He didn't know what to feel right now. For one, he was excited that she asked him to meet her all of a sudden. He always initiates their meet-ups, their 'dates'. So when she called him and asked to meet her at her favorite bookshop, he wanted to jump with glee.
Then he suddenly felt a little scared. She had been frequenting the bookshop lately, without him. He knows her love for books, not once had they been there just to look at new releases or just to browse through the aisles of books.
'Don't you just love how they smell?' she would often ask him. He would just smile at her, just happy knowing she was like a kid when it comes to seeing books. She would go on rambling about books and stories she's read, even if sometimes she's already told him about it before. He loves how she talks, the way she gets too excited when she tells him these stories, how she gestures too animatedly when she tells him about a new story she's read. He sometimes holds out his hand over her mouth, kidding her to shut up already. But she knows he's just kidding and would just keep talking even with his hand clamped over her mouth.
He knows she's been to the bookshop twice now without him. Each time he texted her to see if she wants to hang out, she would respond that she's at the bookshop and that they can meet later. He was beginning to doubt that she's seeing someone, that she would just drop him and would no longer want to hang out because there's someone new. Not that they're in any relationship to begin with, though he more than wanted that ever since he met her five years ago. But she somehow made it clear that they were just friends, veering away any conversation they had away from being more than that.
So when she asked him to meet her at the bookshop, he was scared that she would be with someone else, that he would be meeting this guy whom she had been spending her bookshop days with. He dreaded the thought but pushed it away; he'd rather focus on seeing her smile again in her favorite place in the world. He'd give anything to see her smile that way, even if it meant seeing her with someone else.
He opened the door to the bookshop and immediately saw that there was something different. A group of people were huddled in front of a table where they usually display the new releases or best sellers. '...maybe a book signing..' he thought. There were balloons and flowers, and he thought '...haha, she would find these so tacky...'
As he tried to find her among the crowd, he sensed that the people were slowly turning around and looking at him. '...ok, tacky and creepy...what's going on?...' he looked at the faces of the people who were all looking at him, smiling and smirking. The crowd then parted and he saw her in the middle, holding a balloon and smiling at him.
'RJ' she called out to him, holding out her hand.
'Uhm...Maine...hi....what's...happening?' he reached for her, feeling more scared as the people seem to close in on them.
'I'm glad you came. I was almost afraid you'd back out.'
'Hey, you know I will always make time for you...but please tell me what this is because I'm seriously freaking out right now...' he held on to her hand and tried to just focus on her beautiful smiling eyes.
'Well, we've been friends for five years and you have no idea how grateful I am that you've stuck with me for that long.'
'You know I will never...'
'Let me finish. I know you're freaking out but you have no idea how nervous I really am right now.'
He held her hand more tightly, smiling and starting to figure out where her talk is going.
'Ok. I just want to tell you that I am lucky to have you as a friend, my best friend. You know my quirks, my moods, you even tolerate how much I am in love with the smell of books. You have no idea how happy you always make me, even when I've said from the start that all I can offer you is friendship.'
His heart began to sink. He thought this was going another way, he thought this was an opening for them together beyond friendship, but the way she was talking it seems she was going to affirm just that, that they were just friends.
'RJ...I am sorry for taking this long to figure out what I wanted with what we have. But please know that, in my heart, I have loved you more than just a friend. I was just scared to tell you because I know that I've declared the friendship zone with you. I was afraid that you may have given up on me. But here I am, mustering all courage to tell you that I love you. I love you beyond my love for books and stories. The only story I want to start now is with you. And I don't know if it's too late but I am hoping against hope that you still feel that way with me. I hope that you won't find this whole gesture of balloons and flowers tacky, because I do, but if this is what it would take for you to...'
He swooped her into his arms and kissed her lips with five years worth of passion kept hidden. And yet, she was still talking against his mouth.
'RJ...were the balloons too much? The flowers? Should I have just asked you to coffee or on a date? Should I have just written you a poem...'
He kissed her again, gently this time, amidst the cheers, clapping and whoops of the crowd in the bookshop. He released her to come up for air.
'Shut up, Maine. You talk too much'
***
AMACon 3 Prompt 17
Maine, Alden, and the day that the unrequited was reciprocated.
4 September 2016
