At a bustling street corner, often hidden behind rushing vehicles, was a small yet colourful shop. It was to children what a supermarket was to housewives - a paradise in the form of an ice-cream parlour. Our car made a stop in front of it.
At this rate, if I had to use one word to describe Genevieve, it would be "ecstatic". She was so elated that not even seat belts could hold her down. As soon as I opened the car door for her, she bolted towards the shop. Luckily, Damian was quick enough to scoop her into his arms before she could cause mayhem.
"Good afternoon! May I take your orders?" The lady at the counter welcomed us. Her grayish hair had been tossed up into a messy bun, with a few strands sticking out in the air. Nonetheless, she was carrying a bright, tireless smile.
Ginny was the first to respond, "I want strawberry ice-cream!" Her legs were dangling from Damian's arms.
The lady eyed us. "What about you two?"
"Chocolate sundae," I said without much consideration.
"Make it two," Damian added.
"Sure!" The lady beamed. "You know, not many married couples are willing to go on a date with their child."
As if on cue, Damian and I turned to stare at each other. A shade of pink was blooming on his cheeks.
"Uh, no, we're not married." Damian shook his head frantically.
"Oh?" The lady gasped. "But when are you going to tie the knot? You do need to give your little girl a stable family!"
"We're not her parents." I grinned uneasily. "We're just babysitting her for a relative. In fact, she's his niece."
"Huh, no wonder..." She tilted her head. "The girl shares the same eye colour as your boyfriend."
"He's not my boyfriend." I murmured.
Even though the lady was at the far end of the shop preparing our ice-cream, she could still catch my words. "You're not a couple?"
I frowned. "No."
"Oh?" She turned to us. "Then what's with the hand holding?"
I hurriedly stole a glance at my hand. Undoubtedly, our fingers were interlaced with one another. Somehow, my hand had weaved its way into Damian's without alerting my conscience.
What sort of sorcery was this?
"Don't look so surprised." The lady let out a hearty laugh. "You two have been holding hands since you stepped out of the car. Why else would I have the notion of you two being a married pair?"
Damian and I sprung away from each other. His face was now flaming red, which was impossible to ignore. I was sure I was no different.
"Hehe...Uncle Danny is a tomato." Ginny poked Damian on the cheeks playfully.
I was glad she wasn't in my arms. Otherwise, it could've been worse.
"Don't worry, Uncle Danny. I think Ally likes tomatoes."
"You think?" Damian frowned at Ginny.
"Uh-huh." She giggled in response. "Because she's turning into a tomato, too."
I would never look at tomatoes the same way again. At least, it was a giant step forward from being regarded as a red-faced monkey.
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
Since most of the seats at the parlour had been taken, we took refuge under the canopy of a weeping willow in a nearby park. In front of us was a playground, where several children were chasing each other around swing sets and slides.
"Uncle Danny, can I play?" Ginny asked. Her body was slightly inclined towards the playground, almost ready to go.
"Have you finished your food, Ginny?" Damian turned to look at her. A slab of ice-cream was melting inside the cone in her hand.
Ginny grinned sheepishly at her uncle. "No..."
"Well, if you don't want to stay here all day, you must eat up." Damian leaned in and poked her in the nose. "The ice-cream won't eat itself, young lady."
"Okay." She laughed. As soon as she returned to her dessert, she started wolfing down the cone. What was left of it was gone within five seconds, with a bunch of ice-cream smudged on the edge of her lips.
"Whoa! Ginny, slow down. Let me clean you up." I took a piece of handkerchief from my purse and pressed it against her lips. "There you go."
"Thank you, Ally." Ginny gave me a smile of gratitude.
"You're welcome." I patted her head.
"Uncle Danny, can I go now?"
"Sure, young lady, but don't wander too far away."
"Yeah!" Ginny yelped and jumped out of the seat. Her fair locks bounced delightfully along with her feet.
