I don’t think I have been as nervous as today since I first met one of my father’s business friends back from when I was still only 14 years old. I had changed my outfit 3 times already and fidgeted with my cuffs more times than I could count.
Would she like the outfit? It was just a simple button-up shirt along with an oversized coat and some slacks.
It wasn’t all that different from my usual outfits or full-on suits for work. Would she think that I didn’t put too much effort into my outfit and looked too boring?
No, no, no. I shouldn’t be thinking like that. Ms. Belcalis wouldn’t be a person like that.
I nervously glanced down at the bouquet of flowers in my arms. I ended up grabbing a set from a flower shop along the way out of instinct: a bouquet of lilacs intermixed with a few strands of lavender because of how they reminded me of her eyes.
But did she even like flowers? It was such a cliche gift for the first date. A book probably would’ve been better for her…
I had never felt nervous about dates before, but I felt like I was about to vomit on her porch at any moment.
I took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled before planting a series of firm knocks on her front door. I can’t ruin my only chance with her.
The light sound of pitter-patter echoed through the hallways until it finally stopped with the distinct clicks of an unlocking deadbolt. Then, the door swung open, revealing the sight that I had been yearning for all week.
She was dressed in a cute black denim skirt with overall straps on top of a pure white shirt and some semi-see-through tights. Her little leather purse hung off of her left shoulder as she fidgeted with her fingers in front of me.
When my eyes trailed up to her face, I realized she had been staring blankly at me with slightly parted lips. Tripping over my words, I shoved the bouquet out in front of me and stammered, “Y-You look v-very c-cute.”
I cringed at the sound of my stuttering voice. I never stuttered around anyone, but it was like my tongue had suddenly become tongue-tied just because of her.
When the weight of the flowers was freed from my hands, I looked up from the ground in surprise and was met with the captivating sight of her little button nose buried in the purple flower and her bright violet eyes peeking over the tops of the bouquet.
“It smells v-very nice.”
I awkwardly rubbed the back of my head. “It’s okay if you don’t like it… I just happened to pass by a flower shop on the way here and impulsively grabbed on. You probably don’t even-”
“N-no, I-I do like it. I-It’s the f-first time I g-got flower before.”
What? No one’s given her something as simple as flowers before? But she had so many pursuers…
“Ah, g-give me a moment, please. I w-want to p-put them in a v-vase first before we leave.”
I nodded mindlessly, still more focused on the fact that such a wonderful lady as herself had never received something as innocent as a bouquet before.
I watched as her tiny figure disappeared behind the door, leaving for a few minutes before returning with a light huff and a small smile on her lips.
“Ready to go?”
I nodded and unconsciously extended a hand out of habit. When I didn’t feel any hand in my palm, I quickly snapped out of my daze, realizing that Ms. Belcalis wasn’t like other women. She wasn’t comfortable with touching males, even if it was something as small as simply escorting her.
But, before I could retract my hand, I felt a set of soft fingerpads glide against my palm before settling in my hand.
I looked up at her in surprise and found her staring bashfully at her toes with a dusting of pinkness on the tops of her cheeks. “You don’t mind touching me?”
Her cheeks immediately flushed into a darker color at my words. “N-no… R-Rafael has n-never t-tried to hurt me, so i-it w-would be r-rude to reject h-his p-polite gestures.”
“But I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable with me because you feel obligated to accept…” My hand loosened around hers.
But her hand tightened around my hand, stopping it from sliding away. Surprising me even further, she stepped closer to me and stuttered, “I-I’m n-not uncomfortable. I want to hold R-Rafael’s h-hand. I-it’s much bigger than mine… And r-rougher… And warmer… A-and…”
Her voice trailed off at the end. Her face turned bright red when she realized where her words had started to ramble off toward.
I chuckled at her adorable expression. “That’s good. I’m glad that I’m not the only one enjoying my partner’s company.” I gently tugged her closer to me. “We should probably get going. You have to pick up Liam in a few hours, right?”
