Zoe's only wish is to be able to run barefoot through grass, but she knows it'll never happen. Ever since she was born, she's been unable to touch anything living without it instantly dying. It's a curse she would do anything to get rid of, but that...
I had never seen Zoe like she was then. At least not for such a long period of time and not by her own accord. When she had managed to make the first axe hit and when we had played arcade games, she had had moments of that type of unabashed joy. But the happiness that morning was different and her joy easily spread to me.
I couldn't help but wonder a bit what it was about today that made her like that. There didn't seem to be anything specific. Everything had just been so ordinary. If only I knew I could make sure she was that happy every day.
In the car to the market, she asked about music. I turned on the radio and she obviously wasn't used to the music that played, but she nodded along and seemed lost in it. I watched her facial expressions as much as I could, and she was so easy to read.
I quickly noticed that she liked the music that was melodious over songs that focused on the beat. She seemed happy and excited over the more upbeat songs, but it was to slow songs she closed her eyes to and really seemed to enjoy with a soft smile.
It would be fun to make her a mix full of songs I thought she would love.
A slow song played as we reached the market, and her eyes were closed.
"We're here," I said, and the spell the song had over her disappeared instantly. Her eyes shot up, and they sparkled as she looked at the stalls on the square in front of us.
She got out of the car and was already at the closest stall when I had gotten out. And when I reached her, she held a tomato and squeezed it lightly.
"You know what you need?" I asked her and she shook her head.
"Is it okay if we walk a lap first so I can just see what they have?" she asked and put the tomato back.
"Of course!"
I definitely lost track of time as I followed her around. She would stop at different stalls and look at what they had. At some, she would also talk to the seller and ask about growing methods. I had never seen someone so excited about food.
There was one stall with honey and she spent so long talking to the seller that other customers finally got annoyed. When the customers were gone, she apologized, but the seller would hear nothing of it and they went back to talking about honey and bees for another ten minutes, at least, before she picked out a jar that I instantly paid for.
"I have money to pay with," she pointed out.
"But you will be doing the cooking, so paying is the least I can do," I answered and took the bag so she would have both her hands free.
"You can do the dishes also," she smiled.
"Sure," I laughed and had to fight hard to resist the urge to kiss her cheek.
When she had looked everywhere and made the second trip around to buy things, it became very clear that she had made quite an impression on everyone. An old couple insisted that she'd accept an extra bag of apples for free. A woman gave her an apron because it would look so good on her. A man gave her a note with his phone number under the pretense of if she ever wanted to learn more about growing cucumbers, she could call him. She had giggled about it before throwing the phone number away once we had gotten out of sight. Then she had told me all of the things the man did wrong in taking care of plants. I was sure she said that only because she noticed my mood. But nevertheless, it settled my emotions.
I had a constant seething jealousy at all the attention that she got. There were several times that I had been on the verge of saying or doing something I likely would have instantly regretted. But I never did because my jealousy was overshadowed by the happiness I felt.
The happiness partly came from the fact that Zoe was being so radiant. But the main reason was that the woman that lit up the whole market with her presence had chosen me. I was the one she was going to go home with to spend the day with. I would get to stay in her radiance, while the others could just get a small portion of it in passing.
Why Zoe had picked me, I couldn't understand. I was so ordinary, there really wasn't anything that made me special. I was certain that she could charm anyone she wanted to, but had chosen someone as normal and average as me. But I also didn't care to really question why me. Instead, I thanked everything that was holy that I got to be so lucky.
After the market, we went to an actual store to buy some more things that they hadn't had there, and then we headed to my home.
Nerves settled in me. Logically, I didn't think that there was anything that she would see at my place that would make her run the other way. Or well, as long as I kept her from the basement and my dad's office and that was easy since they were always locked, so she wouldn't accidentally go there. If she spent too much time reading the titles of the books in our library, she might feel a bit weird too. But hopefully I had already explained enough so that it wouldn't freak her out.
I was anyway nervous. Maybe I actually shouldn't have spent the night in her hotel room, but been at home so I could do a fast check of that everything looked okay. But it had been so nice to be able to see her as soon as I woke up and the breakfast had been lovely, so I didn't regret my decision.
I really hoped I also wasn't wrong with my assumption of that dad would still be gone. She would have to meet him eventually, but not today. It was too happy a day and she would definitely want a heads up before meeting him.
As the nerves got stronger the closer we got, I started repeating to myself that everything would be fine. And really, there was nothing that could go wrong, right?
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