july 31st, 2018
SCARLETT
HERE WE GO.
Tonight is Lita and I's first date. I still have no clue where we're going. All I got out of Lita is a text, telling me to dress nicely, so... that's not much help.
She's going to pick up soon, and I need to finish getting ready now. In the end, I picked out a simple, long black dress, and I just have to do my makeup, pick out the jewellery, and we'll be done. I'm so glad to have short hair right now.
"Mama pretty." Rose says from her spot in the doorway. She's been standing there, watching me get ready for a good ten minutes now. Sometimes she asks if I can put some mascara on her eyelids or gloss on her lips and I do it because what's wrong with that? We're just having a bit of fun. I sit her on the counter in front of me, she swings her legs happily as she watches me get ready.
"Thank you sweet girl." I kiss her all over her face, living the print of my lips with the lipstick all over her, and it's quite cute. Her giggled fill the bathroom.
God this is the life I've been dreaming of.
I quickly pull out my phone and snap a picture, Rose even poses. Poor girl is used to me being a paparazzo by now. But the picture is cute, and I might set it as a new wallpaper later.
"I wanna be pretty like you when I grow up." She tells me while I wipe my lipstick off her face.
"You already are."
We continue to have some fun. Rose demands I play some music, so I grab a speaker and press play on Rose's Disney Playlist. We dance and recreates scenes from her favourite movies
We're so lost in our little universe I don't even hear the doorbell rings. That means it's either my mother or Lita.
It's mom.
I let her in, and she takes my outfit in as she leaves her shoes and stuff by the coat rack "Oh look at you all dolled up. Where are you going tonight?"
Lita and I deciding to keep things private for now, meant not spilling details to my curious mother. I just shrug, hoping she'd let it go. "Just dinner."
Rose hearing her grandma's voice, comes rushing to see her. I leave them be, going into my room to find my purse. I get everything I need in there, my phone, my keys, my wallet because we never know...
The last thing I need are shoes. And I've reduced the range to two. I grab one of each pair in my hand, and head back to the living room. I need someone else's opinion. "Which shoes?" I hold them up, and they both look at me like I'm some crazy idiot.
The first ones are classic black heels. Nothing more, nothing less but sometimes it's just what you need. The other pair is a little bit more fancy, they're black as well, and in suede with an ankle strap.
"The fancy ones." Mom said, Rose agrees by nodding her head.
The interphone rings as I buckle up the shoes and ask mom to allow Lita in the building for me. I grab my purse and a light vest and rush towards the door, flattening the dress in the process. I take a final look and yeah, that will do.
The doorbell a second later. She's here. My hands start to sweat as I get a bit nervous. It's just Lita, no one else. It's gonna be okay.
I wipe my hands and open the door. I try to steady my hands, so they don't look as shaky as they actually are.
Lita is standing there. She's dressed in a similar dress, except hers is like more of a white or cream colour with embroidered details on it. Her curly brown her that she usually lets cascade down her shoulders is up in a bun, two pieces framing her face nicely. Her makeup is light and the jewellery she picked out just screams 'Lita' to me. Some pieces seem more fancy than others. She paired a crystal necklace with a beaded necklace probably made by Julie or a Lucas and with a silver necklace pendant that looks like a locket. I never noticed all her ears piercings until now. Her lobes are pierced three times, the silver earrings just captures the attention while the rest of them just compliments it.
She holds a bouquet of flowers in her hands, I'm not even surprised. Her grip on it loosened a bit while she looks at me, but she comes back quickly to reality before it can fall off her hands.
"Wow." She whispers, making me giggle. She blushes when she realized I heard, I swear shy Lita is my favourite. "H-Hey. You look... beautiful."
I lean in the doorway, crosses my arms and smirks. "You don't look too bad yourself."
"I got you these. They're uuuuh they're dahlias." She hides behind her bouquet, but I am quick to take it. I bring it up to my nose to smell it, and wow.
"Thank you. Come in while I go look for a vase. We won't be long." I close the door behind us. I place my hand on the small of Lita's back and push her towards the living room.
Rose and mom who were watching the TV turn around and look at us walk past. It took them a second to recognize who was here with us. "Oh Lita!"
"Flower girl!" Rose gets up and runs to Lita, trapping her in a hug. I watch for a second before remembering I need to find a vase. I grab a transparent, crystal one. I place the flowers in the water and I think these will go in my bedroom.
Detaching Rose from Lita is hard, especially when we're both due somewhere, but she doesn't want to let us go. I have to have my mother help me, every time I managed to detach one of her arms, she'd wiggle to make me let go. I had to ask my mother to hold her arm while I deal with the other.
She pouts, sad she didn't get her way, but what do you want me to say? I kiss her pout away and we bid our good nights.
They walk us to the door, and wave at us as we get closer to the elevator. "Well we gotta go now. Rose be good for grandma okay?" I remind them.
