Chapter Six
Elise’s POV
After a lot of thinking, I decided to take Charlie on an evening picnic, but with my own twist. Both of us aren’t really into those fancy stuff so I’m sure she’ll like it
So Saturday morning, I was busy preparing for our picnic later this evening when I heard my mom shout, “Elise! A friend of yours is here!”
Friend? Maybe it’s Charlie. I quickly washed my hands and was about to go to the living room but when I turned to the door I saw Jasmine enter, she looked at me and smiled
“Hey, sorry about barging in here, but your mom said to just go ahead and meet you here” she said “hope it’s okay”
“Yeah, of course” I answered and gave her a small smile “so, what brings you here?”
“I want to talk to you about…certain things”
“Things? Like what?”
“Okay Elise, I’ll be frank, I’m worried about your relationship with James, I know I’m not suppose to butt in but I’m worried about my brother, I thought you and James were doing great, why did you suddenly left?”
I swallowed hard and didn’t make eye contact with her
“I just need some alone time” I answered
“And suddenly leaving without telling James is your plan?” Jasmine spoke with doubt
“Look Jasmine, I didn’t break up with James okay? I just need some time alone to think about…stuff”
“What else do you need to think about Elise? ’cause you just leaving my brother like that can be interpreted as a break-up“
I sighed and remained quiet, I just couldn’t tell her the real reason I left
“Does this have to do with Charlie??” Jasmine asked frankly
I quickly reacted “No! Charlie doesn’t have anything to do with this!”
Jasmine looked at me skeptically, “Good because my brother is involved, I don’t want him to get hurt”
Jasmine then made her way towards the door
“Oh and another thing” she looked back “when it comes to Charlie, I can be very possessive” then she finally left
I exhaled deeply, relieved that Jasmine finally left, possessive huh? Well, I don’t back down that easily
I shook off our conversation and continued preparing our dinner
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Charlie’s POV
It’s 5 pm and I’m nervously running around my room, trying to piece out a perfect outfit for our date, knowing Elise, she probably wouldn’t do something fancy, she’s more of a casual simple date, so I guess I’ll just dress casually with a hint of fancy just to show that this date is special
I grabbed some clothes from my closet and after a mess of clothes and half an hour later, I finally decided on an outfit. I took the clothes and matched them in front of the mirror. As I saw my reflection and ended up staring at it, trying my best to look good at a date asked by Elise in the spur of the moment…
She must have felt like I was angry at her when I left so she decided to make it up to me….by going on a pity date….
I dropped the clothes and sat on my bed, I breathe deeply and stared at the floor, it’s only a pity date
I picked up the clothes and put them back in the closet, then I decided to just wear what I normally wear when I go out with friends, a plaid shirt with a hooded jacket, khaki shorts and sneakers
After getting dressed, I lie on the bed with second thoughts about going on this date, maybe I should just cancel but I know Elise will be disappointed if I do that…
After a few minutes of thinking to myself, I decided to call Elise and cancel our date. I’m just making myself look stupid by thinking this is more than a friendly date, so no point in fooling around right?
I was about to dial her number when my mom called, saying that Elise was already here, shit, too late
I sighed, grabbed my wallet, handkerchief and cell phone and put them into my pocket then went downstairs. My mom was going to my room to fetch me so we met halfway on the stairs
“There you are!” mom said “Elise just arrived, you didn’t tell me she was here, I should have baked her cookies!”
I smiled slightly “sorry mom, I guess I forgot to mention it”
Mom smiled “It’s okay, by the way, where are you two going?”
“We’re just gonna hang-out at the café and catch up”
“have fun then and call me if you’re coming home late okay?”
I nodded and went to the living room where Elise was waiting.
Once I got there, I saw Elise standing and happily looking at the photos that were displayed. She stood with a smile on her face, looking as beautiful as ever in her designed long t-shirt, bolero and gladiator shoes.
Elise saw and approached me “Hey” she greeted still showing that sweet smile “ready to go?”
“Yeah” I smiled back, this may only be a friendly date, but as long as it’s with Elise then i’ll go and have fun
Elise then led me to the silver Honda jazz parked outside my house
“Whoa, when did you get that?” I asked in amazement
“Last Christmas, Santa even had trouble bringing it to my house since it can’t fit through the chimney” she joked
I scoffed playfully and giggled
She smiled “it belongs to my cousin, I decided to borrow it earlier”
“You shouldn’t have” I said “I don’t mind taking the bus”
“Well I do” she then opened the door “although I like the idea of riding a bus with you, I think having our own ride is more appropriate this time”
I smirked and rode in the car, Elise then went to the driver’s seat, started the engine and off we went
“Where are we going by the way?” I asked
“You’ll find out soon” Elise smirked
Elise then turned on the radio and we started jamming with the random songs that’s playing on the radio, along with laughs and stories here and there.
