Red (Raymond Smith Fanfic)

Chapter 12

Two months had passed since the night Elizabeth had dinner at Raymond's manor. They're now officially dating. They text each other or call in the evenings. They reached an understanding that if Ray doesn't reply within a day or two, it's usually work related. Mickey and Raymond travel to the farms a few times during the week to make sure their product is not damaged and checking over the quality of the work by the employees. Sometimes the Lords and Ladies invite them for a drink. Elizabeth and Raymond have gone on more dates since that night. They went to the same café a few days back. Ray also took Elizabeth to Terry's Café London. It's a classic family-run community café filled with black and white photos documenting local life. She absolutely loved this café. It reminded her of the diners in New York. He also took her to the Kennington Lane Café, Charlie's Café & Bakery, Café Van Gogh. They have been to a couple of art museums. They went to the Notting Hill Gate neighborhood. Notting Hill is the perfect place to spot rows of pastel houses and the pastel vintage cars parked outside of them. The best café they went to on one of their many dates was the Biscuiteers Boutique and Icing Café. It is located in Notting Hill, They enjoyed a nice afternoon tea, bought a few of their hand-iced biscuits, Britain's version of a cookie. Ray and Elizabeth even iced a biscuit in the Icing School. She wanted to try it out, but what she didn't expect was Ray also joining in the lesson. There was just something so sweet and nice to see him preparing a dessert.

The best date without a doubt would be when Ray and Elizabeth rode on the London Eye. It is the U.K.'s tallest Ferris wheel and the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom. They watched the sun go down over the House of Parliament. She had been on it before, but with Ray it was a way better experience. The view of the town was wonderful. Ray is a bit of a history buff about London and he explained the history of the buildings' architecture. She enjoyed listening to his explanation.

During the date, both talked about their pasts. Ray admitted that with the OCD he's good at remembering dates. He also admitted that he likes how he is able to remember dates and facts. It comes in handy whenever architecture is brought up in a conversation whenever he and Mickey are invited to parties hosted by the Lords and Ladies who allow them to use their estates for the marijuana farms. Since his teen years, Ray has always been curious about the world around him. While his high school classmates wanted to have the latest cell phone or video game, Ray wanted to know what were the inspirations for the authors' novels, why a certain building was built, or whether William Shakespeare was a real person or not. Elizabeth was in awe after he shared more about his past. She also felt like a bit of an outsider in her teen years. She had friends, but there were some interests they just couldn't see the appeal in like she did. She loved to journal and she still does it to this day. Her friends told her it's a high school phase and she would eventually grow out of it. Elizabeth and Raymond definitely differed in how people accepted their OCDs. Her parents helped from the start in finding ways for her to cope with it. Ray's parents tried to sweep his OCD under the rug. His parents felt shame for his disorder. He would move objects around the house because he believed they were in the wrong spots. He liked objects to be symmetrical. He didn't like odd number of objects to be on the tables. Ray's classmates made fun of his tics, especially the blinking. They also made fun of whenever he would use the whiteout to correct his writing because it didn't seem neat to him. They called him Rigid Raymond. Mickey's job and Raymond accepting it drove a wedge between him and his parents. Surprisingly as a result Raymond became more independent and confident. He knew how to do his job well and he didn't need to depend on anyone. Looking back on it, Raymond knew that he doesn't regret his decision one bit. Mickey Pearson gave him a purpose and paid him a very generous salary. With that generous salary, Raymond saved enough of it and purchased his mansion. He bought all the furniture and painted all the walls. He felt so much pride for his mansion. He bought it and renovated it. This was the one thing which truly belonged to him and no one could criticize him about it. Raymond didn't mind living alone. With the conflicts he sometimes has to deal with, it's nice to decompress in his quiet mansion. It's his fortress of peace. While they watched the sunset, a couple of kisses were shared between them. Elizabeth felt so much joy in being able to spend time with Ray while also discovering new places around the town. It was nice that he was also part of that journey. They are two peas in a pod with OCD, but they get each other. Both are misfits in their own ways, but they fit well with each other.