Chapter 10
You can do this shit, Val. Get a grip! It's just Hunter Blakewood. You know him since grade school, he annoys you like no one else and he can charm his way into anything. Ok, so forget that one tiny bit.
Do not face plant. Do not face plant. Do not face plant. Do not face plant.
"Are you talking to yourself?" Hunter asked, amused.
I reddened, "of course not. I was.. um, singing." Bad lie, I scolded myself.
"Right, Val. I'd pay to hear you sing.." He smiled. Oh my goodness! That smile made my knees go weak.
"Hunter, nice to see you son!" My dad's booming voice came from behind me. "Hey, darling. You going somewhere?" I cringed. Oh, no.
"Yes, Mr. Harries." Hunter said.
"A date, Valentine, without consulting me?" He turned to me. I gulped and let out a weak laugh.
"Uh, dad... Well, you see..." I began.
"That's great! You're finally living like a teenager!" He laughed. My jaw dropped like rocks, what? "I was worried you'd never sneak out like me and your mother did back in the days, darling. I thought you'd grow old and enter the convent or something." I blushed and looked away. Of course, trust my dad to totally not act like a dad. "Am I holding you guys back? Oops, my bad." Dad chuckled and motioned to the front door. "By all means, young man. Just make sure she gets home in once piece."
"No curfew?" Hunter asked. Dad shook his head and let out a laugh.
"Curfew? Do I look that strict? I need to see my fashion designer then."
"No, sir.. it's just that it's unlikely for a parent to just let us go out with no curfew."
"Curfews are stupid, son. Just go." Dad waved us away.
Hunter gave me a you-have-an-awesome-dad look whilst I gave him a whatever look. We headed to his Ferrari. Oooh, the big shot cars.
"So are you telling me where we're going or you're going to seal your lips?" I asked, looking any where but him.
"I'm not telling you anything." He laughed. I cracked a smile and looked out the window. It felt kinda awkward and tense.
After a few minutes, we parked and he told me to put a blindfold on.
"I am not going to put that thing on!" I covered my face.
"C'mon it's just for a few minutes, Val." He handed me the blindfold. "Please?"
I huffed, "since you asked nicely." I grabbed the blindfold and tied it around my face, covering my eyes. "Where are you taking me?" I asked again.
"If I told you, then it would ruin the surprise." He replied.
"I hate surprises." I muttered under my breath.
"But you'll like this one," he said. He took the blindfold off. And I looked around me. We were in an airport.
"Why are we here?" I asked, confused.
"We're flying to New York." He said happily dragging me inside.
"What?! New York? But that's miles and miles away! It'll take us the whole night to get there!" I exclaimed.
"Chill, Val. That's why we're taking the jet." A jet? My jaw dropped yet again. My parents had a jet, two in fact, but not like they'd take me to New York and back only for a few hours.
"Holy shit. What.." I trailed off. "Is that yours?!" I shrieked as soon as I saw it. It was beautiful. It was silver with black linings.
"Yup," he said proudly. "I'm going to study how to fly planes as soon as I can, so I had to hire a pilot for now." He said, pulling me into the jet.
The inside was perfectly perfect. The seats were in black leather and there was even a room at the end of the jet. Holy shit, the Blakewoods sure knew how to spend their bucks.
"Val, meet Adam Kingsleigh. He's the pilot who's flying us to New York, he is also a very good friend of mine. Adam, this is Valentine Harries. She is my fiancee," Hunter introduced us. Adam smiled and saluted at me while I just smiled back.
"Nice to meet you, Valentine. Hunter here has told me so much about you." He nodded politely.
"Good things, I hope." I gave Hunter a pointed look.
"All good things," Adam laughed.
Hunter led us to the couches and a stewardess offered us drinks, while eyeing Hunter with gusto. I tried to not act jealous, but it was kinda impossible. I could almost feel the heat escaping my ears. I looked away, trying to calm myself.
"A margarita will do some good," I interjected. Hunter shot me a are-you-kidding-me look.
"No, Val--" he began while I shook his protest off.
"Make it two," I waved her off. She hurried to get the drinks and I gave Hunter a pointed look. "Stop acting like my dad, Hunter."
"Under age drinking is bad, Val." He said.
"That's because you just turned 18," I snapped. "I'm turning 18 in a few days. Gimme a break." Ms. Flirtness came back with two margaritas and placed them in front of me, not forgetting to show Hunter a bit of her non-existent ass. I rolled my eyes. "Move along, honey." I waved a dismissive hand in the air.
Hunters eyes didn't leave mine the whole time. He had this serious look then he broke into a huge grin. "You're jealous!" He said as soon as Ms. Flirtness was out of earshot.
I raised an eyebrow easily and laughed it off. "Sure, I am." I nodded, taking a sip of my margarita. I loved drinking these things. Cocktails were just my thing.. since I was thirteen, actually. Dad made the best cocktails ever, and I was his tester.
"Admit it, you were." He taunted. I shook my head, laughing it off. I will never admit that to him. He eventually let it go as soon as he saw the city of lights.
"Look, we're going to land in a few minutes." He pointed out the window. There was tiny sparkling lights everywhere like fireflies.
"It's so beautiful!" I exclaimed.
"Yes, you are." He whispered, looking at me. I blushed and looked away.
I still couldn't believe it that we were in New York. I looked around me, and marveled at the elegance of the rooftop we were on. We were on top of the Empire State Building, one of the tallest buildings in New York. That's how rich and famous the Blakewoods are, that they could rent the rooftop only for a few hours for a teenage first date. Classical, really. I wasn't exactly pinning for the Eiffel Tower in Paris, that was too cliche.
"It's so cold up here, I wish you told me that we'd be going somewhere cold, then I wouldn't be wearing shorts and a sleeveless top," I grumbled for the tenth time.
"I told you I was sorry." Hunter said for the tenth time as well.
We were eating steak with mash potatoes, it was delicious. He looked at his watch and abruptly stood up. "We'd better go, it's getting late." He offered me his hand and we went down from the building. We were drove to the airport once again and boarded the jet. And our little date was sort of short, I couldn't help but smile whenever I thought about our conversations we had.
"What are you smiling about?" Hunter asked, amused.
I shook my head and smiled again. "It's nothing."
Indeed, it was one of the most memorable moments I've had with Hunter Blakewood. I will cherish it forever.
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EMPIRE STATE BUILDING AT THE SIDE / ABOVE
