by Krista Lakes
“Yeah, I think we survived,” he agreed.
The car slowed to a stop and I realized we were suddenly back at my parents' house. I hadn't even noticed how fast the time had gone, and for a moment, I mourned that we were here. I thought about asking Jacob to drive us around the block a few times, but he was already out of the car and opening my door.
He took my hand as we walked toward the front door. My parents had left the outer light on, but the house itself was completely dark.
“I’ve got another date in mind,” he said as we neared the door. He wrapped me in his arms and again I felt the soft silk of his shirt against my cheek.
“What’s that?” I said, my words muffled as I spoke into his chest and shoulder.
“It’s a surprise.”
“Another one?” I asked, looking up at him in amazement.
“Another one,” he said. “I didn’t strike out with this one, did I?”
“Definitely not.”
“Good,” he said. “Then maybe I’ll just keep going until I do strike out.”
“Yeah, we’ll see,” I teased, though truthfully I wouldn’t have minded. Another date with Jacob was all I wanted.
“Are you busy tomorrow?” he asked, releasing me but catching my hands as we came apart.
“Nope,” I said. “You know me, just living the life of the unemployed over here.”
He faked a sympathetic chuckle. “Maybe I can distract you from the pressure a little bit? If I haven’t distracted you enough already.”
“Oh don’t worry,” I assured him. “There’s only so many new resumes I can send out.”
“Then in that case, are we on for tomorrow?” He held his breath for a moment. I never would have noticed it if I hadn't been so close to him. He presented to the world this calm and poised persona, but it was nice to see he could be as nervous as I was about things.
“If you give me apparel instructions again,” I replied. “I would have been dead in the water tonight if you didn’t warn me.”
“Tennis shoes and something comfortable,” he said after a moment.
“Tennis shoes? We’re not doing anything athletic, are we?” I said, winking at him.
He laughed. “I'm not thirteen anymore.”
He squeezed my hands. His pulse carried through my limbs and into my chest, the epicenter of my excitement. He pulled my hands until I was close enough to kiss, and his lips landed softly on mine.
I felt him drop my hands and find his grip again on my lower back. His lips sat on mine for a while, his warmth pushing against me. His face tilted and he bit my lower lip before bringing my mouth entirely into his, our tongues dancing.
The lust in that moment was heavy and anchored me only a few feet from my front door. Part of me wanted to drag him through the door, tearing at his fancy clothes until they revealed an even better prize. But the other part of me remained anchored, not wanting the moment to end or even dissipate slightly. That and the fact that my parents were sleeping just a few rooms away.
I was attracted to him, intensely attracted to him, and I wanted to show it. I brought my hand behind his head and cupped his neck, pulling him into me even more. Again I felt him bite softly on my lip before releasing me right back into his kiss.
In only a few moments he had filled the night that had before seemed dark and empty. But then, as sudden and perfectly as it had started, our kiss ended, his lips lingering on mine before falling away completely.
“Will I see you tomorrow?” he whispered, his eyes still closed.
“Yes.” I didn't want to open my eyes. I didn't want this moment to end.
“Goodnight,” he whispered and kissed my cheek.
“Goodnight,” I whispered back.
Chapter 8
“How long until we get there?” I asked.
I sat in the passenger seat of Jacob’s car with my eyelids shut and a smile on my face. All of the nice things he had been doing for me were starting to make me feel like a princess. I loved it, but I was still a little hesitant to get my hopes up completely. With everything I was already dealing with, like trying to find work and get on my own two feet, the last thing that I needed was to get my heart broken.
“A couple of minutes,” he said. “No peeking, though, okay?”
I tried to play detective and figure out what this surprise might be. He had said to dress casual, so I was wearing dark jeans with a white blouse. I'd worn comfortable shoes, even if they weren't truly tennis shoes. I really had no clue what to prepare for, though.
“Can I guess where you’re taking me?” I asked. We'd transitioned from the paved road onto a dirt one, but I wasn't sure where we were yet. “Or is that not allowed?”
“You can try, but you won’t be able to,” he said with a chuckle.
“The old farmhouse?” It was a favorite of teens needing to get away from their parents.
“Nope,” he said. “But good guess. Now just be patient for two more seconds, because we’re almost there.”
I sat quietly until the car pulled to a stop.
“Don’t open your eyes,” he reminded me.
I couldn’t deny how much fun it was to have a surprise awaiting me. It almost didn’t even matter what the actual surprise was either. That wasn’t what made it fun. It was the anticipation, the excitement and the thought that Jacob had put into it that really made it great.
“I’ll open your door for you,” he said.
The engine stopped, and I listened as Jacob got out of the driver’s seat. A few seconds later, he opened my door and undid my seat belt for me. He took my hand and helped me out. I wanted so badly to take a peek, but I didn’t. I kept my eyes crunched together and allowed him to be my eyes as we walked away from the vehicle.
“This is so fun,” I said, with a giggle.
“Just wait,” he said.
We walked for a little ways. I held onto Jacob's strong arm, taking each step carefully since I couldn't see where I was going. He was patient and gave me directions and warnings about stones and things so I wouldn't trip.