As Ginny was running to the playground, Damian and I shared a moment of comfortable silence. We watched as she blended into the small crowd of children and climbed onto the merry-go-round. Although Ginny was giggling the entire process, she didn't stay on board for long. After a few spins, she left the wheel and headed towards the swing-sets. One of the little boys, with curly black hair, got off the spinning platform after her.
"Oh, look." I nudged Damian in the arm. "There's a boy following Ginny."
"Yeah, I see him." Damian nodded, clearly unfazed.
I raised my eyebrow. "Are you not going to stop him?"
"He's not going to approach her." He shrugged. "He has done that several times."
I stared at him. "You're just legitimizing stalking."
He smiled at me. "If you see it in a different light, stalking is actually the beginning of relationships."
"Yeah, right." I rolled my eyes. "That's a very twisted interpretation of yours."
"Don't worry, Ally. We're looking at her." He bumped his shoulder lightly against mine. "She'll be fine."
I put on a skeptical expression. "So, you creep on your niece every time you bring her here?"
"I wouldn't use the phrase 'creep on'. It doesn't fit the context." He crossed his arms. "I watch over her."
"Fair enough... I have a quick question." I stared at the boy as he knelt down to pick flowers from a bush behind Ginny. "Does this boy ruin public foliage on a regular basis?"
"I don't think so - this is his first attempt," Damian commented. Meanwhile, with flowers hidden behind his back, the boy made his way towards Ginny.
"He's going to talk to her." I grabbed Damian's arm. "Are you going to intervene?"
"Uh..." Damian hesitated. "No."
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Are you just too lazy to walk over to her?"
"Maybe."
"You're a poor uncle."
"I'm merely interested in how this turns out." He defended himself. "This may mark the start of a new friendship for her."
"Or maybe you're just finding proof to support your ungrounded theory on the behaviour of stalking." I retorted.
"We'll see, Ally. We'll see."
As if the little boy could feel the stares on him, he walked towards Ginny at a painstakingly slow speed. He was moving as though he and Ginny were two north poles of neighbouring magnets. The closer he got to her, the stronger the repelling force became. I could almost see the look of despair on his face when he turned his feet. But before he could back out, it was too late. Ginny had turned around.
And then, she noticed him.
Naturally, with curiosity, Ginny advanced towards the stranger with careful steps. The little boy, on the other hand, was rooted to his place. The bundle of flowers was shaking behind him. Perhaps because this was his first proper contact with a girl, he was in denial of how to introduce himself to Ginny.
However, he didn't let fear dominate him. He gathered up his courage, strutted out his arms and presented the wildflowers.
"Ally, you're grabbing my wrist." Damian poked me on the back of my hand.
"Sorry," I winced and pulled back my hand.
"This is the second time you've clutched my hand today, Ally," He smirked at me. "You clearly can't keep your hands off of me."
He's flirting with you, Ally. The amorous side of my brain was activated again.
Its complement agreed without hesitation. Affirmative. He's courting you.
You guys can't be serious.
"There you are, Damian. I've calling you for the last thirty minutes."
I turned to the source of the voice. Standing behind us was Elaine, who had her arms crossed.
"Hey, Ellie." Damian managed to flash her an anxious smile.
"I see you've found a valid reason to ignore my calls, Damian." Elaine raised her eyebrow.
"Um... I'm just gonna go." I stood up from my seat.
"Oh, you're leaving already?" Elaine seized my arm before I could escape. "I thought Damian was going to formally introduce us to each other."
"Perhaps next time." I tried to be as courteous as possible. "Plus, you just got here. I don't really want to be your third wheel."
"Why would you be a third wheel?" She furrowed her eyebrows.
"Because you're a... couple?" I made a grimace.
"Damian Andres, I'm very confused right now." Elaine turned to him with an annoyed expression. "What have you been telling her?"
Damian held up his hands to calm her down. "Ellie, I can explain this..."
"I'm going to leave." I attempted to walk away from them.
"No, Alice, please stay." Elaine continued to hold onto me. "We need to settle this."
I let out a shaky laugh. "I guess you two need some alone time..."
"No, Ally, it's not like that at all," Elaine smiled at me ruefully. "He's my brother."
▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