Hopelessly Devoted

Chapter 20

Rewind 《 17/02/2011

          A shiver passes through my whole body as I strode down the streets of London. Even with three layers of clothing, I still felt like there isn't enough to keep me warm. I hug myself as I continued walking and smile when I see standing outside of his office building, tapping away on his phone. I slowly crept up to him from behind and cover his eyes slowly. He grabs my wrist but loosens his grip when he realizes it is me and smiles.

          "Guess who?"

          He keeps his phone away in his back pocket and scratches his growing stub under his chin. "Hm, I don't know. Could it be... Satan?"

          That earned him a loud gasp and a light smack to his shoulder. He lets out a hearty laugh and turns around whilst still grasping my wrist. I couldn't help but grin back at him and flick his nose when he is fully turned towards me.

          "Am I that ugly?" I pout.

          He chuckles and greets me properly with kisses on both my cheeks. "Of course not, love. It's always fun teasing you."

          I smile and shove my already gloved hands back into my coat pockets.

           "Shall we?"

          He offers his arm for me and I slip mine in. We walk down the pathway together in a comfortable silence and I can't help but peek a glance at him every once in awhile, his hair gently bouncing with every step we take. Suddenly, he smiles and slows his pace. I look at him confused. Instead of giving me an explanation, he wraps his arm around my shoulder and kisses my forehead.

          "What's going on in that head of yours?" I ask as I playfully flick his nose.

          He chuckles and kept his focus straight ahead.

          "Nothing."

          It's been an adventure with him for the past few weeks. He has been bringing me to new cafes, little parks that aren't so crowded and they were always so memorable. The first time we decided to go on our "little adventures" was when he surprised me outside of my work place when Sam went back to Ireland just a week after New Year's to visit his grandparents for two weeks.

          For the record, I didn't keep in contact with James yet he still managed to find out my schedule and made the effort to keep me company.

          Just as friends, of course.

          I did ask him how he actually got a hold of me and he just gave me one of his dashing smiles, reassuring me that it's not important. Nevertheless, I couldn't help but feel a little more carefree when I'm with James these past few weeks. I do feel happy with Sam. Even after the fight, we made up and we understood that we needed to get used to each others' schedules and whereabouts. There's nothing wrong with spending time with a friend. Totally platonic.

          Right?

          We end up at a café just three streets away from my office building. I took a half day off work since most of my paperwork and editing were done. Cameron had the day off today to run some errands and gave me the day off for tomorrow since I am the most dedicated employee in the company.

           James led me into the café and greeted some of the baristas as we took our seats further in. I remove my heavy outer coat and readjusted my scarf as James excused himself to the loo. One of the waiter walked over to me with a bright smile on his face and I returned the smile and sat up straighter.