"Bonjour!"
I looked up at the old woman standing behind the counter and smiled, raising a hand. I went to the other shelves looking at the leather books and pulled one out, flicking to a random page and staring at a random word and then froze.
Perfect. If he was going to give me annoying nicknames, I was going to give him one back.
I put the book back and waved goodbye as I walked out the store and into another.
I watched as the clock struck two and sighed, getting out of the store looking both ways at the traffic and people rushing. Looks like they have a purpose in what they were doing, and then there was me, just waiting.
Crossing my arms under my chest, I ducked my head hurrying to the car on the end street. We can go another day.
The driver climbed out upon seeing me approach and bowed as he opened the door.
"Thank you," I said, climbing in.
"Aluminium!"
I stopped from getting inside and turned around but saw no one. Was I just hearing things? Or maybe it was the wind, it was pretty strong. But it wasn't. The second time I heard it, I looked across the green grass to see Darius running with Adrian behind him.
"About time," I told the driver who just smiled and stepped onto the footpath. I shook my head as the children came.
"Sorry we're late," Darius said, holding my shoulders as he leaned over and kissed my cheek. "This guy wanted to change before we left." He glared at Adrian who was fixing his hair as he joined us.
"Not everyone wants to wear suits all day," snapped Adrian, pulling his shirt down angrily. I shook my head when Darius muttered something, grabbing my arm and tucking it into his. He pulled me, nearly making me trip over.
"Hey, what's the hurry. Don't take her away from me!"
I looked over my shoulder to see Adrian just standing there glaring at Darius. When he realised Darius wasn't going to stop, he ran to catch up with us, tucking my other hand into his and forcing me to stop, and as a chain reaction, halting Darius.
"Gosh. If you didn't want me here you didn't have to invite me," he grumbled.
Darius raised an eyebrow, stepping back and taking my other arm out of his. What the hell was I, some tug of war rope?
"I never invited you, remember?" Darius retorted.
"Well, then, you're a rude boy for not inviting me."
I rolled my eyes, though they were not looking at me. "Can we just go and see the damn tower? I've waited long enough."
Both pairs of eyes turned to me then to each other before Darius tugged me along.
Finally.
It was beautiful.
We were there for hours. People came and left but we stayed, looking at everything we could. I didn't realise how long we were here till I saw the sun in the distance. The timing was perfect. You can just see the sun setting in the distance, shooting colours of orange and light blue into the sky over the city.
If anyone was scared of heights, they wouldn’t be up this high overlooking this spectacular view. There was too much to see that you would forget about panicking. The wind picked up the longer we stayed there. Adrian was off in no time, chatting up single ladies and I laughed at him. Then I turned around to look at the sun setting in the distance.
Just like a perfect picture, a flock of birds cut through the air.
I felt something warm wrap around my shoulders and turned to see Darius slipping his jacket on me. I raised an eyebrow.
"Only this once?" I asked, remembering what he always said when I forgot to bring a coat. Not that he even lent me his then. He just let me suffer, apart from a few rare times like now. He laughed, removing his hand from my shoulder and joining me by the rail.
It only hit me then that I knew nothing about the guy next to me. Not his favourite colour, or his friends, or his school or anything. I turned to ask him something, because now is my turn to ask questions. I met his green eyes, already searching my face.
"Come to dinner."
"What?" I asked, looking at my watch for the time. Isn't it a bit early to have dinner?
"Shouldn't we wait till at least six to have dinner? And please, I'm always at dinner," I said, shaking my head. Like I would miss out on good food.
"No. I mean," he said, staring behind me and I looked over my shoulder to see Adrian waving at us holding his phone up, probably taking more selfies. "Dinner."
"Dinner?" I asked with the same tone he used. He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"He means a date," Adrian explained, earning a scowl from Darius. I looked between them, laughing.
"Are you kidding me? Have you seen this ring? We don't need a d –" And then I stopped, meeting Darius's eyes and then looking from one to another.
"Are you serious?" I asked, confused and excited at the same time.
"I was getting there." Darius snapped at Adrian, ignoring me and speaking to his cousin who was looking way too smug.
"Well, you looked like you needed help."
"I didn't."
"Next time I won't offer."
"I never accepted."