The Album of Perfect Moments

Better safe than sorry

I looked at the model perched on the surface of my desk. A little literature project. A sample of what romance was for me. I didn't use to have those kinds of ideas because I didn't have that sentimental inclination, but I believed that the right music could always help with that. And I liked it. Although it was certainly annoying when your sister would pull the headphones off your head without warning and yell in your ear as if you were deaf.

"I've been telling you for two minutes that you have visitors." Rossie breathed in and out. Now she spoke in a normal tone of voice. "Jeez, Siena, you're gonna be a doctor. You know it's not healthy to play music so loud."

I rolled my eyes and got my headphones back from her hands because, with how clumsy she was sometimes, she could have dropped them without wanting to.

"Yeah, well, I needed inspiration if I wanted an A on this." I waved towards the model with a red rose in the middle of spiral letters, simulating a heart-shaped explosion.

She arched an eyebrow at the model suspiciously.

"It's too passionate for someone like you, sister," criticized Rossie. "Has someone melted that calculating heart, and you haven't told me?"

"In case you haven't noticed, you forced me to fall in love with romance novels, hot heroes, and impossible stories. It is your fault.

She wiggled her eyebrows mischievously, and I was about to drag her out of my room, but she won me over by speaking first.

"Speaking of hot protagonists, one is waiting for you downstairs."

"Don't bother me," I replied with more curiosity than I had before. "It's Mr. Darcy, isn't it? Or no, no, wait. It has to be from modern times... Patch Cipriano? Christian Grey? Tell me it's Rhys Baker."

I left my room while my sister chased me, laughing out loud. The very idiot making fun of my emotions. Of course, I kept in mind that it couldn't be any character from a book, but even so, I really wanted to know who it was.

When I finished going down the endless stairs, I ran through the hall and opened the door. And yes, Rossie was right. I had a visitor.

I stopped short in astonishment.

"What the hell are you doing here, and how did you get my address?"

He leaned on his gorgeous car and grinned cheekily as I figured out the answer. Declan.

"Who were you waiting for, Jane?" he asked shamelessly. "I am almost offended to see your face drain of all emotion."

I pursed my lips. He was not a fiery, hot protagonist. He was the antihero of my life, nothing more and nothing less. I would have wanted to kill Rossie on the spot, but the truth was that I had been the naive one. How could I have expected someone as perfect as Joshua Templeman or Bryce Trickett to show up in front of my house just to see me? The very idea was ridiculous.

I didn't have time to respond to his provocative comment. The recent acquisition, or as I liked to call it, fur ball, of Rossie, ran away, barking, and began to jump on Alieth's legs until he decided to take her in his arms and caress her tenderly.

"Do you like puppies?" I asked, incredulous. The calculations were failing me. A person like him couldn't love those cute little monsters to exhaustion and disastrous as a hurricane.

"They're adorable and naughty," he replied, after earning himself a lick from Cotton. "Enough to win my heart."

"Someone like you isn't supposed to like animals," I blurted out before I could stop myself, which was very rude, but he ignored it.