“How about a little more green here?” Seth asked, pointing to a corner of the plain yellow shirt that we were going to be painting on. I had volunteered to create a template of the shirts we’ll be sending in to the printers for the Children’s Play Day staff to wear on the day of the fair and Seth had offered to help.

We had a big tarp spread out on their grassy lawn where we sat and experimented with different colors of fabric paint and the different designs I had come up with. It was a splendid and sunny Tuesday afternoon and we had until tomorrow for the final sample to be finished and dried and sent to the printers. 

I scrunched up my nose and studied the half-finished shirt. “It’s too low that if people tucked it into their pants, no one will see the details there. Remember, the more colors, the bigger the print, the more expensive each shirt will be.”

“Fair enough,” Seth agreed, picking up the sheet where I’d drawn the design we were trying to copy. “It will look nicer with one central print. That way, people will look at the shirt and immediately focus on that logo.”

I studied the shirt again and made a decision. “Okay, please grab me the pencil and I’ll redo this. I just need a couple of minutes.”

I crossed my legs and placed the sketchpad on my lap, nibbling on the pencil before erasing parts of the design and rescaling the central logo. 

Seth had inched closer and was sitting right behind me, peering over my shoulder as I drew.

“You can draw really well,” he commented, resting his chin on my shoulder and his hands on each side of my hip. “And you have really creative designs.”

I grinned and kept drawing. “Thanks. I grew up with very little clothing allowance. I’d sewn a lot of my own clothes from excess fabric cuts at a small textile store in Dock Garren with a really old Singer machine I inherited from my father who once also worked as a tailor on the side. He showed me how to sew when I was twelve and since then, I’ve been sewing most of my clothes.”

“Like this blouse?” Seth asked with mild awe in his voice, brushing the sleeve of my pale gray, off-shoulder tunic that I wore over a pair of a pair of black leggings. 

I nodded and about a minute later, I felt Seth’s lips gently caress the arch between my shoulder and neck. 

I murmured a protest but it died in my throat as Seth left a trail of fleeting, little kisses all the way up to the nape of my neck where numerous sensations exploded upon contact with his warm, soft lips. 

“Your shoulders are driving me absolutely crazy,” he whispered huskily into my ear.

I giggled. “There are reasons why women wear off-shoulder tops. This is one of them.”

He kissed my hair, his arm sliding around my waist. “So you’re strategizing. I see.”

I looked over my shoulder, my nose brushing against his. “And I see that this is distracting you a lot. I should wear ugly overalls next time so we can stay focused.”

“No, Ali,” he groaned with a deliciously low laugh. “It’s not going to work. I’ll just be as distracted—whether you’re wrapped in a teensy tiny towel or ugly overalls.”

I playfully pushed him away and waved a paintbrush at him. “Either way, we’ve got to get this done before it gets late. I need to go to work at six.”

“Okay,” he answered before leaning forward and kissing me squarely on the lips.

I tipped back but he easily caught me with one arm. My own arms slid around his neck as the kiss deepened and before we knew it, I was on my back down on the tarp with him above me. 

I smiled and pulled him closer, our hands finding each other. He gently pushed our entwined hands over and above my head and I was starting to almost hear a sweet, sexy sultry music in the background if not for the sudden plopping sound that came up right after our hands knocked over something cold and metal.

Seth looked up and froze. “Uh-oh.”

I scrambled back up to my butt and looked behind me. A can of paint tipped over and thick white glob was starting to ooze out onto the top of the blank yellow shirt.

“Oh, crap,” I muttered, jumping up to my feet and grabbing the can back up. Seth grabbed a wad of paper towels and tried to wipe the white paint off of the center of the shirt.

A couple of minutes after, he stepped back, a grimace on his face. “That’s the best we can do. I’m sorry.”

I looked down at the shirt and the mess of white paint in front of it.

“Seth, look. Do you see what I see?”

Seth glanced at me, stared at the shirt again and scratched his head. “I see a ruined shirt.”

I looked up to him with a smile. “I see a really cool, smudged and swirly background for the logo.”

He looked at it again, squinting for a minute as if trying to picture it out. “It definitely looks smudged and swirly but I can’t really imagine it being behind the logo. There’s specks of white paint over the other areas too which looks a little messy.”

I crawled back down on my knees and grabbed four or five cans of various paint colors. “Here, I’ll show you.”

