Runaway With Me

Flo's

GIBSON

So... she's engaged.

That left me not to mess around with that kind of chick. The last time I did that kind of thing, it didn't end well. Lucky for me, a chick was driving an Audi at that time. Guess I'll just lay low with my games. Where is she anyway?

Speaking of the devil, Tina came out of the doors still in her pajamas and a black leather jacket. She smiled as she was walked towards me. I'm sure I just felt my heart did a triple backflip. I forced a smile to set the mood back again. She stood beside me and placed her hands inside her pocket.

"So, where we going?" She asked casually.

"Let's try Flo's diner. It's right around the corner." I pointed to the building with cars parked outside the establishment. We were walking in silence, no one bothered to say a word, too afraid to make the first move. Thankfully, she talked to me first.

"Um... Gibson, what's the plan?" Her nervous tone set the mood of the conversation.

"I don't know, you tell me." And now I wasn't sure what the plan was anymore.

"I thought you had plans for us." She asked, tilting her head sideways.

'Us.' I tested the word inside my head. I was about to say something but then we reached the entrance of the diner. I opened the door for her and followed her inside. She chose the cubicle near the window and slipped inside the booth while I sat right across her.

The diner was big. There were several cubicles near the windows and tables in the middle of the place. In the far left was a bar, some stools and a tv hung on the wall. A lot of people ate. There were these delicious smell of pancakes and coffee permeating the room.

A waitress dressed in her yellow uniform approached us. After giving her our orders, we sat silently and faced each other. Tina was fiddling with the bangles on her hand. So I spoke first to lift the cloud of awkwardness surrounding us.

"Still up for my offer?" As I placed my hands in front of me.

"Well, are you still up for your offer?" She deflected my question with a question, well then...

"Did I ever say I backed down from my offer?"

"No, you didn't. But from the tone you're giving it's like you are, aren't you?"

"Look, we won't have a sensible conversation with this tone." I dismissed.

"I won't argue with that." She crossed her hands.

I rubbed my hands over my face. Damn, this girl is so hard to get.

"Gibson... are we still good?" She asked in defeat.

"We are Tina, we are." I answered then shifted in my seat. "How about this, we leave everything behind. Our lives before, our identities and everything that caused us both to runaway. Let's make our own personalities out here. Let's be a different person out here." I said as I was examining her reaction to my sudden outburst.

"We both wanted to get away, so maybe this is the chance we have been waiting for." I added and tried to knock some sense through my eyes.

"Hmm... I do like the idea." She replied warily.

"Look, if your not up for this, I won't force you to. I just wan-" I was cut short by her outburst.

"No, you're right. I went away hoping to be a different person in a different setting. I guess this is the moment to step out of my comfort zone."

I was caught off guard by her answer. I thought that blondie didn't want to go but thank heavens, she did want to. I was about to open my mouth when the waitress returned with our meal at hand. She set them on the table and left our cubicle. I reached for my fork, stabbed a strip of bacon and stuffed it inside my mouth.

"You know, I still have that bucket list in mind." I said in between chews.

"So which list would we follow? Mine or yours?" She said as she drank her coffee.

"We make our list, things we've never done but willing to do." I stuffed another strip of bacon.

"I like that idea. So how do we pick?" She asked as she started on her omelette.

"Well.. we can't pick if you don't have a list, can we now?" Giving out a playful smirk, guess my mood was back.

"So let's make a list." She said while her mouth was still full. She looked really cute.

"You name it as long as it's something you always wanted to do. By the way, do you still have money? But it's okay if I covered our expenses." I suddenly felt very thankful for bringing my card and money.

"No worries, I stashed more than I should." She smiled brightly, guess this girl was a big shot.

"Okay then, let's get back to the list. Now, we list things we want to try." I cupped my pocket, glad I brought a pen. Why on earth did I bring a pen?

I reached for my wallet and produced a receipt. "Now you write them down, do you have a pen?" As I handed a receipt to her.

"Yep." She answered. So let me guess, for one to runaway, one should have a pen. Jeez, great.

We were busy writing our lists when the waitress came back and refilled Tina's cup with coffee.

"Okay, I'm done. What now?" she shoved the receipt towards my direction.

"Do have any pouch with you?" I asked.

"Wait, we can use the pouch from my sunglasses." She took the pouch and gave it to me. I shredded our paper carefully, making sure not to rip the writings and folded them neatly. I placed them inside the pouch. I shook it and opened it up for her.

"We will take turns in picking. Now, you pick first." I smiled waiting in sweet anticipation what would we be doing today. She reached in, shuffled the papers a bit and grabbed the paper. She opened it slowly . I saw the excitement in her eyes.

"It's mine. Seriously, are we doing this? I was hoping this was the last thing we'd pick." She exclaimed.

"So, what ya pick?" Feeling the excitement myself. She blushed and handed the paper to me. I reached for it and read it. I looked at her, trying to hide my smirk.

"Seriously?" Now I was trying not to laugh.

"Seriously. Can't blame me, I was not the outdoor type when I was young and I always believe I'm never too old to learn." She was really blushing, such a cutie.

I stood up and rubbed my hands together. "Not a moment too soon. Stand up, we still have a biking lesson to learn." I couldn't hide my smile and I knew from that moment this was gonna be fun.