Just as I was tying the last foot, Darius came down wearing a questioning look on his face.
"What are you doing?" he asked. I think that was the first time he spoke to me on his free will. Either that or Margaret called him and told him to check up on me. It was probably the latter, seeing the phone in his hands.
"Going to a carnival," I replied, tying the last knot a bit too tight and fixed the belt while getting up.
"You can't go by yourself," he said, looking at the time. I rolled my eyes. It wasn't even lunch yet. Plus, if he was going to be a boring person doing work all day, I wanted to do something fun in my time. It's not like I haven't done this before.
"Eh, yes I am. Go do your business work or something. You'll barely notice I am gone and by the time you do, I'll be back," I said, fixing my shoes. I grabbed my bag off the floor and he watched me looking like he was thinking something.
"Fine, I'll come with you," he said.
I looked over my shoulder, my hand on the door.
"Like that?" I asked, stifling a grin.
"What's wrong with this?" he asked as he looked down at his suit.
"Oh nothing, nothing at all. Hurry before we miss it all," I said, opening the door. I grabbed the car keys and walked over to the parked Mercedes on the road then he caught up and grabbed the keys from my hands.
"Hey!" I yelled.
"I drive," he said. I shrugged and crossed my arms as he got in. It wasn’t fair. After all, I did get the keys first. First come first served! Finders keepers, losers weepers. Hadn’t he heard of those sayings before?
Furious, I stormed into the car, counting to ten. Come on, Ivory, this isn't something to ruin your mood over. Think of all the candy cane and prizes you can win, I thought, smiling instantly. Oh, this was going to be fun.
"What is this place?"
I looked at him in disbelief. Had he never been to a carnival before? Oh right, he was probably running his businesses and was too busy for these things.
"This is called a carnival, also known as a fair or exhibition in some countries," I said. He shot me a look as I walked into the entrance.
"I know what it is," he said. Whoa, okay then, robot boy. No need to be rude.
I paid for our tickets, since robot boy was just standing there not knowing what to do and I rushed to the first game. I had planned on playing every game and winning at least one thing in every stall.
The last time I did this, I was sixteen with a bunch of my closest friends, whom I also called my fake brothers, and we had managed to win a massive softy toy from each stall.
"Round up, round up, miss. Would you like a shot?" asked an old man holding up what looked like a fishing stick but was made of magnets.
I let out a small squeal and rushed over to him, paying for a game that was three tries.
"Do you want to have a shot?" I asked politely. Even if he was a robot, I was brought up being polite. He looked confused but took the stick.
"What do I do?" he asked. The man explained the rules and Darius's eyebrows knotted like he was concentrating hard. I stifled a giggle while looking around. People were staring at him, maybe it was the lavish business suit one does not wear to a carnival or maybe the girls were checking him out.
I think it's both.
Darius had his first shot trying to pick up a duck and I let out a laugh as he kept missing. He turned and sent me an icy glare.
"Haha! Oh god, hurry up," I said, laughing. Even the old man seemed to be having a show. It had been five minutes and he still hadn't picked up a duck. There was a small crowd around us, either waiting for their turn or found this amusing as I did.
How hard could it be?
"You try it then," he grunted, handing me the stick.
"With pleasure," I said, grabbing it. I positioned myself in the middle just like I was taught to do. Closing one eye, I focused on the middle ducks; they were the hardest to get but they had the most points.
Leaning in on my tippy toes, I reached out, snagging a duck. A cheer went from the crowd and I stared at him with an "I told you so, it's easy," expression and he ignored me, blankly staring back.
I picked up my next two ducks just as easily and shrieked when I got a big penguin. The crowd clapped and let us leave, probably happy they could finally have their turn. I ran to the next stall, which was Archery.
"Here, hold it," I said, turning around and pushing the penguin into his arms. He held up the penguin cautiously and turned it around.
I sighed, shaking my head and paying for my turn. This was going to be fun.
An hour later, I was tired but there was still another half the carnival and I hadn't even started on the food or rides yet. I looked back up, shaking my head.