"Kiss mama." Rose asks, and I run the best I can to peck her lips and go back to Lita as the lift gets here.
We stand side by side, just shyly smiling at each other. I slowly move towards her and grab her hand, interlocking her fingers with mine. It seems to make us smile even more.
We step onto the streets and I let Lita guide me. We walk for a bit, but I have literally no clue where we're going for now, it could be anywhere. "So are you finally going to tell me we're we're going?"
"Hummm..." She brings her hands to her chin, looked like the Thinker statue. I know she's pretending to think, damn it. "No. You can figure it out when we get there."
I huff and she just laughs. "Oh cheer up buttercup, we're almost there."
We get close and closer to our destination and slow down when we get to the Lincoln Center.
Wait...
"The ballet?" I question... but it's very obvious.
"Yep. Coppélia."
I have to admit, it's my first time going on a date to the opera. People usually choose restaurants, or the movies. But this is exciting. The ballet with Lita, and it's a romantic one. She really thought this through.
She brings me inside and towards a bar. She hands me a flute of champagne, and tonight's program. "Why thank you. What a gentlewoman."
"To our first date and hopefully the first one of many?" She doesn't seem sure about her toast, but it's okay.
"To our first date." We clink our glasses together and take a small sip. We slowly walk around the place, making our way around the people that are also there worth us.
Twenty minutes before the show starts, the door to the theatre open. Lita looks through her purse for our seats and lets them scan it. Lita has a small smirk on her face, what did she plan? I follow them clueless, we go up the stairs and someone holds the door for us.
Aww.
We are seated at the first ring, pretty close to the stage. We have a pretty decent view and this is going to be so nice. We can clearly see the stage and hear the orchestra, it's going to be magical.
"Originally, this was my parents' anniversary present. But my mom had a tiny accident, she's fine though so don't worry. However, they sadly decided not to go and they gave me their tickets. I asked Florian and Rachel but with Hugo they're pretty busy, my sister and her soon-to-be husband are busy planning the last details of their wedding so..." She explains. "I've always wanted to take someone to the ballet you know? I just called and upgraded the seats last week."
She looks down and wiped her hands. She's nervous, but what about? Is it because she didn't actually pay for these seats? I honestly don't care, this is a nice idea regardless.
I place a hand on her knee, which makes her look up at me. I smile and say, "This is really nice. Thank you for taking me." She visibly relax and lets out a small laugh. I swear she's too cute sometimes.
"We were supposed to sit down there at first." She points down, and I look, I wouldn't have mind sitting down there, but this is way better I am not gonna lie. "Also, I was meaning to ask you, do you and Rose want to come with me to my sister's wedding as my plus ones? Julie asked to have her new friends there, Violet doesn't mind. She actually would love if I brought someone with me. She said it was, and I quote, 'sad to go to a wedding alone' and banned me from taking Erin with me. My best friend is invited anyway. But we can tell them we're going as friends to Rose so no pressure, I know we said we wouldn't tell anyone. It's just my sister wants an answer so-"
"You're rambling darling." She stops immediately and blushes. I love the power this name has on her. "When's the wedding?"
"August 18th." That's close to Rose's birthday, but we can probably make it. I don't have any urgent to work on...
"Yeah... I guess we can go. Does that mean I'm gonna meet your parents?"
She laughs and nods. Suddenly I become nervous. I didn't I'd meet them this early one. Oh fuck. "But to be fair I also met your mom and daughter. And if it can make you feel better, Julie and Lucas like you so you have nothing to worry about." Lita reminds. Okay... she does have a point. And it's not like she's gonna introduce me as her date, just as their grandchild's friend's mother. That's less pressure... I guess?
Fuck, I am still meeting Lita's parents regardless.
"Do they know about me?"
"They know about Scarlett, but not Scarlett Johansson."
"They're gonna freak, aren't they?"
"My siblings? Totally. It's gonna be hilarious." We both laugh. She's right, if they freak out like Erin did, it'll be funny.
She explains she was planning on driving there. It's quite a long drive from New York City to Vermont, and she's willing to take the plane instead. I assure her it's not need, Rose and I will be fine, we can make it a fun little road trip. We're leaving a couple of days before the wedding and will go home a couple of days after. It's gonna be a nice short week away from the city, I feel it. It's gonna be nice to get away from New York's craziness right before Rose'a birthday and very first day of school. She's starting preschool this year,can you believe that? It's only mornings, three times a week but still!
Suddenly, though if we would've been careful of the time we would've known, the lights go out. "Oh it's about to start."
When the music starts, we're taken to another universe.
At the intermission, the lights come back on, and I immediately turn to Lita with probably the biggest smile on my face. "So?" She asks.
"I love it."
The rest of the ballet just flies by. When the lights turn back on for the last time, I can barely believe it's over. I truly don't want to go. But we have to, unfortunately.
We step outside the building and the warm wind hit our faces, waking us up from our gaze. I tighten my light sweater, glad I was smart enough to remember to take something with me.
