' A Kiss To Remember '

PETER PARKED in front of a coffee shop and after helping me out of the car, we walked side by side into the shop and joined a long queue at the counter despite the stares and whispers of people seated around.

"How do you get used to so much staring?" I asked in a whisper while we waited patiently in the queue.

"I've just gotten used to it."

I doubted the credibility of what he just said. How could someone get used to being stared at? Right now, the eyes of the people looked ready to drop from their sockets and much to my distaste, some mouths were hanging open.

"Actually, I act like they're nonexistent, I ignore them." He added and moved to the counter when it got to our turn. I joined him there and we ordered. I ordered nothing more than a cup of coffee because I didn't know how to tell Peter I was a vegetarian.

He pulled out a seat for me. I sat on it and placed the cup of coffee on the table in front of me. He sat down opposite me and watched me for awhile.

"I'm a little bit curious about this beautiful lady seated here, I wish she would tell me about herself."

I laughed at his choice of words and he watched me eagerly.

"You did not just say that, did you?"

Peter tapped the table lightly with his fingers after taking a sip of his coffee.

"What would you like to know about this lady," I pointed at my chest.

"Everything." Peter replied and leaned towards me, locking his hypnotizing eyes with mine. I shied away from him in response and he smirked, fully aware of his effect on me.

"I'm Florence Steel...born on the 24th of April 1996."

Peter stared at nothing in particular as he made a mental calculation of my age.

"You're 21?" I nodded and he gestured for me to continue my narrative.

"I was born in Florida, I attended high school there, my university education was done here in New York and... I'm a vegetarian."

"Why didn't you say so?" he asked pointing at the untouched cup of coffee in front of me.

"I couldn't tell you," I looked down at my fingers.

"Florence, look at me."

I raised my eyes to meet his.

"You can tell me anything Florence, I'll listen," he spoke while staring intensely into my eyes. As I stared into his eyes, everything around me disappeared momentarily, my worries faded away too.

We spent the next hours talking about different things, I asked him so many questions and he answered them all truthfully, though I avoided questioning him about his present relationship, it's his personal life and besides, we're just friends right?

He told me he would like me to visit his family someday and I looked forward to that day.

At some point, all good things come to an end, we both reluctantly got into his car and he drove me home.

I replayed the previous events in my head as I stepped into the house, I didn't notice when Tamara snuck up on me.

"Boo!" she yelled, forcing me to scream and jump back in fright. When my adrenaline levels dropped, I faced her.

"Jeez, you scared me, don't ever do that again," I punched her playfully.

"I saved you from walking into the wall." She pointed behind me and I turned to the the wall which fortunately I had escaped crushing my nose against.

A loud gasp flew from my mouth as thoughts of getting a nose surgery entered my mind. I looked at Tamara who had a grin on her face. I wandered around the house searching for signs of my mom with my eyes, finding none, I sighed and sank to the floor beneath me and Tamara did the same.

Sometimes I wished my mom spent more time with us, she was barely around because she came home by ten in the evening and took off by six in the morning. I knew everything she did was for our good. I knew she had to work hard to keep the house in a good condition, buy accessories, buy groceries and all that was needed, she never allowed me or Tam to spend our money on household stuff no matter how much we protested. She simply wanted the best for us. I could see loneliness around her despite the fact that we're always there for her, I knew another reason why she worked so hard was to wipe away traces of loneliness from her.

But no matter how much she tried to mask her feelings, I knew a part of her heart yearned for completeness, completeness that neither of us could give her.

💭💭💭

The next morning, I woke up when the rays of the morning sun was finding its way into my room through the window. I rubbed my sleepy eyes and stayed a bit on my bed to rid my head of last traces of sleep. I hated waking up in the morning and falling back asleep again.

I walked into my bathroom and poured cold water on my face before staring at my reflection in the mirror before me.

Monday.

Great, I'm officially unemployed, I'll be spending sometime at home till I find a job that's not at Nicholas Corporation.

Tamara told me that she has a lot of clients to attend to, so she'll be coming back later than usual.

Great, just great.

As I slipped out of the bathroom, I checked the time.

6:30a.m

The house was eerily quiet when I stepped down the stairs. I moved to the kitchen and poured myself a glass of water which I gulped down slowly, letting the water sooth my throat.

I allowed my eyes wander around the kitchen in search of something to do. There were a couple of plates in the sink and I washed them.

After taking my bath, I sat in the living room flipping idly through different channels on TV. I groaned in frustration when I found nothing interesting. Just news, news, news.

Grudgingly, I snatched my phone from beside me and walked out of the house to go get some groceries.

As I walked past a couple of houses, I took time to observe everything around me. I noticed the trees flanking the sides of the road, their leaves falling to the floor, characteristic of Autumn. I hugged my jacket to myself and entered the Mart where varieties of food items were displayed for sale. After picking the stuff I needed, I paid for them and headed back home.

After setting down the groceries in their place, I moved to my room and fell to my bed staring at the ceiling.
I picked up my phone and played a few games before I slept off.

***

"Florence." A hand tapped my shoulder. I looked up to see Tamara smiling down at me. I returned the smile and she sat beside me. I could tell from her clothes that she had just returned from work.

"How are you feeling?" She asked and I scoffed in reply.

"If only you had not resigned, you won't be as grumpy as this." She reached out to pat my hair but I swatted away her hand.