She nodded in affirmation and quickly locked the door behind her before following me. I held the passenger door open for her.
“Y-you d-don’t need to do all of t-this for m-me. I-I can o-open my doors b-by m-myself too.”
I raised an eyebrow at her halted figure. “But I want to. It bothers me that you have never been treated properly as a lady before, so I plan to show you just how it should be done.”
She hesitated at my words for a moment before relenting and finally stepping into the car.
Taking her action as acceptance, I smiled to myself as I closed her door and jogged over to the driver’s side. I started the car and glanced at the clock, ensuring I wasn’t running too far behind schedule on my plans today. After all, I only had at most 2 or 3 hours before I had to let her go pick up her son.
“C-Can I know w-where we are g-going?”
My eyes flickered to the side, momentarily looking away from the road to glance at her out of the corner of my eye. She was fidgeting anxiously in her seat as her eyes darted around the car’s interior and out the window to check our surroundings.
Ah, she still wasn’t comfortable with being alone in a car with a male. The fact that I was the one driving probably also didn’t help.
Deciding that it would only worsen if I tried to keep our location a secret, I replied, “A library-themed cafe not too far away from here with tea-time-related snacks. I thought that you would feel more comfortable surrounded by things that you liked, and… All I knew that you would like was books and sweets…”
“T-the o-one on 58th Avenue?”
I nodded hesitantly. “Have you already been there before?”
“N-no b-but I’ve been w-wanting to go there.” Her eyes glimmered as they stared expectingly out the window as if they were searching for the spot to pop out of the corner at any moment.
I chuckled lightly at her adorable expression. “That’s good to know. I was worried that I might’ve picked a place you wouldn’t have liked.”
She shook her head furiously. “I would’ve enjoyed it either way. I h-haven’t really gone on a d-date before, so it’s all new to m-me.”
My eyes furrowed in confusion. Was that ring of hers not a memento, then? I thought it had been a keepsake from an old boyfriend or ex-husband or something… Or were they just so terrible that they didn’t even take her on a proper date? She even said that she had never received flowers before…
So many things didn’t make sense to me.
Even if there was no previous partner, where did Liam come from then? A one-night stand or- I’d hate even to consider it but a result of a rape case?
I immediately stiffened at the thought.
She seemed to have such an innocent child-like wonder to her as she stared out the window in awe of the buildings decorated with winter festivities. It was just too gut-wrenchingly painful to think that someone would ever consider doing such a thing to her.
“R-Rafael, y-you p-passed the shop…”
I snapped out of my thoughts. “Sorry, I guess my eyes must’ve drifted over it.”
I quickly pulled over to the side into an empty parking spot and brushed the thoughts out of my head. I shouldn’t have been thinking of such disturbing thoughts on such a nice day as today. I should be…
My breath hitched as I watched her climb out of the car. She was holding onto my hands in assistance to get out of my car, which was much too tall for her, squeezing my fingers as she plopped onto the ground with a little hop. Her light hazelnut hair swung gracefully with the winter wind, capturing my breath in an instant.
I had never been able to understand it, and I still didn’t, but she seemed to be able to capture my attention with every little action without even trying. I seemed to be uncontrollably drawn to her, and yet, I didn’t seem to mind relinquishing my self-control if it was for her.
“R-ready, R-Rafael?”
I nodded mindlessly and gently held her hand as I made my way into the cafe, keeping her close to me to prevent anyone from bumping into her.
A beautiful smile spread across her lips when I opened the front door of the cafe, revealing the interior of a little shop that was lined with shelves of books all the way from the ground to the ceiling along every inch of the wall. She gleefully clapped her hands together as she took in the sight of all the comfy chairs and intricate stands containing tea-time snacks.
