a piece of resistance."
I shook my head. "Piece de resistance. It's called piece de resistance, not a piece of resistance."
Lucas waved his hand in front of my face in a non-committal way. "I don't care. Potato, potatoh. All good as long as you understand what I mean."
"I wish I didn't have the ability to understand you, Lucas. Especially right now."
He slapped his hand on the coffee table — and I wanted to point out that the delicate glass made coffee table of his house was clearly not sturdy enough to withstand his excitement. "You can not change the subject, Christian. You made out with Walter! In a tub!" He lowered his voice, probably because of Dalton — the main house attendant of the Turner residence — hovering by. "Half naked at that too! Please promise me you'll be cautious the next time you see her, because frankly, Christian, I am too young to be a freaking uncle."
I choked on the big bite of the cookie that I had taken. As I coughed violently, Lucas sprang to his feet and patted my back, pushing a glass of water in my face. After I drank it and wiped the tear that had escaped my eye, I sighed.
"Lucas, you're losing your mind," I said. "We just made out. That's it."
"So are you two in a relationship now, or what?"
"What? No, no we are not," I murmured, laughing nervously. "Why would you even say that? That's ridiculous. We need more time. I do not want my first relationship to be a complete disaster just because my body and mind was too attracted to the girl. No, Lucas. I'm not rushing into this and ruining it."
"Oh, yes, it's your first relationship, isn't it?" Lucas hummed, taking a bite out of his toast. "Wait. Walter is your first kiss too, isn't she?"
"No, she is not!" I came to my defense too quickly, and a huge grin bloomed on Lucas' face. "Wipe that smile off of your face, Lucas. And I'd like to inform you that my first kiss was Suzanne in seventh grade."
"That was not even a peck, Christian, trust me — I was there," He said, shaking his head. "She took a whiff of your deodorant and instantly distanced herself from you. It was very amusing to watch, really."
I took another sip of the water. "Fuck off, mate."
"Of course," Lucas sighed. "Now that you've the lovely Walter, why would you even need the poor little me anymore?"
I rolled my eyes. "Dramatic much?"
"Learnt it from the best," Lucas said, giving me a lazy smile. "And by the best, I obviously mean you."
"What is it?" I sighed. "I can see the questions literally etched on your face. Shoot."
"What was the name of the place you two had gone to?" Lucas inquired. "The place sounds super relaxing and I'd love to pay it a visit."
"Why don't you talk to Walter yourself?" I replied. "I'm pretty sure she'd love to talk to you — considering the fact that she has a crush on you and all."
"Had a crush on me, you mean," He corrected. "And oh my, Christian, is that a little jealousy I see?"
"And how do you know that it's in the past?"
"Because she told me herself, my dear best friend," Lucas grinned. "A few weeks ago, she walked up to me on the field, told me she didn't have a crush on me anymore, and asked me to wear more deodorant because apparently I smelt."
"You do smell sometimes," I countered, barely surpassing the grin that climbed up my face. Walter really was all invested in me — and this wasn't a fever dream that I was living through. Walter liked me, and I liked her. She was willing to meet me halfway and I was too, and even though we both had a long way to walk — I was so fucking grateful and excited for this. How in the hell had I ever been so blessed to get a girl as magnificent as Walter in my life? From breaking my bones to kissing me till I couldn't breathe, we had really been through a lot together.
"You are so whipped," Lucas commented slyly as he took another huge bite of the toast. "My God. I honestly never thought I'd live to see you be so attracted to anything or anyone other than fictional characters, but thank God that the day is here, and thank God that I'm here to witness this."
"You're talking too much," I said as I picked up another piece of toast and stuffed it into his mouth. "Eat."
He grumbled something that came out warped because of the food that I had stuffed in his face. Grinning, I reached out to ruffle his hair and he instantly swatted my hand away. I fished out my phone and texted Walter.
'Wear a simple and comfortable outfit for today's date. And oh, no skirts. Wear trousers please, you'll understand later on why I'm requesting this. Pick you up at five!"
