First Term Love Story

Chapter 32: Left-handed

I pull on a crop top over my jeans, my mind buzzing with excitement. I feel butterflies swarm my stomach as I grab my things and go down to the main hall to wait for Eugene's arrival.

Emily: remember that picture we talked about

Rose: and give us all the details okay

Me: yeah

I'm not sure about that picture though.

I take a seat on the couch and it is not long before someone joins me, Cameron.

"Hey Cami," he says smoothly but I sense an authorative undertone.

"Hi,"

"So... How'd he ask you out?"

"He asked me?"

"No. I mean - okay, when did he ask you out?"

"He came over to the mansion, asking me to help me out with his work."

His eyebrow goes high like that of an officer interrogating a suspect.

"What? His hand was swollen," I say defencefully.

"Didn't he hurt his right hand?"

"Yeah... wait. Is he left handed?"

"Yup,"

"Well that sly little boy," I say as I hear the honking of a car.

"Well, enjoy your date sis." He says as he gives me a hug.

"See you later," I say and let go of the hug, rushing to the door to meet Eugene, nerves piling up quickly.

"Hi," I breathe out.

"Hello, Camilla." He says breezily and quickly takes a hold of my hand. He leads me to the car and I slide into the passenger seat.

"Where are we going?" I ask as the car passes the heavy gates of the mansion.

"We are going to the mall, Little Persia to be exact," he says.

Little Persia... Why does that name sound so familiar?

*****

We arrive at the mall soon enough and alight the vehicle. We make our way through the Friday afternoon crowd, walking past rows of shops until we are at our destination. We get a seat for us and even as I am seating down, I still can't seem to figure out why everything about this place seems so vaguely familiar. From the menu to the cushioned chairs to the potted plants and beautiful murals painted on the wall.

I'm still looking around at the place with the menu in hand when Eugene clears his throat. I divert my attention back to him and I feel the smile that has been on my face since I saw him back at the mansion fade. His face is serious and there's a worried furrow on his brows.

"What's wrong?" he says.

"Oh, there's nothing wrong. Just that the place seems familiar but I can't remember why..."

His face lightens up at my words, his previous expression having been wiped off in the flash of an eye.

"What do you want to eat?"

"I think I want to try their chicken sandwich... but I also want their lamb," I say after looking through the menu.

"Alright," he says and puts down the menu to raise his hand to make the order. The waitress whizzes to us with a pen and notepad at the ready.

"One lamb and chicken sandwich please," Eugene says.

"Any drinks?" the waitress says as she jots down Eugene's previous orders.

He looks at me expectantly with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Ice lemon tea for me," I say.

"Ice water for me,"

She nods and wanders away.

"So which one are you eating?" I ask Eugene seen as he ordered both things I wanted to try.

"We're sharing," he says with a smile on his face and I find myself smiling back.

The waitress brings over our drinks and sets them on the table. I whirl the drink around in the glass, not being able to bring my eyes to meet Eugene's.

I glance at Eugene and a question pops into my mind, "Why do you like me?" I blurt out suddenly.

My hand flies to my mouth which covers the gradual spread of a smile on my face and I hope it hides the how hot my cheeks seem to feel. A gentle smile crawls up his face as he looks at me, with his head resting on his hand, he looks at me as if I'm a dream. He takes a long look before he answers.

"I like you because, I like you." he says softly.

"Yeah?"

"Yup, I don't think I can exactly explain it."

I want to say that I'm feel like his answer does not suffice but I don't think I can when I say, "Me either," which surprises me, but I quickly realise that it's true.

The waitress soon comes back with our food, placing them in front of us. He cuts the lamb in half and pushes the sandwiches to one side, placing a sandwich on the plate of lamb and another half of lamb on the other plate. He pushes the plate with more lamb towards me with a smile.

"Bon appétit,"

I smile at his at his words and start with the lamb.

"You have two other sisters right?"

"Yup, Ally and Alicia. Do you have any siblings?"

"Yeah, Nick," he says with a nod as he bites into the sandwich, "You like the food?"

"Yup, this place is great."

"Yeah, it's one of my favourite places too,"

We continue eating and a silence settles among us.

"What do you like to do?" he asks.

"Well, I used to bake and I really liked that, I used to bake all kinds of cupcakes and cookies."

"Why don't you bake anymore?"

"I guess it's because there are Ann and Susan now, no need for me to bake... What about you?"

"I used to go shopping a lot-"

"For hats?"

"Yeah.... I liked to draw too but I think I grew out of that."

"Why do you like caps so much?"

He pulls off his cap and holds it up with his finger, spinning it around before placing it back on his head.

"I think it's because my father used to wear caps all the time so I wore them a lot too."

We quietly eat our food once again and I'm day dreaming, staring blankly at the counter when I see Josh, with another girl and it hits me. Josh brought me here before, that's why the place seems so familiar.

I immediately signal to the waitress for the bill and she hustles away quickly, probably sensing the urgency from my expression. Eugene sits straighter more alert.

"What is it," he asks in a hushed whisper.

"Josh is here." I say, motioning to him.

Eugene turns around and eyes him up and down and I see his features tense.

"Don't worry about it, let's go." I say as I tug on his sleeve.

We each put a ten down on the bill and we move off. Josh gives us a surprised yet infuriated look as he sees us leave but I don't spend much thought on it.

As we rush over to the car, Eugene walks closely to me, "Was the place familiar because he brought you there," he whispers.

"Yeah," I responded meekly.

He catches my hand and gives it a squeeze," It's okay,"

We get to the car and I slide eagerly into the seat.

"Where are we going now?" he asks, hands resting on the steering wheel.