Let me love you

Chapter 9

"I thought you said we were here?"

"We are!"

"Then why are we still walking?" I ask her as my patience was running thin.

"Just 2 more minutes and we'll be there-there, okay? Like we're there, just not there you know?"

"Oh yeah totally, I get you, " I say, looking around at all this greenery.

We've been walking for at least 10 minutes in this garden, park area whatever it's called. It's surrounded by big trees and so many different kinds and colours of flowers. It's really beautiful here.

"We're here!"

"That's what you said 15 minutes ago, " I say, looking at the back of her head as she walks in front of me.

"Well, this time I mean it, " she turns to look at me, opening her arms and twirling around.

"So, what do you think?"

I finally take a good look around and sigh softly, playing with the ring on my finger, wow.

There is a small white fountain in the middle with two dark wooden benches on either side of it. The lovely blue and purple flowers all around us break up a bit the greenery of this place and the black short fence going all around this part guards us in. My attention is quickly drawn toward the opening above us though. You can see the starry night sky in all its glory from here and there are so many stars tonight you almost can't see the dark blue sky.

It's breath-taking and that's when I realise which painting, she referenced.

The stargazing one.

She lays down on the grass, removes her camera from her neck, and places it next to her. I didn't even notice that she brought it with her. 

"Are you not going to join me?" She asks whilst throwing a glance at me.

"I will, " I say, laying down on the deep green grass next to her.

The distance between us is minuscule, making this possibly the closest I've been to a woman before. 

"Is beautiful, isn't it?" She whispers.

"Yeah, it's breath-taking, " I say, shifting my eyes from her to the night sky.

"Can I ask why you like stars so much?"

"Yeah, you can, " I say, waiting for her to ask me again about it.

I like messing with her, but I also like hearing her talk so it's a win-win for me.

"Okay, so why do you like starts so much?" She asks again, turning so she's laying on her stomach.

"Because they're so bright and look like tiny dots from far away. The closer you get though the bigger they'll get. They decorate such a dark place and give it sparks of light."

I can feel her burning holes at my temple from how she is staring at me with ears wide open, giving me her full attention.  

"They all have their own shine just like people do. Everyone is different on the outside and on the inside. Everyone looks, behaves, thinks, talks, walks and feels differently. Unlike stars though, people, unfortunately, judge others from the first 15 seconds they meet them or for what they post on social media. Even if you say you don't like judging people, that you don't like judging a book by its cover you still subconsciously do it."

"You're right, people can be very cruel nowadays, but what's your verdict?" She says with eyebrows furrowed. 

I chuckle and turn my head to face her. 

I can hear her sharp intake of breath as our faces end up being a little too close with the tip of my nose almost touching hers but I disregard it. 

"The verdict is to never judge someone without giving them the chance to get to know them because from far away their shine might be dim but if you get closer you might even be blinded by it. Don't create conclusions about someone you don't know. Don't spend your time and energy hating on someone you don't like or a stranger on the internet, just unfollow them and move on with your life."

"All of that from stars?" She asks with a glim of amusement in her eyes. 

"Yes, all of that just from thinking about stars," I say giving her a lopsided smile. 

"You're very interesting you know that Ian and different from other people I met throughout my life."

"I hope that's good, " I say.

"Very, " she whispers, drawing my eyes to her lips as her tongue darts out to lick them. 

Get a grip, Ian!

I look up at her eyes again only to catch her looking at my lips. 

Before I can say anything, she glances up at me as redness starts to show through her cheeks.

Her eyes widen for a moment and she rolls away from me. 

What was that?

Her sudden move makes me do something I had never done before. 

I close my eyes as I relax back on the grass laughing at her actions.

I don't even hear her gasp or the click of the camera going off. 

Once my laughter comes to an end the only thing, I'm thinking is that laughing feels good.

Opening my eyes, I let my head roll to the side to see her sitting on her knees next to me, staring down at me with a wide tight-lipped smile on her face. 

"You have such a nice laugh. Is so soothing and deep. You should start laughing more its suits your mysterious persona, you know, " she says before quickly raising her camera and snapping a picture of me looking at her.

"My mysterious persona? I'm not mysterious," I say with an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah right! You don't talk much and look so intensely at people without showing any emotions and you are closed off. If that's not mysterious then what is it?" She says and plops down on her ass, putting her camera between us.

"I don't know maybe that's called being antisocial and closed off? Just a minor guess, " I say.

"Why did you bring your camera, by the way? I didn't even notice, " I sit up, grabbing her camera and examining it.

"Well, I wanted to have physical copies of these memories we'll be creating. I'll print one for you as well so you can have one! See which one you want, " she says, laying down on the grass.

She closes her eyes and has a soft smile on her face. One hand resting on her stomach and the other on her side, gently pulling at the grass. 

Right at that moment, I decided which picture I wanted.

I quickly raise the camera and snap that moment into my memories.

"Hey!" She says looking wide eyes at me.

I take another one just for fun.

"That's the ones I want, " I say, shrugging. 

A/N

Do you agree with Ian?

I had my first dose of the COVID vaccine today, finally!

Feel free to comment & vote ❤️

I hope you have a great day/night! Xx

I'll see you tomorrow for the next chapter!

All the love - M ❤️