"You're texting her, aren't you?" Lucas said, swallowing his food. "I can tell by the stupid smile on your face."
I looked up at him, trying to brush off the smile, but I was quick to discover that it was a hard thing to do when Walter was being mentioned. So I sighed, and looked at my best friend — speaking up. "You know what? You might be right," I admitted. "I am whipped."
● ● ●
“I AM DONNING TROUSERS, AS REQUESTED,” Walter said as she slid inside the car, her hands smoothing down the fabric clad on her thighs to emphasize the presence of trousers instead of the usual skirts and tights.“This better be something cool.”
“Oh, it is the coolest thing in the world,” I commented as I started the ignition and eased the car onto the road. “It’s Go-Karts. I know the owner of the track, so as a perk of that - we get the whole place to ourselves!”
“I am half-afraid to ask what Go-Karts is,” She said like I knew she would.
“I know you don't know what it means, that’s why I told you in the first place,” I pointed out. “Now kindly do not Google it and ruin the surprise for yourself, okay? Have some patience.”
As she grumbled the whole ride about me being an asshole, I drove us to our destination — a large warehouse. As I drove inside the garage and parked my car in an empty spot, Walter cocked her head in question at the huge building looming over us.
"If you wanted to kill me, I thought you'd use clean, non-barbaric methods like poisoning me or something. But a shady warehouse? What's the plan? Stabbing me or shooting me?" She quipped, her left eyebrow raised in mock curiosity. I turned off the ignition. "You know, just so I can be mentally prepared. Don't shoot me in the face, okay? I want my face to be just as pretty when the police take my pictures."
"That's very disturbing to know," I said as I slid out of the car and Walter followed suit. "I have heard of many ridiculous requests being done to a killer, but yours easily takes the cake."
"I strive to be unique in everything, obviously."
I shook my head, nodding at the warehouse. "This is where the track is."
"Woah, like a real race car type of track or like a running type of track?"
"You'll see when we get inside," I said, and then my gaze slowly skimmed down her body as I took in her outfit. Even when I had requested her to wear a simple outfit and comfortable trousers for the date, she had managed to look like she had just walked out of a famous fashion magazine in a pair of shiny (were those shimmers?) golden top, a pair of ochre yellow pants with little designs I didn't know the name of, and a thick (white and a darker shade of ochre yellow) faux fur coat that swallowed entirely all of her outfit. She had tied the outfit together with a matching bag (two shades darker than the color of her pants) and the handle of the bag had gold details the color of her top. Once again, I was in awe of her attention to each and every detail — considering the fact that the color of her shoes were only a few shades darker than the yellow of her coat. And these were not heels, but loafers. I had caught her wearing these at school sometimes. How was it possible to always look this glamorous? I honestly didn't know.
"You could just take a picture, Sinclair," She said, smirking a little. "It will last longer. Staring at me won't last that long."
"But a picture won't do justice to your beauty," I said, truthfully. "It never does. Your prettiest pictures can't encapsulate even half of your beauty."
"Flatterer."
"I'm only speaking the truth, Walter," I said. "I won't ever praise your short-temper, but when I see beauty, I appreciate it."
That earned me a smack on the head. "I'm not short-tempered!"
I rubbed the spot where she hit me, and then pointed at it with my free hand. "I rest my case," I said, smiling a little at the roll of her eyes.
"Whatever sniveller," She said, and I felt a spark of joy inside me when I caught her quietly assessing my outfit. I had sat down in front of my closet and had taken half an hour to build an outfit that I thought she'd be impressed with. Was she noticing it?
"You don't look too bad yourself, Sinclair," She said after a moment of assessing me, and then looking away. "Looks like we can make a fashion influencer out of you yet."
I shook my head and then reached out to grab her hand. She didn't say anything as I tugged at her hand and led us towards the entrance, and that's how we walked inside — hand-in-hand, blushing slightly, hiding our smiles.
As soon as we stepped inside and Walter's eyes took in the scene, her mouth twitched in amusement.
"Sinclair!" She yelped, and then looked at me with wide eyes. "This is just like in the video games!"
