Well, it's Complicated...

Chapter 10 - Emily

Chapter 10 – Emily

I woke up the next morning to my cell phone ringing. “Hello?” I said, glancing at the clock as I answered the phone. 6:30 am.

“Morning Emily, it’s Phil.”

“Morning, Phil.” I replied, wondering what Phil was doing up at this time in the morning; it was early even for me.

“I’m sorry if I woke you up…” Phil’s voice came from the other end of the line, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Huh? Oh, no, it’s fine. I was just waking up anyway.”

“Good. So, I was wondering if you wanted to go out on a date today?”

“Yeah, of course! What time should I be over?”

“Umm…well, Dan’s still asleep…maybe in about an hour or two?”

“Sure, that works for me. Amber’s still asleep too; I’m just gonna leave a note to tell her I’m out.” I said, already walking out of my room in search of a piece of paper and a pen.

“I think I’ll write a note for Dan too, just in case we’re gone before he wakes up.”

“Okay, I’ll see you in an hour or so?” I said, almost a question as opposed to a statement.

“Okay, see you then.” Phil said before hanging up.

I put my phone down on the kitchen table, grabbed a pen and paper, and wrote a note to Amber: “I’ve gone out. I’m not sure when I’ll be back; call me or text me if you need anything! ~ Emily”

I picked my phone back up, set the note in the middle of the kitchen table, and went back into my room to figure out what I was gonna wear.

After about 15 minutes of sifting through my closet, I decided on my purple lion face T-shirt and my black skinny jeans. I took a quick shower, dried off as fast as humanly possible, put my clothes on, brushed my hair, and threw it into a ponytail, still wet.

I checked my phone. 7:12. Okay, I’m not gonna be too late… I thought. Then it occurred to me that I hadn’t had breakfast yet.

I grabbed a couple granola bars out of the cabinet, checked and double-checked that I had everything I needed, and walked out of the flat, unwrapping one of the granola bars as I walked.

At exactly 7:43, I knocked on Dan and Phil’s front door. Phil opened the door, put a finger to his lips, stepped out of the flat, and locked the door. “Dan’s still asleep,” he said as he closed the door.

Phil was dressed similarly to me: skinny jeans, tennis shoes, and his teal lion face T-shirt. I giggled when I saw his shirt. “What?” Phil asked.

“Nothing, it’s just…we’re both wearing the lion face T-shirt off your District Lines shop, just in different colors.” I replied.

Phil looked at my shirt, then at his own. “That shirt looks really good on you.” Phil said, blushing slightly.

“Thanks, yours looks good on you too.”

Phil blushed a deeper red, and then cleared his throat. “Umm, shall we go now?”

“Oh. Yeah. Right. Where are you taking me?” I said as Phil took my hand and started leading me down the hallway towards the elevator.

“You’ll see.” Phil winked at me as he pushed the DOWN button on the elevator.

After about 10 minutes, Phil and I were boarding a Tube train, heading…well, I wasn’t even sure, but then again the Tube system confuses me sometimes. I assumed Phil knew where he was headed.

“Where are we going?” I asked, grabbing onto one of the overhead rails, as all the seats were taken.

“You’ll find out.” Phil winked at me again. It kind of reminded me of how Dan would always wink at me when he would surprise me by taking me out to dinner or something…

“Emily? You OK?” Phil’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m fine.” I shook my head to clear it. I wasn’t really fine; I was really confused.

Okay, relax and just have fun out this day out with Phil. I told myself. I pushed my thoughts about Dan out of my mind, took a deep breath, and relaxed. I was determined to make the most of this day with Phil.

When the train stopped at our station, Phil took my hand, walked me out of the train, and as soon as we passed the doors he put his hands over my eyes. “What are you doing?” I asked, trying to pry his hands away from my eyes.

“I want this to be a surprise. Can I trust you to keep your eyes closed, or should I keep my hands over your eyes?”

“I can keep them closed.” I closed my eyes as Phil pulled his hands away slowly. I put my left hand over my own eyes and took Phil’s hand in my right.

He led me out of the station, and we walked for what felt like forever before he finally stopped and said, “Okay, you can look now!”

I took my hand away from my eyes, opened them, and immediately smothered Phil in a hug. “The London Eye!” I nearly squealed. “I’ve always wanted to go, but Dan never took me! Thank you, Phil!”

“You’re welcome, Emily.” He pecked me on the lips, took my hand, and walked with me to the ticket gate.

After we got our tickets and waited in line for what felt like forever, we finally got to the front of the line. We got one compartment all to ourselves; we sat down, Phil with his arm around my shoulders.

“Thank you again SO much for bringing me here, Phil! How did you know?”

“Well, I heard you talking about this with Dan a while back, but I didn’t know if you had gone or not. After you and Amber left yesterday, after everyone broke up…” He took a deep breath, and continued. “Anyway, after you two left yesterday, I asked Dan whether he had ever taken you to the London Eye, and he said no. So I decided to take you today.” Phil finished, blushing slightly.

“Phil…that is the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard!”

“Thanks.” He blushed again.

I leaned over and kissed him. “You’re welcome. Thanks again.”

By this time, the ride had started, and we were nearing the top of the wheel. “You know, I always wanted a kiss at the top of the London Eye…” I muttered nervously, fiddling with the hem of my shirt.

“Well, you’re about to get it.” Phil replied, smirking slightly before pressing his lips to mine. I closed my eyes and ran my hands through Phil’s hair. Phil pulled me closer to him, and I deepened the kiss.

“Thanks, Phil. That was better than I expected.” I said after we broke apart.

“You’re welcome,” he replied, pecking me on the cheek.

We cuddled next to each other for the rest of the ride, talking about nothing in particular. When we got off, Phil said, “Alright, let’s go somewhere for lunch.”