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“Ask me again when you know why you are even asking…” she suddenly said in a soft voice. It wasn’t in a mean way, maybe even a little sad. Benjamin still stared at her. He wanted to press the matter, but as when they were children, he let Ava take the lead, and gave in.
“Fair enough,” he said, although all he wanted to do was grab her by her hand, drag her outside, and ask her one more time, with nobody around them, just the two of them and the cool, evening breeze. But his thoughts didn’t stop there. For a brief second, he pictured pressing her against his car to kiss her. His gaze fell onto her lips again.Gosh, they were beautiful. Was she a tender, loving kisser, or wild and passionate?A sudden wave of heat rushed through his stomach. It was almost unbearable.
“Benjamin,” he heard Ava’s voice ring through.
“Y-yes?”
“If that’s okay, I would like to go. I had a lot of fun but I’m kinda tired.”
“Yes, of course,” he smiled faintly. “I’m sure Barney has left me the check,” Benjamin grumbled, and she laughed.
“So much for ‘drinks on me.’ Should we be worried about him?” she chimed in, her voice shaking from her soft laugh. He looked at her when he heard her laughter and also chuckled.
“You just gotta love Uncle Barney. And no, he’s probably already hitched a ride home.”
They pushed past the people in the diner. It had gotten packed since they were here.
“Fresh air,” Ava gasped as soon as they got out.
“You don’t go out very much, do you?”
They started walking towards the parking lot.
“Between my work and well, my work, not much. Those mandatory dinners with you have dragged me out in more in the past few weeks than in my entire life combined.”
“Do you hate it a lot?”
She looked up at him, feeling the night air which seemed much cooler given how hot the diner had gotten—or her body from being so close to Benjamin.
“No, I don’t think so.”
He shrugged and dug his hand into his pocket, reaching for his car keys. They walked the remaining few steps in silence before he asked, “Did you mean what you said?”
Her eyes went from a ‘missing cat’ poster which had caught her gaze, to him. “Huh?”
“Back at the bar, you about liking me when we were kids.”
“Oh, that.” She looked away. “It’s nothing. We were just kids.”
“Nothing, huh? Are you hiding secrets from your husband?”
She caught the smirk on his face and looked away again.
“Fine.” They paused outside of the car. Benjamin’s eyes were glued to hers as if she was about to announce the solution to all the hunger in the world.
“I did mean it. Back then I was truly taken by you, Benjamin Radcliff. There wasn’t a prettier face nor a kinder heart I had ever come across.” She paused. Benjamin just looked at her. Speechless. He felt the intense urge to grab her, press her against the car, and kiss her soft lips. He would be gentle at first or passionate, whatever she preferred, but he had to do something, or he would die from that fire that burned inside him. But just when he made a step forward, she continued:
“Well, and then you ruined it all.”
“What?” He took a step back.
“Back then. It was about a year after your dad had passed away. You had friends over. I was playing by myself in the garden with the flowers, don’t you remember?”
Benjamin scratched his head, but then the memory came back… slowly but it surfaced.
“You were wearing a green dress that day,” he said.
“Yes.”
