Imagining Us

Ch. 76- One Truth

She didn't win a thing.

Part of it was Porte's fault–all of a sudden after his lack of belief in her abilities, he wanted the biggest stuffed animal. On her third round, he ended up helping her, much to the dismay of the man behind the booth. He grumbled something about cheating to which Porte cut him a glare that shut him up.

Now, she had to deal with a subtle "i told you so' in the form of a grey husky-looking puppy larger than her head. The puppy's tongue was out as if it was mocking her loss. She was just glad that it wasn't the Orca.

Why was that even an option for a stuffed animal?

She shuddered.

''It's all in the wrist", Porte had said when he won; she'd mocked him in return.

They were currently sitting on a bench–with the husky firmly between them–about to eat the largest corn dog that she'd ever seen.

Esi spun it in her hand. She didn't even know where to start.

"Baby, just bite it," he said amusedly.

He was piling on the endearments, but just Esi glared at him.

"One–I am currently not your baby," she said, gesturing to the line of demarcation aka "the stuffed animal".
"Two–I've seen bigger." She deliberately cast an eye down his body.

Porte stared at her, his mouth slightly agape, and she was glad to have rendered him speechless.

Esi–by some miracle–finally bit into her corndog. She felt the bench move slightly, and the animal disappeared from between them.

She exclaimed something that he didn't understand because her mouth was full.

Porte laughed suddenly and nervously. "You know I've never met anyone like you," he mused.

She looked at him, shrugged and took another bite.

Then another laugh, her eyes flicked to his with concern.

There was nothing funny.

"I love you."

Esi choked.

"I'm in love with you," he continued as she began to cough. Porte shifted to pat her back.

"Water–please," she gasped.

He handed her the bottle, the corner of his mouth tilted up slightly.

She looked everywhere but him as she drank. Exactly a minute passed–she knew because she was mentally counting.

Esi cleared her throat and glanced at him. He was looking at her fondly–after she nearly choked to death.

Damn him.

She shifted her body to look at him. The arm that lay across the back of the bench pressing into her back, his fingers played with the hairs on her nape.
That was his everyday allowance. It would take more convincing for him to be able to dive into her hair.

"I love you, Elizabeth, and I know that you know that already," he said tenderly yet assuredly. "It might seem soon..we've only been in a relationship for four months, but this feeling started long before that–"

He paused to assess her reaction.

"Please don't panic–nothing changes...you're still you, and I'm still me."

Porte reached for her hand that lay in her lap.

Wasn't it his birthday? Wasn't she supposed to be the one to overwhelm him today?