t h i r t y o n e
" he's definitely going to want
to rip that straight off you "
-

-

Adela had asked Lewis if he wanted to stay, but he'd declined, whilst apologising, and told her that he had something to figure out at the company, but he'd be happy to take her out for dinner that evening. Of course, adding that she didn't have to if she was busy.

Adela wasn't busy.

After agreeing and saying goodbye to him, she'd spent a solid hour on the phone with Alice, giving her every detail, getting her ear blown off by delighted screams.

"I can't believe you didn't have sex with him right there and then," Alice said, exasperated.

"On the breakfast bar?" Adela asked through her laugher.

"Yes, on the breakfast bar. That would've been hot," She said, clearly fantasising about doing such a thing with her own boyfriend. No doubt they'd already done it. Adela couldn't deny that she would've let him do that with her, but she pushed that feeling down.

It was too soon for her to commit to someone like that. To display her vulnerabilities to him. Even if he would accept every single one of her flaws and imperfections, she wasn't ready to have sex with him just yet.

"Right," Adela replied, swallowing, before asking, "So, what should I wear?"

"Something that's going to make him want to fuck you on the breakfast bar," Alice quipped, clearly proud of herself.

"Shut up," Adela grumbled. "Seriously, help me. This is our first proper date and I want it to be perfect."

Alice hummed. "Well, if you're going out for dinner, maybe go classy. Got any floor length dresses?"

"Only one."

"Okay, great! Try it on. I'll face time you in like... five minutes to see what it looks like." With that she hung up.

It took Adela a little while to drag the dress from the wardrobe, careful not to get it tangled with other clothes. She thought it best to put it on before she held it up against her body in the mirror, deciding actually seeing it on her body would leave less room to change her mind or hate it.

It slipped right on. The navy material slick against her skin, the neckline plunging and the slit at her leg exposing more skin than she thought appropriate for Winter. The darker colour made her pale skin stark, but she quite liked that, somehow.

Her phone began to ring and she quickly propped it up, answering it for Alice to see the dress.

Her rosy-cheeked face popped up and immediately her mouth moulded into a wide, toothy grin.

"He's definitely going to want to rip that straight off you," Alice commented, resting her chin on her hand.

"That's not... I don't want him just to want sex with me. I want him to think I look beautiful," She said, cringing at herself, but needing to say it to push Alice away from the sexual comments.

Alice's grin slid down into more a of a simple smile. "And, if you wear that, he'd definitely going to think you look beautiful, Ads."

Adela smoothed her hands down the front of the dress. "You think so?"

"I know so," Alice replied, voice confident.

-

-

Chris wasn't quite sure how he'd managed it, but he'd actually taken Cora's advice. Got out into the world and found a girl who actually seemed into him from first encounter, not just from his dating profile.

They'd run into each other in the local café. He'd skirted around a woman who was still pondering over the drinks choices and went up to the counter to make his order.

"Did you just push in?" The barista asked, a ginger eyebrow raising cheekily. Her hair was a deep auburn, pulled into a pony tail, fly-aways curling at the sides of her freckled face. "Because if you did I'm gonna have to ask you to leave, Sir."

"I think she's still deciding," Chris replied.

"Right, well, in that case, may I take your order?" She asked, her large, white teeth flashing as she spoke.

"Yeah," Chris said. "I'll have a large Americano, please." His eyes dipped to look at her name badge as she typed his order into the register. Allie. A pretty name, but pretty wasn't at all what she was.

Girls like her weren't just pretty.

Jaw-dropping would be a better word, but Chris was too worried about his coffee to even consider those big, round eyes, sky blue and staring at him once again from behind long, curling lashes. Or her brown hair that should've been boring, but was the complete opposite. Combined from different shades of brown, all shades of brown it seemed.

Again, he was more worried about his coffee. Quickly, he paid and went to the end to wait for his to-go drink.

Chris scrolled through his phone as he waited, but there was nothing of use there. The same old girls on the same old dating sites. Blonde haired yoga-enthusiasts with tiny dogs and a smoothie for everyday of the year.

He barely glanced up when the familiar white to-go cup was placed on the counter and picked it straight up, feeling the warmth spreading into his hands as he shoved his phone into his coat pocket and exited the café.

It was only when he was halfway down the street he noticed the scrawled writing on the side of his cup, much more than his name.

A phone number along with a signed name.

Allie.

For a moment, Chris dismissed it. But with every step he seemed to convince himself even more that he should just take the plunge, type the number into his phone and text her.

After all, what's the worst that could happen?

-

-

The day seemed to go terribly slowly.

Adela spent a lot of the day preparing herself. This preparation ranged from face masks to painting her fingernails and toenails to match.

All the while, her stomach felt as if it were doing flips. Never settling even for a second. Before, seeing Lewis wasn't quite so intimidating as it was now. Then they were just friends, but now they were more than that.

Not that Adela hated that fact, but she couldn't help but feel scared for her still-mending heart.

And now she sat before her mirror. Dress pooled around her as she knelt there, looking herself over. Staring into her own eyes. Telling herself to relax because this was Lewis.

Lewis and not Simon.

He was a completely different person with different thoughts and different feelings and he didn't seem like the type of person to just drop her like she was nothing to him when he got scared of the future.

Adela shook her head, laughing quietly to herself, at herself, as she began to pull on the low heels. She was worrying over nothing. This could be one of the best dates of her life with one of the most handsome men she'd ever met and she was still sat there worrying whether he even liked her as much as she wanted him too. Whether he was going to friend-zone her.

If Alice were there, she would tell her to open her eyes and to remember that the very man she feared friend-zoning her was also in her bed last night, kissing her with that pretty mouth of his.

It was then that the doorbell rang and Alice was immediately flung from Adela's thoughts as she pulled the last strap tight and hurried to answer it.

Adela took one breath. She could do this without letting herself get bogged down in the past. Just remember he's a different person, remember he'd not going to hurt you like he did.

She pulled open the door before she could let herself think anymore.

And there he was, already smiling at her.

She watched as his eyes traced over her, head to toe and then back to meet her eyes.

"Wow." Was all he said, but it was enough to send an instant blush to her cheeks, burning hot pink.

It was always enough, and it always would be.

-

1365 words
finally posting huh