Hooked on love

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

An hour or so has passed and over half of my sangria has been consumed, resulting in me feeling quite tipsy. I’ve found out that Jason is in fact Jackson, he is 22 years old, his occupation is an new Accountant progressed from being an apprentice. His hobbies consist of football, going to the gym- my gym to be exact, how I’ve never seen him I don’t know. He likes to go out drinking and socialising with hid friends and has a younger brother called Seth.
  We ordered a sharer for our starter called ‘Tabla Espanola’ – Spanish cured meats with gordal olives, Manchego cheese, bread and oil. It was delicious, I chewed so fast my jaw started to ache. The meats consistency was soft and melted into my mouth, I didn’t like the olives so Jackson ate them.
For our mains, I ordered ‘Pollo Marbella’ – Chicken breast cooked with chorizo in a white wine and cream sauce. The wine over powered all the meal but the chicken and chorizo was scrumptious. I’m glad I came.

Jackson ordered ‘Albondigas’ - Beef and pork meatballs in a rich, slow cooked tomato sauce. I asked what it was like and my reply was ‘it’s alright.’ He’s had a few beers courtesy of me, so were getting a taxi to our next destination.
“So, what do you think of Spanish food?” I stack our dishes neatly and clear the table, I hate mess.
“It was surprisingly good, I never would have come here so thank you for bringing me.”
“No, thank you for accompanying me, I’ve had a great night so far,” I feel shy all of a sudden. Why does he have such an effect on me?
“Do you want to end it now or do something else?” Oh yeah this was supposed to be our alone time after dinner, I kind of want to continue…
“Well what did you originally have planned?” He looks at me with such a evil stare and grins, I genuinely think he’s got something horrible planned.
“Stop looking at me like that! You look like you’re scheming something bad, what is it?”
“It could turn out bad in the end, but it’s whether you’re willing to come to the dark side.” Is he challenging me? I don’t know if it’s the wine but I feel like I can do anything.
“Okay, I’m in. Bring it.” He’s taken back by my response, he wasn’t expecting me to agree…I’ll play your game.
“Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise, I won’t tell you until we’re nearly there so you can’t run.” He signals the waiter for the check, I reach into my purse to get some cash for the beers.
“I don’t think so, I’ve got my credit card, I’ll pay.”
“Hush it you, I’ll pay for the drinks.” He’s resistant, I can tell he won’t let pay. The waiter brings the receipt and leaves so we can check that were happy with our purchase. I see our drinks have comes too £12.25 total, so I get up, tell the waiter to minus the drinks from the bill and run to the bar to pay. The adrenaline is coursing through my veins, I can’t believe I’ve just ran to pay a god damn bill. Me and my ridiculous stubborn nature.
As soon as I’ve given the cashier the money and tucked the receipt into my purse, I turn round to find Jackson standing directly behind me with his arms crossed. Well crap.

My heart is in my throat, “you pulled a fast one there, I thought you was doing a runner on the date, not paying for half! How coy.” He sounds so disappointed, a slight pang of guilt hits me. Wait, I’m not the one who should feel bad! “Don’t go making me feel bad, Jason.” I cross my arms. He’s stumped by my reply, good. There’s nothing wrong with me paying for something.
“That was a low blow, Ava.”
“I don’t care, you lied in the first place. There’s nothing wrong with me paying for your drinks like we planned, now stop ruining this date.” I still have my arms crossed and my entire body has been tensed the whole time, I shouldn’t feel this irritated but the wine and his attempt to make me feel bad is too much.
Jackson shoves his hands into his jeans pockets, “alright, I don’t want to ruin this night. I’m sorry, thank you for paying. I’m sure you’ll love the next activity, it’ll give you the chance to take some of your anger out on me.” I like the sound of that! “Come on Ava, let’s have fun.” He places his hand on my cheek and strokes it with his thumb sending shivers down my spine. My body relaxes from his touch but spikes my adrenaline. What’s happening to me? I move my face away, confused.
“Okay, sounds like fun, let’s go.” He notices my reaction but doesn’t act on it, I’m glad.

We reach the car and I quickly check my watch, it’s only 4.30PM, I wonder where we’re going. I go to open the car door and Jackson stops me.
“We’re not driving remember? Plus we’ve had a few too many don’t you think?” Pfft, no fun. Who is this Ava?
“We’re walking?”
“Yeah, it’s a 10 minute walk, will you make it?” He’s referring to my feet, they don’t feel too bad, I have been seated most of the night.
“I’ll be alright.” He grabs his jacket, locks the car and holds his hand out for me to hold. I like that about him, I wrap my fingers with his and it feels so right, and that’s when I realised I’m finally starting to be happy.

We walked for 10 minutes through a crowded street and my feet are finally caving in. “How much farther is this place?” He looks at my feet and stops walking.
“ It’s just around this corner, want me to give you a piggy back?”
“As much as that sounds appealing, my dress will not let me.”
“Too bad, so I heard of a little bird that you held the record for something when you was 16 years old.” 16? The only record I obtained was when…CASSIE!
“We’re not?!” My voice went higher than I thought, we turn the corner and I’m gretted with my worst nightmare.
“Yep, I’m taking you to Laser Quest.”