Chapter - 17

Alisha pov

Alexander stopped the car in front of my house, and instead of getting off, we sat in the car silently. We could have spent more time together, but I got a text from my mom telling me to come home before dinner. When I told him about that, he looked disappointed and sad but drove me home anyway. Today was the best day of my life. The date went out better than I had expected. And now I am sure about one thing: that this man truly loves me. I hope to see him again. I want to spend more time with him, and I want to tell him that, but I don't seem to have the courage for it. My heart is thumping in my chest. I will go completely crazy if I stay in this car with him any longer, but I don't want to part away from him yet. But even after some moments when there was still silence between us, I decided to take my leave.

"Thank you for today. I had a great day. Then I will take my leave," I said, and looked at him and saw him already looking at me.

He seemed reluctant to let me go and was restraining himself from something. He nodded and said,

"Okay, see you soon, butterfly."

I wanted to ask when this 'soon' would come but refrained myself. I don't want to look desperate.

I smiled at him and then tried to unbuckle the seat belt, but it was not opening. Oh, come on, this thing was fine the whole day, but what happened to it now? I tried some more times, but it still didn't open. I heard him unbuckle his seatbelt and felt him lean toward me. I stopped my attempt to open the belt and looked at him. He moved close to me while looking straight into my eyes. My heart is beating like it will jump out of its rib cage in no time. I wanted to look away, but I couldn't. His those bewitching eyes.

I liked the beach because of the sound of the waves, but now I love it because the ocean color reminds me of his eyes and him. Our faces were inches apart, and I heard the sound of unbuckling. I thought he would move away after unbuckling it, but instead, he leaned closer to me. Is he going to kiss me? It's moving too first, but his lips look so alluring. I closed my eyes in anticipation. He cupped my cheek, and his breath fanned my lips, and I clenched my dress. But instead of my lips, his lips touched my forehead. He kissed my forehead. I slowly opened my eyes, my heart still beating crazily. I saw him staring at me with love and warmth in his eyes, and that made my heart feel warm and a small smile appear on my lips. He stroked my cheek with his thumb and whispered,

"Good night, butterfly."

"Good night," I said, and he removed his hand from my cheek and moved away from me.

The sudden loss of contact made me almost whine. He got out of the car, came to my side, and opened the door for me. I stepped out of the car, and he closed the door, then opened the backseat door and took out the bag of books and the bouquet. He handed me those and leaned against the car. Why is he not leaving?

"Go inside, butterfly."

"You should go first," I said, and he shook his head.

"I'm not leaving until you get inside the house," he said.

"Okay, I will go inside then," I said, and he nodded.

I stepped toward my house, and when I was halfway, I turned toward him. He is staring at me, and I wave my hand at him as a goodbye. He smiled and waved me back. I walked into my house and closed the door. I stood beside the door, and after a few moments, I heard him drive away. I touched my forehead where he kissed me and blushed. I looked at the bouquet and books in my hand, and something caught my eye. And it's his coat on my shoulder. I forgot to give him his coat back, and moreover, how am I going to go inside with this? What should I do? Wait, I can put the coat inside the book bag. Wow, I'm a genius. Will it fit, though? It's okay; I will make it fit. I put the bag and the flower on the floor, then took off the coat. I carefully folded it and put it in the bag. I took them back in my hand and headed inside. As always, Mom is reading a book in the living room. I went to her and said,

"I'm home." She looked at me and put the book on the table.

"How was your girl's outing?" she asked.

"It was awesome," I said. It really was just that it was not a girl's outing.

"Okay, go freshen up and come for dinner."

I said okay, and went to my room. I locked the room door and breathed out a sigh of relief. Dating secretly is nerve-wracking but thrilling too. I put the things on the bed and took a quick shower. After changing into my pajamas, I went downstairs. We took our seats and had our dinner while chatting. After dinner, I went back to my room, and my eyes fell on the bouquet. I should put them in a vase. I took the bouquet and went to my nightstand. I looked at the vase on the stand. I always put the bouquets Alexander gives me in this vase. I took out the tulips and replaced them with lilies. I put the tulips on the side. I will dry them later. I took the book bag and took out his coat. His coat smells like him. I put the coat on my side and took out the books.

I wanted to buy those books for a while, but when I went to buy them, all of them were stocked out. All of them at once. My bad luck. And I was basically in the sky when I found them, but when I remembered who was buying me those, I landed back on the earth. I don't want him to find out about those spicy books I read. At least not on our first date, or maybe never. I was hesitating about whether to take it or not, and lucky for me, he left for another shelf. But the look that the salesman gave me. But come on, he can have them in his store, so why can't I buy them? I put my babies on my mini bookshelf and flopped myself on the bed. I brought his coat close to me and smelled it. He smells really good.

But I must say, he is a gentleman. Now I wonder why he never dated anyone. I'm his first, but, as he said, will I be his last? To be honest, I want to be his last. I want to be his one and only one. He is making me greedy. Greedy for love and only his love. I want to be called his, and I want to call him mine. Just one date with him, and he has already made me want to become his. I got pulled out of my thoughts by a ding sound. I grabbed my phone excitedly, thinking Alexander had texted me, but got disappointed when I saw it was Jenny's text. I opened her message.

Jenny: Have you gotten home?

Me: Yes.

Jenny: How did the date go?

Me: Good.

Jenny: That's great to hear.

Me: Hmm.

Jenny: Okay, we will talk about this tomorrow.

Me: Okay.

I put the phone on the nightstand and pouted. I will wash his coat and give it back to him. But when will we meet again? I sighed and put the coat on my sofa. I was with him just a few hours ago, but I already wanted to see him again. A yawn left my lips. I'm sleepy. Let's think about those things tomorrow. Let's go to sleep.

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I'm at college, sitting in one of my boring classes. The professor is giving us tons of assignments. After he was satisfied with the assignments he gave us, he told us to submit them as soon as possible. He left the classroom, and I started putting my things in my bag while sighing. These annoying assignments.

Today, everything is irritating me. Is the main reason for my sour mood the tons of assignments? The answer is no. The reason is that, after the date, Alexander hasn't contacted me yet. He didn't send me morning wishes like he used to. That's why I decided to send him a message first, but I didn't get any reply. I thought he might be busy, but it's almost evening now, and there is still no reply from him. Even though I don't want to think of any negative things, they seem to have slowly crept into my mind. Does he not want me anymore? No, let's not overthink. I took my bag and made my way out of the classroom. Jenny is waiting for me at the door. I went to her, and she sighed when she saw me.

"He must be busy. Stop overthinking," she said.

"Is it obvious?" I asked.

"Yes. Now, stop frowning, and let's go."

Our last class has been canceled. I came to the college in a bad mood, and she asked me what happened. I told her that he hadn't contacted me, and she told me he must be busy. But at least he should have replied to my text. Will he neglect me like that when we officially start dating? Don't overthink, Alisha. We made our way out of the college, and when we were outside, I saw him. Alexander is leaning against his car while his hands are in his pockets, looking damn hot. I stopped on my track, and Jenny whispered,

"See, he comes for you."

He saw me and gave me his signature smile. He stood up and came in front of me and said,

"Miss me, butterfly?"

"Yes."

His eyes widened, and mine too. This word escaped from my lips without me knowing. A smile appeared on his lips, and he said,

"So did I."

"Will you mind taking a walk with me, butterfly?" he said while extending his hand. I grabbed his hand and said,

"Sure."