Chapter 8: 8
I got ready for my date and went to the living room to watch some TV till Adrian came. I got ready early because I had nothing else to do. Actually I got ready early in anticipation. I agreed yesterday when he asked. He was beaming when I said yes. I still have my doubts. What other way to get those doubts cleared than getting to know him and see how things work out between us?
Dad was reading something on his tablet while mom was watching a movie. Both of them looked up and smiled when I entered. After I came back home yesterday, they were hesitant to talk to me. I was sure that they were analyzing each word that they spoke. I hugged them then and told it was okay. It became pretty much normal after that. There were no talks of adoption.
"Looking pretty Alex. Going somewhere? ", mom had a gleam in her eyes.
"Mom, don't act ignorant now. I already told you guys that I'll be going on a date today." I huffed.
"Tell us more details about this man. You were evasive when you mentioned about the date." Dad had switched to inquiry mode.
"Nope. Not gonna happen. We are still in the getting to know each other phase. I'll give more details once I know him better."
"Oh come on. Give us his name at least." Dad pouted cutely.
"Pouting doesn't suit you.And moreover what's in a name? He could have a weird name and still be a great guy." There was a car halting sound. That must be him. I told my parents not to follow me out and left. That is only after drinking an early doze of my green potion.
Adrian was getting out of the driver's seat when I walked to him. He looked dashing. We kept assessing each other. He was checking me out and I was doing the same. He wore casuals: blue jeans with a black shirt. His green eyes were a contrast.I looked down at myself to see what he was seeing. I too wore black. It was a black summer dress with a floral print. I had shoulder length hair and had let it down. I had black eyes. I looked plain next to him.
We met each other's gaze and looked away shyly. He had brought flowers for me.
"Here this is for you." He stretched his hand and offered. There was a tattoo of a crescent moon between his thumb and index finger.
"Thank you.Nice tattoo." When I took it from him our knuckles grazed. I felt a tingling sensation and looked at him. He was smiling like this was bound to happen.
"Shall we go?", he asked.
"Sure."
We drove in silence. But, there was a lot of glancing at each other. He stopped in front of a nice looking restaurant. We went in and the maitre d' lead us to our seats. She assured us that we would be served quickly and left. After she left, Adrian looked at me expectantly.
No, no boy. I'm not breaking this silence. I have no clue where to start. You are the one who knows about girls' tastes and preferences. Logically, you should start talking.
"What are you thinking about?" He asks me with a smirk.
"Nothing." I lie to him and his smirk turned into an open grin. His grin was distracting.
"Okay. Tell me about yourself. I literally know nothing about you" I tell him. Thankfully he is not grinning anymore.
"That is not true. We have met before you know." He tells with a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
"Of course we have met. But I know nothing else apart from your name and your brother's name. Even you know nothing about me. You must be equally curious."
"Not really." He smiles as though enjoying a secret joke.
The waiter came then and we quickly placed our orders. This time Adrian didn't try and order for me.
"Aha see. So you do not know everything about a girls' tastes and preferences." He looked at me with confusion. I explain about the way he ordered dessert for me. He laughed it off and gave no explanation.
"Hmm okay. Tell me about yourself" , he asked and smiled as though laughing at an inner joke.
"I'm Alexandria Novell and I work in your brother' company, which you already must be knowing. I stay with my parents. We moved here recently. Apart from that there is really nothing much to tell about myself. "
"What about your hobbies?"
"Just the general stuff you know, like watching movies, reading books etc. I also like solving puzzles like sudoku. I play chess sometimes with my dad. That is it. What about you? What are your hobbies? No wait. Start from first. Like I said, I literally know nothing about you."
The waiter came with our food. The food was delicious. I could see both of us hanging a lot here in future. Was it too presumptuous of me? This was still our first date.
"You know my name. You know my brother. As for hobbies, I like running. What else do you want to know?"
"I do go for runs too but that is to exercise and stay healthy." He raised an eyebrow at this.
"Okay, to stay fit". His expression still didn't change.
"Fine. To stay in shape", I laughed in a self-mocking way. "But what girl wouldn't want to stay in shape." He nodded agreeing to me. "Why do you like running?"
"I don't know. From the time I can remember I have always been running in these woods. The fresh air, those trees, birds flying around; it is liberating."
"True. These woods are beautiful. You can easily get lost in it and I don't mean it literally."
"What do you do?" Now that I think about it, no one has mentioned what he does for a living.
He doesn't answer immediately. He took a bite of the pasta which we had ordered and was chewing slowly. It looked like he was contemplating the best way to answer.Why was he taking so much time? Was he ashamed of his work? Or something worse, was he involved in something illegal?