"By the way, Peter's waiting for you downstairs, he arrived a few minutes after I got back from work." She announced and I instantly sat upright like a pogo stick.

I jumped out of my bed, almost tripping over the loose end of my blanket. Moving to my dresser, I brushed my hair which looked exactly like a bird nest, and packed it up in a bun. After I found my outfit agreeable, I darted out of my room leaving Tamara who stared at me like I was crazy.

Peter looked up from his phone and gave me one of those smiles that left me speechless for awhile.

"How are you doing?" He asked as I sank into a sofa.

"I'm still sleepy, I had nothing to do all day." I muttered under my breath and he nodded in understanding.

"I was thinking we should head over to the park, it's always calm in the evenings." he suggested and I smiled.

Great, just what I need.

"it's a great idea, come on." I pulled him out of the sofa excitedly, he was taken aback at first, but he regained his composure.

He got into his car after I was comfortably seated and drove off in the direction of the park.

When we arrived at the park, Peter parked his car in the designated spot and got out. He opened the door for me and I stepped out cautiously.

"Thanks." I looked around the park, the serene environment filled me with nostalgia, when dad was still with us, we all came here as a family, smiling and laughing at funny things. We once had a picnic here and I could remember the spot where we had our last picnic together. Close to a large tree which provided the surrounding areas with shade on a sunny day.

I could still picture how my dad held my mom tenderly in his arms while Tamara and I grinned widely at them. It all came back to me, the memories, and I blinked away the tears forming in my eyes.

We sat on a bench close to my 'memory tree'

"Hey, you OK?" Peter asked, studying my face. I nodded and wiped away the tears that had defied me and were now coursing down my cheeks.

Peter turned my face gently to meet his gaze, he wiped my tears away with one of his fingers, his eyes lingered on my lips for a second and then returned to meet my eyes. I was lost in his eyes and I didn't realize he was leaning towards me, his eyes were still on mine.

He leaned in till our lips were only inches away.

"You're precious, Florence." Peter whispered and then he captured my lips with his, catapulting me out of earth temporarily.

After we broke off the kiss, reluctantly though, Peter held my hand and gently caressed the back of my hand with his fingers.

"This park holds a lot of memories for me too, I haven't been here in awhile because of them. But then I realized that I can't keep running away from my past, they'll always catch up with me. It's best we face our past and accept the fact that it'll always be a part of us."

He spoke eloquently and I listened with rapt attention, occasionally glancing around the park, few couples were seated at different points. I looked up at the sky and found the sky in its journey across the sky. Peter joined me in gazing at the beautiful sunset.

"Do you stargaze?" I asked and he shifted his gaze from the sky to me.

"I haven't stargazed in awhile." Peter admitted and pulled me to his side, I placed my head on his shoulder.

"How about we try that one of these days?" He suggested, running his fingers through my hair.

"That would be great, I'd love that." He nodded and we stared at the vast expanse of green grass and trees before us.

I spotted two familiar figures walking across the field, I squinted my eyes to make sure my brain wasn't deceiving me.

"Could that be... " we both started together. Peter turned to me and gave me a knowing smile.

He pulled me up and we stealthily made our way towards the two familiar people. We exchanged looks as we saw fully engrossed in a romantic moment.

"Ahem... am I interrupting anything here?" Peter spoke with a naughty smile. The culprits; Justin and Alice turned to us with shocked expressions on their faces. A reddish tinge crawled up Alice's cheek.

Alice glanced at me and I smirked.

"Um...we... we were just talking." Justin stammered, intimidated by Peter's playful glare.

"Obviously." I put in with a smile plastered on my lips.

"We'll have this talk at home." Peter glanced at Alice who nodded stiffly. He gently pulled me back to our former position.

"What'd you do that for?" I asked when we were seated.

"Do what?" he wrapped his arms around you and I snuggled into his side.

"You just embarrassed them, I thought you were going to say something else."

"It was fun, didn't you see the looks on their faces?" He said and chuckled.

I smacked his chest with the back of my hand and he groaned.

After a few minutes of conversing some more, Peter looked down at his wrist watch and said it was time to go.

He drove me home and helped me get out of the car as usual. We walked to the front door together. Let's just hope Tamara isn't somewhere spying.

"I had fun."

"Yeah, I did too." Peter inched closer to me making me take full notice of his brown irises. He reached out to lift my chin with his fingers, and I stared deeply into his eyes while ignoring the fluttery feeling in my chest.

"You're perfect Florence." He said and kissed me gently. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back.

"I really like you Florence, I'm hoping you'll give me a chance?" He broke off the kiss still staring into my eyes.

I battled with my thoughts for awhile. would it hurt to give him a chance? What if he turns out like other guys in the world and breaks my heart into tiny pieces?

I pushed those negative thoughts aside, and parted my lips to release my answer.

"Yes, I will." A little smile played on his lips and he captured my lips with his.

Let the fireworks commence!

🌋🎆🎆🎆🎇🎇🎆📯📣

The moment we've all been waiting for.

THEY KISSED!!!(🙌🙌🙌🙌)
I guess it's time for some ship names, who do you ship, Philence or Pence? Come up with your ship names and let's set our ships sailing!

COMMENTS AND CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISMS ARE WELCOME.

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LOTS OF LOVE AND KISSES,

Tris. ❤