Pick Your Poison

11

Freen POV

It was a nice surprise to see Becky at work, it gave us chance to organise our next date, which I am organising. I've got an idea of what to do, but I want it to be perfect. I've decided I'm going to ask her to be my girlfriend.
I'm really falling for her, I want to spend all my free time with her and when I'm not with her thoughts of her consume my mind. Of course she is beautiful and her body is incredible, but she is also incredibly intelligent and thoughtful, on one hand she is very mature and communicates so well and on the other she is a cute little baby. I know she is only 21 and I am only 25, but I can really see a future with her.
It sounds crazy since we've not long met, but I feel a deep connection with her, she feels like my comfort zone and I want us to be together for a long time. So now I just have to plan the perfect date.
She's said many times that she wants to see my artwork, but I've not show her anything. I keep most of my paintings at the local studio my friend Heng owns, so I thought we could go and paint something for each other and I could show her some of my pieces. I'm still yet to plan the rest, but I've still got a couple of days.

Turns out a couple of days go very quickly. I'm on my way to Becky's apartment to pick her up for the date. I'm more nervous than normal because of what I have planned, I think the date will be fun, I just hope she says yes when I ask her to be my girlfriend. I told her to wear something casual and comfortable, but she always looks incredible. I look up to see her walking towards the car in some black joggers and an oversized Man Utd football shirt.
"You look amazing baby" I say as I get out of the car, greeting her with a quick kiss. "This isn't too casual is it? I wasn't sure." She says looking me up and down, "You look incredible in these leggings" sliding her hands down my waist and squeezing my butt. "Behave Rebecca" I scold her, she just responds with a cheeky giggle, "But yeah, your outfit is perfect, you look hot" I whisper the last part in her ear, before stepping away to open the passenger door.
"Thanks babe" she says, blushing a bit, "I think you're the first person who thinks I look good in more masculine clothes. Even my mum says I shouldn't wear a full suit to work" she starts getting into the car. I quickly walk to my side of the car and get in. "I doubt I'm the first person to think so, you look good in anything, especially your suits." She just smiles and blushes at me as I pull the car away.
"Where are we?" Becky asks as I pull up into the parking lot. "My friend Heng's art studio" she looks and frowns but doesn't say anything, "I thought it would be fun for us to paint something for each other and then after I can show you some of my work". Her face brightens into a wide smile "Really?!" She exclaims, I nod, "I'm really terrible at art so you'll have to help me, but I'm super excited to see your work!" I smile and get out of the car.
We make our way into the studio and find two free easels by each other, instantly getting to work. I paint Becky a flower on an orange background and she paints me some butterflies, I only have to help a bit. Hers is a bit rough round the edges but I love it. Once we have finished, we leave them to dry and head to the store cupboard where I keep all of my work.
"Freen!" I hear from down the hall. "Heng! How are you? It's good to see you" I say as Heng walks towards us, pulling me into a side hug. I feel Becky's grip on my hand tighten, "I'm good, I haven't seen you for ages! How have you been?" He asks, stepping back from the hug, "Yeah I've been good, thanks. Becky, this is Heng, the owner of the studio" she drops my hand to shake his. "It's nice to meet you" she says, with a smile on her face, but I can tell it doesn't quite reach her eyes.
Once they let go, I take her hand back into my own, squeezing it a couple of times. "I was just about to show Becky some of my artwork" I say, smiling at Becky, "Oh you're gonna love it, she is super talented" Heng says to her. "I know, she painted me a beautiful flower just now, I'm excited to see more of what she can do" she responds politely, "Right, well I won't keep you any longer. Freen I had to move your bag into my office, I'll leave it unlocked for you". I thank him quickly and we say goodbye, continuing down to the cupboard.
"What bag has he moved?" Becky asks, frowning at me, "Oh... um... you'll see in a bit" I say, not wanting to spoil the surprise of the rest of the date. "Are you okay?" I ask, her grip unusually tight on my hand, "Yeah, I'm fine. Heng seems nice" I stop us walking, stood outside the cupboard. "Yeah he is, he always lets me use the studio for free" I reply, "So you two are close then?" She asks, I think I know where this is going. "Yeah, we've been close friends since before uni" she looks up at me nervously, "just good friends?" I let out a sigh, "Yes, just friends. We have never had any kind of interest in each other outside of friendship." Now it's her turn to sigh before a long pause.
"Sorry" she says quietly, "I think I just got worried because I know you've only had relationships with men, not that I mind that at all, and I want to be enough for you" I pull her into a tight hug, "Of course you are enough for me". She nuzzles into the crook of my neck, "Sorry, have I ruined today?" She whispers, "No you haven't, it's okay. You are allowed to feel these things. And I'm glad you communicate it when you do."
"Right then, I want to see your art" she says, pulling out of my neck. I open the door to the store cupboard door, guiding her in. "A lot of my pieces are bigger, so I have my own storage space." She is just looking around in awe, "Freen these are beautiful" I drop her hand to show her my most recent piece. "I know it's very abstract but this was inspired by out firsts, the first time we met, the first date, the first kiss and the first time we... yeah" she studies it closely, looking at all of the fine details.
"You are so talented" she says, still staring at the painting, "I want you to have it, if you want it that is". Her head whips around to look at me, her eyes welling up with tears, "Really?!" I nod, "I'd love to have it". I put the canvas down to wrap my arms tight around her waist. She nestles her head into my chest, "Thank you", I can barely hear what she says, "You're welcome" I reply equally as quietly.
