The Dark Artifices: Lady of Los Angeles

Chapter 4

He parked outside a small park in the outline of Los Angeles. He went to her side and opened the door for her.

     “Thank you.”

     “Wanna go for a walk?” He grinned and held out a hand for her.

     “Oh, I certainly do.” She took his hand and before she knew it they were walking in the park, hand-in-hand.

     She’d insisted that this was not a date, but she’d started doubting.

There was a café in the park where they ordered a cupcake each, but stayed away from the coffee and got sodas instead.

     “So, where do you go to school?” Dylan asked.

     “I’m homeschooled.”

     “Oh, kinda lonely isn’t it?”

     You have no idea. “Yeah, sometimes.”

They finished their cupcakes and sodas and Dylan payed for both of them.

     “You really don’t need to pay”, she said.

     “You rarely go on dates , do you?”

     She froze at the mention of a date. He’d actually confirmed it.

     “What’s wrong?” he asked her.

     “Um, we’re on a date?”

     His face turned stern. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean—”, he rambled and ran a hand through his dark hair.

     She interlaced her fingers in his other hand. “It’s okay, Dylan. If you want this to be a date I am more than okay with it.”

     He went around the table and helped her up. They stood there opposite each other. Emma was tall, but he was taller. He had to lean down so they touched each other’s foreheads.

     “I want this to be a date”, he said and kissed her. She locked her hands around his neck to get him closer. He held his own hands on her hips.

     They pulled away to catch their breaths.

     “Wow”, was all she could say.

     “Wow”, he repeated.

     They stood there until they started to get all these weird glances.

     “We better move on”, she mumbled. He leaned back and she regretted her words immediately. “Or not.” She reached up to kiss him again. He gave her quick kiss and then pulled away again.

     “What about going to my place?”

     “What about yes?” she said and grinned.

He lived in an apartment close to the park. She was amazed by the mundane look. There was a living room with two guitars in one corner, one electric and one acoustic, and a bass in another corner.

     She’d only seen them in stores and in music videos. After what happened to her parents she’d trained like crazy and barely went out.

     “You’re playing?” she asked and picked up the acoustic guitar. She sat down on the black couch and tried to play a melody. Her family had been so musical, but apparently that gene had forgotten about her.

     “Yeah, from time to time.” He reached for the guitar she was holding, almost pleading. She gave it to him and he started playing.