Flora

I gave the girls an update over tea Sunday afternoon.

Sandra popped a strawberry into her mouth. We were having cakes and she ordered a fruit bowl, which was typical Sandra. "Dating exclusively? You agreed to that."

"Yes." I sighed, a dreamy one.

"You do understand that dating exclusively means you can't see Charles when he visits," Janet said.

"Charles who?" I flipped my hair for effect.

"Or ask the French exchange student out for a coffee, even though you've been flirting for half a term." Carmen took a dainty sip of her Darjeeling.

"And no random flings when your family go on vacation during Christmas break," Sandra said. "You're ready for all that?"

"All that, my friend, is behind me now. I'm happy to declare that I'm ready to go steady with Sean Foster."

"Lucky guy," said Carmen. "I've never seen the commitment phobe so dedicated before."

"Poor guy," Sandra corrected. "You're a handful, Flora. I don't know how Sean's going to deal with all your boy-craziness, this time directed only at him."

The tea took longer than expected, and I had to go back home and change from classy to sassy. Date night with boyfriend required a whole different ensemble, needless to say, and when me and my leather pencil skirt arrived half an hour late at the movie theater, Sean didn't seem especially pleased.

"Are you going to be late for every date?" was his first sentence. He was leaning against the wall, eyes dark and piercing.

"Possibly." I tried to laugh it off. He didn't smile.

"Flora, we agreed to meet at five forty. It's six twenty now. I almost thought you were going to stand me up."

"I'm sorry! But you know I'll never do that to you. You could have called."

"The thing is, I have. You were not answering."

"That's impossible." I fished out my phone and saw two missed calls and a message from The King. Oops. I had changed his display name because that was how he felt like to me, someone cool, smart, and slightly intimidating, who I was desperately trying to impress.

I was a little surprised at how stern he was, though. I wasn't used to guys being mad at me, but Sean radiated an air of icy annoyance even though his tone was neutral. I immediately knew he wasn't the kind of guy that would put up with anything and I had to try harder. I was, after all, the one who talked him into this relationship, and I should be on my best behavior until he started to reciprocate my feelings.

"Anyway, we missed the beginning of X-Men, so you might as well choose another," Sean said.

"I certainly will." I scanned the movies showing that night and my heart sank. There was nothing remotely interesting. "I don't want to watch any of those."

"Fine. Do you want to eat?"

"No! I had tea with the girls and I'm too full to eat anything. Plus I'm really in the mood to see a movie now. I want to hold hands in the dark!"

Sean smiled. Finally!

"Well if so you just have to choose one and live with it, and next time be punctual."

"I just want our date to be more spontaneous, you know? Not run by a tight schedule like in the military service," I complained. "We should be able to meet at a time we're both comfortable with, then choose a movie accordingly, instead of being driven crazy by the screening times." I pouted.

"If you want to be spontaneous, please just spontaneously choose a movie or think of something else to do. You can't be spontaneous when you're obviously picky with the choice of movies," Sean said calmly. "And I just want to add I'm not comfortable with you showing up forty minutes late."

"Fine, fine. I said I'm sorry, ok? I can't believe you are giving me a hard time on our first date since we agreed to go exclusive." Most of the other guys I had dated would just be grateful I showed up at all.

"What happened to finding me sexy when I'm bossy and demanding?" He crossed his arms, but I could see he was trying not to smile.

"Actually, I still find you unbelievably sexy right now. I just don't want you to be mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you," he relented. "Okay, maybe just a little."

I gasped. "Does that mean you won't hold my hand later?" I tugged at the edge of his sleeve and mimicked the wide-eyed, innocent gaze of Puss in Boots.

"I'm thinking you need to let me do more than hold your hand in order to make it up to me."

"Ooh. You're bad."

He swung one arm around me. "Come on, I beg you. Just choose one."

I reluctantly picked out a random action movie although I already knew it was going to be bad. It was every bit as bad as I had anticipated, but Sean held my hand so it was okay. This time the movie-watching experience was much better than the last time. I still made my brainless remarks during trailers, but Sean had smiled at each and every one of them. When the logo of the film production company flashed on screen, he took this perfect opportunity to turn toward me for a slow kiss.

"Now watch your movie," he whispered after he pulled away. The half of my face closer to him flamed.

How was I supposed to concentrate on the movie after that? All I could think about was Sean's lips grazing against my earlobe and the warmth of his fingers between mine.

We shared some fries afterwards and I watched him wolf down his food. It was adorable the way he was so contented with it, like he was having a bowl of truffle soup made by Guy Savoy instead of a three-dollar hot dog.

"What do you want to do later?" I asked.

"Do you want to drive up to The Cape?"

"I'd love to!" I agreed like he was the next Isaac Newton and the idea was as original as the law of universal gravitation.

There was an amazing view at The Cape, but it was really just an excuse to make out. The only view boys were interested in was the color of our bra straps. I smiled to myself knowing exactly what Sandra would say about this, that high school boys were so immature and lame, their idea of a perfect date was the magic combo: movie, fast food, make out at The Cape. She would then finish off by bragging about her own sophisticated date with Daniel the artist, where they went to some exhibition and gorged on all the refined art. Gag.

On the way up Sean stopped to get us coffee, and when we were at the top, he killed the engine and leaned over. To my surprise he passed me and pushed open my side of the door.

He walked around the car to me and held out a hand. "I want to show you something."

I stared at him in surprise. He didn't want to make out in the car?

I grabbed my coffee with one hand, and he laced his fingers through the other. Both of my palms felt equally warm. Sean led me away from the most popular lookout point, where several cars were already parked.

"I know a very good spot to see the view," he said. I followed him in a daze. We did a five-minute hike up a small hill, and as the trees cleared I sucked in my breath.

The city lights beneath sparkled like Swarovski crystals. Ruby red, amber orange, emerald green and amethyst purple gems dotted the darkened land, flickering like flames. It was as if the lights were taking turns to breathe.

"Spectacular," I said.

"I know."

We watched over the city in silence. I could hear the faint sound of people laughing. The night breeze ruffled my hair, gentle as satin.

Sean sat down and gestured for me to join him. I shivered a little as I settled down in the grass, more out of excitement than cold, but he took off his coat and draped it over me. It smelled of him, like clean laundry and fresh air. I could tell he was a good guy just by picking up his scent.

I placed my head on his shoulder and sipped my latte, watching the lights blinking in a distance like stars.

"Tell me something about yourself, Flora."

"You don't have to pretend to be interested, you know," I teased. "You can start kissing me already."

"Of course I have to pretend," he replied immediately, getting accustomed to my frequent outbursts. "At least for five minutes. It's common courtesy."

I laughed.

"Seriously, though. I really like talking to you." He reached up to rub my head softly. "I think your sense of humor is the sexiest thing about you. You're really witty."

I was a girl who had been called beautiful all my life. Suddenly there was this perfect guy who saw more in me, who thought I was witty. It was so much better than being told I was hot, and I felt something warm and fuzzy expanding in me.

"I can share with you a very fond memory of me riding a horse for the first time," I started, and as Sean put his arm around me, I had a feeling this time it would really last.

If my life were made into a movie, this would be the part where I realized that things couldn't be so smooth. Something bad was bound to happen soon, otherwise how were they supposed to fill ninety more minutes?

But it was my life, and at the time I was blind and naive, and I didn't think for one minute that happiness could be so short-lived.

***

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