Chasing Sofia

Chapter 14 - The Date

Adrian

"How much longer, Adrian?" Sofia whines playfully.

I chuckle and look over at her practically bouncing in the passenger seat of the car. I don't think I've ever seen her this excited before and it's doing crazy things to my insides.

That and the fact that I'm equally excited and nervous, but I'm trying my hardest not to let it show. Especially the nervous part.

I'm finally taking her out on our first official date today. To be honest, I never thought this day would actually happen. But somehow, here we are, driving towards our destination on a Saturday afternoon just like a couple on a regular date would. It's just the two of us, out in the open, not having to hide anything, no interruptions whatsoever. It feels good ... and completely normal for a change.

"Not much longer. We're almost there," I respond, grabbing her hand across the console and kissing it.

She's been trying to get me to tell her where we're going all week, but I wanted to keep it a surprise. That and the fact that I didn't want to jinx it in case something went horribly wrong again. I'm actually taking her to the place I had originally planned on over eight months ago. For a second I thought it may be bad juju and I should come up with something else, but she's always wanted to do this and I know she's going to love it even though I'm scared shitless.

I finally pull up to the parking lot of the place and she looks around curiously. I know she'll spot it any second now, so I keep my eyes trained on her face as she looks out the window.

Suddenly she gasps. "We're going hang gliding?"

She turns around and looks at me in anticipation, and I can tell she's trying to hold her reaction.

"Yeah. Is that okay?"

Her face suddenly softens and her eyes become a bit watery. Oh shit! She hates it. Maybe she doesn't want to do this anymore. She told me years ago she always wanted to go hang gliding, but a lot of things have changed since then. Like what if she gets nauseous or something? Dammit, why didn't I think of that before?

"We don't have to. I mean, it was probably a bad idea. We can always go do something else," I tell her when she doesn't say anything.

"Adrian, are you kidding me? I love it!" she tells me leaning it to give me a big hug. "How did you know?"

Oh, thank god! "You told me once you wanted to do it," I shrug.

"I can't believe you remembered that. Thank you!" she says giving me several kisses on the cheek.

Wow, I don't think I'll ever get enough of this girl. "We haven't even gone yet," I chuckle.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go, silly!" she says, suddenly getting out of the car in a hurry.

I laugh and follow her to the reception as she practically drags me the entire way. The next hour passes by in a complete blur as the instructors prep us about the equipment and explain how everything will work as we'll each go separately with our own guide, and they strap all the necessary gear on us.

As time goes by my palms become sweaty. I'm slightly afraid of heights so I don't know how I'm exactly going to do this, and I especially don't know how I can continue to hide it from Sofia. But she's loving every second of this and already became best friends with all the guides here, so I know I have to suck it up and go through with it.

We head towards the runway and there's a group in front of us we have to wait for before it's our turn. As I see one of them take off, my knees buckle and suddenly I can't feel my legs.