Bab 16: Effect on him
They started to slow down on a narrow road, with tall trees and wide branches and thousands of leaves covered the vast grounds. They parked at a gravel parking lot located on the side where several cars lined up.
"What is this place?" She asked, unbuckling her seatbelt. She looked beyond her window and observed several big burly men unloading things from their cars while some of their companions were already walking along the path towards the inner grounds.
"It is a national park. This small forest caters to a lot of endangered species." He turned off the engine and looked behind the backseat. Baxter, who was silent the whole ride, started to stir and stood in front of the window. He started barking at the sight in front of him, quite excited to get out.
"Oh! Are there wild animals in there?" She suddenly felt unsure if she wanted to go down from the car. Seeing those men and mistaken them as hunters or something. She also took Baxter's reaction as a sign of an impending threat.
He looked at her, thinking that she must be joking. After seeing her face, he decided to tease her a bit. "Just wild bears and tigers wandering around." He seriously said, observing her as she continued to stare at the men on his left. He had a clear idea of what was going through her mind.
Her brows began to furrow as fear sets into her. "Then, why are we here. Why are those people even considering going out there?" she said as she started rubbing her hands together.
"Because it is exciting. Come on. Don't you want some adventure in your life?" his tone challenging her to accept his invitation. He was sure that he was going too far, but he could not let this opportunity to slipped by and see her out of her comfort zone.
"It is not exciting. Are you mad? That's dangerous." She said almost hysterically. "We can get hurt or worse, even die in there." She knew she might be exaggerating, but going to an unknown place with danger lurking around was not something fun in her vocabulary.
He started laughing while she just looked at him, wondering what was so funny. Then, it clicked gradually on her puzzled brain that the joke was on her. He tried to talk, but he could not stop laughing.
"That was not funny. That was rude." She said while slapping his arm with hers to make him stop. She suddenly realized that she must be white as a ghost with her reaction to the danger.
He tried to fend off her futile attacks. "I'm sorry, but you should see your face. I thought you were about to pass out." As he continued to laugh, she started laughing too, seeing the funny side of it. Well, she did felt like she was about to run for her life.
She eventually stopped laughing. "Still, Raf. It was not nice." She said stubbornly, but she could not stop her lips from smiling.
"I'm sorry, Sky. At least I made you laugh, which you should do more often. You have a very nice laugh and smile. It is contagious." He complimented her. "The wildest thing that you will find in this place are the cute birds, who wanted to steal a piece of your bread." He assured her.
"If you try to do this again, I will never talk to you ever." She warned him with a glare, but could she keep up with her promise. She was beginning to enjoy his company. In truth, she was looking forward to seeing him every day.
"I won't dream of doing that again." He made a peace sign and went down from the car. He went to her side and assisted her out into the grassy ground. Next, he opened the back seat to let Baxter out the door, who immediately ran around the place as if he could not wait to explore the park.
She stood by the car as he went to the trunk and took out a picnic basket and a blanket. Slowly, they made their way to a narrow path leading to a small picnic ground.
Beyond the trees was a large body of water that hosted a wide variety of activities, such as boat riding, water skiing, fishing, and other water sports.
It was another paradise that she only experienced on the set or watched on the screen. She did not have a personal experience to enjoy such activities as an ordinary visitor. She just confirmed that she had been living a very boring life.
"Let us walk over there," pointing to a table underneath an old oak tree with the beautiful view of the lake. Baxter, who was following behind, was busy barking at the other dogs at the park.
"What do you think of this place?" He asked as he busied himself with unloading the contents of the basket on the table. She tried to help, but he swatted her hands and stopped her from doing so.
"It is beautiful. I have never experience going on a picnic before." She never realized that she voiced that out loud. Growing up in the city did not exactly give her much greenery to enjoy. Of course, there were parks, but it was not the same as this.
His father was not exactly a man who would have time to go out and had a picnic. He was a busy man who could not be bothered with these mundane activities.
She was surprised at the amount of food he prepared for just the two of them. She did not even know he could cook. He said that he had learned to tend to himself back in college.
"Mom made sure that we knew how to cook at least a few decent meals." He explained as she eyed the delicious food spread across the table.
"We?" She asked, taking that as an opportunity to ask about his brother if he would be willing to share the information. Although she did not enjoy prying on other people's lives, she was making an exception for him. She would love to hear his story.
"Yeah, about that. I had a twin brother. I don't know if Lindsey had mentioned it to you. His name was Oliver," letting her chose the food she wanted from the table.
"I think Lindsey mentioned something about him. That she helped raise the two of you," ending up with a delicious smelling chicken sandwich and a can of soda.
"I'm sorry to hear that he died." She was not sure if mentioning that was a good idea, but she wanted him to know that she was sympathetic about his loss. She never knew the feeling of losing someone you love since she never got the chance to know her mother.
"It was a long time ago. It was hard at first, knowing that my other half was forever gone, but I learned to accept our fate." He also made himself comfortable on the wooden bench beside her.
"I would not know how it was like to lose someone. My mom died when I was born, so it did not have an impact on me. My dad did his best to be both for me and my sisters," sharing what she thought was relevant to the situation.
After a few more stories about Oliver, he decided to invite her to play a game, which Baxter loved to do in the park.
They started with a game of frisbee, with Baxter as the catcher. "Just throw it towards him in an angle," Raf instructed as he called for Baxter to get ready.
"I don't know how." She threw it in a slanting angle with not much force, making it land just a couple of feet away from her. Baxter barked at her effort, clearly not amused at it. He immediately took a bite of the round object and gave it to his master.
"That's not how you throw it. Observe my hands and my body as I throw it in the air." He threw the disc, flying high on the air and landing just right on time for Baxter to catch it with his mouth. He immediately came back to his master just like clockwork.
She tried again, but the same thing happened. Maybe she was not cut out for any outdoor activities as she felt frustrated with her failed attempts.
"Let me show you how to do it properly." He went to stand behind her. He handed the disc to her. He started showing her how to hold it by gripping her hands. Then, he used his other hand to guide her body on what angle she should twist her body as she threw the disc in the air. She wondered if her brain was still functioning and listening to his ministrations. As far as she was concerned, all she was aware of was the nearness of his body to hers.
After a few seconds, he felt the same way. As his hand made contact with hers, and he felt the softness of her skin against his fingers, he suddenly forgot what he was talking about, only making him aware of his fast heartbeat. She had this effect on him that he could not ignore anymore.
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