Chapter 52

🖼️

It was a sunny afternoon walking around the city. Lucy hung on to Johan's arm, but a point came where he gently pulled it away from her, "Don't take it the wrong way, Lucy, but please let's not... um... make contact."

"Oh, sorry," she replied as they continued their walk.

'What would people say if they saw that?' he thought to himself. 'I can't even imagine one of my colleagues catching that. In fact, who's to say that someone didn't take a picture already and is posting it online right now? Oh no, this is bad. I shouldn't be on a date with a middle school kid. What have I done? Why didn't I stop before it went this far? In fact, how far am I going to go with this? I have to stop this right now. This is bad, very bad. I'm already feeling the pressure of doing something I know is wrong. I got to tell her, and I got to do it now. I must put an end to this before I get in trouble.'

"Johan!" Lucy's near shout interrupts his thoughts. "Are you listening to me?"

"Oh, sorry. What is it?"

"Where are we going?"

"Going?"

"Yeah. Where are we going?"

"Going..."

"You did make plans, right?"

"Plans?"

"Are you just going to repeat everything I say?"

"Repeat?"

Lucy gave him an annoyed look before she gestured him to get closer to her. When he does so, she placed her hand on his ear. "Where are we going on our date?" She chuckled a bit and pulled herself away. "Sorry, I still can't believe this is happening, and I know you are too embarrassed to let anyone know. In fact... I'm kind of embarrassed too."

'Embarrassed isn't what I would say,' Johan thought. 'More like scared. Wait, maybe this is my chance. Perhaps I can start by telling her that I forgot to make plans. Maybe that'll make things easier.'

"Lucy, I'm sorry but I forgot to make plans."

"You forgot?"

"Yeah, and the reason why was because I had so much on my mind that I couldn't concentrate. I'm sorry, Lucy."

"Oh, I see."

"Yeah, and... the reason why I had so much on mind is that... well..."

"Don't worry about it. It's okay. Besides, we can always just do the usual."

"The usual?"

"You know, the usual."

"What is the usual?"

"Johan, even I know what the usual is."

"What are you talking about?"

"The usual things that people do when they're on a... you know..."

"The usual? What is the usual?"

"Johan, you're so silly."

"Then tell me."

"A movie and dinner. That's the usual things people do on a date."

"Oh, that. But that's just something from TV. I'm sure people do a variety of things in real life."

"Well, we're not doing anything right now, so we might as well do that. Let's go watch a movie."

Giving it a moment to think about, Johan couldn't help but chuckle. "Just like on TV, huh? Well, in that case, let's head to my car. I think the closest theater is a few miles away."

Upon hearing his confirmation of her plan, Lucy got excited enough to walk along him with a joyful stride. 'This isn't so bad,' he thought to himself. 'I can't believe I forgot to set up some activities but looks like Lucy doesn't care as long as she's with me. And I don't care about anything else as long as I'm with her. I'd say this date is so far going well. This date... date... date!? Wait, I'm supposed to be stopping this date! What am I doing? Come on, Johan, you have to do the right thing. No more stalling, no more being swayed by her charms. No more distractions. Do it right now.'

"I'm having a good time," said Lucy.

"Me too!" Johan said enthusiastically.

'I'm doomed.'

--

"What movie should we watch?" asked Lucy as they entered the movie theater.

"What kind of movie does one see in a... uhh... you know."

"I don't know, that's why I'm asking you."

"I don't know either. Let's just watch whatever is on."

"We can't just do that. We can see whatever movie we want any other time, but today is special, isn't it?"

"I guess you are right. How do you know so much?"

"My friend Jenny helped me out a bit."

"A friend, huh? Well, in that case, what do we watch then?"

"What about this one?" Lucy pointed to one of the posters.

"Zero Kiss? Isn't that a romantic..." Johan stuttered before he could finish the sentence.

Lucy covered her mouth from amusement. "The other half is comedy if that makes you feel better?" she commented.

"Come on, Lucy. Are you for real?"

She grabbed his hand and while giggling pulled him to the ticket booth.

In front of the ticket lady on the other side, Johan said, "Uhh... two tickets for, uh, 'Zero Kiss'."

The ticket attendant looked at Johan who was avoiding eye contact. She then looked at Lucy who was smiling and a bit embarrassed. "Will that be one adult and one child?"

Johan turned his attention toward Lucy who in turn looked at him. A bit serious and a bit playful, Lucy tapped her feet while placing her hands on her hips. She could see he was tense about the situation and eventually broke the tension by her soft laughter. "If you want to save money, or do you want me to pay you back?"

Relief had come to save him as he laughed as well. He addressed the attendant. "Just give us two tickets already," and she obliged.

"Enjoy the movie," the attendant said handing over the tickets.

"Yeah, I hope so too," remarked Johan as he and Lucy enter the theater.