Champagne Problems

The First Date

"Theo! Stop! There's so many people on the train!" I giggled, squirming against Theo as he leaned over to peck a kiss on my cheek.

"So? It doesn't bother me." He mumbled against my cheek, peppering more light kisses across my warm cheekbones.

After an eventful night of mini golf, of which he "taught" me how to hit the ball with the putter, which was mostly of him leaning his whole front side against my back, whispering in my ear praises every time I hit the ball, whether it was a good strike or not. Quiet "Atta girl", "you did so well" and "good girl" murmured in my ear, causing me to blush all over. We took the last train of the night back home, feeling giddy from finally getting the attention I've always wanted from him. To not be seen as just his friend he thought about in after thoughts, but something more. 

And by how much he's touching me now, and how well our night has gone, I think I've got it.

"Did you have a good time?" Theo asked, tucking a loose strand of brown hair behind the shell of my ear, resting his hand at the back of my head.

"Yes, it was lovely Theo. Thank you for taking me." I smiled up at him, revelling in the way he looked at me, like I just hung the moon for him. "It couldn't have been cheap to pay for the two of us on a Saturday night." 

I looked up the prices when he told me he was paying for our tickets, gaping at the increased prices for a busy, late Saturday night session. I offered to pay for my own ticket before brushing me off and replying with something about how it wasn't the gentlemanly thing to do.

"I didn't think you were so bothered about being a gentleman,"

"My mother didn't raise me to be some douche, Mallory."

Theo's cool fingers brush against my cheekbones as he responds, "it was nothing. Your God awful strikes made the extortionate price worth it."

"Hey! I wasn't that bad." I retaliated, playfully hitting him against his chest as he leaned closer.

"You were awful. You got fourteen strokes on the first one. The hole was straight across from you."

"It's my first time! I never played mini gold before!" I said, making eye contact with him, looking into the muddy green eyes that stared right back at mine.

"Still awful for an easy hole-in-on." he teased, gently flicking the tip of nose.

"Whatever." I huffed, feigning annoyance as I broke eye contact and rolled my eyes.

"I still feel like it's impossible for someone to get two hundred hundred and twenty four strokes in one mini golf course. Surely, no one can be that bad." 

I rolled my eyes again, looking at the couple with an infant. The exhausted mother gratefully handing over their fussy baby to the father, who immediately starts bouncing him, giving the woman a loving smile. The mother smiles back before resting her head against his shoulder. I want a love like that. A love strong enough to create life and work in partnership. A love that helps each other out and lessen the load for the other.

"Eyes on me, Mallory." Theo's deep voice brought my mind back to him. His smirk half a foot away from me as he tucked a finger under my chin to angle my face in front of him. "I want to see your beautiful eyes only on me."

"They're just brown." I said, smirking back at him.

"Ah yes. But they look like wells of honey. They're stunning."

" A poet, are you?" I tease.

"Poets are fools. But my love, I'm a fool around you."

It may be too early to be feeling like this. Like a puzzle piece perfectly slotted into place. Yet, with every shared glance and fleeting touch, the harmony of our laughter, the ease of our conversations, all pointed to a connection that felt like something I've always longed to have.

It felt timeless.