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“Hey, you’ll thank me for it later,” Marley says, her voice high pitched and excited.
“How are you so sure?”
“Because, I know you.” She spins my body so I’m facing a new direction. “Stay here while I go get her.”
“Do I even get to know her name?” I call, unsure of how fast she’s walking away.
“Nope,” calls Marley, her voice already fading into the distance.
Great, I think to myself. I shove my hands into the front pocket of my jeans. If anyone walks by me right now, I have no doubt that they would call the cops on me. I mean really, who wouldn’t? You’ve got a blindfolded man, with a camera set on the ground next to me. Seems a little sketch if you ask me.
With my luck, my brother Thomas would be the one to take the 911 call. He’d get here, see me like this, and tease me for the rest of time.
I still cannot believe she tricked me into this. Initially, I was shocked and a little pissed that family portraits turned out to be an ambush. When I showed up to brunch as the only one dressed up, I instantly knew something was up. It wasn’t until Marley insisted she and I drive separately from the rest of the family to the park for pictures that I really gathered the extent of her conniving. When I pulled into the park and saw none of the other family members here, I was ready to get into my car and drive away.
Marley claimed she would tackle me if I tried, and to be honest, I believed her. She was always the feisty one as kids, and I have no doubt she would do whatever it took to make me stay. But I can’t stay too upset with her. Especially since she’s just trying to keep me from becoming a cranky bachelor for the rest of my life.
She also produced a massive bag of Reese’s Easter Eggs from the backseat of her car, so that helped.
I scratch at the blindfold where it’s tied at the back of my head, wondering what the next hour of my life will be. Will it be life changing? Sub-par? I mean, I know we’re going to kiss, Marley told me as much. You can tell a lot from a kiss. Sometimes, it’s just that, a kiss. Other times, an explosion of tension, heat, and lust.
I haven’t really experienced the latter more than a few times, but who knows, maybe that will change today.
I can hear Marley’s voice as she leads the girl toward me, her voice soothing and directing.
“Alright, perfect, you stand here,” she directs. She taps me on the shoulder, letting me know she’s going to talk to me now. “If you reach down with your right hand, you can clasp her hand in yours.” I nod, taking my hands out of my pockets, letting my right hand search for my mystery girl's hand.
When our hands connect, I notice instantly that her hands are freezing, and not only that, clammy. She must be as nervous as I am. A small shiver zings through my body at the feeling of her touching me, and I wonder what that’s all about.
“Okay, now, both of you, take a step back so your backs are touching.” We do as she says, and our backs touch. She’s warm, and shorter than me. I can feel her shoulder blades rest just under mine, and her head rests in between my own shoulder blades.
“Perfect, okay,” Marley murmurs. “I’m just going to adjust your positioning a little bit, so just let me move your bodies a bit.” I nod, and feel Marley adjusting the angle of my head, and hips, even the angle of my feet.
I hear her shuffling through her bag, and stepping back in the grass. “Okay, when I say so, I want you two to take off your blindfolds, and turn around. I’m going to take a few pictures first, so it will be a minute.”
I hear the click of the camera as Marley takes picture after picture. My heart rate climbs in anticipation, and I start to bounce on the balls of my feet, unable to keep the movement under control.
“Stop bouncing,” Marley coaches.
“Can’t,” I murmur. I hear mystery girl gasp at the sound of my voice, but I’m unable to discern anything more from her.
Marley chuckles, snapping a few more pictures. “Alright, on the count of three, turn around and take off your blindfolds.”
“One…”
“Two…”
I find myself counting out loud with her, all the tension leading up to this one moment.
“Three,” Marley counts.
I turn around, carelessly yanking the blindfold from my eyes, and dropping it to the ground. It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust to the bright sun of the spring day after being submerged in darkness for so long, but when they do, I’m met with the blue eyes that I’ve been thinking about non-stop for the last two weeks.
My Cinderella.
10
JOSIE
