章節 36: Waterfall

True to Aston's word, it was an hour drive later that they arrived at the waterfall recreational park that Ashton told her.

There was a parking lot at the entry of the park with a few cars already parked there, but it was not filled as Ashton easily found an empty spot to park his SUV. Just like before, Ashton helped Phoenix to get out of his car. This was due to the SUV being quite high and Phoenix was wearing a dress and wedges.

After making sure that Phoenix was safely standing on the ground, Ashton picked up the picnic basket and a folded mat from the backseat and they both walked towards the entrance of the park.

It took 15 minutes to walk from the entrance of the recreational park to the waterfall. The path was cleared from obstacles and was laid with wooden pallets to make it easier for visitors to walk to the waterfall area. There were a few plots that were prepared for a picnic overlooking the beautiful waterfall, and luckily for them, there were a few plots that were still empty.

Ashton and Phoenix chose one of the plots, and Ashton spread the mat nicely and put the picnic basket on the mat. Phoenix was just standing at the side while looking at Ashton's swift movement, like he was so used to it.

'He seems like he is used to this. I wonder how many girls that he already does this for.'

What Phoenix was thinking was far from the truth. Ashton was not used to this, but he had done extensive research on how to treat a lady properly on a date. He had already lost one girl, and he thought that he might have been too cold and rigid. That was why the girl had run away from him without an explanation. Thus, this time, since he had decided to let the past go and open his heart once more, he had decided that he should improve himself and be more attentive towards the girl that he was interested in.

"It's all done. Come and sit here." Ashton patted the space beside him and asked Phoenix to join him on the mat.

Phoenix obeyed his words and sat on the mat, but she sat a little distance from Ashton with the picnic basket between them.

Ashton let Phoenix sit where she wanted, he opened the picnic basket and sorted the things that were neatly arranged in the basket. First, he took out the plates and cutlery and laid it on the mat, then he took out a bottle of mango and pomegranate juice, and lastly, he took out the containers that contain their foods.

"Do you want the mango or pomegranate juice?" He held both bottles in his hands and showed it to Phoenix.

"Either one is fine with me," said Phoenix.

"Okay." Ashton opened the cap for the mango juice bottle, put a paper straw in it, and passed it to Phoenix, "Here you go."

Phoenix accepted the bottle with both hands and thanked Ashton. "Thank you, Mr Qin."

Ashton opened all the containers with the foods and kept the lid aside. There were different types of sandwiches, buns and a salad.

Ashton saw Phoenix biting her lower lips, looking at the food that laid in front of them.

"Let's eat," Ashton said.

Phoenix wanted to let Ashton pick first, while Ashton was waiting for Phoenix to eat first, so they end up in a standstill waiting for each other to move first.

When no one moved, they looked towards each other and their eyes caught towards each other's face. Ashton stared at Phoenix's light brown eyes, which had a hint of green, while Phoenix looked into Ashton's dark brown ones.

Phoenix's eyes were as void as usual, with a hidden mystery behind it, making her more attractive in Ashton's eyes. Ashton longed to discover the secrets behind those eyes. The more he looked at it, the more curious he got.

Phoenix was the first to break eye contact, as she couldn't take the intensity of Ashton's gaze.

She picked up a sandwich and stuffed it in her mouth while looking at the vigorous water of the waterfall.

She picked another sandwich and extended her hand with the sandwich towards Ashton to make Ashton move her gaze from her as the latter was still staring at her.

"Please eat," she said in a low voice, and it managed to make Ashton look away from her face to the sandwich that was on her hand.

He took the sandwich from Phoenix's hand while subtly brushing his fingers with Phoenix's fingers.

"Thank you."

They ate in silence and let the sound of the water play as the background music to their picnic.

After having a taste of everything that had been prepared for them, Phoenix sipped on the mango juice through the straw. Ashton turned to look at her, "Is it tasty?" he asked.

Phoenix released the straw from her lips and looked at the yellow liquid drink in her hand. She nodded, "Yes. It's delicious."

"Can I have a taste?" Ashton asked with hopeful eyes.

"Sure." Phoenix extended her hand that was holding the bottle of juice, while her other hand was reaching out to take out her straw. But before she managed to take the straw out, Ashton enveloped his big hand on Phoenix's hand that was holding the bottle and pulled the bottle near his face and sipped the juice from the same straw that Phoenix used.

Phoenix's eyes went wide in surprise at Ashton's action.

"Hmmm…. It is delicious." Ashton nodded in approval and released the straw and Phoenix's hand from his hold. He looked at Phoenix with a fake ignorance of what he had done and asked, "Do you want to taste mine?" and showed the bottle of pomegranate juice in his hand to Phoenix.

Phoenix pulled her hand and the bottle of juice on her chest, and shook her head and looked away from Ashton. "No. it's okay."

There was a strange sound that was drumming in her chest and she felt it getting louder and louder.

'What is this? Why was my heart beating in an unusual rhythm? Is there something wrong with my heart? No, no. I don't want to go to the hospital. I don't want to be checked.' One thing that Phoenix hated with all her might was going to the hospital to be tested.

Phoenix narrowed her eyes and secretly looked at Ashton from her side eyes. She was trying to understand something. She noticed that since the morning after they were trapped in the storm; she had been getting a strange feeling whenever she was with Ashton or when Ashton's name was mentioned.

On a few occasions, Ashton invaded her mind when she was trying to clear her thoughts from work-related issues. The image of Ashton from that morning kept playing in her mind. His deep eyes that were looking down to her, with a slight tremble of his long eyelashes, and his lip slightly parted that breathed a warm air onto her face and his strong arms that were wrapped around her body, she still could picture and feel everything vividly.

Ashton didn't notice that Phoenix was scrutinizing him from the side. He was making a straight face and pretending to be immersed in looking at the beautiful cascading waterfall.

He would be overjoyed if he knew that he had already invaded Phoenix's mind. Throughout this day, his feelings had become stronger towards Phoenix. He liked being with Phoenix and spending time with her. He could see himself having a relationship with Phoenix, at least he wanted to be open to that possibility.

"There is a hidden message in every waterfall. It says if you are flexible, falling will not hurt you. - Mehmet Murat Ildan."

Just like the waterfall, Ashton would surrender to the flow and hope for the best for now.