Speak Now

XVII

Aoife's eyes danced with amusement as she brought up her hand to cover her mouth, muffling the giggle that was emanating from the sincerest part of her body. After a few seconds, she dropped her hand and said, "Seriously?"

Since my chat with James yesterday, I'd volunteered to sit Aoife down and explain, in no uncertain terms, that James was not flirting with her or trying to put the moves on her when he bought her an expensive pair of designer shoes. When I approached Aoife to have a 'chat', she was a little confused but the more I spoke, the more amused she became. Eventually, she held her hand up and stopped me. 

"Look, Martha, I never thought for one second that James was flirting with me," she assures me. "He's a sweet guy and everything but I know he doesn't like me like that. I've never had a man buy me anything just for the sake of buying me something so I'm sorry if I was a little forward in trying to thank him. That said, wanting to make him breakfast is hardly a come on. Maybe back in Malibu but here, in Ireland, it's just a thank you."

I laugh. "Noted. I shall let him know that. It might bruise his ego a little, though. But hey, I'm sure he'll get over it. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a date to prep for."

Despite the million and one questions that registered on Aoife's face, she politely didn't didn't ask a single one. Instead, she bit down on her bottom lip, nodded and rushed out of the room, no doubt to dish the (very limited) details to Keira. When I had time to myself, I dragged my sorry self up to my bedroom and started to get ready. I'd been shopping yesterday in town after James and I returned the rented bikes; seeing as there isn't a Neiman Marcus, Barneys or a Nordstrom anywhere near where we're staying, all I had at my disposal were a few independent stores and a charity shop. To my surprise, I found the perfect dress in one of the thrift stores, a bargain find at just thirty euro. I hadn't shut up about the dress all the way back to the house and even as I look at it now, I'm still thrilled by the dress. 

The shoes and other accessories were a splurge but that's beside the point. 

In record time, I showered, tamed my hair, put on the least amount of makeup I could get away with and was still ready twenty minutes ahead of time. As the nerves began to set in, I started to think that I should have taken a little longer in the shower. Or maybe just fake an illness and say that I can't go out. 

When Sam first proposed going out on a date, I was a little confused, especially when he said that we'd never been on a first date. That was factually incorrect, or so I thought, but Sam made his argument and he made it well. You could totally tell that he was the brother of a lawyer. Anyhow, Sam reasoned that we just fell into a relationship; one minute we were flirting with each other, then we were kissing, then we were having sex, then we were living together. When had we done the old-fashioned dinner-and-a-movie date? Yes, we'd been out after we were together, like going to the opera, but if anyone ever asked when our first date was, where did we go, what did we do, I couldn't think of an answer. Sam was right, we had just 'fallen' into a routine of being inseparable.