“Okay, open your eyes whenever you’re ready,” he said as we came to a stop.
I savored the suspense for a few more seconds and then slowly pulled off the scarf and lifted my eyelids. It took less than a second before I realized where we were.
“William’s Park?” I said, recognizing the familiar area.
It wasn’t the park that he was surprising me with, though. It was what laid in front of us on the grass. There was a blanket spread out and on top of it, a wicker picnic basket overflowing with food. Next to the basket was a bottle of unopened champagne in a bucket of ice and two champagne flutes. He had situated the entire arrangement at the far end of the park, where there was a small opening in the bushes. On the other side was the creek that I had shown him a couple of days before, but a little bit further upstream.
“I would have set it up over in your favorite spot but I decided that I didn’t want to make a mess over there,” Jacob explained. “It seemed like that exact area was so special to you and I wasn’t sure if you’d like a picnic anyway.”
“Like it?” I said. “I love it.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him. He laughed and kissed me back, glad that I was obviously pleased.
It was just a picnic, but I couldn’t have imagined a better surprise if I had tried. In fact, I almost liked it more than the expensive dinner the night before. This surprise took more thought and effort, making it feel even more romantic.
“It’s perfect,” I said, as I pulled away from him and looked into his eyes.
“You really like it?” he asked. “I was kind of afraid you’d think it was cheesy.”
“It’s not cheesy at all,” I said, as I glanced back at the beautiful arrangement on the grass. “I’ve never had anybody do anything like this for me before. Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome,” he said. “I have to be honest, though. I’ve never had a real picnic before
with anybody. I’m glad you’re here to join me with it.”
“Me too,” I said.
We sat down on the blanket and Jacob opened the bottle of champagne.
“I’ve been saving this bottle for almost five years,” he said, as he popped the cork. “I had always said that I’d save it for a special occasion and I figured that today was the perfect excuse.”
“Is it a special occasion?” I asked, with doe eyes.
“Of course it’s a special occasion,” he said.
My lips curled up into an uncontrollable smile. “What do you mean?”
“Isn’t a picnic in the park with a beautiful girl special occasion enough?” he asked. “I can’t think of a better reason than that.”
“That’s the sweetest thing anybody has ever said to me,” I said. “Thank you for this. Seriously, this is amazing.”
Jacob’s eyes lit up and he leaned toward me to give me a peck on the lips. He pulled away and looked at me, a contented expression written across his face.
“You have no idea how happy it makes me that you like this,” he said. “I was seriously worried you’d think it was weird or creepy or something.”
I was wearing the widest and goofiest smile I had ever had. I was dizzy with excitement. Or was it the beginning of love? I couldn’t tell, since it was all happening so fast. I didn’t care, though. All that mattered was that it felt amazing.
This is quickly becoming the best summer I’ve ever had, I thought.
Jacob sat back on the blanket and grabbed the bottle of champagne, filling up the glasses. He handed me one of them and then held his in the air. We clinked them together. “To us.”
“To us,” I repeated.
We both took a sip and I couldn’t believe how good it was. “This is amazing. What kind of champagne is this?”
“It’s Dom Perignon,” he said. “My favorite.”
“I don’t know enough about champagne to really know what that means,” I said. The bubbles tickled my nose as I took a sip. “But I can say that I think I may have found my favorite, too.”
“I hope you’re hungry,” he said, reaching over and opening the basket. “And I also hope you don’t mind that I’m not a very good cook.”
I watched as he pulled out a bunch of grapes and then two sandwiches. In addition, he set out sliced cheese and crackers, some vegetables with ranch dressing and some barbecue chips. I noticed the picnic basket still had the price tag on it.
“Wow, you went all out,” I said, with a smile. I pointed to the tag. “Did you buy this just for today?”
“I did.” A slight blush filled his cheeks. “Remember, this is my first picnic.”
How sweet is that? He went and bought a picnic basket just for this, I thought.
Jacob pulled out two paper plates and situated the food on them. He seemed so proud as he did so and it made my heart swell. I still couldn’t believe that he had done all of this for me.
I leaned back and closed my eyes, enjoying all the sounds sensations around me. The summer sun dappled the ground under the trees. I could hear the creek whispering secrets to the shore as we ate. It felt like we were the only people in the entire world.
“It’s so nice out,” I said. “You picked the perfect day for this. It’s not too cold and it’s not too hot.”
“It worked out,” he agreed. “The perfect day with the perfect girl.”
I grinned at him and popped a grape into my mouth. We sat underneath the sun, sipping our wine and eating our meal. The park was mostly empty, with just a few kids hanging out on the opposite side. They were far enough away that I could only make out their laughs as they ran around in the grass.
“I never would have imagined that Monster GO would have led me to meeting you,” Jacob said, drawing my attention back to him.
“I’m as surprised as you are,” I said. “I’m still in shock about it actually. I never thought I'd run into you again after that night in the restaurant. Of course, I’m sure that was clear by how messy my hair was that morning. It looked like I had just crawled out of bed. Which, admittedly, I had.”
