Unexpected

KAI

I felt like melting into the ground.

I had given myself motivational speeches outside the door. You’ll be fine. It’s just one night if you don't like her, then you can just delete your account and never hear from her again. Simple. 

Then why was I feeling like spiders were crawling around, trying to eat the butterflies in my stomach.

Gripping the roses as tight as I can in my hand, a deep breath or two and I rang the doorbell. A faint shrill came from inside the house, and a minute later the door swung open.

And my jaw fell to the ground.

PIXIE

As I opened the door, a breeze came in, ruffling my hair. Even though I spent a lot of time getting ready, I had little hopes for this date. I mean c'mon, there is no way I'll find a decent guy on Tinder. With my luck, a 60-year-old man would be standing outside my house right now, shamelessly saying flirty things outdated by 30 years.

With all these thoughts choo-chooing around my head in the space of a nanosecond, the oak door swung open completely and I looked up from the carpeted floor.

And my heart stopped. 

Standing before me was Aphrodite herself, you know, providing she was a guy. Muscles swam under a Love Is All shirt, and stood a good 6 feet tall. An olive face peered at me, green eyes wide with curiosity, and mixed with, strangely, was it, remembrance?

“Uhm, hi?”.

The words snapped me out of my romantic daydream. Even his voice was amazing, running like thick honey, the perfect pitch, then perfect-

“You are Pixie, right?”. He gave a sort of a shy grin, and I resisted the urge to burn up.

“Yes, I’m Pixie Sai”. “You must be Kai”. I struck my Marilyn Monroe smile, the one I had practised in front of the mirror every day following up to this blind date.

KAI

It was her. The one that was meant for me. She looked a bit different now, more mature, more ladylike, but it was the same person. The girl I would watch every day with dreamy eyes during my last years in high school. The one I loved but never had the courage to even speak to, not even a friendly conversation between two students.

But here she was now. Standing before me, expecting me to take her out on a date. But how could I do it? I couldn’t 3 years ago, how could I do it now?

Don’t screw this up. You have the chance, take it.

“Uhh, these are for you,” I said, holding out the roses, with, hopefully not noticed, sweaty hands.

“Thank you” she gave a small smile. “It’s incredibly thoughtful of you to do that”. She was laying on the flattery pretty thick, but I loved it.

“Soo, are we going somewhere, or?” 

“Ohh- oh yeah”. I was fumbling, and I had only met her for about 3 minutes. God’s I’m rusty.

PIXIE

It was surprising to see how nervous he was. I was too, but I think I did a better job of hiding it. I wonder where he would take me. Light snow was falling, laughing with the wind. I could think of so many romantic places to go to. I just hope he takes me to one.

He stepped to the side, indicating for me to step out. I did, wobbling in my high heels. Hee grabbed a hand to steady me, and I felt the warm grip of his hand on my arm. As we walked towards his car, my inkiness of my hair trailing backwards, I wondered, is this really what they call love at first sight. Were we both meant for each other, or was I being delusional? Thinking of things that only I would feel?

KAI

“Well, I read on your post that you loved ice skating, so I thought maybe we could go there?” Spend a couple of hours on the rink?” I was putting my heart out on the line. I’m not sure how I would have felt if the girl of my 5-minute dreams was uninterested. 

Looking straight up at my face, caramel eyes weaving around me like thread. The kind of adoration I would have unwittingly begged for a couple years back. Dimples flashing, she cooed, “Aww that's so sweet of you”. I flashed a smile in return, and turned away, hoping to hide the blush creeping up my cheeks. 

Play it cool, play it cool. She was a high school crush, just an embarrassing secret now. 

I stole a glance backwards. Wasn't she?

PIXIE

“Here we are”.

I must say, I was surprised that he took actual consideration into what I wrote in my post. I would never waste time reading other people’s interests. It made me feel guilty, shallow.

“I don’t know how to ice skate, so I’m counting on you to help me” Kai was choking with embarrassment. And for the second time that day, I had blanked out.

“Sorry, my mind was on something else” I could see the flame in his eyes die a little. Shoot, was he thinking I was uninterested?

“That’s fine, but you will help me, right?”.

“Of course,”. “Let me help you get your blades on”.

For the next 4 hours, we skated circles around the rink, or in Kai’s case, tripping. I couldn’t let him go, even for a second, not that I particularly wanted to. I could see some people giving us knowing glances, but I didn’t care. My date was right in front of me, and that’s all I needed to see.

KAI

It was nearly 10. We were alongside the harbour. Walking slowly. Holding hands. The moonlight was washing over us, the breeze turning into a chill. Noticing Pixie was shivering, I unzipped my jacket and handed it to her. She took it, and I felt a spark of energy as our fingers met. I wondered, is this real. Is this some sort of cruel joke fate is playing on me, and that in the end, she would leave my heart in the dust.

But maybe love is real. And as I gazed into her eyes, I did not see me. I saw a new man, fueled by love. I saw a future together, memories shared dreams achieved. And I thought. Maybe. Just maybe. I could do this.