by Pavan Kaur
"And then for the evening, I had this amazing idea…"
"So did I. You and me cuddled under the blanket, looking up at the stars," I take a step closer and I watch her lick her lips. I already knew she liked the romantic stuff with the cakes and notes I sent her, but she likes everything to be special. I can give her that. I have always said if I find the right girl, then I will treat her like the queen she is. "What do you say buttercup?"
"He's going to kill you," I hear Tanya whisper to her as she walks away, and as much as I try not to smile my lips curl and I can't help it. If her friends think this will wear her down, then I'm doing something right.
"So for the evening, we could do an outdoor cinema and they can either pick their favorite movie or maybe the first movie they saw together.. What do you think?" Straight back to work mode for her, I see.
“Talking about films, what movie you watching tonight?” I ask. Please say something cool, please say something cool, something I can get the guys to agree to watch with me.
"Pete chose Black Panther and I can’t resist a superhero movie,” Emma looks over at Tanya walking back over to us with a folder.
"We want to watch that too. Can we tag along," I look at Blake behind me with a smile, "Trust me I'm not doing this to help you. I want to watch the movie and a group of us sounds better than just us." I turn back to Emma and hope she says yes.
“So what do you say?”
“To what?” Tanya asks.
“If we tag along to watch Black Panther with you, we want to watch it too. Blake thinks a group is better than just me and Marc.” I watch as they both look at each other having a secret conversation about what to say.
“We are watching the six twenty showing. Now back to my evening idea for the party…”
"I like the idea," I tell her. They have just agreed to let us tag along. I would agree to have pink everything at the moment.
"You wouldn't happen to know which movie they watched on their first date or which one is their favorite?"
“Can’t help you there, buttercup. I don’t even really know how long they have been dating, never mind what films they have watched together.” She looks up from her planner. “Don’t worry buttercup, I plan on remembering everything about us, first day I saw you, the first gift I gave you, our first date…”
"This is not a date," she quickly adds, and I smile. "This is a group hanging out. Trust me, there is no way this is a date. A date is just two people going out together."
“If you say so.” I look over at Blake just watching me. “You texting Marc to let him know?”
“Just send it. I have a feeling you two are going to be playing the tango a lot.”
“Well, it seems like I’m in now, just need to stay there…”
“Now the decorations. I thought we could keep the color theme going through or should we plan a new theme all together?”
“I think a new theme. Can we not go with just a fun BBQ?” I ask her. I mean there is no need to have flowers or any of that stuff.
"And do you want to explain that to Cassie?" Emma puts her hand on her hip. She doesn't seem too impressed with my thoughts on the party.
“Okay, flowers it is then.”
Emma smiles, "Great, so I thought maybe we could have the small vases on the table and then some nice big ones around the garden." I see her come alive with the smile full of excitement again. She and Tanya wander around checking out and talking about the flowers
The entire morning the girls spoke about flowers and decorations, Blake moaned the whole time. He told me I'm paying for the movie and dinner because I made him sit here for three hours and do nothing. Emma kept asking my opinion on everything. In the end, I told her she knows the theme and if she can work around the theme, then it works for me.
“Right, all done. Now we can go check out games. Tan is staying here and working on some designs for me, so it’s just the three of us.”
“Nope, just us. Blake has to… nothing, but he’s leaving now.” I look over at him, telling him he has to leave.
“Nice, use me then leave me,” he starts laughing. “Meet you at the cinema.” I glance at Emma as we leave the shop.
"So, him being here was just so you weren't left alone with Tanya and me?" She starts tossing everything into her bag. "I don't think we are that scary." She starts laughing.
"I thought I would need some company while you did your flower thing." I follow her out of the shop. "So, where we going?" I fall into step beside her.
"If I tell you that, I won't be able to see your face when we stand outside the shop." She’s got a mischievous smile, and I'm suddenly interested in what she has planned for this afternoon. "Question, I know you like me, so I'm just going to be straight. You're good-looking, what seems to be a very nice body under the clothes, you seem like you're up for a laugh and you like adventures. Why are you still single?" Emma looks over at me, her eyes roaming over my body. "Are you shit in bed? Do you have a small dick? Are you scared to be in a relationship? There has to be something wrong with you."
“I do not have a small dick. I think I’m amazing in bed. I do have a good body under these clothes and I am not afraid of relationships. I do love adventures and that is the reason I’m single.” She stops and stares at me. She thinks I’m full of shit. “I like paintballing, tell me how many girls like it?” I wait for a moment for her to answer. “None. I like snowboarding, again how many girls out there like that stuff? After this morning, I’ve learned you and I have more in common than you would like to admit. So to answer your question, I haven’t found a girl that is up for fun and joining me on all the things I want to do, until now. And she is standing in front of me.”
Emma starts walking again, she knows I’m right. There are girls out there that like that stuff. I know there is. I’ve yet to meet them. Now that I have, I’m not about to let her walk away from me.
“We’re here.” I look at the shop in front of me and lick my lips.
“You brought me to a sex shop? I’m sure that I can make you moan without anything in here,” I give her a wink, and she starts laughing. “What? Don’t you think I can?”