Jacob laughed as he took another sip from his champagne. “I think you looked great. I kind of like the bedhead look.”
“Shush,” I said, playfully pushing on his shoulder and causing him to rock back. “It really is crazy, though.”
“What, your hair that morning?” he said, with a sly smile.
“No, the fact that we wouldn’t have ever met again if it wasn't for that game. That’s the only reason we ever came in contact. I wouldn’t be sitting here right now if someone hadn’t developed that app.”
“Where do you think you’d be?” he asked.
I shrugged. “Probably sitting in my room and looking for jobs. Maybe I’d be at the coffee shop with Caroline. I certainly wouldn't be this happy.”
He scooted across the blanket so that he was sitting right next to me, with his arm wrapped around my lower back. I leaned into him, allowing him to support my weight. It made me feel safe and loved.
“Speaking of Monster GO, how far have you gotten? How many monsters have you caught?” Jacob asked.
“Not a ton,” I said. “Maybe ten or so.”
“You’ve got to get working on that,” he said. “Or Tommy will have my head.”
“How many do you have?” I asked.
“You’re going to think I’m the biggest dork ever, but I’ve only got ten left to catch,” he said.
“Aren’t there like two-hundred and fifty of them total?” I asked, a little impressed.
“There are actually only one hundred and five. Not only do I have most of them, I also have duplicates of almost all of the ones that I do have,” he said.
“Can I have some of them?” I asked.
“I’d love to give you some, but it doesn’t work that way,” he explained. He paused and looked at me carefully. “You'd really want to trade them?”
“Why not? Wouldn’t it be better if there was a function in the game where you could trade Monsters? Think about it. If I happened to have one you didn’t have, you’d happily trade one of your duplicates for it.”
“A trading function, huh?” Jacob said, his eyes going distant as he thought about it. “Sounds interesting.”
“I’m just saying. I think it would make a whole lot of sense,” I replied. My mind was already figuring out how to code for something like that. “It would make the game more playable for all players and it wouldn't be that hard to code for.”
“That’s actually a really good idea,” Jacob said. “I can't believe they haven't thought of that yet.”
“I’m telling you, I should try to find a job where all I do is sit around and think of ideas for these games all day,” I said.
“You’d be good at it,” he said, before kissing me on the cheek. “You’ve got that creative edge that a lot of programmers don’t have. It seems like you see the big picture of a program and not just all of the lines of code that go into creating it.”
“Honestly, the creative side of it is my favorite part. I like the coding, too. In fact, I was top of my class in nearly every programming course in college.” I paused, not wanting to brag. “But I’m just not passionate about it the way that I am with the creative element. That’s what makes me excited.”
“Why don’t you find a job that allows you to be more creative then?” he asked. “I know that they’re out there, especially with all of the apps and games that are created every day.”
“I’ve seen a few openings, but I’m under-qualified for all of them. They all want someone who has years and years of experience, and experience is something that I don’t have. All I’ve got is ingenuity and blind ambition.”
“Sometimes that’s all you need, though,” he said.
“I suppose,” I said. “But I still haven’t been able to make it work for me. Any ingenuity I have is being wasted on updating my resume ten times a day. It doesn’t leave much time for creating anything at all, e
xcept eye strain from staring at job openings online.”
“Alicia, it’s only been a couple of weeks, right?” he asked.
“Yeah.” I plucked a blade of grass and twirled it between my fingers.
“Well, give it a little more time. Try to be patient. Trust me, a job will come. And when it does, you’ll look back and realize that all of this worry you’re having was in vain.” He smiled at me. “At some point, you might even wish that you were jobless again, sitting with me in the park and drinking wine in the middle of the day.”
“You’re probably right.” I tossed the blade of grass away. “The grass is always greener on the other side.”
“Always.” Jacob agreed. “What other ideas do you have for the game?”
“You really want to know?” I tipped back the last swig of champagne and then set the glass next to me on the blanket. My belly was full of good food and good drink.
“I do,” he assured me. “I'm interested in your thoughts.”
I grinned at him. Jacob laid back on the blanket and I crawled up next to him, placing my head onto his chest. I listened to his heartbeat and his breathing. I knew that the rhythmic sound would eventually pull me into sleep if I let it.
“I think there should be player battles. Not just at gyms, but against other players individually,” I began. “Then, if you do that, there should also be a friend's list so you can see if your friends are nearby or even other people who are interested in playing.”
I grinned, excited as ideas came to me. “Also, custom tracking items, gym notifications, friend notifications, custom lures-”
“Whoa, hold on there.” Jacob held up his hands. “I had no idea you had so many ideas. Some of those are really good.”
“Thanks. The friends stuff wouldn't be hard since it could be tied into the log-in information,” I said with a smile. I winced in embarrassment as I realized I had gone a little overboard. “But, now I'm going computer geek on you and that's not really part of our date.”
“But, it is a part of who you are,” Jacob replied gently. “So I like it. Keep talking. I'll take notes.”