Taming the Author

6: Don't Lose the Manuscript

I occupied a seat across from Loramina in one of the outdoor tables of the coffee shop. We had been stuck in the place after her fiery interrogation about the proposal – how it felt for me, what I was thinking, how I came up with the idea of half-kneeling in front of her, and how I came up with the words.

Heck! She even asked me if I was imagining anyone in particular when I proposed to her!

Then she dragged me to a coffee shop, and we've been there for the past hour. I've consumed a club sandwich, a cheese roll, and two cups of Macchiato while she sat across from me like I wasn't there.

I glared at the phone she had been busy interacting with. She had been texting for the past hour – for the past hour! Whoever she was texting seemed more interesting than me.

Like hell!

Loramina reached out for her espresso – her eyes still fixed on the screen. The cup had been refilled three times since we took our seats and she started texting. I sure hope it was just texting, and not something else...

She sipped the coffee and looked up at me. "Oh hey," she said, as if realizing for the first time that she wasn't alone.

I gawked at her.

She kissed me! She dragged me there! How could she forget I was there with her? Who exactly had she been texting for the past hour?!

"Don't look at me like that," she said, frowning at me. "I was in the zone."

"U-huh," I muttered, sipping my Macchiato. I could really use a shot of whiskey right now.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "What do you want?"

"Oh, now what I want matters?" I asked.

"Is this about the kiss?" she asked, smirking at me.

"No!" I felt eyes on me immediately. I froze and glanced around me. Sure enough, almost everyone in the neighboring tables were staring at me. I loudly cleared my throat to get rid of the awkwardness – as if it would make things better, right? "I meant, no," I calmly said. "I wasn't even thinking about it."

She smiled. "Your red ears don't think so," she said.

"Yeah well my ears are red because I've been sitting here doing nothing but watch you text your boyfriend." I didn't want to spit the word like it was a disgusting phlegm, but it just happened. "Why did you kiss me anyway? Why did you make me propose? Wait! Don't tell me... You like me, don't you? That's why you've been marching away from me. That's why you've been making excuses to get rid of me!

She rolled her eyes. "Please," she said. "You're not even half of the worst guy I've dated."

I found myself crossing my arms over my chest. So she's dated other guys before. "I bet they're not as smart as me," I said, looking away. And no – I was not bitter.

"Smart?" she chuckled. "You think you're smart? You haven't even figured out the answers to your questions and you think you're smart?"

I glared at her. What was that supposed to mean exactly?

"You know what? I'm bored," she said before taking the cup of espresso and drinking its content in one swig. "Let's go somewhere else. Do you know a good farm?"

"Farm?" Why on earth would she want to go to a farm? "I know a farm open to visitors but it's outside the city."

She pouted her lips – her plump, soft, warm, sweet lips...