ᴏᴘᴘᴏsɪᴛᴇs ᴀᴛᴛʀᴀᴄᴛ

Chapter 10

She looked at herself in the mirror.

Moments of the last night, made their way into her head.

Moments of her and Charles.

His words... his gaze...

Why was she so affected by him?

Her doorbell rang and pulled her away from her thoughts.

She suddenly remembered the day, the time and what she had to do.

It was time for her date with Luke.

Luke.

The handsome, charming and funny man who was waiting for her outside her house.

She took in a deep breath and wore a fake smile, hoping it would scare away her demons.

She opened the door and was faced with a bouquet of her favorite flowers.

Irises.

She frowned at him.

How did he know?

Strange as it seemed to her, she took the  flowers and kissed him on the cheek.

"Come in."she told him." I'll put these in a vase. "she continued, heading towards her kitchen.

He smiled and started looking around.

At her books... her vinyl records... everything that could be of use to him...

He found a lot of pictures of her and her nephew.

Alicia had told him all about her tragic past.

So... he understood that the only way to get through to her was to get through to her nephew.

Ugh. He despised kids.

She returned, wearing a coat and holding a clutch.

"Shall we?" she asked with a soft smile.

He smiled.

"You look beautiful."he said with a sly smile.

" So do you. "she said with a small smile.

They exited her house and he watched her lock it, before he linked his hand with hers.

When they reached their destination, a beautiful litte rustic restaurant, Luke opened the door for her... and helped her out.

A perfect gentleman.

Her mind went back to Charles.

Would he ever open the door for her?

She shook those thoughts out of her head and walked with Luke into the restaurant.

It was empty.

But all the lights went on.

"Are we too early?" she asked him.

It was already ten past nine.

He smiled gently at her.

"It's all ours. It's owned by a friend of mine." he said as he pushed the door open.

She frowned.

This was too formal.

All of it.

It was weird.

Why was he being so romantic?

What was he expecting of her?

She bit her lip and followed him inside towards a candle lit area.

They sat on a wooden table and within a few moments, a suited up waiter came to take their orders.

He decided for her, telling her to trust him, that she would like it.

She felt awkward.

She wished Charles were there.

Even when they were fighting he made her feel at ease.

She gritted her teeth and told herself to stop thinking about him.

When their wine came, she chugged it down in one sip.

Luke looked at her with widened eyes.

"Tough day?" he asked.

She smiled.

"Tough night." she answered.

He smirked and placed his hand above hers.

"Hopefully this one will make you forget about it." he said kissing her on the cheek.

Hopefully she thought to herself and smiled.

"Tell me about yourself." she told him.

She wanted to hear something interesting. Something to get her mind off him.

He smiled and took a sip from his glass before setting it back down.

"Well... I work in an advertising company. Have been for the past twelve years of my life. I'd say I'm pretty successful.." his words faded out as he continued.

She didn't find him interesting.

At first sure...but now...

She asked him to tell her about himself and yet he speaks only of his job...Is that all he was?

She looked at him.

He was handsome... sure...

He continued talking about some investments and a project he was working on.

She smiled and nodded, feigning interest.

Did she find him dull just because he wasn't Charles?

There she goes again... thinking of him.

He's become a disease...A virus stuck to her head.

"Will you excuse me for a moment?" she said politely, interrupting him.

He stopped talking and frowned at her ad she got up.

"I need to go to the toilet." she smiled and before he nodded before she started heading towards there.

Once she found it and made sure no one was around she closed the door and let out a sigh.

"What the fuck are you doing, Cleo? You're in a date... with a handsome... nice guy...And you're still thinking about him?" she asked herself in frustration.

She heard a ringing sound and looked down at her phone.

It was a text, from her aunt.

Just a couple photos that show just how thin the line between love and hate is..

The text read and under it she noticed two photos of her and Charles dancing, looking into each others eyes with an intensity she rarily knew.

Thanks. I'll keep that in mind.

She wrote with a smile.

Her words were true because as she got back to the table that was all she thought about.

A part of her couldn't help but think about her first love, how much he had hurt her... But then again that was love.

Luke looked up from his phone once he saw her.

She stood next to the chair, her heart in the throat.

"I'm... I'm sorry. I have to go. I don't think I can do this Luke. My mind is somewhere else. You're great. It's just... my heart's not in it anymore." she said quickly.

She opened up her bag and pulled put a few dollar bills.

"Here.I don't want to have to owe you. Goodbye, Luke." she said before turning around and leaving.

She was going to find him.

She wanted to know what that kiss would feel like.