Twenty minutes later, we both stepped back and looked the still-wet design I just finished painting on the shirt. 

He nodded. “I see. That actually looks pretty cool. Looks like a kid’s artwork with the white background on it and it sets off a less glaring backdrop for the colorful logo. Ha! Who knew it would turn out so well?”

I smiled smugly. “Thanks to my ever-amazing talent. I can turn your mess into a piece of art.”

I burst out laughing as he lunged for me and tackled me back to the ground. “Seth! Get off me, you’re cutting off my oxygen.”

He propped himself up on his elbows, his hands still locking my arms in place. “Only if you admit that it was your mess too. I wasn’t doing the kissing all by myself.”

I blushed and rolled my eyes in mock resignation. “Fine, it was my mess too. But I think that mess turned out wonderfully. I’m pretty happy with the shirt.”

He lowered his face so close to mine, the tip of his nose touching my own. He ran his fingers through my hair and smiled. “I’m pretty happy too.”

Oh, my own silly, happy heart, calm down.

But perhaps the heart was deaf because the rapid beating only quickened up more as Seth leaned closer and pressed soft, tender kisses on my mouth.

Perhaps, the heart can dance just for a little while.

Half an hour later, Seth parked his car on the sidewalk a block next to the no-parking one where the MerryWorld Books & Travel is and walked walked me to the door.

“I’ll pick you up at nine?” he asked as we stopped by the sidewalk just outside of the bookstore.

I shrugged. “You can but you don’t have to. I worry I’m taking up too much of your time.”

He grinned and cupped my chin. “I like that you take up my time—it’s time well spent.”

I grinned and playfully pushed him away. “Well, you better go. I have to get in.”

“Okay, I’ll see you later.” He kissed me on the forehead and briefly held my hand before turning around and strolling back to his car. 

I tried to wipe the silly grin I’m sure I had on my face and turned to walk into the store where Dana greeted me with what was unmistakably an I-told-you-so smile.

“What?” I asked as I slipped in behind the counter, dropping my bag to the bench behind us. 

Dana turned around and put her hands on her waist. “Did I just see you making out with that nice, rich boy you so heartlessly beat down here a couple of weeks ago?”

My cheeks burned but I kept a cool exterior. “We were kissing, yes, not making out.”

Dana rolled her eyes. “Right. My bad. He really wasn’t fondling your boobs or zipping your fly open.”

“Dana!” I chided, horrified at her extra-loud response, quickly scanning the bookstore to make sure no one heard her. Lucky for me, Tuesday evenings are pretty slow here.

Unabashed, Dana just shook her head wryly. “What did I tell you, Ali? I told you one day, it’ll dawn on you.”

“Dawn what on me?”

“That this boy is crazy about you,” Dana supplied, her arms dramatically flailing up in the air for emphasis. “One look at him and any stranger can tell.”

I sighed and started going through the catalog of books we update at the end of each day. “We’re just starting out, okay? We’re not talking everlasting love here yet. We’re still trying to get a feel of things and figure it out.”

Dana snorted. “You, maybe, but that boy looked like he’s got it all figured it out. He wants you and he wants you to want him and he’s clearly well on his way.”

I stared at the catalog for a couple of seconds before putting it away and turning to Dana. “Hey, you’re my friend, right? Be honest with me. Do you think I’m making a huge mistake going out with him? You know me, you know my priorities. I worry that this is completely messing up my grand plan.”

“Ali,” Dana started, crossing her arms in front of her and looking at me as an adult would look at a child. “Are you happy when you are with him?”

“Yes.”

“Does he treat you and your family and friends well?”

“Yes, so far.”

“Does he listen to you?”

I scrunched up my nose. “Most of the time but it doesn’t mean he’s going to do what you want him to do. You can say he selectively listens.”

Dana rolled her eyes. “Does he shower you with attention and affection?”

I paused for a bit, thinking it through. “He does pay me some attention. He does show up after my class and call and text me every day but then how do you differentiate being showered with attention from being just given some attention? How do you quantify the attention being—“

“Ali, stop overanalyzing it, okay?” Dana chided, looking obviously irritated.  “You’re ruining the romantic nature of the situation here by figuring out the science behind it. Jeez.”

