Lesley's P.O.V
I count the times the needle pinched my skin for the past minutes. Fife-hundred and ninety three.
Adam is holding my hand on the other side and I use his piercing green eyes as my distraction. Few more months and it would be a year since I stared into his eyes. I grin to that.
"I thought you will whine or something." He frowns. "I charged my phone for nothing."
I pull my tongue out at him. "I'm braver than you think."
He smiles. "I know."
"All done," the tattoo artist, Ridge, tells me as he places the needle aside. I watch as he wipes it with alcohol and places a bandage above.
"Thank you." I tell him and then turn to Adam. "You're up." I get out of the chair.
"You're waiting outside." He orders. I pout. "That's not fair."
"You're not winning this argument this time." He challenges.
A smug stretches on my face as I trace my fingers slowly across his jaw to his shoulder. "I always win, darling." I teasingly say. "Isn't that right, Ridge?"
"She's winning." Ridge points out and I can't help but laugh. Adam arches an eyebrow in return as he sighs in defeat. I'm ordered to stand by the door as he tells Ridge of what he wants. And then later, I'm standing above Adam, spelling out the words tattooed on the same place I did my tattoo on, the inside of my index finger.
"Ridge, aren't you going to tell me what it will spell out?" I pull a puppy dog face on.
"Sorry, sweetie. Reindl is strict with his instructions."
I sigh and meet his eyes. He has a smirk stretched on his face as he just stares at me. "What?" I feel my cheeks redden.
"Nothing." He's still smiling as he stares as if he can't believe I'm his. I can't believe he's mine. I study him for the hundredth time from the faint scar along his nose to his fried cheeks from the beach earlier. After a minute of locking our gaze with one another, Ridge interrupts us reminding that he's done. Before I can even glance at it, it's already covered up.
"That's not fair." I say, feeling betrayed. Adam gets up, pays Ridge and plants a kiss on my cheek. "Don't worry. I'll show you in the car."
Minutes later, I climb into his car as I wait for him to join me.
"Show me how it turned out," he tells me as he slides in. I peal the bandage off to reveal it. It's a paintbrush carved on my the inside of my index finger and the brush is replaced with a fire heart.
"Are you going to tell me what it means? Don't tell me you tricked me to believing that it has meaning when it didn't?"
I shake my head. "It's about Harry." I bring my finger to show him what I mean. "The paintbrush is for him being an aspiring artist and the fire heart symbolizes the actual fire that happened."
He just blinks, as if taken off guard of what I said. "That's beautiful, Lesley."
I smile. "Now show me yours." I eagerly say.
He turns the ignition off as he holds back a laugh. "At home."
I cross my arms and pout. "You're such a jerk."
"Hey," he says defensively. "I said I will show you, just didn't specify when."
I ignore him and stare out of the window. When he passes the intersection to the apartment, I turn to him. "You just missed it."
"I know," he smiles.
"What are you up to, Adam Reindl? You have a devilish smile spread across your face."
He laughs and reaches out for my hand, tangling our fingers. "I thought of taking you on a date."
I gasp. "A date? Oh my God!" I squeal. "What did I do to deserve it?" I mock. He rolls his eyes in return.
"Don't be such a brat about it." He squints his eyes at me and I crinkle my nose in return.
Ten minutes into the drive, I break the silence. "You know the court is in a couple of days."
He doesn't reply but instead parks the car in front of the Chinese restaurant that I stopped at when my car broke down. I jerk my head in his direction and he holds my hand.
"I know that it's soon. But let's not think about it." He kisses it. "Besides, it's your birthday." I watch as he reaches his hand to the backseat and grabs a box. I just stare at him, totally fazed.
"Happy birthday, my love." He grins. I blink.
He watches me as I unwrap the blue wrapping to find a box having gold crowns printed as a pattern. I eye him. "Go on," he encourages.
I can't help but smile. Before opening it completely I reach out and plant a kiss on his cheek. His grin stretches.
I inhale and tear apart the wrapping paper while my charm bracelet jingles. I never took it off. And I never plan to. I open the box to find several things. I grab the book that has Anna Karenina written on it. I flip through the pages scanning them where there's yellow highlighted sentence.
"I wanted you to have it. I started highlighting the words of Tolstoy just after a month of when we met. It's when I realized that I love you."
I smile. It makes my heart ache. "Thank you," I say and mean it.
I place it aside and reach for the second item. I grab the ugly olive kaki baggy pants and hold it in front of me, to get a full view. I arch an eyebrow.
