Rhythm of Love

Part 6

Astrid POV

Jake and I spent an entire hour walking the streets of New York before we found a restaurant but I couldn't complain, I could talk with him for hours before any thoughts of food entered my mind. The way he pulled me close to him and spoke to me at a volume only I could hear, and the way he would just smile at me whenever I went on my tangents, no interruptions, just us. I had never met anyone like him, he was just so perfect in every way. The sound of joy in his laugh and the how I could smell his cologne on my sweater, even when we parted for brief moments, I could just live in his light forever.

After walking around for a little while longer, we came across a small cafe that peaked our interest. From outside we could hear live music, drawing us into the building. The inside of the shop was decorated like a record shop straight out of the seventies. The colors were amazing, there were records strung all across the walls, and at the front of the restaurant there was a little band playing a song I'd never heard before.

"I love this song!" Jake said, as we walked to the counter.

"I've never heard it before."

"What?" he looked at me in shock. "You've never heard Stephen Stills?"

"Nope." I said, shrugging.

"Oh we have some music to listen to when we get back to the house!" he said excitedly.

I smiled at him, "Sounds good to me."

After we ordered, we sat down at table on the wall and I looked at the records, appreciating the scenery around me. While we were sitting we talked about anything and everything, I could talk to him all day for hours and not notice any time passing by. It made me sad that I knew he'd be leaving in a week and I'd probably never see him again, but I had to make the most of the time we had together while we were here. 

"So what brings you boys to New York." I asked him.

"Well, we're about to go on a world tour, that's kind of a secret," he said in a hushed tone, "but we wanted to see which studios had the best sound. for our new album." 

"Oh so this is kind of like a trial run?" I said. 

"Yeah, a trial run, so maybe I'll get to come back." He said. 

"You know, you could come back even if you're not here to record music." I said

"Why? What other reason would there be for me to come back?" He said smiling.

"I don't know, there may be this girl who kinda likes you a little bit." I said in return. 

"Oh there's a girl that likes me?" he asked.

I giggled, "Maybe just a little bit." 

"Well I have to meet this girl, do I know her?"

"Well, you sort of know her, but you haven't known her for a very long time."

"Oh, well I can't date a girl I just met!" He scoffed. "I would never take a girl I just met on a date." he said, winking at me.

"Oh who would ever do that! That's scandalous, everyone knows you can't date until marriage!" I said, returning the wink.

"I know! Dating before marriage is a scandal, especially holding hands with a girl." He said, reaching across the table putting his hand on top of mine.

"Stop it Jacob! We're in public we can't do this!" I responded jokingly.

 "Guess we'll just have to wait until we get back to the house then." he said.

"I guess so." 

The rest of our date was heavenly. He was the perfect gentleman in every way: he picked up the check, spent every minute complimenting me, and held open the door to the cab for me when it arrived. As enthralled with Jake as I was, I couldn't wait to tell Priscilla every little detail! Halfway through the ride to the house Jake got a phone call.

"Jakey!" I heard someone say loudly through the phone.

"Yes, Josh?" He answered. I couldn't hear the rest of the conversation but from the deepening redness on Jake's face I could tell that it was filled with relentless teasing from his brother. "We're almost to the house, about ten minutes away."

"Woohoo! Priscilla the lovebirds are almost here!" I heard more shouting and I could hear my best friend hollering in the background.

Jake hung up the phone and I laughed at him. "Sorry, my brother's an idiot." he said, apologetically.

"I'm the one who should be apologizing, I could hear Pris screaming through the phone!" 

He laughed as he put his arm around me, "Normally I'd be embarrassed, but how could I be with someone so pretty sitting next to me."

His words made me practically melt under his touch, God, I hoped he was serious about coming back to visit. I don't know what I would do if I was never able to see him again. The last ten minutes of the cab ride were spent in complete silence, simply enjoying each other's company, I didn't even notice when the taxi driver had stopped in front of the house. After paying the cabbie, Jake held the door open for me and my jaw dropped.

"Where are we?" I asked him, staring at the beautiful foliage and the gorgeous log cabin we were standing in front of.

"It's the house we rented for our week in New York, had to go all out you know?"

"How long were we in the cab?" I asked him

"About an hour." 

"Seriously?" I said in shock, "Didn't feel like it."

"Well, here we are! Our humble abode!" Jake said, lacing his fingers with mine as we started to walk up the driveway.

When we got inside we were all greeted by hugs and Priscilla pulled me into the kitchen.

"Tell. Me. Everything!" She screamed.

The minute I started to tell her about the events of the day we heard the front door swing open.

"Samuel Francis Kiszka!" We heard a voice screaming from the hallway. Pris and I peaked our heads out of the kitchen to see a small girl with long curly hair, standing inches away from Sam's face. Soon after, Jake came running out of a side room. "What the fuck is going on?" She said, this time more angry.

Sam looked around at the boys until his gaze landed on Jake, who looked like he was about to piss his pants. "Shit."