I exhaled sharply, my shoulders slumping. “Sorry. I’m better at science than relationships. I like knowing what things are exactly and how they work. Do you know what I mean?”

“I know what you mean but I don’t think relationships should be an exact science,” Dana answered with startling conviction. “The last thing you want your relationship to be is predictable. When it gets predictable, when you can anticipate every twist and turn, then it’s over or is at least heading that way.”

My eyes widened as Dana went on, pacing back and forth with her arms moving almost ceremoniously as she spoke. “You want to have mystery! Romance! Excitement! You want to keep guessing!”

I frowned. “But I don’t like guessing games. The only time I like them is when I know the answers.”

“What I mean is, you want to keep getting surprised by what you find—in a good way,” she expounded, plopping down the bench next to me and taking both of my hands in hers. “Of course, it doesn’t always work out that way so you’ve got to be cautious about the surprises he springs on you. Anyway, for me, it’s just that there’s a downside to getting to the point right away and hitting a plateau in the relationship. You’d want it to be a working progress. That way you can grow together and you can keep learning new things about each other.”

I eyed her uncertainly. “You know you just told me a combination of half-crazy, half-logical advice, right?”

She grinned and tossed her hair dramatically before getting up. “Well, in case you haven’t realized it yet, you get a little crazy when you fall in love. There’s a fine line between love and insanity, my dear, and most of the time, people tiptoe back and forth.”

She turned and happily greeted an older lady who was a patron of the store and left me there as the truth of her last statement hung in the air. 

I don’t know for sure if this thing between me and Seth is love.

 No one’s mentioned the word but if love is borderline insanity as Dana had said, then I’m sure feeling it because a normal person can’t be this happy and this terrified at the same time.

This must be why people can’t stay away—it’s like a rollercoaster ride to a kid.

You’re scared to death but having the thrill of your life.

***

At the crack of dawn on Saturday morning, I stood in front the tall brass mirror I salvaged from a dumpster near the university residences last year and inspected my outfit studiously.

Seth was arriving any minute to pick me up and I needed to be ready.

My weekend bag is already packed with my favorite sundresses that I’ve made myself, a couple of swimsuits, shorts and shirts, underwear and toiletries. 

I didn’t grow up owning designer-brand clothes and accessories for the obvious reasons but it didn’t stop me from dreaming up looks that I love. When your resources are limited, you have no choice but to get resourceful and creative. I love finding old hand-me-downs in value stores and sale racks and turning them into something totally different and unexpected. I also love the fact that whatever I wore was something only I had without the hefty price-tag of custom clothing. 

Most of my friends appreciate and admire my knack for DIY-haute couture but whether it will impress Seth’s friends or not is a completely different story.

Who knows? And honestly, who cares? I’m dating Seth, not them. Well, okay, sure it would be nice if we can all get along for Seth’s sake but I can’t change who I am to fit in. It makes me want to throw up.

“That better not be the first thing you do when you meet them,” I muttered as I took one last look at my outfit. “Just remember to be nice and don’t be so loud with your criticisms.”

Hopefully, they won’t be so loud with theirs.

I chose to look casual today with a pair of short, navy blue nautical shorts with a white and gold belt, a crisp red and white striped button-down shirt that parted slightly by the neckline, a pair of bright red deck shoes and white silk bandana over my head to tame down my wavy hair a bit.

It was a comfortable and happy outfit and I felt confident in it.

“My, you’re cute,” Seth said with an appreciative smile when I walked out and into his waiting car. It was very early in the morning and the city was still shrouded with a little bit of morning fog and the muted rays of the sun that were starting to find their way through the clouds. 

I grinned and shook my head wryly. “Good morning.”

He leaned forward and kissed me softly on the lips. “Good morning. Are you ready?”

I shrugged. “I’ll never be as ready as I want to be but then no one ever is. You just have to start rolling.”

“That’s the spirit,” Seth mused as he pulled out into the road and into what is the start of our amazing weekend adventure.

Twenty minutes later, we pulled into a magnificently modernistic house with clean lines and shades of slate. It looked like something Frank Lloyd Wright would do if he lived on to see this decade. 

“This is Pat’s house. Patrick, one of my best friends,” Seth started to say as we coasted our way through what seemed like a maze of a driveway.  “His Dad is a highly-esteemed defense attorney and his Mom is a former beauty queen. Pat will go into law school after graduation and just be like his Daddy.”