"It's to replace your yoga pants. Heard they have a good stretch."
I burst into laughter, unable to believe his gesture. "They're hideous," I state.
"Well, that's kind of the point," he smirks. He joins me and I shake my head reluctantly. "The gesture is so adorable." I tell him. "But I won't wear them," I crinkle my nose.
"Figured." He sighs.
Just there, lays a tiffany's box and my heart skips a beat. I slowly open it to find a gold infinity pendant that has little diamonds on its surface. My heart melts. I pace between him and the neckless in my hand as a grin is spread on his face.
I immediately crawl onto his lap and hold him, burying my nose in his neck as his warmth consumes my body. "Thank you," I whisper. He tightens his grip on me. "Thank you so much. I love it."
He pulls away and kisses me on my cheek, letting it tingle there for a while. The seat slides back, leaving space between is. He grabs the neckless and gestures for me to pull my hair up. I do as I'm told and my hand magnets to it, touching it to make sure that it's real. That this is real.
I kiss him. And he kisses me as if thanking him for everything he did for my life. He's consuming me and I'm consuming him. He took a piece of my heart and I want him to keep it.
We sit there, both smiling from ear to ear. He breaks the silence. "Let's go inside. Our day isn't over yet." He tugs a strand of my short hair behind my ear. I nod and crawl off. I watch as he jogs his way to my door and opens it as he bows slightly down. "My lady."
I give a small curtsy. "Thank you, my man." He smirks. He entangles my hand in his as he slightly rubs my thumb. I smile.
As we enter the restaurant, I watch as Adam mumbles a few words to the hostess. My eyes dart around the restaurant, always passing it daily but never seen the inside. It has Chinese characters carved on the walls with a beige walls. It's quiet elegant and classy due to the brown mahogany tables with white tablecloths and red candles. It even has a scent of vanilla and sushi to it.
Adam stands beside me as he guides me in. "Our table is around the corner."
I walk there, my eyes watching the wooden floors as they creak under our steps.
"Surprise!"
My. Heart. Skips. A beat.
My eyes widen, darting everywhere. From left to right. To up and down. I feel tears welling up in my eyes.
Megan nears me as she takes me in for a hug. I hug her back. "Happy birthday," she squeals.
Spencer, Megan, Barry, Mom, Harry, Bob, even Kyan, take me in for a hug and wish me birthday wishes. I nod, taken out of guard. This whole time, Adam haven't left my side. I turn to him as I cover my mouth. "You did this?"
He smiles and steps closer, planting a kiss on my head. "Yes."
I throw myself at him and wrap my arms around his neck. I can't believe he went through all this trouble. It's all these little things that add up to make me love him even more. Few seconds ago, I didn't even know that was possible. I feel his skin on mine and I close my eyes. He just holds me for a while until my mother clears her throat beside us. I retract.
She's smiling. "Come on now, won't you? The rest of us want to share our gifts with you." I meet Adam's eyes and he nods.
"Sorry I didn't text you today. Didn't want to ruin the surprise." Megan winks at me. I feel Barry's eyes on us and I nudge her. She sighs. "I'll tell you later. He got into a fight with Jeremy."
"He what?" I gasp.
"He saw us together and Jeremy was being like the usual." She shrugs. "Call it self-defense or I don't know what, but I'm just tired of him always getting the hit."
"He needs to learn to throw punches harder."
She frowns. "Oh, he knows. Can't you see the swollen eye on Barry?" I immediately look and she was right. I cover my mouth as we both burst into laughter.
"There's my favorite birthday girl!" Spencer sneaks up on me and takes me in for a hug, again. "I got tickets." He shows the first then the second and third.
"For what?"
"To see Afremov's gallery." He smiles.
"No. You're kidding." I shake my head. "That's not possible."
"And the third ticket is for Megan. You know, I still remember our bar nights." He winks as Megan stands up so fast from the chair, that she nudges everyone in her way. She grabs her ticket and squeals.
We both burst into laughter.
Mom shared a gift with Bob of a luck charm bracelet. Harry drew me on a portrait. And Kyan handed me the key to my new office.
"I got an office! Can you believe it?" I say out load. Kyan laughs. "It's been almost a week, and you're showing outstanding potential. You deserve it." I smile. "Thank you." He nods and smiles back.
I watch as he walks away and my eyes dart to Adam who seems nervous. My eyebrows frown. I recognize Adam's father from the photographs at his house as he stands behind him. It's the first time I've ever seen them together. And hopefully, it won't be the last.