-

It's crazy how fast things can change.

How time can appear and disappear without any real measure of certainty.

How I can go from staring across the room at the girl of my dreams one week to holding her hand and walking down the street with her the next.

It's surreal, really, holding happiness by the hand but still hesitant to make any sudden movement in the event I shift the delicate haze that has surrounded us.

"Johnny, I am not moving another step till you tell me where we're going." Alice whines as she quickly stops in her tracks, tightening her grip on my hand as I elect to keep moving forward.

In the week since I asked Alice to go out with me, I realized one thing – she was not by any means, a patient woman.

Admittedly, other than telling Alice to wear something she felt beautiful in, I tried not to give her any hints or details about our date and safe to say, she's not a happy camper.

I could lie and say I'm some romantic trying to surprise Alice with the first date of her dreams but truthfully I just didn't want her to know anything until I had every detail planned down to the last step.

"You've already waited all week and a whole train ride, what's ten more minutes out of this beautiful Saturday evening?" I shrug, my forehead creasing into a plead as I pull her closer. "Please-e, for me."

She snickers, reaching her hand up to gently flick my nose with her pointer finger. "Fine, I just hope I look alright."

I take a step back, my eyes trailing along the mauve-pink button dress that slightly dips at the chest to expose her ample bosom and stops just above her knees to highlight long, smooth, shapely legs.

"I'm not an objective party but I think alright is an understatement, gorgeous is more like it." I chuckle as she shakes her head and moves her hand to hide a smile.

-

In a matter of minutes, we make a left and the building finally comes into sight.

"The Brooklyn museum?" She looks to me before looking back at the structure that looks more like a city hall building than anything else.

"Yeah, when you told me about Manhattan..." I say softly, gingerly watching – waiting to see if I made a mistake. "You said you loved the museums, I can't take you to Manhattan but I can take you to the museum."

"Well, it's official, you are a sweetheart." Alice thrums, her voice a juxtaposition of happy and sad as she hastily wipes away tears racing down her cheek.

Despite the compliment, I stiffen at her tears, suddenly nervous that the haze around us has begun to lift.

Before I can form a sentence, Alice waves her hand dismissively. "It's happy tears, don't worry, I'm just a mess."

Instinctively, I brush my thumb along the damp softness of her cheeks like I am made to chase away her tears. "You're perfect."

-

I wasn't the type of guy to readily go to a museum – I certainly wasn't the guy that had the luxury or the time to spend hours looking at history or art.

When life is a consistent swing of will you or won't you make it out alive today, a place like a museum feels like a bad joke from an out of touch comedian.

Though it's clear to me, this isn't a joke to Alice.

She floats through the museum with quiet solidarity.

It is as if someone has broken the chains off the gate and she's finally made it home.

Maybe I'm a hard judge but I always thought of the museum as a pretentious showcase yet here I am travelling through history and Europe and Africa without a plane ticket or a time machine.

There's even a few pieces that catch my eyes like the sculpted crafts from the early Americas, a display on the community of Hip-Hop and a special exhibit on the legendary Studio 54.

Then there's Alice herself, she too, a work of art amongst the curated art pieces.

When she's not eagerly pointing out the significance of displays to me, she's speaking with the tour guides and asking questions that seem to stumble the very people that are paid to have her answers.

"I'm – well, I'm not sure but I can - I will check it out for you?" A tour guide stutters, his eyes moving from Alice to me to the many exits.

"That's okay, I'll find out, can I take pictures?" She asks as if to give him the chance to have a definite answer.

When he says yes but no flash photography, I almost choke on my laughter - Alice's phone camera has flashed at least a hundred times since we've stepped through the doors.

Instantly her eyes find mine and she's smiling in a way I've never seen before and for that reason alone I try to see what she sees in this museum.

Taking in the displays, they're amazing but I don't see the magic she seems to see.

I see what life has always shown me, a thick wall of glass, just clear enough to taunt me with what ranges beyond.

"Johnnycakes, would you look at this? It's a 3,000-year-old Egyptian amulet!" Alice's eyes widen in wonder and her fingers flip through a pamphlet briefly explaining the exhibit.

Its possible Alice doesn't see a barrier, maybe the glass is just a shield which protects what she deems worthy.

Maybe that's the only way to look at life – a series of seeking and protecting what is worthy.

"We have to take a picture with him." Alice slinks to my side, tipping on her toes to whisper to me as she points at the mummification display, where the real-life mummified body of an ancient priest rests.

I wasn't a superstitious man but something about posing with an ancient mummy sounded like a sure-fire way to be cursed in this life and the next.

"Alice, I don't think that's –"

"Hi! We're on our first date, could you take our picture please?" Alice abruptly shouts to a passing tour guide, catching the attention of a few other patrons who yell out a collective 'awe'.

She turns and grins at them, holding up her thumbs as my heart does flips and before I know it, her arms are thrown around my waist and mine around her shoulders, as we pose beside Priest Thothirdes.

-

"We were there for hours and I'm positive we didn't cover half the museum!" Alice exclaims, discussing the exhibits and the displays at length as if I wasn't there next to her.

"I know, I didn't think they could have so many artifacts in one place." I say as she nods, her hands wrapped around my arm as we walk down the street.

