CADEN
Although I wasn't sure it was a good decision to accept the invitation to Cordelia the last few days, all worries disappeared by now. I spent the whole plane ride with Nini, us two just talking about anything and laughing with each other. I for sure love the fact I agreed now.
Last evening when we arrived, Sofia took us to the royal castle in the capital city, Broix. We had dinner all seven of us together; the five girls, Alec and I, and we then went to sleep. Since Sofia took it upon herself to play Cupid for us, Nini and I obviously got one room together. Which obviously had just one bed. The moment we entered and saw the sleep arrangement, I could see how Nini's cheeks went all red. Sofia tried to explain she didn't find any other free room, but we didn't believe her. It was clear she lied. Who can't find another free room when you're living in a freaking castle with four wings and more than hundred guest bed rooms?
However, we accepted the room and I slept on the couch the first night, much to Nini's relief. Today, we agreed on visiting Broix together. Sofia's birthday ball is tonight so she and Alec have to stay in the palace for the preparations. Her mother insisted on giving him a briefing about how to act like a gentleman, since he is to be presented as Sofia's boyfriend tonight. The two are an official couple for a long time now and he has attended galas with her so far, but never a royal ball. Which means the two are now somewhere practicing dancing and bowing, while the rest of us are having fun in town.
April, Dia and Nessie decided to spend their day the three of them, in order to give me and Nini some time alone. Although Nini seemed surprised and worried she did something wrong at first, I winked at the three and mouthed a thank you. It's then she understood they were also playing Cupid for us and couldn't help but chuckle.
We're on the main street right now, the one filled with tourists and shops. Although one can notice the fact it's November since the air got freezing cold, no one seems to mind that. Everyone is outside, either sitting at a café or shopping at the many boutiques. Nini and I have also stopped in a few, one from which she bought herself a nice sweater and in the other one she found an old edition of Romeo and Juliet, with a patterned cover, made from silk.
"Oh, we should definitely go in there", she says, pointing with her finger at one small shop, hidden in one of the corners of the street. I do as she says and follow her to the entrance, only to remain with my mouth wide open as I read the shield.
"Madame Lexy's Costume Shop?" I ask surprised. She nods cheerful.
"It's only my favorite place in Broix", she answers and takes my wrist, leading me inside. I chuckle and follow her, not even like I would have a choice. Her grip is too strong now for me to let go. However, I don't even want to. I would follow her to the end of the world.
The moment we enter, I feel like we arrived in a new world or something. The shop is Hollywood themed, with little replicas of Oscar statues on the shelves, a red carpet on the floor, an old vintage car displayed somewhere in a corner and many retro photos of famous stars hung everywhere. Nini goes with me along the aisles and aisles filled with costumes. There are princess gowns, superhero outfits, but also costumes of animals or other famous movie characters.
"I just love it here", Nini says, while touching the different fabrics with her fingertips. "When I come inside, I feel like, even for just a few moments, I can be anyone I want."
"You don't have to be anyone else, Broadway", I tell her, which catches her attention. She turns back to me and smiles, yet I can see in her eyes how she's still doubting what I just said. To make her sure, I continue: "Being you is more than enough."
She freezes for a few seconds and thinks about it. Then, I can see how her face lightens up and she smiles. She comes closer to me and hugs me, wrapping her hands around my waist. "I love you, Caden", she says, kissing my neck. I meet her lips with mine and kiss her once, only for me to whisper: "I love you too, Broadway."
She chuckles and lets go, yet this time, our hands are together with our fingers curled. Nini leads me along the aisles again, stopping every time she notices a costume she likes. And every time, we find a partner costume for me to match hers.
After we have enough costumes and our arms are covered in stacks of fabric, we head to the fitting room and begin to try them on. Nini is in one cabin, I am in the next one. We decided to meet up in the small lounge when we're ready, so that we can see ourselves in the mirror.
