Hopelessly Devoted

Chapter 22

30/03/2016 > Sometime in the afternoon

We were in the car, on our way to our next destination. I say 'next' because Zac is set on annoying me to my core by not telling me exactly where we're going.

"Come on, Zac." I groan and flick his shoulder. He flinches but smirks. "Just tell me where we're going and I'll stop flicking you."

"No can do, mademoiselle. It's called a surprise for a reason."

I slouch further into my seat and cross my arms over my chest. "I hate surprises."

"I can see that."He chuckles.

"Then tell me!"

He stops at the red light ahead of us and turns to look at me with a serious face. "No."

I groan louder in frustration and decided to just give up. Zac notices my reddened cheeks and lets out a hearty laugh. I roll my eyes at him and look out the side window. Where in the world could he possibly take me? Deep down, even with him annoying me, I'm grateful that I have someone to show me around or I would be alone out here, probably already getting mugged and nowhere to go. A ghost of smile plays at my lips and I cover it up with a cough so Zac doesn't get his ego any more inflated than it already is.

Twenty minutes go by and we're still on the road. I was getting a little restless; my legs kept switching between crosses, I kept slouching and sitting upright every 20 seconds-- I needed to stretch my legs or at least do something rather than sitting in the car.

"Don't worry, okay? I promise you'll love it."

I sigh and look at Zac. "I'm sorry. I'm not annoyed. My legs are just killing me."

Zac nods and I feel the car slowing down. "It's okay. We're already here."

I look to where he nodded and took a sharp breath in. No way. I have always wanted to come here since I was a little girl. My right hand started to grip harder onto the leather seat as I bent forward to look at the building in front of me. I must be dreaming.

"Since you love art so much, I figured you would want to come here."

I snapped out of my trance and look at Zac with the biggest smile on my face. "Oh my God-- yes! It has always been my dream."

Zac grins back at me and stretches out his arms. "Welcome to the Metropolitan Museum of Art!"

I couldn't contain my excitement any longer and a lunge forward over to the driver's seat to give him a hug. I hear a faint 'oof' from him but he chuckles and returns my hug anyway. I repeated the words "thank you" a couple hundred times before he stops me and beckons me to calm down so we can go into the museum. Zac gets out of the car and rushes to my side to open the door for me. I roll my eyes as he puts out his hand for me to take it. I take it anyway and hop out of the car.

"So chilvalrous of you," I giggle.

He smiles. "Why, thank you," he says and kisses the back of my hand.

It was a small gesture, but it sure sent chills down my spine and heat to my cheeks. I smile at him and turn towards the building to start walking. Just in two strides, Zac falls in pace with me and we walk side-by-side to the museum. There were already so many people outside, chatting and taking pictures. I can't even begin to imagine what's it going to be like inside. On our way in, I hear Zac greet a few people. Once we reached the counter to get our tickets, we were greeted with a big smile from an old man.

"Zachy, my boy!"

Zac hovers over from behind me and raises a hand at the old man. "Hey, Arthur. How've you been?"