"Yes, this is video game go-karting," I announced proudly, my insides bursting in joy at the pleasantly surprised look on Walter's face. "Well, technically, this is unlicensed video game go-karting. We will be racing as knock-off versions of classic video game characters."
Walter let out a laugh as she spun on her heels once, taking a proper three-sixty degree view of the place. "This is ridiculous."
"Why yes, it is," I said, doing a mock bow as Walter let out another laugh and oh God, it was the most beautiful sound I had ever come across till date. "And that's exactly why I chose this place."
I guided her to the entrance of the tracks, where an attendant greeted us with a cheerful smile.
"Welcome to Karrio Kart! Please select your player!" The attendant gave us a creepily wide smile. "And by player, we mean the colour of your Kart!"
"Karrio Kart?" Walter whispered, leaning in against my ear as she let out a soft chuckle, her hand on her lips. "This is absolutely ridiculous."
"Which just means that it's double fun," I whispered back.
Snickering, Walter straightened up, and then pointed at the red one. "That's my choice."
"Congratulations, ma'am!" The attendant said. "You'll be playing as the Queen of the Cards Empire!"
"How appealing," Walter laughed. I bowed down in front of her, my shoulder shaking a little as I tried to hold back my laughter. "Your majesty," I said.
"Shut up!" Walter bit out in between laughs, patting my back as I stood up, admiring her. "What colour are you choosing, Sinclair?"
"The green one, obviously," I said simply, shrugging. "Green as the colour of your envy that will show itself when I win this race."
"Oh, you won't be so cocky when I'm lapping you, Sinclair."
"Oh! Are we bringing the smack talk now—"
"Congratulations, sir!" The attendant interrupted. "You'll be playing as the Fungus King!"
The loud laugh that spilled past Walter's lips at the announcement of my player's name almost made Walter keel over, at the spot. Still doubling up with laughter, she said,"Fungus King! Oh, how lovely to cross paths with you again, your majesty!"
"You—"
"You guys are up now!" The attendant interjected, once again, and for a moment I was deeply ready to commit an act of violence against this man. Taking in a deep breath and calming myself down — because I was supposed to be the calm one who bailed Walter out of jail when she beat someone up — I turned towards Walter.
"You're on."
I scurried to settle behind the wheel of the go-kart as Walter followed suit behind another go-kart, and I shot a grin at Walter as the lights flashed red.
"Ready to go on three…" The attendant announced. "Two…"
"You're going down!" Walter yelled just as the attendant and before the attendant had screamed "one!" Walter had torn out of the starting line, speeding away.
"You filthy cheat!" I yelled as I slapped my foot on the accelerator and Walter's wild laughter drifted back to me. I steered behind Walter, letting her go-kart take the brunt of the wind as I inched closer and closer to her.
"I can see you back there!"
"And now you'll see me at the finish line!" I yelled back, grinning widely. Waiting for a corner, I spun the wheel and cut her off, overtaking her in a hairpin. I gripped the wheel tightly, with Walter and I neck to neck as we twisted and turned our way around the track.
"This is so fun!" Walter said loudly, letting out a small laugh. In the meanwhile, I got ahead of Walter as the racing lane narrowed, forcing her behind me. I heard her laughter and taunting coming from my right.
"I'm on your tail, Sinclair!" She bellowed. "You ain't winning so easily!"
I reached under the seat to grab my phone for a quick selfie of the two of us, recoiling as my hand touched something rubbery. Praying that it wasn't a dead person's skin, I pulled it out in a quick tug…
...only to discover that it was a small, fucking water balloon.
A small, evil smile spread across my face as I palmed the balloon. "You're going to have to forgive me for this one, Walter," I said, and before she could comprehend why I was saying that — I launched the balloon behind me to the right, in Walter's direction.
"Aurgh!" A quick yelp came from her direction and I took a quick peek at her to check if it hit her in the face. It hadn't, thankfully, or she'd have skinned me alive once she had caught me. She had swerved at just the right time, but as a result of that — she was now considerably behind me, and I charged ahead, crossing the finish line first. I slowed my go-kart and returned to the starting line. Walter joined me a minute later, sighing audibly.