I smiled at the humor Seth was saying these things with. He gets animated when he talks about his best friends, intriguing me more to meet them. 

“Don can be pretty intimidating when you meet him but trust me, it’s all on the surface,” he went on as we turned into what looked like an entire alley of garages. There’s about ten of them in lined up in two rows of five facing each other. “Chris talks a little too bluntly but don’t mind him. He really is just joking. And then Franco is pretty quiet but he’s a good guy. When he says something, everybody listens. “

One of the garages opened in front of us and Seth drove in and parked the car just as the door behind us drew close again. “We’ll park the car here and go up the elevator. Pat’s taking their motor home to accommodate us all and the guys will take turns driving it. It’s about a five-hour drive.”

“Okay,” I started as I slowly slipped off my seatbelt and hopped off the car. “Do guests each get a garage in here or what?”

Seth grinned at my disbelief and helped me take our bags out from the passenger seat. “Pat’s Dad is a car aficionado. He parks his several regular cars in some of these garages and then he has an entire fleet of vintage cars in the basement that’s only for display and well, an occasional test drive.”

I raised a brow in amusement as I followed him through a door and into a hallway which led to what looked like the elevator. “Well, if there’s one thing Pat’s family sure won’t have a problem with, it’s transportation.”

Two minutes later, the elevator door opened to a vast room with about a twenty-foot vaulted ceiling and huge windows that took up an entire row of walls. There was a seating area in one corner, a sprawling staircase, a huge Picasso art on one wall above the fireplace and big double doors that led to what looked like the patio.

Seth took my hand and led me through the door which opened to a vast patio with a large outdoor kitchen, an infinity pool, a comfortable seating area under the pergola where a group of people were hanging out under the shade of the palm trees and enjoying the view of the city from this hillside fortress.

“Seth, my man!” a guy called out loud to us as he got up from one of the chairs and headed our way. “Chris will be here in about ten minutes and we should be ready to go.”

When he came over, I could see that he was just as tall as Seth, only blond and blue-eyed—the all-American boy-next-door with the big grin and the easy attitude.

“Pat, hey.” Seth clapped his friend’s back and gestured to me. “This is Ali. Ali, this is one of my bestfriends, Patrick.”

“Nice to meet you,” I greeted politely, shaking the hand he offered.

He grinned and nodded appreciatively. “No, I’m glad to meet you at long last. You’re responsible for why my friend here’s been MIA for the past few weeks.”

I blinked, not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, “I’m sorry, I just—“

“No, don’t be sorry!” Patrick immediately corrected with a light chuckle. “I think it’s awesome that you’ve plucked him out from the singles’ scene. You’re doing him a lot of good.”

I blushed but Seth just laughed and playfully punched Patrick on the arm. “Shut up, Pat. Don’t overwhelm Ali or she’s going to run from me and it’s already been quite a chase.”

“Huh, imagine that.” A female, not-so-friendly voice came from behind Patrick and he stepped aside and put his arm around a thin, platinum blonde with bright blue eyes. 

Well, what do you know? The all-American girl-next-door apparently dating the all-American boy-next-door.

“Seth Wallace chasing after a girl?” the girl said, raising her brow with a smile that could almost look friendly if not for the icy glint in her eyes. I immediately felt my walls go up. “That’s not something you hear very often.”

Seth, who seemed oblivious to the sarcasm, simply put an arm around me and squeezed my shoulder lightly. “Well, it doesn’t happen very often. Amanda, this is Ali, my girlfriend. Ali, this is Amanda, Pat’s poor hostage.”

Patrick just laughed and briefly stole a kiss from Amanda’s cheek for which he got a jab on the side with her elbow. “I’m telling you, she’s a willing hostage. She wants me for my money.”

Amanda laughed a dry, sarcastic laugh. “Oh, don’t worry. I’ve got enough of my own. I don’t need to date a wealthy man to get by.”

I didn’t miss the surreptitious glance she cast me and it would’ve turned into an awkward and tense moment if a shrill female voice didn’t ring out from somewhere.

“Seth! Ali!” 

We turned and saw the outfit first and then the petite girl with a sleek, dark pixie haircut running over to us with a brooding, skin-head guy in a black shirt and black shorts trailing behind her. 

“Vivi!” Seth greeted with a wave of his hand.

