Love is a Journey, Not a Destination

Chapter 3

Aubrey Osborne

"How can I... Uhmm... Pay you?" I asked without even thinking. All I know was that I wanted to talk to him. I already remembered him, he was the guy who gave me a really weird expression when he saw me. I wanted to know why he reacted that way, as if he had seen a ghost standing in front of him.

"Pay me?" He laughed. I was amazed by the sound of his laughter, it sounded very masculine. "Are you serious?" he asked. His expression, unreadable.

"Yeah! Uhmm... How about dinner? Right! I'll treat you at Buca di Beppo, taste my favorite Penne San Remo and Colossal Blow Brownie Sundae." I said flashing him my most beautiful smile.

"I'll think about it."

"But, it's my treat, no need for you to think about it." I insisted sounding really desperate and hoping he wouldn't notice.

"You sound very desperate, so okay." He said grinning, flashing me his white teeth. Thank God he's really hot or else I might have punched him straight to his face.

He drove his car and I drove mine to Buca di Beppo. I was lost in mind thinking about this guy when I heard my phone rang. I grabbed it and put it in my ear.

"Hello." I said.

"Hey sweetie, it's already 8pm, where the hell are you?" it's my roommate and my bestfriend for almost 2 years, Maureen on the other line, she sounded really concern.

"Yeah, I know it's already 8pm but my tire got flat" I replied.

"Oh my gosh! where are you? i'll be there in no time."

"No, no! Someone had already fixed it and I was going to treat him at Buca di Beppo for it."I said assuring her I was alright.

"Did you just say 'him'?" she asked. I could say that she was smiling the way she delivered those words and I was starting to get annoyed so I thought that I must end this conversation now.

"Yeah, I'll just tell you about it later. I'm already here so bye!" I said then hang up.

Before I got of the car, I re-applied my make up and let my hair fall. I brushed it using my fingers to secure my natural waves. When I got out, I saw him already standing in front of the restaurant, he was really stunning, lucky that I invited him for dinner.

Once we got in, Ryan put his hand at the small of my back sending tingles to my whole body. We were led to to the kitchen before having our spot. Other tables were already occupied. I could hear people talking in low murmurs, others, however, were bursting with laughters. It's really a great place for parties. We ordered a Margherita Pizza, Penne San Remo, Collosal Brownie Sundae and two 9oz. Quartino Ciao!

My mouth dropped open when I heard him said those orders. Fantastic! He remembered the words I said earlier.

"A fly might get in there." he said touching my chin to close my mouth. He chuckled. Oh my gosh! I felt my face heated so I turned my face away from him, hoping he didn't see me blush. After what seemed forever, I heard him cleared his throat so I turned to face him.

"Aubrey, can you tell me something about yourself? That is... hmm... If you don't mind me asking." he asked making me feel butterflies in my stomach.

"Oh!" I don't mind, what do you want to know?"

"Anything that you'd wanna share with me."

"Uhmm... How about sharing you something about my family? But promise me you'll share yours, too."

He said, "Sure! I promise."

"Great! It goes like this. We lived in a suburb, in a somewhat typical house, five bedrooms, each with it's own bathrooms, complete with a Foyer, Porch, Lanai, Breakfast nook, and other parts of a house that exist. We also had flower garden and a tall fence. A fountain just stands at the center of the garden in front of our house. I am used to calling our house a minimansion, you know. My father wears suit everyday since he's a businessman and my mom stayed at home, probably focusing on us. When we're younger, my older brother and I, well, arrived from school, she always had prepared something for us to eat and then she would ask how the school went through. That's all. Oh, well, about my older brother, his name's Aiden. He's nice and so much grown up. His hair and eyes were of the same color with mine. He was about to finish his Business Management at Harvard bacause he'd be the one who would takeover our business."

"Hmm... sound great! Isn't your brother overprotective that he'll sit beside you the moment I asked you for a date again?" He said teasing me.

"So, is that you way of asking girls to date after you've known them?" I also teased him.

"No!" he said. " I haven't dated anyone since..." he didn't continue to say the words he was about to say. His eyes staring at the table.

I was about to tease him again but when I saw the expression in his face, I decided to say nothing at all.

Finally, our foods had arrived. We ate in silence, I was slapping my face in my mind for saying those words to him. What's his problem by the way? For the moment that, again, seemed forever, he seemed to be lost in a world of his own. Then, he turned to face me with, I thought was, an embarassed smile.

"Oh, sorry about that. I kinda ruined your mood?" I asked him.

"No, not at all, my mood doesn't get ruined easily. To be honest, I wasn't surprised at all. I just remembered my... uhmm... my deceased girlfriend, that's all." he shook his head slightly and there was a sudden pain in his expression.

"How did she die?" I asked gently but a shuttered and strange expression crossed his face so I immediately regret asking him that question. I leaned forward and touched his hand. "I'm sorry for being a dumbass, I shouldn't have asked."

"No, it's okay. I don't mind. It happened two years ago." he said quiety. he straightened his sit and pulled his hand away from mine and brushed his hair which was already covering his eyes. He's really a hottie. "She was a cheerleader, a flyer. She was thrown in the air for that stupid stunt that they believed would put them in victory but they were wrong. She fell to the ground and there was nothing anyone could do to save her, she died instantly from her fall. Why? Because that stupid couch of theirs didn't request for spotters since he was overconfident that nothing wrong would happen."

"I'm sorry."

"So am I." he said. "She looked exactly like you." he said shyly.

Despite the obvious tension to his words, I laughed.

"So I bet she's beautiful, huh?" I teased.

"Absolutely." he said giving me a wink.

We finished our dinner at already half past nine and as we stepped outside, I had this feeling that I didn't want this night to end. Our dinner had been wonderful and we had a great conversation. He told me something about himself, that he used to play football in highschool, his father is also a businessman that deals with cars and his mom is a neurosurgeon. I wanted to spend more time with him but it's already getting late. By the way, I said that it would be my treat but he ended up paying the bill. He insisted it. We were already beside our cars when I decided to wave him goodbye.

"Thank you for this wonderful night."

"Yeah, thanks, too. I enjoyed talking to you. See you soon?" he smiled softly.

"Yup, see you soon." I said then slid inside my car. I was smiling all my way to the apartment.

"So, what happened?" Maureen immediately jumped off the bed the moment I went inside.

"Nothing much, we just talked about things."

"So, what's his name?"

"Ryan."

"Nice name, tell me something about him." she really seemed interested about my date so I told her about Ryan but not that much.

"Oh, he's adorable the way you described him"

"Yeah, I'm tired. Would you please let me rest now?" I took a shower, changed to pyjamas then headed to my bed to sleep.