Novel Squares
19
19
The night was cold, a soothing relief to the heat which raged a few hours ago. The sky was moonlit,
and the stars danced around it in beautiful constellations. Lucas couldn’t help but
thank the heavens for a perfect night like this. He’d hoped his date would be just as perfect.
He was now in front of Amelia’s door, a bouquet of roses in his hands, dressed in a black tuxedo with a
necktie that matched the color of the roses. His hair was neatly gelled but was finding it difficult to stay
in place due to all the sweat he was releasing.
Why the hell was he so nervous? He’d asked for this, hadn’t he? He had been standing in front of the
door for close ten minutes, like a complete idiot, always hesitating to knock whenever he raised his
hand. He couldn’t help but feel so jittery, and it really sucked. He hated himself for his cowardice. For
this disgrace. Suddenly, the door flung open and Amelia stood there in all her perfect glory.
She was dressed in a tight, black mini gown, with flowery straps that hung over her shoulders. Her
long, raven black hair was tied in a bun, and the perfect symmetry of her face was further
accentuated. Her light brown eyes sparkled like the stars above and she wore a perfect smile. Her
make up wasn’t even too obvious.
“I knew something wasn’t right when I had finished dressing up and hadn’t seen you yet.” she suddenly
spoke up, snapping him out of his trance. His mouth was hung open, and his sweating became even
worse.
“Amelia...you... you’re...”
“Overdressed? I knew it. Hold on please, let me change to something more....”
“What? No, you’re not...it’s just...you look perfect”
She smiled, “Thanks, Lucas. You don’t look so bad yourself”
“Yeah” he handed her the flowers and she sniffed them, smiling once again at him in
appreciation.“Well?” he stretched out his hand to her, “shall we?”
They arrived at the restaurant some thirty minutes later. It was a rather fancy place, Amelia noted that
screamed “expensive!” at every corner. She also noticed that it was newly opened, and served only the
best of French food. She gulped.
“Wow, this place looks expensive Lucas” she said when they entered and surveyed the restaurant, “I
don’t think I can afford it. Maybe we should go to a cheaper place, for normal people like me?”
Lucas couldn’t help but laugh, “who said anything about you paying?”
That was all he said before a waiter approached them and led them to their table. They settled down
and Lucas asked for the menus. “Go on, order anything you want”
Amelia stared at the menu hard and gave up at the first line. She couldn’t understand a word of what
was been written there. However, the price tag attached to each meal almost made her faint.
“I think you should just order for the both of us” she suggested, handing him back the menu. Lucas
placed their orders and the waiter dashed off.
“So, how do you see this place?”
“Way out of my league, thanks for asking. Everything here looks so expensive. Even the cutlery!” she
cried, picking up a spoon.
Lucas smiled, “it's no biggie. Only the best for you”
“You didn’t have to go all out of your way like this. A simple dinner would have also been appreciated. I
don’t want it to look like I’m taking advantage of you or something”
“shhh, common Amelia” he hushed, placing his hand on hers, “stop fretting about it okay? This is my
treat. I wanted it to be special for you. So could you please just relax already?”
Amelia heaved a sigh of relief and relaxed a little, “fine”
A few moments later, their food arrived and they dug in. The meal was extremely delicious, and Amelia
couldn’t help but moan at the splash flavors that assailed her taste buds,
“Delicious, right?” he asked.
“Very”
They ate the rest of their meal in silence and when they were done, they helped themselves with desert
and talked over glasses of champagne. Amelia had never really tasted anything like it.“So, how’d you
like college so far?” he began as he took a sip of his champagne
“Well, nice I guess. But pretty hectic too. May
has already vowed to sue some professors immediately after she gets called to bar”
Lucas laughed, “yeah, Temple University is
notorious for their nasty professors.I mean, I would know. I experienced them first hand”
“Really?”
“Yeah. There was this one guy, who threatened to fail my course simply because the title I used for my
project was too long”
“Seriously? I mean, who the hell does that?”
“Professor Carrick, that’s who. I’m just glad I made it out in one piece. Otherwise,I would have really
murdered someone”
Amelia laughed, “tell me about it. I think I’m in that stage of my life right now”
They both laughed again,
“I don’t know though” she continued, “I can’t help but feel old sometimes though. Like, I’m out of place
with all my fellow...”
“Hey,” he interrupted, “Don’t say that okay? I don’t care what age you are. All that matters is that you’re
pursuing your dreams. And anyone that thinks otherwise, can go jump into a river”
She smiled, “Thank you, Lucas”
“For?”
“For everything” she shrugged, “for always being there for me. For being the reason why I’m back in
college. It wouldn't’ have been possible without you and I’ll always be grateful for that”.
He smiled and placed his hand on hers again, “You don’t have to thank me, Amelia. I would do all that,
and a thousand more for you over and over again” Amelia couldn’t help but blush
lightly at that. They spent the rest of that evening sharing jokes and laughter. They both didn’t realize
that they could be this happy. There was great chemistry between them, and Amelia couldn’t help but
feel relaxed at the sight of the man making her happy right in front of her. It’d been a really long time
since she felt this way.
By the time they were both ready to go home, it was almost midnight. Amelia felt slightly tipsy from all
the champagne that she took. She couldn’t help it. The taste was exquisite and it had made her forget
her problems for a while. Lucas had been a gentleman all throughout and
had taken her home in one piece. Amelia couldn’t have guessed that men like that still existed, but she
was really super grateful nonetheless. He had made
her feel safe, and she was happy about that.
“Thanks for agreeing to go on a date with
me Amelia.” Lucas stated as he led her to her front door.
She nodded, “it's fine Lucas. I really enjoyed myself” I’m glad you did” She gave him a smile and turned
to open her door when he held her back, “wait”.
She turned around and noticed he was staring at her. His eyes traveled down to her lips and he smiled,
“You really are beautiful,” he said
“Yes, you’ve said that a million times already”
“And I’ll say it a million times more”
She smiled and they continued staring at each other. He began to bring his head down slowly, and
Amelia gulped hard. Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.
She noticed how perfect his lips were, how perfect they would taste when they landed on hers... But
alas, she quickly turned away and got
a peck on her cheek instead, I’m sorry Lucas but maybe we’re taking this too.... fast?”
“Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry Amelia”.
“It’s okay. I’m just gonna go inside and get some rest tough, it’s really late”
“Yeah.... goodnight”
“Goodnight”
She quickly unlocked her door and entered while slowly closing the door in his face. She could see the
rejection and hurt in his eyes and she felt sorry for him but she couldn’t help it. Kissing him had felt like
the right thing to do, but why does it feel so wrong?
——
And there he stood in a white clean balcony, his companion, air, and he spoke to it, hoping it would
carry his message to his love.
“I need you like a heart needs a beat.....”