Chapter 9: Gaze the Stars

Every day felt like parkour where I had to make the right move at the right time. Or else, I would find myself on the floor listening to sad music, wondering if falling in love again was worth it. Did it have to be like that?

Could I approach him without my guard? Could I take the risk of falling down the rabbit hole? How would it end?

The questions in my head were endless as well as the possibilities.

I felt vulnerable when he looked me in the eye, yet it was empowering me. I felt like an awkward girl with a crush, yet so feminine.

I was having a little bit of a hard time focusing on my work, but the articles were not going to write themselves, so I had to pull myself together. I would take Di’s help, but it would probably turn out to be a gossip session in the end.

When my phone rang, I was glad that I had a reason to postpone working. I knew I needed to finish but wasn’t feeling motivated. I turned my phone over to see who it was.

It was Aiden.

When she answered he immediately said, "I am not dead yet, but I don’t have one hundred percent energy." He sounded a bit sick.

"I don’t wanna be that annoying person, but I told you so," I chuckled.

"You can enjoy it, I deserved what I got," he sniffed.

"You don’t have to ask twice," I replied with a smirk.

"You didn’t ask what I would want in return. "

"You’re not in the position to ask for something in return."

"Everything in life is reciprocal. You can’t question that, Lara," he clicked his tongue.

"What do you want?" I rolled my eyes.

"You know what I want," he said with a confident tone.

"The soup?" I chuckled.

"I think that wouldn’t be enough."

"So? What is it?" I was sure he could feel how curious I was.

"When do you leave work?" he said, changing the topic.

"Around 5… Why?"

"I’ll be there," he said. "See you then, Lara."

"O-Okay, bye." I hung up without knowing anything about his plan. I would have to endure work for 4 hours until he came, that was too long for my curious mind.

I received a few texts from Sophie again, which I did nothing with but ignore. They crossed the line by stalking me and daring to come where I was to find me like that was normal. I couldn’t stay calm about it, and her siding with him hurt me on top of everything.

When I opened the glass door and left the building for the day, I felt the breeze on my face and brown hair. I relaxed finally. And he was there, leaning on his car and checking his phone. As I started walking, he looked up and smiled.

I walked up to him. "How could you leave your house? You’re not that sick, I guess," I said in a playful tone.

"I am using my energy carefully, which helps me pick up beautiful girls from work," he replied with a smirk.

"Oh, which number am I?" I laughed and got in the car after he opened the door for me.

"Take a guess," he shrugged.

"8?"

"How did you know?" he asked while he slid into the driver’s seat and started the car.

"You can’t hide things from me, I would know," I said with a witchy tone and we laughed. "Seriously, you shouldn’t leave your house like this."

"It’s worse when I’m at home, believe me. But it would be better if I trained Vito to get some fruits and pills for me," he said as he raised one brow. I chuckled.

"Where are we going?" I asked while looking around to understand our route.

"I know a spot," he said. "I’m sure you’ll love it."

When he stopped the car, we were on the edge of a cliff. The city was under our feet, and I could see everything. The view felt relaxing and thrilling at the same time. The sky was getting darker and the street lights seemed like little pieces of gold under a navy blue sky. The stars would start appearing soon.

"What do you think?" he said as he turned to me.

“It’s amazing!" I looked at him with a surprised face, and he smiled.

He got out of the car and opened the hatchback door. When he came back, he was holding two bottles of coke and two sandwiches.

"Don’t tell me you prepared them," I shook my head in shock. "You’re already sick!"

"Actually, you have to thank Vito, he worked hard for these." I laughed and hit his shoulder.

He remembered that I loved coke even though it was probably one of the least healthy things on earth, and my favorite type of sandwich was mozzarella, and ham.

"Thank you," I said sincerely. It always felt nice to have someone remember the little things about you.

"Always," he said.

We talked a lot while we were gazing at the stars. They looked as beautiful as my evening was turning out to be.

He told me about his father for the first time, he was a lawyer and he didn’t like it when Aiden wanted to study software engineering. He reminded me of my father, he’d rather have me study medicine just like him. Was every dad the same?

He told me some funny college memories. He didn’t have much of those with Enzo since they barely saw each other. And that’s when I realized that it was great luck that we met.

If it wasn’t for Enzo, I would never have had the chance to meet someone like Aiden. And they weren’t even that close, Enzo could easily have missed the chance of introducing us to each other. It felt like it was a part of a big plan.

We repeated the car "dates" a few more times. I didn’t know what else to call them, but I would never say it out loud to him. Each time, he brought me my favorite snacks and amazed me with his attention to detail.

But nothing could top the moment when he dropped me off at home after our last "date". We said goodbye to each other like we always did. But suddenly, I felt him close to me, and I felt his warm kiss on my forehead.

That spot burned for a while, but the rest of my body was frozen. I couldn’t do or say anything. I just watched him smile and get in his car.

And he just left me there, thinking, and wanting him to kiss my lips next time.