Fighting temptation

Lunch dates

The sound of my phone ringing woke me up.
I groaned, reaching for it.
It was Saturday damnit. Why hadn't I put the phone on silent.
'Yes,' I anwered in a groggy voice.

'Hi. I see you are still asleep.' It was Kevin so I hadn't just dreamed yesterday.
'Yeah,' I answered trying to open my eyes.
'You do remember we were supposed to meet for lunch right?'
Of course I remembered and I said as much.
'So are you ready?'
'Isn't it a bit too early to be ready?' I asked stretching.
'It is noon!'
Wait, what! I look at the clock on the bedside cabinet. 11:59. Jesus. I slept for 10 hours straight.
'So can I come up".
'You are here?' I sat up straight, my head clraring.
'Of course. I came to pick you up.'
I jumped out of bed. Who goes to pick a girl up for lunch I wonder aloud. I looked at myself in the mirror. Jeez he will look at me and bolt.
I yanked my head wrap and tossled my curls. Christ that doesn't help. I should at least wash my face I think heading to the bathroom. Fresh breath is always a good thing. What if he leaned in for a kiss and I hadn't brushed my teeth.
Why would he want to kiss me? My subconscious argued

A knock on my door stopped my solo ramblings. I rinsed my tooth brush and returned it to the holder.and wiped my face. Looking at myself one last time in the mirror I went to answer the door.

There he stood in his manly glory.
I gave him a once over. Jeans, T-shirt and boots. Very nice.
I go in for a hug and get a kiss.
"Good morning", he said releasing me.
Its a good morning indeed.
'So I will just go shower real quick. The kitchen is over there, I said pointing, if you need anything.'
I move towards my bedroom
'Oh and the remote is over there. In case you want to watch some TV.'
He nodded his face turning up in a smile

As I walked into the bathroom I wondered what I would wear. Probably jeans I think. But then that would mean that we will look coodinated. Nope. No jeans.
I settled on a cute little yellow sun dress, gold sandals with a denim vest.
"Hope we are not climbing rocks or something", I said walking into the living room.
He sized me up. 'I like your outfit. Perfect for climbing a particular rock."
I blushed. Seriously what was wrong with me?
'But, no there is no rock climbing. For now,' he added with a smile. The bastard.
'Shall we?'
I look into my purse to see if I had carried everything I needed.
Phone, debit card and cash. You never know what might happen. Then followed him out.
'So where are you taking me?' I asked munching on an apple I had taken when I walked out of the house.
'You will see when we get there,'he said with a smile.

'I am not a patient person, just so you know.' I said curiosity getting the better of me.
'I noticed. Tell you what, if you don't like where I am taking you, say the word and we will leave."

'Fair enough.'

I looked out the window as we lapsed into a comfortable silence.
After about 20 minutes we turned off the main highway.

'We are here,' he said infront of a white gate and hooted. We were let in by a guard who beamed with a smile and called him 'Kevo'.

The atmosphere was pleasant. 'Pepea' a sign on the gate read.
A woman with peppered hair met us when we got out.

'Finally you are here,' she said excitedly hugging him.

'Yes, we are here,' he says his eyes drifting to me. 'Trish meet aunt Hellen, he said excitedly and with so much flair.

The woman looked me up and down and noded.
"Nice to meet you", I said stretching my hand out to her.

Her fingers barely touched mine before she turned and started to walk along the pavement.

Mrs Frosty I thought with a frown.
They talked animatedly with Kevin. Her hand wrapped around the crook of his arm. I hated feeling like a third wheel. The fact that she looked fifty eased the stab of jealousy that suddenly gripped me. I had no right to be jealous I thought looking around.

There were rows of paintings lined on both ends of the path from the gate to as far as my eyes could see. My heart started to beat faster. It felt like I was standing in an artistic heaven.

I stopped here and there looking at the beautiful art.
I was so engrossed with the pieces I didn't notice him coming to stand next to me.

I stood looking at a particular piece for a while then went back a few paces to another one.

'Yes, same artist!'I said excitedly.
'Huh?' Kevin interrupted.
"Oh, I didn't know you were here.'
'I noticed,'he said with a smile.
'This painting and the two over there are from the same artist,' I said matter of fact.
"How do you know that?"
'Well, first off the artist has signed at the bottom of all of them,'I said with a smile. However the brush strokes, the style and emotion gives it away.'
'And you could tell all these from looking at colours smeared on a canvas.'
I was offended. I rounded on him.
'Look. These are not just smeared paint. Every artist tries to evoke emotion with each piece. A painting is about sadness, darkness, joy. Its just never about the colour. You need to find meaning in the art to enjoy it!' I finished slightly out of breath.

It got to me when people assumed work of art could be done by two year olds. There was more to it. Painting was like writing. You spend days agonizing over the dedogn in your head. You yry putting it on canvas only this time there is no eraser. Hours, days or even weeks later ehen you are done, people assume it a two minute job.

He started to laugh. I watched as he doubled over. So now he was laughing at me. I turned and started to walk away. Though I was seething, seeing him laughing like that tagged at my heart. He should laugh more often I think again.

'Trish I am sorry.'He was trying to hold back his laughter. 'Come back for a sec.'
I stopped and looked back. There was no way I was going to him. I stood hands folded, mouth set in a grim line and waited for him to make the next move.

'Ok that was a bad joke,'he said moving towards me. He stopped a few paces to the left. Here is another piece from the artis. There are ten more pieces around the property.'
I let my hands fall to the side.

'I have been coming here since I was Ten. Aunt Hellen would kill me if I didn't understand or pretend to understand all these.' He said indicating the whole collection.

'Beside, do you think I would want to appear ignorant infront of a girl I liked?'
I almost smiled. I should not let him see me smile. All was not forgiven just because he had said he liked me.
'Come on. Give me that cute smile.' His hand nudged my arm.

'No!' I said and burst out laughing.
'Thats more like it.'
"Don't ever do that to me again,' I said sobering up.
'Where is the fun in promising you that?' he asked.
'For starters, because of you talk ill about art you will be blacklisted from my life. He was laughing. 'I have done it before.'
'You stopped talking to someone because they dissed your art?'
'Yap.'
'That must be a very undetermined man. See, we will disagree on a lot of things. I want you to get used to that. Because there is at least one thing that we will alway agree on.'
'Oh yeah? And what is that?'
'The undeniable chemistry between us. Plus the fact that I always get what and who I want.'
My legs why trembling at the last sentence. Why did I expect him to say he will never do it. This is Kevin we are talking about. The man who could get me mad and giddy in a few seconds.
It was different and different was always good.
My stomach rumbled
'Oh. That reminds me. There is food in the house if you are hungry.'
Of course I was hungry. I could eat a horse.
'It's ok. I am not that hungry.' A lie.
'Ok then, lets continue with the tour shall we?"
'Fine!' I said with feigned bravado and followed him to my death. Death by hunger!