She looks at me and her eyes slowly travel down my body. They stop at my midsection. "Shall we go inside?" She looks back at me and opens the door.
Today is one of those days I wish I could read minds. Just a moment to know what she was thinking. I follow her into the store. "What do we need from here?"
"Cock rings." I freeze on the spot and she looks over at me. There is no way anyone is wearing a cock ring. I look at Emma laughing at me. "You scared of a cock ring?"
“I’m a little worried about what your thoughts are.” I’m not going to lie. I thought this was a PG party. I must be missing something.
"Don't worry, I'm getting boob rings too," she walks away from me, and I'm still standing there thinking about what is happening here. "Don't worry, there won't be any fifty shades stuff happening. This is a clean party, with a laugh."
“So what are the rings for?”
"I thought all the girls will have the cock ring and the guys will have the boob rings, everyone wears one on their finger, and the one to suck it to the end wins." She kneels to look at all the different flavored rings and throws a bunch in the basket.
Kneeling next to her, I whisper, “How fast can you suck it to the end?”
Turning to me she smiles. “Wouldn’t you like to know,” then looks back over to the rings. “What flavor of boobs would you like?”
I know she is smiling while asking me these questions, I can hear it in her voice. I move closer to her, bring my mouth close to her ear and whisper, “Yours.”
"Cookies and cream it is." She’s picking just one of them and a few of the others and throwing them in the basket. Next treat is cookies and cream flavor for her. I just need to think of what cake shape to make.
“I will keep this one until the party,” taking out the cookie and cream one. “You said they win, what do they win?”
> "I have no idea, not thought about favor bags or prizes yet. What do you think?" She starts looking through the same aisle as we make our way to the cashier.
“If I win, a date with you.”
“Nice try. I will think of something.”
Paying for all the items, we start walking back to her office. "Mr. Rivers tell me more about yourself. I know about your family. How about the clown you were with this morning?" I'm happy she has asked me a question. All my questions seem to be about her dating me. I could easily ask her about her family, but I'm not sure she would indulge just yet.
“Blake is my mum’s best friend’s son, and Marc is my dad’s business partner’s son. The three of us grew up together. How about you and the other two?”
“Tanya and I grew up together and we met Amie in college. There was a bungee jumping day. That’s when the three of us realized we had a lot in common. We’ve been together since,” She stops outside Costa. “Would you like a coffee?”
“As in a coffee date?”
“As in, it’s been a long day and I would love some coffee and cake.”
"I'm taking this as a coffee date, and in that case, it won't be here. Come on." I stop and turn to see her still standing there. "I don't mind standing here all day waiting," I tell her.
“Fine,” I can’t help but smile as she walks over to me. “Where we going?”
“Somewhere nice,” I know this really nice small cafe which is off the road on Oxford Street. Sometimes people don’t venture down little roads to see what’s there, but I have found some of the best places.
I open the door for Emma to the little café that has only really been here about three years now, so it's still relatively new. They make so many different types of coffee it takes longer to choose what you want, then to drink it.
“Thank you,” Emma says as she looks around the cafe. It has a very simple feel to it. I stand next to Emma as she looks at the board. “Oh my god, they have a white chocolate latte.” She looks up at me with a huge smile. I’ll have to remember she likes white chocolate.
“What would you like to eat?” She looks through the menu for a lot longer than I thought she would. I will get lunch for us both. She stood her ground for a bit, telling me she will pay for her food as this is not a date, but I told her to go sit down or I might do something embarrassing. She looked at me for a moment then walked away. I have no idea what I would have done, but the fact she thought I would do something made me happy.
Joining her at the table, I ask, “How long have you been a wedding planner?” I don’t want to talk about the engagement party. I want to talk about her.
“Six years, but it’s only really the last two years that I’ve finally got a break in it. I have quite a few couples that are asking me to plan their weddings. I love it,” she tells me as she puts her phone away. “How about you, at the moment it doesn’t really look like you have a job, as you’re always with me.”
"I have a job, a job I love. I've worked hard and I’m happy to say I have a team that works for me." It didn’t start that way, before it was just me. I did everything myself, but it shows that if you work hard, you can become the boss and have people work for you. Before meeting Emma, I would be the first one at work and the last one to leave. I've told the team I won't be able to come in for a couple days. They are in charge, and to only call me if they absolutely need me.
“That’s the dream. I would love my own business.”
“The only person stopping you is you. You can make anything happen if you want it bad enough.” My dad always used to tell me, if you want something bad enough, no matter how hard it is to get, work hard and one day it will be in your hands.
"At the moment I still have a student loan to pay off, and… you know let's talk about something else."
“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
"I have a half-brother, but we never really talk. So after work, what things do you like to do?"
Thanking the waiter for our food, Emma looks at her latte. "This looks so good. What is your favorite food?" Taking a sip of her latte, she says, "God that is delicious.” She points to the mug, "I would ask if you want some of it, but it's too good to share." I start laughing as she takes another sip.
“I like all types of food, I’m always happy to try something new. My question, if you could go anywhere in the world this weekend, where would you like to go?”