"I loved it, I don't know why I never thought to go to the museum here. I..." She stops in her track, glancing around, finally acknowledging our surroundings. "When did we get to the coffee shop? I didn't even notice." She laughs, before reaching to the pull the front door.

Quickly, I grab her hand and turn her towards the side of the building. "We're not going inside."

"Where the hell are we going, Johnny?" She rumbles a laugh through her apparent confusion but allows me to lead her steps nonetheless.

I only smile as I swiftly pull out my phone and send a quick text to Leo, who within minutes appears from the side door with a rather large picnic basket.

"You owe me, you owe me big." He mumbles, shoving the basket into my chest before quickly leaving back through the door without another word.

"Okay, now I am really confused." Alice mumbles as she looks around frantically before her eyes settle on the basket. "That's unbelievable sweet but are we having a picnic in the alley?"

"The surprises don't stop! I hope your shoes are comfortable." I tease as I point to the "fire escape" which frankly was just a long, winding, steel contraption we used to get to the roof. "There's a bit of climbing involved." I chuckle as her mouth drops open and she furiously shakes her head.

"No way, absolutely no way, I'm in a dress and I'm not the most coordinated person as is." She exclaims as she crosses her arms over her chest.

"I took pictures with a cursed mummy for you!"

"Priest Thothirdes was not cursed!"

I'm not sure if it was Alice or I that laughed first but now we're both clutching our stomachs, eyes brimming with unshed tears as we wake the stray cats in the alley.

She giggles, her laugh sobering to a stop. "I had a feeling you were scared at the exhibit, tough guy." She glances at the fire escape before placing her hand on its railing. "Fine, but you better catch me if I fall."

-

When we mount the last step of the fire escape, I rest a firm hand on Alice's back to offer some support as she swings a leg over the ledge of the roof.

Tightening my grip on the picnic basket, I follow suit behind her, momentarily pausing when I hear an audible gasp then a loud squeak push past her lips.

Quickly I move to stand next to her, my eyes doing a hasty scan to ensure Alice is alright and everything is exactly how I left it before leaving for the train station.

Our team at the coffee shop usually used the roof for our annual staff Christmas party or on the odd chance someone's birthday fell on a weekday and they felt like celebrating.

It was a pretty open space coupled with wrought-iron tables and cushioned chairs, pristine beige mini sofas and an ever over-growing botanical garden in window boxes lining the columns.

When Sam gave me the go-ahead to use the roof for my date, I got Macey and a reluctant Leo to help me set up.

Macey and I had spent about two days compiling images from her Pinterest so we could transform the roof – eventually, we had come to some sort of idea.

I had pushed the tables and chairs back and pulled the mini sofas forward to surround the botanical garden.

Then Leo spent much of the day lugging an absurd amount of blankets and pillows up the fire escape, which Macey then sculpted into a wide canopy fort posited in the middle of the sofas.

From there, we switched out the artificial lightning with stringed Christmas lights because Alice seemed to like them and I surely liked the way the lights reflected in her honey eyes.

Finally, Macey added a few final touches so it would look more like our vision board – a couple scented candles, a mini Bluetooth speaker for music and a chalkboard that read 'Fort for Two, Johnny + Alice' decorated with the date, hearts and flowers.

I loved it before but as the sun begins to set, the sky looks as if God took his paintbrush and decided to show his splendour, painting a backdrop of brilliant orange, pink, purple and blue hues.

It's better than I envisioned but as I turn to Alice, I wonder if this all too much and I've sent her running for the alley?

That notion vanishes as quickly as it comes when I notice her grinning from ear to ear and slightly bouncing on her tiptoes.

"I feel like I'm in a fairytale. "Alice gushes as her eyes travel across the layout of the roof and the sky above.

"Oh man, I was going for a Wonderland." She laughs as we make our way to the fort and nuzzle into the array of blankets and pillows, our bodies so close I can feel the heat bouncing between our frames.

"I want to remember this day forever." She grins, taking a quick peek at the sky before focusing her stare on me as she slips her phone from her bag and her camera clicks away.

I give her a smile for every click before I begin pulling out the assortment of sandwiches, fruit, chips with dips, double chocolate brownies and two mason jars of chilled lemonade.

-

An hour and a half later, we had long finished eating and were now laying back against the blankets and pillows.

Alice's head nestles against my chest and my fingers trace small circles along the centre of her back.

There's a soft melody drifting from the speaker, providing background music as we talk about our favourite songs and movies and share embarrassing middle school memories.

Soon, our words simmer down and comfortable silence covers us like one of the many blankets.

Neither of us seem to acknowledge how exhausted we are from touring the never-ending museum – laying down instead of making our individual trips home.

"Johnny?" Alice's soft murmur punctuates the silence and opens my sleepy eyes.

"Mhm?"

"If you could go back in time and change everything that led you to this moment, would you?" She whispers softly, lifting her head and resting her chin on my chest, so our eyes can meet.

"No, I wouldn't change a thing."

It shouldn't be that easy of an answer - going back in time and righting a lot of wrongs would save me from a great deal of pain but not being able to hold Alice, this close, would be more painful than anything else.

"Would you?'

"No, I wouldn't." She smiles lazily, those wonderful eyes so intently focused on me before she leans up and presses a tender kiss to my cheek.

Nope, I wouldn't change a thing.

-