"I recently took over from my father, after he retired. My brother and I have shared the responsibilities. He takes care of some things and I take care of some." That was some answer. It was neither here nor there. He had not mentioned anything about the kind of work he did. In fact I did not know what Ronan did on days he didn't come to office.
"Any siblings?" He quickly changed the subject.
"No." I answered but I was adopted. Dad mentioned nothing about me being an only child to my biological parents. It would be nice to have a brother or sister. To share things, to fight for silly reasons. Being an only child could get lonely sometimes.
"Hey are you alright?" He asked with concern on his face.
"I am fine."
We ate and left. The car ride back home was not silent. We spoke about general things. We reached my house. He got down, came around and opened my door. It was so fast that I was blinking. How did he move so fast?
"You are imagining. I moved at a normal speed." I realized that I had spoken aloud when he replied.
"Uhu if you say so. Thanks for the evening. I had a nice time. Good night." I wave at him when he suddenly held my wrist. The contact made me feel dizzy. I was staring into his green eyes. We kept looking at each other for what seemed like years.He slowly inched his face towards mine. Suddenly there was a howling sound heard from far away. This made him snap out and Adrian took a step back. He looked in the direction from where the howls were heard. He had a faraway look again. The look was familiar. I just couldn't place it now.
Abruptly he stopped looking in the distance and turned to face me.
"I need to go. I too had a good time. Good night." He left. That was weird. What changed his mind? I was sure that he was about to kiss me. I wanted it. I might have had a few fantasies about me and Adrian kissing after the first time we met. What a disappointing end to the night. I sighed and went in. Dad and mom had retired. I too went to my room and tried sleeping. I could not sleep. The kiss which didn't happen had occupied my mind.
I thought of watching TV and came to the living room. I didn't switch on the lights. The light which came from the TV was enough to see around. I made myself comfortable and was watching a movie.
Wolves were all around me. They had surrounded me from all directions and I was standing in the middle. I had no idea how to escape this maze. Surprisingly I was not scared. There was a black wolf at the edge of the wolf maze who was trying to break in. My phone chimed indicating a text message. I ignored it. I wanted to make sure that the black wolf was not hurt. My phone vibrated again.
I opened my eyes and realized that I had drowsed off on the couch. TV was still on. I picked up my phone to see the time when I saw a notification of a message. So that is what woke me up. I opened it.
Unknown number : You were looking very pretty today. And you are so fair, like a snow white. Black hair, black eyes. Perfect contrast.
Me: Who is this?
I knew it was Adrian but wanted to make sure. What if it was some creepy stalker?
Unknown number: Adrian Black. I got your number from Ronan. Hope that's okay.
AdiRay : Why are you still awake? It is late.
Me : I had actually dozed off. Had a dream about wolves when my phone vibrated and woke me up.
AdiRay: Oh my bad. Sorry to disturb your sleep.
Me: No problem. By the way, why are you still awake?
AdiRay: Had some work to finish. Was going to bed now. Tell me about your dream.
Me: I was surrounded with wolves like they were going to eat me.
AdiRay: And?
Me: Didn't get to the end of it.
AdiRay: Hmm.Okay then goodnight
Me: Goodnight
I got up and went back to my room. After about five minutes my phone vibrated again.
AdiRay: Free this weekend?
Me: For what?
AdiRay: So that's an yes
Me: I never said that
AdiRay: You asked for what? That means that you are free.
What? How did he come up with 'yes' from 'for what'?
Me: It's late in the night to decode this. Please explain.
My phone started ringing. 'AdiRay calling'. I answered hesitantly. Somehow speaking to him in the middle of the night, wearing my night wear and lying down on my bed, felt intimate.
"You asked for what right? That means you being free or not depends on what I am proposing. After hearing what I'm asking for, you can always decline saying you are busy if you don't like my proposition. So you are actually free. If you were indeed busy, you would have told 'I'm busy without thinking or telling 'for what'." He explained in his husky voice. Whatever he told complete sense.
"Did you by chance major in human psychology?" I sleepily inquire. He laughed. It was a full fledged laugh.
"Glad I make you laugh." I told him in an annoyed voice.
"Hey tell me I'm wrong. You have to agree that that was the case. Am I correct?"
"Yes, you are right." I tell him in a small voice.
He laughed again.
"Go sleep. Now that I know you are free, I can give you the details later.Goodnight" He hangs up.
I go back to sleep with a smile on my face. The wolves are still surrounding me but this time at the edge, instead of a black wolf it was Adrian who was trying to break in. He was wearing a brown shirt and shorts but he had a black tail. Funny image.
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