She was so excited that almost all of her walls fell as she eagerly dragged me along with her by the hand to one of the back walls of the bookshelves. “I-I h-heard that this cafe was able to g-get a-access to n-new books before t-they were even officially a-announced to t-the public a-and it’s a-actually t-true.” She had a big bright smile on her lips as she wobbly reached up for one of the higher shelves, trying to reach for one of the thick books resting up there. “I-I w-was reading t-this s-series r-recently, and it e-ended on a c-cliffhanger, which m-made me r-really upset for s-several w-weeks, b-b-but they h-have-”
My eyes widened as a stack of books above her head started to wobble, and I instinctively wrapped my arm around her waist, pulling her firmly into my chest right before it could hit her. Just barely even a few seconds after I grabbed onto her, the books came crashing down with a loud bang, nearly hitting her head with only hair’s width to spare.
All 12 of the other people in the shop turned toward us with stunned expressions. One of the employees immediately ran toward us with out of panic and fretted, “A-Ah, I-I’m s-so sorry. I d-didn’t t-think it w-would c-come l-loose like that. A-Are you a-alright, miss? Ah, w-what s-should I-I d-do?”
Taking no mind of the fretting worker, I turned my attention toward Ms. Belcalis and worriedly gave her a glance over. She had no obvious injuries, but her body was frozen stiff in my arms as she stared blankly at the pile of heavy books lying at her feet. Had I known that she would be this clumsy, I would’ve been more careful about letting her run around like that.
“Aaaaahhh, I’m so so so sorry. P-please, let me gift you and your h-husband a f-free pot of t-tea and s-sandwiches on the h-house. I-I hope t-this accident w-won’t s-stop you from visiting a-again in the f-future.”
Snapping out of her daze, Ms. Belcalis’s eyes flickered up to the manager. Her grip on the lower part of my shirt tightened when she seemingly finally realized that the stranger was talking to her. Unconsciously scooting closer to me, she diverted her eyes and stuttered, “I-It’s okay. I-it was my f-fault for b-being so c-careless in the first place.”
“B-But I’m the m-manager, but I s-should’ve been m-more a-attentive-”
Noticing how tense she had become in my arms from the jittery female manager, I cut her off, “It’s alright. Just try to keep a better eye on these things in the future. You have already apologized to us enough, and no harm was done. I think we would just prefer to have some quiet time to ourselves during the rest of our time here, so please don’t worry about it anymore.”
The manager perked up at my words and eagerly nodded. “Y-yes, sir. F-feel free to sit anywhere. W-we’ll bring the arrangement of snacks out in just a moment as a bit of compensation and g-give you and your wife space during the rest of your stay.”
“Thank you.” I gave her a placid smile and a small nod in understanding. Then, I gently guided Ms. Belcalis’s stiff body over to one of the couches near the fireplace, hoping the warmth of the fire would help ease her nerves. She blankly followed my gestures and plopped down onto the plush seats, still stuck slightly in shock.
I lightly draped my coat over her shoulders and cautiously kneeled down in front of her. Bringing her fingers into my hands, I gave them a soft squeeze. “Are you feeling alright?”
Her eyes fluttered down at me at the sound of my voice. Her fingers squeezed my hands in return as she breathlessly whispered, “Yes…”
I worriedly scanned over her pale complexion. “But you don’t seem alright…”
“J-Just a l-little s-shocked from the m-mishap a-and… a-and f-from all the e-eyes staring at us right now, I guess…”
Oh… Now that she had pointed it out, I guess the other patrons were still whispering amongst themselves about us.
“Do you want me to make them stop?”
Her eyes widened, and she quickly shook her head. “Y-you c-can’t f-force p-people to look away j-just b-because I-I f-feel uncomfortable.”
I cocked my head to the side in confusion. Why couldn’t I? If I wanted to, I could even shut dogs up with a single glare.
She squeezed my fingers again. “I-I’ll be alright.”
I reluctantly gave in, unable to withstand her big round eyes. I sighed and momentarily left her side to walk over to the wobbly bookshelf. Plucking one of the books off of the highest shelf, I went back to her and gently placed it in her hands. “This was the one you wanted to read, right?”