I hold Lita's hand as we walk around for a bit. "I loved it. This was truly the best date."
"It's not done yet." She whispers. I stop dead in my tracks and look at her as if she drew three heads. "Well we didn't have dinner, and I thought we could take a walk..."
She offers me her arm like the true gentlewoman she is, and I gladly take it "Let's go then."
We walk around without thinking, staying in the same neighbourhood. We only stops when my stomach starts rumbling... oops. Can you blame me though?
I look up guiltily at Lita. I have no clue where she planned on getting dinner and looks like I'm about to find out.
Lita drags me around, and we end up about to buy some cheap pizza. "Now tell me, what do you want?"
"Are you serious right now?"
"Very. Now, what do you want?" She asks again, already pulling out her card out of her wallet.
"Pepperoni." She leaves me alone for a second to pay. It gives me some time to reflect on our date so far. And one word to describe it would be... unpredictable. In a good way! I never would have thought we'd go to a ballet and then end up buying some cheap pizza afterwards, and the date isn't even over yet. But it's been a lovely evening so far.
Lita comes back with two paper plates that hold two big slices of pizza. We found a quiet spot to eat, and she hands me mine slice. "Here."
She digs in immediately, and I look like an idiot, trying to take off the olives. "Are you not gonna eat the olive?" She questions, with her mouth full.
"Nah, I don't feel like it."
She helps me with the job and eats my olives. "Erin would freak out with the 'olive theory'."
"The olive theory?"
"Yeah... Determining the success or potential success of a relationship by whether one person in the relationship loves olives while the other person hates them." She shares. Then she takes out her phone and looks up something on Netflix. Then she shoves the phone in front of us. I recognize Coby on the screen... Oh! It's How I Met Your Mother!
She pauses when the interesting moment is over. "That's kinda cute." I say and nod. "Now unpause I want to watch the rest."
We finish our greasy pizza while watching the end of the first episode. Looks like I know what I am gonna watch from now on.
Lita throws away our plates, grabs my hand and drags me somewhere else. I could just stop asking at this point, but I'm sure too curious. "Where are you taking me now Valentine?"
"You'll see Johansson." She smirks.
We walk towards Central Park and guides me towards the Oak Bridge.
Alright.
We are standing there as night is falling. There isn't a lot of people around despite being in the middle of summer. I want to imagine it's just us, standing there. Nobody else around, just the two of us.
I lean against the bridge as I watch Lita fumble with her things. She pulls out her phone and headphones, plugging them in "What are you doing?"
"Just trust me okay?" I nod, but I admit I'm just confused. She slips the headphones over my head and presses play. Soft music begins to play as she shoves the phone into her pocket. I just stand there not knowing what to do...
Lita places her hands on my waist, I take it as my cue to place my arms around her neck.
We just slow dance together for a little while. I admit, this is nice. Just us, somewhere in the city.
When I feel the cold breeze, I scoot closer to Lita. I almost lay my head on her chest, and you know what, might as well just do it.
The music ends, and Lita takes off the headphones, but I stay put in her arms. "You're such a romantic, you know that?" I mumble against her shoulder.
She laughs and hugs me tight. "I know. Can you blame me though?"
The night ends with a walk through Central Park. We get lost in our conversation as we let it flow freely.
A phone call from my mother pulls us back to reality. It's gonna be eleven soon, and I've been gone since six and that means I should probably get home. "Come on, let's get you home."
Of course, Lita walks me back. I don't know why I expected us to part ways after everything she showed me tonight.
We arrive in front of the building way quicker than I would have liked. I don't want to say goodbye. We just stand in front of the entrance. I don't care if we're bothering anyone.
"Thank you for tonight. It was perfect. It was everything I wanted and more."
I don't think we realized we were both leaning in until our lips touched.
It feels like a miracle.
Her lips feel incredibly warm and soft.
My eyes are closed, for a second I thought, am I dreaming?
As we kiss, it feels like the whole world stops. Nothing else matters. We're the only two people left on earth.
All my emotions and feelings, love and trust for her connect through that touch.
My heart races and I get butterflies because her embrace is my comfort spot. Her lips are like my peace in the world. Her presence with me right now is the reason I feel alive.
This is the feeling of love. It's the passion I have for her.
A kiss may seem small, but the feeling from start to finish behind it is everything. From the look it's about to happen and your heart races, the butterflies that you get. To touch of my lips against the person I love, and my body feels as if it's drifting to another dimension.
I found someone, a kiss like that is unlike anything I had before.
Our kiss deepens, and my body just melts.
We simply kissed. For the first time. And it's full of passion and love.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
bonsoooooir
so there, first date and kiss huh... is everyone alright?
what i would give for a date at the ballet though 😩
anyway here's a +3000 words chapter because i literally forgot to post last week oops
am i forgiven now? i think i gave you all what you wanted!
have a lovely day/afternoon/evening or night 🤍
alexis :)