Vivi? Who in the world names their daughter Vivi?

“Oh, God,” I heard Amanda mutter.

“Hi, you guys!” Vivi gushed with a big smile on her face as she came and briefly hugged Seth and then me. She smelled of strawberries and she looked like one with a bright, strawberry pink miniskirt, a green halter tee and white platform sandals. 

Her smile was broad and bright and surprisingly sincere.

“It’s so nice to finally meet you, Ali,” Vivi said with a little giggle. “I’ve been pestering Seth to let us meet you because I’ve been dying to know who this girl is that he keeps talking about.”

Seth actually blushed but tried to keep a straight face. “I don’t talk about Ali that much.”

“Yes, you do, you idiot,” the skin-head guy said smugly to Seth before extending a hand to me. “Nice to meet you, Ali. I’m Don and this is my girlfriend, Vivi. Sorry, she sometimes forgets she hasn’t met people before.”

“Babe, don’t embarrass me!” Vivi chided with a laugh and Dom, whose stony expression and menacing sense of fashion made you a little uncomfortable, broke into a grin and sweetly kissed Vivi on the lips.

I couldn’t help a smile. Well, what do you know? The most unexpected pairing—cotton-candy-sweet girl and tough guy who seem to be perfectly happy with each other—that was a surprise.

“I love your outfit, by the way!” Vivi went on to gush. “I love the nautical look. And your tan is gorgeous.  It looks really pretty with your wavy hair. Very exotic.”

“Oh God, Vivi, stop it before the poor girl throws up,” Amanda chided, almost sounding like she really meant to be chiding.  “She doesn’t need to be drowned in sea of your compliments.”

I thought Vivi would either burst into tears or flare up but she just shrugged as if used to Amanda’s ice queen attitude. “I think she’s a very pretty girl and should know it. It’s not always about you, Amanda.”

“Alright, ladies, enough with the cat fight,” Patrick said, putting an arm around Amanda and gesturing to the buffet table behind the lounge chairs. “There’s breakfast for everyone to enjoy while we wait so I suggest you eat up because it’s going to be quite a trip.”

Amanda just rolled her eyes and walked away and Vivi looped her arm around mine and softly giggled into my ear. “Don’t mind Amanda. That’s just her exterior when you haven’t gotten to know her very well yet. She’ll soften up.”

I grinned and shook my head. “Well, I sure look forward to when the love finally gets there. Thanks.”

We walked ahead of the boys and Vivi, despite being a total stranger, had a warmth and charm to her that was very disarming. She grabbed me a plate and walked with me while we picked through trays of bread, fruit and bacon and sausages. 

“Like Amanda, the other girls won’t warm up to you that quickly,” she continued telling me in a low voice. “Seth’s been single for a looong time and they’ve paired him up with their own friends unsuccessfully so many times before that it makes them very suspicious of this new fabulous relationship that Seth is overly happy to be having.”

I scrunched up my nose. “That seems like an overstatement.”

Vivi shook her head. “Not if you’re hanging out with Seth and all he talks about is Ali, Ali, Ali.”

I gave her what I can only guess is a sincerely surprised look. “We haven’t been going out that long.”

“I’m aware,” Vivi said casually, without any hint of surprise at all. “He made this big proclamation on one of our dinners that he’s officially off the dating scene, not that he’s been really dating a lot previously. He has a lot of girls who hang out with him or place themselves in positions that allow them to be around him but he hasn’t dated anybody seriously. I guess that’s why people misinterpret that he’s a serial dater because he’s out with different girls a lot but they don’t know that he’s just being a really nice guy and won’t turn down a date his friends’ girlfriends would set up for him. And all these hopefuls, aka the girls who want to be his girlfriend, always claim that he is totally dating them. You get the picture.”

I nodded, secretly feeling slightly guilty for being one of those people who made the obvious assumption.

“Despite what the other girls think,” Vivi continued. “I’m very happy for him. He really seems like he’s found what he’s been looking for and if you don’t know it yet, I think he’s madly in love with you.”

I automatically blushed. “We haven’t talked about that part yet. That’s a bit premature, don’t you think?”

Vivi gave me an understanding though slightly amused smile. “Men barely get around to it on their own. He’ll need a little encouragement.”

Right. Encouragement.

Question is, do I want to encourage him?