Autumn Comes And Goes

The (im)perfect* Date

"I didn't know what your favourite flowers were, so it took me this long to choose these for you."
He offers the flowers to Avery.

"Orchids? "
"Yeah, you...like them? "
"Yes. "

She looks at Neil's forehead.
"You, are gloriously sweating. "
"Gloriously? I can live with that. "
"Me too. You know, you look-"
She stops.
"I look what? "
"Nothing. "
"Come on, spit it."
"I just wanted to say that you look better when you're sweating. "
Avery's cheeks turn crimson red.
"I do? "
"Yes. Very much. "
"I also wanted to say something, you are looking beyond gorgeous. "
She giggles. "Tell me something I don't know. Why don't you come upstairs and freshen up? "
"Sure, I needed that. "

He follows Avery inside.
"My room is that-"
"Oh I know which way your room is. "
"Sure you do. I'll go wait for you, I'm watching TV now, okay? "
"Okay. "

As he heads upstairs, he hears a voice from behind.
"Is that Neil Twombly? "
He looks back and finds Avery's dad.
"Mr. Thompson, hi. "
"Hi. Neil I wanted to ask you something."
"Go ahead."
"You and Avery, you got something? "
"What do you mean? "
"I mean, you guys jammin' lately? Avery told me she was going out with you, I assume it's a date. Isn't it? "
"Well, kind of, mostly yes. "
"What did you bring her?"
"Um-flowers? "
"What flowers? "
"Orchids. "
"Orchids! " Marcus snaps. "You brought the wrong flowers, son."

They both hear Avery's voice from the hall.
"Neil, you done yet? It's getting late. "

Neil gets back to Marcus.
"So, what do I do now? "
"Nothing. Just bring her lilies next time. "
"Thank you, sir. "
"Anytime, champ. "

He looks at the couch where Avery's sitting.

"Hey, Neil."
"Yeah? "
"How do you feel about Avery? "
"Pretty good. "
"I know, I think my daughter feels the same way too. "

---

"Neil, where were you stuck at, and you're not freshened up yet. "
He gets conscious about himself.
"Oh yeah, I'll be back in a minute. "

Neil walks up to Avery's room. A room so perfect. The bed's done with silk sheets, the white chiffon curtains embracing the large window. He notices a small dream catcher hung by the side if the rails. He enters the bathroom and freshens up, then returns back to Avery.

"You got a pretty room." says he.
"I'm a princess, you know."
"Yeah." he smirks.

He takes a cookie and says,
"The dreamcatcher..." he pauses.
Avery looks at him. He continues,
"It's yours?"
"Who's it gonna be if not mine?"
He takes a bite from the cookie and nods. Then he puts back the cookie.
They head to the door.

"Do you believe in dreams, Avery?"
"Yes." Her voice sounds confident.
They walk up to the door.

"What is your dream?" Asks Neil.
Avery lets out a short sigh then faces Neil and says,
"To fall in love... maybe."
"Cliche." Neil smirks,"A city girl who dreams to find true love and fall for it? Totally cliche." He continues.

"Hey, you better not mess around, Neil. It is my one dream to fall in love."
"And, have you found it yet?"
Avery looks at Neil's eyes.
"Maybe. You?"
"I think so too."

---

The park's not too far from the neighborhood, about a 15 minutes walk.

"Here we are, ladies first" Neil leads Avery through the gate.

They walk inside the park. Avery suddenly stops and takes a leaf from the ground. '' It's perfect."
"A maple leaf?" Neil asks.
"Yep. Each year, I collect a leaf during Autumn and add it to my collection."
"So you do have a hobby" He says and nods.