It's only us. (ON HOLD)

19

"I'm impressed," I said with a chuckle, " you've outdone yourself haven't you?" he pulled my chair out for me to sit down before he pushed it in.

"yes well, I told you, you deserved a break" he added before he sat down in front of me.

as I looked at him, it was extremely hard to imagine we would be like this one day. for his intention seemed so pure it kinda scared me almost.

as the waiter took our orders and left us with small smiles I found myself admiring him as time went on.

"for you, madam?" the waiter asked. " can I please get the chardonnay with the chicken parmigiana ?" I asked as I closed the menu. "is that all?" I nodded. " and for you sir." "the same thing." he said, "just with a glass of red wine instead" the waiter nodded before he walked away.

as I looked around I noticed the big fish tank that was built into the wall. there were what looked to be hundreds of small fish that swam around, and had the most beautiful accent pieces surrounding them.. "this is nice" I said softly. "I'm glad you like it," he said in response," also, these are for you..." he said, handing me flowers. my eyes widened immensely, "these are so pretty.." I said," thank you.." I looked at the roses in my hands as some were a light pink and the others a dark red. "but how did you get these here, I didn't see you carry them in?"

"I have my ways, niara," he said with a smile. my face turned red as I felt a smile growing on my face quickly. it was apparent he wanted to say something or even ask a question. "what's wrong with your face?" I asked. he looked startled as I asked him that question," there's nothing wrong with my face, I'm just thinking"

"about?" I inquired.

he pushed his hair back with his palms," about zombies" he joked. I raised an eyebrow at him as I laughed," zombies? you're thinking so hard about zombies that it makes your face wrinkle up like an old man?"

"give or take, but it's a serious circumstance! it could happen one day," he exclaimed. I rolled my eyes as I decided to feed into his childish antics," alright, where would you go then if it did happen?" he cracked his hands as if he was waiting for someone to ask this question his whole life. "oh I'm so glad that you asked. first off im grabbing every single thing I could use as a weapon, I don't care what it is if it's a shovel I will use that thing like my life depends on it" "well, your life does depend on it, Diego." I said before I started to laugh.

the waiter swooped by and placed our glasses of wine on the table before we began to converse once more. "you're not funny, you knew what I meant." he said rolling his eyes. "did I though?" i asked," because i feel as if a shovel doesn't necessarily work too well if it gets lodged into a skull and gets stuck correct?" he scoffed," oh whatever like your idea is any better"

" i think my idea is much better, listen." he sat back in his chair and gave me the lead," alright so basically i would get a sailboat and get as much canned food as possible, then a water filter, a fishing pole and a cooler to keep fish in. along with any other things like clothes and some matches. and i would sail around until i found an island without zombies."

he nodded with approval," i think that's a wonderful plan niara, but wouldn't you get lonely?" i shrugged," well wouldn't anyone be if it was the apocalypse?" he nodded and gave me a look of agreement," you do have a point there" he chuckled. "but what if they end up being able to swim, niara?"

but before i could say anything, the meals were placed in front of us. "thank you" we said simultaneously before we began to eat.

~

as we finished eating, we discussed life and future travel plans. these plans did consist of taking the zombie apocalypse into account if you were wondering. for once the ideas that flew through my mind were equally thought about and were talked about in constant conversation. now were all of his ideas the greatest? no, they were not. but i still didn't mind entertaining them for just one moment.

as we fought over who was going to pay the bill he ripped the black book from my hands and slid his card inside. "i told you, you deserved a break. let me take care of you niara" and that statement was so shocking, I'd never heard anyone say something like that before. and reluctantly, i placed my card back in my wallet and let him pay.

as he stood up and pulled my chair out from under the table i couldn't help but smile, as i grabbed the flowers before i took hold of his arm. a smile crept onto his face as we got into the elevator to go back to the first floor. as we stepped inside, the doors closed leaving us to stare at our reflections.

"you look really pretty niara" he said softly. i smiled before i clutched his arm a bit tighter," thank you, you clean up very nicely yourself" i said in response. i saw him smile before we both sheepishly looked at each other.

and ever so slightly, he turned his head to the side slowly, before he kissed my forehead.

what seemed to be a small and gentle gesture felt so much more in that moment, as it felt like my heart skipped a beat. i stood there for a moment, dumbfounded before the elevator stopped and the doors opened.

we walked back to the car in silence, a comfortable one. as my grip on his arm slowly turned into me intertwining my fingers with his, i slowly began to realize something between us finally started to grow. when he opened the door for me and let my hand go it felt like something disconnected, and for the first time, i didn't like it.

he closed the car door and made his way to his side before he closed his door behind him. he pulled off and began the drive back to the hotel.

i tapped my fingers anxiously the whole ride there, taking small glances at him when i know he wouldn't see them. i was infatuated with him as the time we've spent here together has led us to only grow closer. i thought for a moment, about the pool and how the cool water felt so good.

"Diego," i said abruptly. "yes niara," he said in response. "I'm gonna swim when we get back," i said," so if you wanna join, then i wouldn't mind". and i expected some sort of "yea I'll join" or "yea why not" but it never came.

all that came out of his mouth was "alright"

and just like that, all the butterflies i was feeling moments ago diminished.