"There are so many places that I want to see, a safari, New York, Australia, but I want to be with someone special, to share all these things with."
Is it too soon to say that she is perfect? She wants everything I want and I can't wait to share it with her, because I know she likes having me around her too. I think a few more days a week at tops she will be on a date with me, a real date.
Chapter 11
Emma
My day was a lot more fun with Ocean than I thought it would be. He still kept asking me out, which I wasn’t surprised about at all. I know it’ll happen until I finally say yes to him, but I have to admit, I like that he's trying so hard with me. I can’t remember the last time a guy has tried this hard to impress me.
We’re waiting in the cinema for him and his friends. I wanted to dress down tonight after all day in heels. I pulled out my ripped black jeans, black tank, denim jacket and my first love, Adidas white trainers. You can never go wrong with simple.
I look over at Tan as our song comes on, Roar by Katy Perry. We both start dancing and as I turn around I bump into Ocean. I grab his shirt so I don't fall over.
"All you have to do is ask, buttercup, and I'm more than happy to take my shirt off," Ocean wraps his arm around my waist holding me close to him. Now that I don't have my heels on I can see how much shorter I am than him. "You're so tiny, buttercup." He brings his lips closer to mine, "I like it," he whispers.
“Maybe you’re a giant, and I’m the normal height,” I tell him and push off of him. He presses his lips together. I know he’s holding in a smile.
“This is Marc. Marc this is Emma, Tanya and Amie, and…” he points to Pete.
“This is Pete, Amie’s boyfriend.”
"You're the poor guy that gets tortured by these two?" Ocean points between Tanya and me.
“We do not torture him, he loves us,” I smile as Pete shakes his head at us.
“One piece of advice, run, run now,” Pete walks away from us. Ocean looks at me and my eyes lock on his lips as he smiles. I stare at his cute dimples. All men with dimples should come with a warning sign which says: Dangerous, will knock you off your feet when they smile.
“You know when someone says run away from them, it only makes me want to chase them more,” Ocean winks at me then walks over to everyone else.
"We have the tickets, the girls are getting the snacks," Blake hands Ocean and me our tickets, and I walk over to Tanya and Amie.
“Your nachos and mixed popcorn. If you guys can take this, we are just waiting for Pete’s, Ocean and Amie’s stuff,” Tanya gives me that look and I know she is up to something. I choose not to ask her what she is doing.
“Meet you in there,” I tell them as Ocean takes my drink from me. “Don’t touch my nachos,” I tell him as he goes to get one.
“I was going to give it to you, your hands are full,” he picks one up with some cheese, “so I thought I would help.” He stops in front of me and I watch everyone else walking through the doors. He’s bringing the nacho to my lips, “They do look really nice.”
“You can have it,” I tell him. There is no way I’m going to be able to keep my distance from him. He looks at me as if I’m the only girl in the world. What girl wouldn’t want that? As much as his dimples get me, his big brown eyes sparkle every time I look at him.
Moving closer to me, he moves his mouth closer to my ear, "It's only been two days. Imagine how it will be at the end of the week," he whispers, soft air blows on my neck. Eating the nacho he opens the door for me, and as much as my heart is saying stay away from hi
m you are planning his brother's wedding, my head and body are telling me to kiss him and so much more.
Looking around for Blake and Marc, Ocean puts his hand on my lower back, and I follow his lead as we make our way over to them. "Looks like you're next to me." He winks at me as he takes my popcorn from me and I sit down.
I see the three of them walking over to us. “Hotdog for Blake, sweet popcorn for Marc, salted for Ocean, and Pete has the drinks.” Tanya and Amie sit down as Pete hands out the drinks.
Eating my nachos, Ocean starts talking to Blake and Marc and I turn to Tanya.
"I already know what you're going to say, and after seeing him around you today, I don't think you're going to make it either." She leans forward and looks at Ocean, then sits back in her chair. "I say do it, I have a feeling he would be amazing in bed, and if the last few days say anything, he will be one hell of a boyfriend."
I turn as I hear Ocean coughing behind me then back over at Amie and Tanya laughing. “What popcorn did you get me?” Ocean looks over to them, grabbing the water bottle from Blake.
“Salted just like you asked,” Tanya says as she starts laughing harder, and I already know what they have done.
“Salted and what?”
I watch them both laughing as Ocean finishes the water bottle and grabs his drink. “We thought you might like some chill powder in there too,” Amie shakes the small jar at him, and I hear Blake and Marc laughing behind Ocean. I’m not sure how hot the powder is but he’s turning red.
“Here I got you this,” Pete pushes past and gives Ocean a small bottle of milk. “Trust me I’ve been right where you are.” After patting him on the shoulder, he walks back over to his seat.
“I would say sorry, but we did warn you,” I say trying to hold my laughter as he does look like it’s burning him now. I watch him down the milk and he seems better.
“Like I asked at breakfast, does this game go two ways, you said yes, so you just wait.” Ocean looks over at me and winks, then back over at the girls. “You think the three of us don’t have a trick or two?”