It’s five in the afternoon, and he brought me to the city center. Since I arrived, I’ve been interested in exploring the place, and it’s spectacular. The parks are vast, well-kept, and filled with craft markets. I love it.
Donovan and I have been talking all day, or rather, I’ve been talking all day, and he responds with no more than five words. The thing is, despite him being a total introvert, I’m having a better time than I thought.
Moreover, I notice that he’s keeping a considerable distance from me, and I’m relieved by that. Undesirable things tend to happen when someone invades my personal space.
“Don’t you like cotton candy?!” I shouted as we exited the gallery I begged Donovan to enter. He resisted, but in the end, I annoyed him to the point where he had no other choice. It was that or kill me.
“You’re loud, did you know that?” he said with his hands in his pockets, walking towards the next street. I’m next to him, and it’s odd to have to lift my head to see his face; he’s two heads taller than me.
“Yes, yes, now answer,” I asked expectantly for his response. I don’t know how we ended up on this topic; I’ve talked about so many things that I don’t know how we got here. I really enjoy talking, and I haven’t done it this much in a while, but today, I don’t know if it’s nerves or my inability to keep my mouth shut.
“No, well, I mean, I’ve never tried it…”
“No… It can’t be!” I jumped again, surprised, before he finished stating the obvious. “You’ve never tried cotton candy?!”
“Very. Too loud and easily impressed,” he continued, ignoring my outbursts. Okay, maybe I’m a bit excessive, but there shouldn’t be a human being who doesn’t like one of the best pleasures you can experience.
“Shut up and come with me,” I unconsciously took his wrist and led him where I wanted to go. When he realized where we were heading, he grunted.
“Seriously, Alicia?”
“Just shut up.”
When we entered the place, it was full of young children eating their ice cream cones with their parents and buying candy. Donovan groaned as if he were being tortured. I hit his shoulder to calm him down, and he did for two seconds until he tried to go outside again. I held onto his jacket to keep him back, and we engaged in a power struggle until a child approached us with his ice cream cone, looking at us expectantly.
“What do you see?” Donovan growled in a brusque tone to the child.
“Mama says you have to be nice to girls,” the boy can’t be more than six or seven years old. I still haven’t let go of Donovan, and he keeps trying to get away.
“She’s not a girl,” he said while trying to struggle with me.
“Are you sure? She has balloons.”
And there we both froze, we looked at each other, and Donovan turned his gaze back to the child with a mocking expression.
“Balloons?” he asked, interested in the child’s response.
“Yes, and they’re bigger than my mom’s,” I can’t help but blush. I look away, trying not to pay attention to the most embarrassing conversation of my life.
“She’s a transvestite,” Donovan blurted out, and as a reflex to his words, I hit his head. He winces at my hit but raises the corner of his lip as if he finds this amusing.
“Die,” I whisper close to his ear, and he bursts out laughing. When I’m ready to leave, he grabs my wrist, stopping me.
“Just one cotton candy, that’s all,” he shrugs, and I get a bit closer. I succeeded.
“Sweet?” I asked Donovan, and he smiled maliciously.
“Do you want to try it?” He raised an eyebrow, expecting my very obvious answer.
“Seriously, you idiot,” I roll my eyes, pretending to be irritated, but deep down, I feel incredible, and I’m trying hard for my body to reject Donovan and this outing, but I can’t, and it exasperates me.
“Sweet,” he replies.
“Who would have thought, huh?” I push his shoulder with my elbow, and he turns away, although I can still see the corner of his lip raised.
“Buy the red one for me.”
“You bring me here and expect me to pay?”
“I didn’t bring any money with me, you know. I never planned to go out with a guy who barely knows the city, and I didn’t bring any money.”
Grudgingly, Donovan approaches the counter and orders the cotton candies. For my part, I leave the place and walk beside the water fountain. It gives me a better view of everything-the shops, the people, Donovan’s backside… casual.
Quickly, Donovan comes up to me, offering me the candy. Before trying his, I take out my cell phone and start recording. It’s stupid, but I have the same stupid need to do it.
“Are you really recording me?”
“Yep, I need to see your exact expression of ‘Oh, shit, this is like being in fucking heaven. I love Celina for making me try such a delicacy made by the gods, and…”
“I get it, you like cotton candy,” he interrupts before I can finish. “Well, you’ll waste your phone’s memory for nothing because I don’t think it’s as delicious as you pretend it to be…”
The moment his mouth touches that candy, his expression completely changes to one of delight. There it is, folks, I’m still waiting for that ‘I’m in fucking heaven. I love Celina’ expression.
“What were you saying?” I retort, nudging his shoulder a bit.
“Fine, it’s fine,” he limits his response when he should be praising me. Damn proud jerk.
“Your expression of utmost pleasure did not just say ‘fine’. Ah… it’s like I’ve deflowered you,” I barely say that, and I think he spat water out of his eyes. I know he wants to burst out laughing at my comment, but he restrains himself, although food keeps coming out of his open mouth. It’s disgusting, and thank God I’m recording every detail.
“All recorded!” I shout as I move away from him to get a better shot of his completely red face.
As he stands up, he approaches me like a wild animal. He left the cotton candy completely forgotten on the floor and now goes for my phone.
“Give me that,” he extends his hand towards me, expecting me to hand over the phone. Does he think I’ll just give it to him like that? He doesn’t know me yet.
I shake my head several times and keep recording him. He gives me a crooked smile and starts doing what I expected from him… tickling me. I couldn’t escape; Donovan is too fast. He takes me by the waist to prevent me from taking another step, and I start struggling.
“Give me the phone!” he begins to say while tickling me.
“I don’t want to!”
“What a lovely pair of children,” we both turned our heads as if in a horror movie or maybe worse. An older woman was watching us, smiling. Instead of contradicting her, I pushed Donovan, and he didn’t let go of me, but instead, he held on tighter, and we fell together… We fell damn together into the water fountain!
I got up instantly, yes, totally soaked. I was torn between looking for Donovan and starting to hit him-I’m very violent-or saving my cell phone.
“Damn it!” I shouted angrily and defeated in the water.
“Why is it that you always end up wet when you’re with me? And yes, I said it in both senses of the word ‘wet’,” he starts saying, trying to sound funny, while I’m with goosebumps because I can’t find my phone.
“Fuck!” I yelled, frustrated and soaking wet.
“Looking for this?” Donovan, now out of the water, shows me the completely soaked phone. “I don’t think it survived, but don’t worry, it doesn’t affect me at all. In fact, it’s what I was looking for.”
Already at my peak of anger, I got out of the fountain and pushed Donovan-“You’re irritating, asshole, and… and…”
“Yes, yes, idiot, stupid, bastard, imbecile, arrogant, egocentric, selfish. Everyone said it, sweetheart, give me something new to amaze me,” he ruffled my wet hair and turned around-“Now let’s go.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Your phone may still be saved, and if it is, I’ll make sure to use each of your social media accounts. Just let your mind wander about what a person with my unmatched qualities would do with it.”
Considering the possibilities, I decided I don’t care, so I started walking towards the car to go back home… Then I remembered I have the number of the center where my mother is.
Heaven help me.