The first costume we try on is the one of a royal couple. I put on the prince outfit and go in the lounge, waiting for her. The moment she steps out of the changing room, my breath stops. And I have to freeze. Nini looks stunning. But she doesn't just look stunning. She's perfect. Absolutely beautiful. The gown is like made for her, fitting her body like it's personally tailored. Her silhouette is shown off by the corset, followed by tulle skirt that spins around with every move she makes. The color of the gown is a bright red, matching her hair and lipstick. Everything about her is perfect. She looks like a dream. My daydream.
"Is everything alright?" she asks me after a while, noticing I haven't said anything. "Is it the dress? I know it's too much and it probably doesn't look good on me, but..."
I stop her by coming closer and pressing my lips on hers. "You're perfect", I say and kiss her once. "Absolutely perfect", I continue and give her another kiss. "Don't ever say you're not beautiful." Another kiss. "You're the prettiest girl on this planet and I can't believe you're mine to love."
She smiles and wraps her hands around my neck. "You're not looking bad yourself", she replies and kisses me once. "Handsome", she says. Another kiss. "Very handsome." She continues. Then, she comes closer to my ear and whispers: "So handsome it makes me want to give off your shirt and mark every spot of your chest."
I freeze and a chill goes through my body. Followed by a wave of heat. I tense and forget everything for a while. However, as I'm back in control of myself, I whisper back to her: "Seems like we have some plans for tonight."
She chuckles and kisses my neck again: "Yeah, you can say goodbye to the couch."
I swallow hard and she chuckles: "Don't think so dirty. I was meaning that you can sleep with me, with you hugging me. Nothing more."
"Yeah, right", I reply, which lets out a new type of laugh from her. It's raw and made out of a mix from nervousness and excitement. It's new, but I don't think it will take us much before we can call it familiar.
I bring Nini to the closest wall and make her lean against it with her back. I then slowly make my way around her neck, planting kisses on every free spot I can find. She takes a deep breath every time my lips meet her skin, making her shiver. I wonder if I should stop but as if she could read my mind, she pulls me closer and lets me continue.
I meanwhile arrived to her mouth, which I also kiss. I then go deeper and leave a small mark on her bottom lip. She can't help but shake once and repays me with a small mark on my lip. Another wave of heat. I'm kissing her lips, feeling her scent...
"Magnifique", a new voice tones from behind and makes us stop. Nini quickly makes me lets go of her and I come at her side, to be able to put a hand on her waist to protect her. We then both turn in the direction the voice came from, only to discover a woman around her seventies, probably the shop owner, with white hair and glasses on, wearing a knitted cardigan and a blue dress. She looks at us dreamy, as if she could see something she's lost just by looking at us.
"Magnifique..." she repeats, lost in thoughts. I meanwhile started wondering the reason why she spoke in French, yet, again as if she could read my mind, Nini leans closer to my ear and whispers: "French is Cordelia's second official language. Everyone here speaks English and French."
I nod and turn my eyes back to the woman. Nini does the same, however her cheeks are still red from being caught making out.
"We're sorry, Miss. We didn't know someone would come inside." Nini says and after a while, she adds a "S'il vous plaît."
"You speak French?" I whisper to her, to which the corner of her mouth twitches a bit.
"No. I got that one from Emily in Paris."
I can't hide but smirk, which makes her box me in my ribcage softly. I chuckle now.
"You're so beautiful", the woman says, clearly with a French accent. She smiles at us again, wiping a tear from her eyes. Then, she seems to get an idea since she makes us a sign to follow her: "Come, I have something I think you might like."
She makes her way out of the changing room and I exchange a questioning look with Nini whether we should follow her or not. Nini smiles and after taking all of our clothes and putting them in a bag from one of the other shops we've been in, I carry our stuff and we follow the lady.
She leads us to another room of the store, that seems a bit hidden. However, the moment we step inside, Nini gasps. In the middle of the room stands a vintage photo booth, the one that people step inside and make those instant pictures. It even has one retro neon shield that says "Photobooth".
"It's amazing", Nini says to the lady, still looking at the booth however.
"You can try it out", the woman responds, smiling at us. Nini and I share a look, not knowing how to respond. The woman notices and insists: "It will help you keep a memory of this day."
