Chapter 32
"You're silly!" I said panting as Jules and I plastered ourselves against the wall.
"This is fun!" She said catching her breath.
We were apparently being stalked by a creepy guy who'd seen us kiss, and I definitely didn't want our photos doing rounds on facebook!
"It's not fun, and I think we've lost him now," I said taking a peek round the corner.
I wasn't impressed with the way things were going; we were supposed to go for dinner and talk things out, but no, we were busy hiding away from some creep.
"Then if we've lost him, let's go," she said pulling me towards the elevators excitedly.
We waited for a few minutes until one of the elevators finally reached ground floor and we got in.
I won't lie; but it was really, really, really super nice, dating a rich girl. I mean, we were going for a real dinner; not to a fast food joint! I totally didn't mind having a taste of the good life.
Since money wasn't closing any doors for us, we were headed to a fabulous Chinese place called 'The Dragon'. What was great about it was the partitioned cubes that offered enormous privacy.
Our guide was dressed in a white robe with a brown swash wrapped tight around his waist, and funny wooden clogs that made him walk with tiny quick steps.
When we reached our cube, he told us to wait as he pushed open the sliding door and went in ahead of us.
I didn't quite know what he was doing, but he scattered something, lit incense, and then bowed before us signaling for us to enter.
"We're in a pure zone," Julie said ohming as the door was closed behind us.
"Pure, how?" I asked wondering when we were going to get to the chowing part.
"The salt and incense ward off bad spirits," she explained plopping down onto some rectangular slab seat. (They didn't look comfy, but it was the experience that mattered.)
There were two menu cards on the central low table, and together we did our best to avoid anything that sounded even remotely like frog legs.
Pulling on a rope, a bell rang and we gave the waitress who appeared somewhat like you would assume a geisha looked like: with a powdered face, chopstick ban hair, a red strip for lipstick, and a bright red kimono came in to take our orders.
The food was brought back in boiling pots, wooden jars, and there was an array of utensils from chopsticks to plastic forks.
"So, tell me what was going on between you and Harper," Jules asked picking up rice with her chopsticks.
"Me and Harper?" I said putting my plastic spoon back inside the tasty chili soup bowl. "Well, I'd been in love with him for a while. We are close as you know, and I don't know... I wanted to know how it would be if we were together, together. Being with you made me feel like I wouldn't get a chance to find out, so I did it when I got an opportunity."
"Do you still feel like you want to be with him?"
"It sometimes comes and goes, but I think I can face those emotions now."
"Did you enjoy you know, doing it with him?" She asked brushing her hair back nervously.
I had enjoyed it very much; that was the truth. But was I going to make her feel like what went on between us was less? No.
"We only did it like once, and it wasn't all that special," I said trying to look disappointed.
She appeared relieved and almost happy with my reply.
"And how do you deal with your da -Frank?"
"I don't know, maybe I drink a bit? Avoid him a lot? That kind of thing. My mom packed his stuff and asked him to leave, and so he doesn't live with us anymore."
"I'm glad you can stay at home without having to worry about him hurting you," she said placing her hand on the table so that I could place mine in it.
"Me too," I said as her fingers closed over mine.
"I want you to have something," she said releasing my hand before she started fishing around her pocket.
She pulled something tiny enough to disappear behind her fingers as she came and sat next to me. "I saw this and thought of you," she said showing me a simple silver ring.
My heart started beating faster at the thought of what it symbolized.
"What does this mean?" I asked as she reached out for my hand.
"It means I love you, and that I want to show you how serious I am."
I watched as she slid the ring down my finger; it was a perfect fit.
"I love you too," I said leaning over to kiss her as the fingers of our left hands entwined.
I was completely taken by surprise, but it was a good surprise. And now I couldn't wait to get her something too!
Today was definitely going to be one of the best days of my life!