After an hour and a half of driving, Elise parked the car at a place that’s unfamiliar to me then she went out of the car and made her way towards my side of the car as I was about to open the door
“Let me” she said and opened it
I smiled at her and went out. The cool breeze instantly touched my skin as I take a look at the place.
It looked like a typical park with, there are benches and tables and a few trees here and there, with only lampposts lighting the street but what intrigued me was the veranda and the stairs made of stones that seems to go down.
“Are we in a park?” I asked
“Kind of” Elise smirked as she took a picnic basket and a bag pack from the trunk of the car “Have a closer look over there” she pointed at the veranda
So I went over there and was completely at awe with what I saw
From the veranda was the overlook of a small lake surrounded by a road with bright lamp posts, lush trees and several lit houses, so that’s why there are stairs here, the lake reflected the lights from the houses and lamp post and made itself sparkle with beauty
“Wow….” The only word that came out of my mouth
Elise laughed and went to me and took my hand, “If you think the view here is great, wait until we get near it”
I turned to her and smirked, she then pulled me towards the stairs. With the bag pack and basket, we carefully went down hand in hand
When we got there, the breeze was cooler, there was a foot bridge at the side of the lake so we went there and looked around. You can clearly see the wonderful ambience of the lake.
“Again, wow…” I said and turned to her “So, are we going to have dinner here by the lake?”
“Nope” Elise grinned “we’re going to have dinner on the lake” then handed me a life jacket
“You’re kidding right?”
Elise took my hand and pulled me to the shore where a motor boat was already in stand-by
“Apparently, you’re serious”
“Yes I am” she answered then placed the bag pack and basket into the boat before getting in herself. She turned on the lantern that was on the boat’s deck then she turned to me, “put your life jacket on and let’s go! food’s getting cold!” then she reached out her hand
I giggled and put on the life jacket, took her hand and gently rode the boat
Elise started the engine and off we go…
The lake looked so peaceful and the only lights seen on the lake is from our boat
I looked at Elise as she steered the boat, the way her hair blonde hair moves with the wind make her look even more beautiful, any person would be so freaking lucky to have her
Elise caught me staring and gave me a smile, I blushed and quickly turned away
“Do you even know where you’re going?” I asked jokingly and also to lessen my shyness towards her
Elise smirked “of course I do! Look over there!” she pointed
I looked and saw a light floating in mid-air
“What the hell is that!?” I blurted
And Elise giggled but kept on steering the boat until we got closer to it. Turns out, it was a lantern-lit table for two, floating on a wide, flat-surfaced, hopefully sturdy, wooden raft
Elise stopped the boat next to it, “So, what do you think?”
“I’m thinking, “How on earth did you put that there? And where did you get that raft?””
Elise laughed, “I’ll tell you later but first…” she then grabbed the basket and gently stepped off the boat and on the raft, placed the basket near the table and tied a rope from the boat to a ready-made hook on the raft “Let’s eat dinner”
Elise reached out her hand “c’mon”
I smirked and took her hand then gently stepped on the raft which made it swayed a bit
“Careful” Elise warned “I don’t have any extra clothes with me and it’s too early to get wet”
I laughed “so, what’s tonight’s menu?”
“Well, you very well know that I can’t cook so…” Elise then took the basket and pulled out a food containers and a thermos “I ordered your favorite Carbonara from our favorite restaurant plus black forest cake and hot cocoa”
“Awesome”
“I knew you would say that” Elise grinned
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Elise’s POV
I quickly set up the table, with the help of Charlie of course, and when that was done, Both of us took out our cell phones to take a photo of the table setting. When we saw that we did the same thing, we giggled
“Same idea,” Charlie said
“Same thought” I answered, finishing her sentence. We smiled at each other and proceeded to take pictures of the awesome table arrangement we made. When that was over, Charlie went to my side of the table and pulled my seat for me
“Hey, you may be the boyish one” I objected “but I’m the one taking you on a date so…” I then went to her side of the table and pulled her seat
“Uh, no. you’ve done enough “gentleman” stuff tonight Elise. I think it’s time for you to be treated as a lady”
“Then I’m not sitting until you sit on your chair”
“Same goes for me then”
After a good few minutes of waiting to see whose gonna crack first, we both burst out in a fit of laughter
“We’re both still stubborn” I commented
“Glad to know some things didn’t changed” she replied and smiled “how ‘bout we just sit down and eat already”
“Agreed”
So we both took our seats, we looked at each other and smiled warmly
“Well, Bon Appétit!” I said and we both took our bites
with a delicious dinner on the way, this night is just getting started