Her eyes lit up at the sight of the book cover, and she excitedly nodded her head, instantly forgetting her anxiousness from before.
I watched as she joyfully thumbed through the new book before settling into the first page. She seemed so happy from such a little thing that I couldn’t bring myself to bother her when she was in such a serene state.
Instead, I settled for simply sitting next to her. There wasn’t much for me to do, but I was content with simply watching her read or stealing a few glances at the book when each turn of the page. It was nothing like the other dates that I had gone on before, but I still liked it much better, even though she didn’t really pay much attention to me.
Just by watching her, I could tell when her favorite character appeared by the small twitch on the left corner of her lip. I could tell when a heart-moving scene appeared by the way her fingers would unconsciously thumb the edge of the page or by the way her fingers would curl tightened around the cover of the book. The way she would trace the words on the page whenever her eyes fluttered over a single paragraph repetitively.
But most of all, I found myself enthralled by the feeling of having her so close to me. She had gotten so absorbed in the book that she didn’t even notice how her body curled up into my side as she continued to flip onto one page after another. It just felt so right, like two pieces of a puzzle, to have her little figure glued to my side.
I stayed as still as I could, not wanting to alarm her and end up losing the comforting sense of warmth, but I was sadly interrupted by the repenting manager as she rolled up with a trolley containing a pot of freshly brewed tea, an entire box of savones and a 3-tier stand filled to the brim with pastries.
“Please accept this as an apology to you and your husband, madam.”
Ms. Belcalis wordlessly gaped between the trolley and the bowing woman.
Noticing her inability to reply, I quickly thanked the woman and dismissed her before the little lady by my side could get any more flustered.
Trying to divert her attention, I leaned forward to set up the tea cups on the coffee table next to us. “Do you like sugar in your tea?”
Ms. Belcalis mumbled something, but I couldn’t make it out, making me glance back at her in confusion.
“I’m not quite sure what you said. Could you repeat it?”
Her cheeks instantly turned red. “A-are you n-not b-bothered that she c-called you m-my h-husband?”
I raised an eyebrow. “No, not really.”
“B-but w-we’re n-not c-close enough to e-each other for i-it to b-be a-alright…”
“I don’t actually mind it at all. We will get closer with time. After all, I did say that I plan to court you with the intention of marriage, so I would like to hope that I can someday officially call you my wife, Ms. Belcalis.”
She bashfully turned her head away and incoherently grumbled something again.
I tilted my head to the side in confusion. “Can you repeat that for me again?”
She huffed, making her cheeks puff up. “I-I said that you shouldn’t be calling me by my l-last name if t-that’s the case.”
“But I want to be polite.”
“W-what if I a-asked y-you to call me by my f-first name then?”
“I-I’m not so sure about that… It feels inappropriate…”
Her head whipped back around with an adorable little pout sitting on her lips. “Then w-why do I h-have to call you R-Rafael?”
“Well… it’s because I want you to feel more comfortable around me. I want you to see me as someone more than your boss.”
“B-But… B-but w-what if I-I wanted you to f-feel c-comfortable a-around m-me too?”
Huh?
Nervously thumbing the end of a strand of her hair, she continued, “W-What if I w-want you to c-call me Danary?”
“B-but w-wouldn’t that feel awkward for you? I’m still mostly a stranger to you.”
Her fingers paused as she looked up at me with those beautiful violet eyes. “But I f-feel safe around Rafael. You always come to my rescue, k-kind of like a prince. And I just want to hear you call me by my g-given name at least once… But it’s alright if you don’t-”
“Danary.”
Her eyes grew larger. There was a moment of silence. Then, she whispered one soft request, “Again.”
“Danary.” I interlaced our fingers together and brought her hand up to my lips, placing a soft kiss on her knuckles. “I’ll be your prince for as long as you’re willing to take me. And, someday in the future, I will make you my queen if you will allow me to, my sweet jane.”