We stay in each others arms for a few minutes and when we finally part, I instantly miss the warmth of her body pressed against mine. I take her hand, "Come on, we're not finished yet" she carefully takes the painting and follows me to Heng's office, where I grab the bag. She looks up at me questioningly, but doesn't she ask me anything.
We head out to the car, putting the painting in the boot and the bag on the back seat, before heading to the next location. "Where are we going now? It's getting kind of late" Becky asks, looking out of the window, "It's okay we're nearly there" I say.
After a few more minutes I pull up in a gravel car park. "Are we walking babe?" I nod my head in response, "That's why I told you to wear something comfy". I get out the car and grab the bag, then take her hand in mine, leading her to the footpath. "I figured we could do something a bit more active after painting, I know it's more your thing" she smiles up at me, she looks so cute. "How far are we walking?" She asks, "It's not too far, I don't want to be walking back down in the dark, you might get hurt"
We're about 10 minutes into the walk and I am already puffing and panting. Becky on the other hand looks like she could run up and down here and not break a sweat. "Pass me the bag, babe" she says again, holding out her hand, "I'm not taking no for an answer this time". Well I can't argue with that so I pass her the bag, "What's even in here?" I pause to catch my breath, "You'll see in a minute, there's not far left now.
10 minutes later we make it to the spot I planned to stop at, a bench with a view of the whole city and the sunset. "Here we are" I say, leading her to sit on the bench, "Wow, this is an amazing view, why have I never been up here before?" She says. I take the bag and open it, watching as Becky looks curiously over my shoulder.
"A picnic?!" She exclaims, "Yeah I figured we'd be hungry by now so I thought we could sit and eat with the sunset view." She skips around the bench, landing on it next to me and hugging me. "This is the best date I've ever been on" she says before pulling me into a kiss. I laugh and start to unpack the food.
We somehow manage to eat everything I've packed, but I'm now very full and starting to get nervous. Becky is sat happily sipping her milk tea, snuggled into my side. "You are amazing you know" she says putting the drink down and looking up at me. Now's my chance, I take her hands into my own and look back at her. "Becky, I know we haven't known each other long, but I'm really falling for you. You might think I'm crazy for saying it but you are so caring, funny, beautiful and intelligent, I could sit here listing everything that draws me to you, but we'd be here a while." I take a deep breath and feel her squeeze my hands, reassuringly.
"Will you be my girlfriend?", I see tears well up in her eyes once again, "Of course I will Freen, yes!" She says launching herself onto me, hugging me tightly. I feel some tear trickle down my cheeks as I chuckle with relief. She pulls back to look at me, tears also running down her cheeks and then kisses me. There is something different about this kiss, it feels passionate and full of promise. When she finally pulls away from me, she looks deeply into my eyes, "I'm falling for you too. Hard".
We stay cuddled up on the bench until the sun has set, slowly walking down to the car hand in hand. "Please will you stay at mine tonight? You can borrow some of my clothes for work tomorrow. I just... I really want to spend tonight with you" I open the passenger door for her, "Of course I will baby".
The journey back to her apartment is quiet, some music playing with Becky singing softly along. My hand rests on her thigh, stroking back and forth with my thumb, "You have a beautiful voice Becbec" I say, she stops and looks at me wordlessly. "No keep going I like it", this is why I've never said anything before, "Okay" she says shyly and starts to sing again.
It stays this way the rest of the journey back, it takes us around 30 minutes as the traffic isn't too bad at this time. By the time we get into Becky's apartment we are both exhausted, from our days at work and then the date afterwards. I get us some water, I have noticed how little water Becky drinks, and we curl up together in bed, just wearing underwear.
"Thank you so much for this evening, Freen. Sorry I kind of ruined it" Becky says, sounding a bit upset. I shuffle slightly so we are lay face to face, "Becky, you didn't ruin anything. I think this has been the best evening I've ever had, I got to spend time with the most incredible person in the world, who has agreed to be my girlfriend." brushing a strand of hair off her face. "But I got jealous of Heng and wasn't friendly to him even though he's one of your good friends" she lets out a long sigh, "It was stupid, I'm sorry". I can see her eyes slowly filling with tears, so I pull her into a tight hug, "Baby, I'm telling you it's okay. You weren't rude to Heng at all so it's fine, I'm sure you'll get chance to see him again. And also if you didn't get jealous at all it wouldn't seem right, as long as you communicate with me it's fine" I stroke her hair, hearing her sniffle before pulling back.
"Thank you" I wipe tears from under her eyes, "I'm on a break from my pill so I started my period a couple days ago. That's probably why I'm a bit emotional". I instinctively place my hand in her lower stomach, gently caressing in. "Do you have cramps or anything?" She shakes her head, "No I'm fine, just a bit emotional I think" with a small giggle, "Yeah just a bit" I say laughing. "I think, now that you're my girlfriend, we should go out with our close friends to kind of... announce it." I suggest.
"Um... I'm not very good with big groups of people" she replies looking nervous, "That's okay baby, I just meant a couple of our closest friends, so for me that would be Nam and Heng and then you can invite whoever you want." I reassure her. "Oh okay, I think I would just invite Irin. She's my closest friend", we continue to discuss meeting up with our friends until we get sleepy and go to sleep in each others arms.