We smile and thank her. She steps out of the room and leaves us some privacy. Nini takes my hand again and leads me inside the booth. It's a small space so we barely have any place left. We're so close to each other again, that I can feel her chest rise and fall with every breath.
"Are you ready?" she says, looking at the little screen that shows us how to make the photos. I nod and she presses the start button. A countdown of five seconds appears, giving us time to choose our pose. Nini and I smile in the camera. Click. A second countdown appears for the second photo. Nini is smiling at the camera, I'm looking at her, admiring the woman I am making these photos with. Click. A third countdown appears and I'm now leaning to her neck, kissing it. She chuckles. Click. The fourth countdown appears and now we're kissing, locking our lips. Click.
We spend some more time in the booth, making out. The screen starts making other countdowns, yet we don't care anymore. The only thing that gives us an idea about how our photos must look like is the flash that appears every time a new one is made. One time, it catches me kissing her collarbone while she's laughing. The other time, we're staring in each others' eyes, sparks flying between us as the butterflies make themselves again way through my body. Another time, she's kissing my lips while I'm leaning against the booth's wall, my arms around her waist. The last time, we're kissing each other. A pure kiss.
As our second set of photos is ready, we decide it maybe is time to step outside the booth. We pick up our photos from the little drawer. They are perfect. Although in the second set, all one can see are two people making out, to me, they are perfect. It captured our love.
"I love them", Nini says, clearly thinking of the same thing.
"Me too", I say. I take my phone out and remove the case, so that I make space for my row of photos. Nini really wanted to keep the first set, so I got the second one. Exactly like I wished. I put the photo stripe inside then put my case back on. Luckily, it's a clear one so the photos are seen very clearly.
"Are you actually going to walk around with a case with pictures of us making out?" she asks. I nod smirking.
"I love it when we make out", I reply. Her cheeks turn red again, making me smirk brighter.
I accidentally unlock my phone once, catching Nini's attention. She looks at the screen and every color fades away from her face:
"Shit!" she lets out, clearly worried.
"What is it, Broadway?" I ask, starting to panic too.
"The ball. It's already six o'clock. The ball starts in an hour."
"Shit", I also say, noticing the problem. We rush out of the room and try to get back to the changing room, yet we're stopped by the woman on the way.
"Did you like the booth?" she asks. We both nod, trying to be as polite as possible given the circumstances. She was nice showing us the booth, so we cannot just not answer.
"It really was amazing. We now have a memory of these amazing costumes."
The woman smiles and looks at us one more time, admiring the way our fingers are curled: "Keep them", she whispers after a while.
"I'm sorry, what?!" Nini lets out, and I also back her up: "With all the respect, we couldn't possibly do that. They are way too pretty. And they must cost a fortune."
"Nothing compared to how much your love seems to worth", she replies. Then, she nods insisting and repeats: "Keep them. Please."
Nini shares a look with me, and I nod agreeing. She seems to understand since she now goes to hug the woman, who smiles brighter.
"Thank you...", Nini says, ending it like a question for the woman to tell her name. She seems to get the hint since she replies:
"Madame Lexy."
Okay, she really is the shop owner.
"Thank you, Madame Lexy. We're both very grateful." Nini adds, making her smile brighter. We then say goodbye, promising her we'll come back soon to visit. Nini and I get in the first taxi we find and make our way to the palace, to attend the ball. On the way, Nini keeps staring at the photos we've made. We're still wearing the costumes on, since we didn't have enough time to change, yet that doesn't even matter anymore. We're heading to a palace anyway. We're just playing the part.
"What is it, Broadway?" I ask her, kissing the top of her head. She looks up at me and smiles.
"Thanks for this amazing day, Caden", she whispers, kissing my neck. I wrap my arms around her and whisper:
"Thank you for making my life better by walking into it."
Nini seems to freeze for a few moments, then she chuckles.
"You can really be incredibly sweet if you want it, you know?"
"I know. But you're still the sweetest."
She seems to give up keeping herself together and whispers: "Come here."
I do as told and she wraps her hands around my back, kissing me again. This day clearly becomes the best day ever.