Small World

Twenty Three.

The next day, Chris and I woke up early to enjoy a day at Disneyland for Christmas Eve-Eve. I arranged for one of my Grace and Frankie coworkers to stay at my place to hang out with Deeoh. Judging by her blushing cheeks, I think she was more excited to meet Chris than to dog-sit.
I ran inside Starbucks to grab our caffeine boost before the drive to Disneyland. Chris got stuck on a call with his manager so I insisted that I run inside. I scrolled through Instagram until a tap on my shoulder caused me to turn around.

"Sarah Rose?" A young woman asked me. I nodded my head as I admired her big brown eyes and bouncing brown curls. I shoved my phone into the pocket on my Fabletics leggings.
"Yeah, hi! Sorry, I'm not awake yet." I motioned my head to the cashier.
"Me neither!" She laughed. I shook her hand. "My name is Stephanie. I've watched your videos for years."
"Wow! Thank you so much! It's so nice to meet you, Stephanie!" I tried to cover my blushing cheeks. As we moved up in the line, she cleared her throat and tapped my shoulder again.
"This might be a weird question.." She began hiding her eyes. I released a nervous giggle. "..aren't you scared that he will leave you?" I frowned my eyebrows.
"Who?"

"Well, I watched that video of you answering questions and one of the questions was that your boyfriend still talks to his exes. I mean..he's Captain America and you're just a makeup artist on YouTube." She hesitated with the words. I softened my expression with what she was saying. She glanced at me before returning her eyes to the ground. "I mean..a really good makeup artist though."
"Thank you." I forced a calm smile.
"Next in line?" The barista smiled at me. I smiled completely at Stephanie behind me.
"Happy Holidays." I said to her before walking up to the register.

I ordered the coffee and stood to the side while I waited. The barista called my name after a few minutes. I thanked the baristas and made my way to back to the car. Chris hung up the phone just as he noticed I was walking to the car. I opened my mouth to tell him about my experience in line when my name being called behind me stopped me mid step. Stephanie waved me down.

"Umm. Can I please take a picture with you?" Her brown curls bounced as she briskly walked up to me.
"Oh! Of course." I walked with her to the car to pass the coffees to Chris. We stood close to each as she snapped the photo. "Don't forget to tag me." I smiled calmly at her again. She nodded her head and waved to us as she walked back inside. I got into the car briskly. I checked to make sure Stephanie was inside. "She asked me a weird question in line."
"What's that?" Chris slipped on his sunglasses. He carefully drove us out of the parking lot. I searched for my vape in my backpack.
"She asked me if I'm scared you're going to leave me because you're Captain America and I'm 'just a makeup artist on YouTube'." I quoted Stephanie with my freehand using two fingers as quotation marks. I watched for his reaction. He only frowned. "Yeah, that's what I said." I scoffed.

"What difference does it make? If you were a taxidermist, a librarian or owned a dildo manufacturing warehouse, I would still be in love with you."
"At least now I know you'll still love me if I have to change careers. I have always wanted to make dildos." His explosive laughter, as always, brightened my mood immediately. He lowered his sunglasses on his nose to shift his eyes from me to the freeway.
"Hey. I'm not going anywhere unless you tell me to."
"Ditto." I replied, smiling. He brought my hand to his lips to peck little kisses all over it. I laughed and leaned closer to him for a quick kiss so he could return his eyes to the road.

Chris was recognized throughout the entire day. I admired his little waves and smiles at people that said hi to him. During our walk out of the park, Chris stopped to take pictures and sign autographs. The small crowd that appeared at the exit of the park seemed to be understanding that he wanted to be quick about it before it got too crazy.

"Did you know you're described as one of the nicest celebrities?" I looked up at his smile as he held onto my hand firmly. Our fast paced retreat to the car had me practically running with his long strides compared to my short legs. His puzzled look made me giggle.
"Are you googling me, Miss Rose?"
"Yes." My assertive answer made him chuckle while bringing his hat up slightly. "You could google me but that would lead you to my videos that reveal everything. You have already watched those. And I've already told you everything." I squinted my eyes at him.
"Not everything."
"Oh, really?"
"Favorite color?" He questioned me. I snapped my fingers and pointed to my hair.
"Red."
"Favorite animal."
"Zebra on most days. Penguin on the other days."
"You're so fucking adorable." He muttered between his teeth loud enough for me to hear. I giggled again. I didn't notice he fished his keys out of his pocket to unlock the car and open the door for me.

"Thank you!" I hopped into the passenger side. I searched the parking lot for 'stragglers' as I call them. Either fans or paparazzi. Chris got into the car, took off his hat to throw it behind him and lit a cigarette. "Clear for takeoff."
"Roger, roger." He kept the cigarette dangling from his lips as he spoke. "One more question. For now." I released a large cloud of smoke outside the cracked window and raised an eyebrow at him. "Can you promise me.." He started. His fingers plucked the cigarette from his lips. My eyes lowered to his tongue licking his lips then back to his eyes. "..can you promise me to always be giggly and shy when I kiss you?"
"I don't get 'giggly and shy'."
"You do!"
"No, I don't!"
"Okay, okay, okay. Watch this." It's almost like he moved in slow motion. He shifted his body to face me. His eyes stared into mine, not even blinking. He licked his lips again. One hand brought the cigarette back to his lips, the other hand raised to the side of my face. He leaned in slowly. I resisted the urge to make a sound. The smoke snaked out of his mouth. Our lips pecked in a kiss so gentle, I instantly craved more. I inhaled a harsh breath. "Right there." He whispered. I exhaled the breath sharply.

"Dammit." I hissed. His laughter filled the car. He sat back into his seat. I laughed as he proudly started the car like a cat that finally caught the mouse. I kept my eyes on the road in front of us. "I promise." I turned my head to see his smiling eyes and wide smile. He brought my hand to his lips again.