Chapter 11

Francy's p.o.v

I let go of his hand and instantly he grabbed my hand back.

"That was a sly trick." He held my hand.

"I didn't..that was not..I.." I think smoke came out of my head. "I really didn't...it wasn't like that."

He slowly let our hands fall next to us, but he still held my hand tight.

"Then have I made a mistake? Should I let go?" He said, loosening his grip.

"Uh no." I gripped his hand. "Umm." I looked down. How did this turn into a date like this?

"Then just until we reach that place over there?" He pointed with his other hand and I nodded too embarrassed to say anything.

He was surprisingly quiet as well.

We reached a street where numerous vendors were selling different stuff. A traditional fall bazaar was done every year. I usually went with my family or with Remi. But never with a guy.

As we got to the crowded place he let go of my hand. It kind of felt empty since his hand was so warm on mine.

He stood in front of a vendor and ordered two hot chocolates. Once he got them we sat down on the table next to the vendor. He was sitting right next to me. From one side I was warmer this way, from the other my hands were shaking from nervousness.

"So you never told me what you want to pursue." He finally spoke.

I opened my mouth and closed it. "No. I'm not saying anything."

"Come on. Please." He almost whispered.

My inside voice was screaming.

"I want to break the personal rule just once." He said.

"Well..." I hesitated. "I want to try being a glassblower." I finally said it.

"A what?" He blinked twice.

I cupped both of my hands around the hot chocolate. "A glassblower is an old technique in making glass. There aren't a lot of people doing it because it's dangerous and you have to work with heat. But there is something very thrilling in being able to make something like that. And if I can come up with new ideas to use this technique I can have something on the market no one has ever done before."

He stared at me and then sighed. "For some reason, this sounds incredibly sexy to me."

I let out a nervous laugh.

He lifted his hand and brushed my hair back. "Do you have someone you like?"

The moment he asked that I could tell he wasn't aware it would come out of his mouth. I was so struck by the question that I almost spilled my cup.

"..I don't.."

He pulled his hand back down and took a sip of his cup. He didn't say anything else so I figured he was embarrassed.

I took a sip of my chocolate and licked my lips. Wouldn't this be the perfect date if he kissed me?

I wanted to slap myself in the face. I didn't know his name, I was out for hours and my brothers might have been dead. But I wanted to be selfish and not think about anyone else for just one second but myself. This moment right here.

My thoughts went back to the movie "Before Sunrise." I could understand Celine even better now. We only agreed to do this for one day and I was already getting my hopes up for something here. Remi would never believe me in a million years because I don't have proof of this. It will forever stay in my memory as the perfect first date that I had in my life.

"You seem in deep thought there." He said nudging me.

"I'm just thinking how unreal this all feels like and in a few hours I would think I imagined it all." I smiled at him. It was the truth.

He gave me a sad smile. "Can I be honest with you? Since I already broke the personal questions rule, I might as well be honest with you."

I nodded.

His eyes narrowed and he came really close to my face. My heart started beating like crazy.

He looked down at my lips and then back at my eyes. "I want to kiss you right now cause I know you would taste like chocolate and it's driving me insane. I can see it in my head that if I lean just a bit more I can feel how soft your lips are. In fact, I've been thinking about it all day. And if I do that I won't be able to continue this stranger's game. And then it will get complicated very fast."

"Why?" I almost said breathlessly.

"Because I do very bad things and I do them very well. What you are seeing today is the best version of me. But I'm not nice. I'm a different person entirely around other people and it will overwhelm you."

I tried comprehending what exactly he was saying to me.

So he won't kiss me because he won't want to let me go and he is a bad guy that I should stay away from. And my choice in this is... where exactly?

I calmed down very fast listening to this.

"Okay," I said and turned around, finishing my cup of hot chocolate. "Then let's wrap up this nice day. It's already dark and I have to get home."

He sat there looking at me and I could tell he was cooling out very fast.

Well, what the hell did he expect?

We walked to the tramway station in silence. He had his hands in his pockets and was kind of sulking.

Even though he was the one who wanted to end this.

The station was dark and there was no one around. I sat down but he remained standing.

"Are you going to take this one?" I asked.

"No. I will get the one going in a different direction. I live the opposite way."

Silence again.

"Thank you for today." I said and smiled as he faced me. "It was so much fun and nerve-wracking and I didn't want this to end."

"Me too." He said shifting his weight from one leg to another.

I placed my hair behind my ear. "It was the first time someone had made my heartbeat like that. It felt amazing to not know what to expect from this like having different conversations and drinking delicious hot chocolate."

His eyes locked on me while I was turning into a puddle. This was so embarrassing but I was never going to meet the guy again so..what the hell.

I could see a tramway approaching. I stood up and he handed me my bag. As I took his bag I touched his hand.

"That was my first handholding by the way." I chuckled as he seemed so surprised.

The tramway stopped and people started coming out shoving us here and there.

"Get home safe." He murmured and let go of the bag.

"Thank you." I smiled and got onto the tramway. 

As the tramway moved away I leaned back into the cushion and covered my eyes. I was dead. Dead. I'm an idiot and maybe I should have just gone for it and kissed him in the end. Pff like I have the guts to do something like that.

Well... I have to give up on him. I will stop thinking about it and go home and just sleep.