"Next time, I'm taking the green one," Walter remarked. "That's the better one. The red go-kart was the bad one."
"Now, that's just rationalization, Walter," I grinned at her, leaning in and booping her nose as she gave me a dirty stare. "Accept it, Walter. You lost this race. I won."
"I hate you," She grumbled, fighting back a smile. I laughed, and when I slung an arm over her shoulders and pulled her closer to my side, she didn't complain. We walked out of the warehouse, and into the cold, chilly garage, with her in my arms.
"Now comes the best part of today's date," I said as we walked in front of my car. "The piece de resistance."
"There's more?"
"What did you take me for? A boring date? Nuh-uh," I said, shaking my head as I walked to the driver's seat, opened the door and retrieved the thing I was looking for — my Bluetooth speaker. Walter quietly observed as I connected my phone to the Bluetooth speaker, and turned on a romantic song from the playlist I had carefully curated before dressing up for the date.
"What are we doing?"
"We are dancing, of course," I said as I extended my hand for her to take. "Like I said, I know the owner personally, so I got to rent this whole place for two hours without me having to sell a kidney. So, we still have around forty minutes and fifty seconds left. No one will interrupt us here."
She let out a quiet chuckle as she took my hand and I pulled her close. "We are dancing. In a garage. On a Thursday evening."
"Exactly," I said, as we fell into uncoordinated steps. "We are dancing. In a garage. On a Thursday evening. In each other's arms."
"How romantic," She said, laughing as she threw her head back. "I'm really trying not to step on your toes, you know? I am an awful dancer."
"I appreciate your caution," I said as I guided her into a choppy twirl but she didn't seem to mind. "I'm an awful dancer as well. Maybe our awfulness will cancel out each other's awfulness."
She laughed again, and I was silently elated at the fact that this date was one of the rare occasions where Walter had put her guards down completely — because, for fuck's sake, I had never seen this woman laugh so much in a single evening. And if I needed to sell my kidneys and buy this whole warehouse for her to keep her laughing like this — I'd do it in a heartbeat.
We resorted to quietly swaying with the music, her face resting against the crook of my neck and my shoulder, my head half resting on top of hers. One of her hands was on my shoulder and the other one clutched in my hand, and my free hand was wrapped protectively against her waist. And God, this silence was beautiful. Just us basking in the serenity and beauty of each other's presence. I couldn't believe how far we had come — if someone had told me five months ago that I'd be doing a poor replica of a romantic, slow dancing with Walter in the garage of a go-kart warehouse, I'd have laughed on their face.
Walter lifted her head from my shoulder and I looked down at her face as she looked up at mine. Had she always been this beautiful?
"Thank you for today," She said gently, the usual sharp challenge in her eyes replaced with an intimate vulnerability for now. "I would have never found beauty in slow dancing awfully in the garage of a creepy warehouse if it weren't for you."
I laughed as I leaned down. "My pleasure, Jannat. I enjoyed myself just as much as you did today, if not more."
She smiled, and then abruptly lifted her head for a quick kiss on my lips that almost made my heart jump out of my chest. "So now that we have established the fact that we are both very attracted to each other and are openly flirting and going on dates, what do you think should be our next step? I do not want us to rush into a relationship, considering the fact that we haven't always been… friends, and I do not really want to rush the 'rivals-to-friends-to-more than friends' arc. So considering the fact that we should spend some more time solidifying our attraction to each other — do we like… date now, or like, prolong the flirting stage until one of us decides that not seeing each other's face all the time is harder than we thought?"
"Are you suggesting that we play a game of flirtation until one of us gives in and asks the other out to be their partner?"
"In simple words, yes."
I chuckled. "Is this your way of trying to win after you were sorely defeated in a go-kart race?"
She surpassed a smile. "Maybe."
I lowered my mouth to her ear. "Oh, it's on, Walter," I whispered. "And you're going down first."