"We agreed. If I won, you'd marry me someday."
"Why'd you wanna marry me, anyhow?" I ask.
"So, I can do this for the rest of our lives," he stops walking with me in his arms, his radiant blue-green eyes flickering between my eyes and lips as the ons...
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A frosty wind blows rigorously against the large windows of the store, whistling over the building as the palm trees sway harshly. I try to focus on straightening the large oak wood shelf bolted to the light hardwood floor, but it doesn't budge. For obvious reasons.
She keeps creeping into my mind like an unwanted infectious disease.
I shove her away, distracting myself with last minute details in the store. Even though all the last-minute details are done and dusted.
I walk up the light wood stairs leading towards an upstairs office. I stop on the last step and turn around, admiring the aesthetically pleasing colors.
She barrels her way through the barricades I've placed in my mind, determined to fuck with my psyche.
In the reel which keeps scrolling across my memory, one in particular stands out. It's the reason for my creative choices regarding my store. It's the reason I was so adamant on the palette choice.
She's the reason.
She who? The cat's ass? I ignore her mocking voice in my head, picking up the last thought I dropped with the intrusion of her voice.
Hell, it was all Telana's idea, and I stole it. Plagiarised it. Copy and paste at its finest. The only difference is the product which will be sold and the shelves.
"Oh my God!" She exclaims, hastily sitting up.
"What? What happened?" I rush out with worry, but she doesn't answer. "Lana?" She holds up a finger and my eyebrows scrunch together as I impatiently wait for her to answer with my arm slung over her shoulders. I rub my thumb up and down her exposed arm trying to soothe the worry gripping me.
The softness of her delicate skin against the pads of my fingertips instantaneously calms me. My nerves begin to ebb away, my racing heart finds its natural rhythm as I trace the skin from her shoulder to her elbow and back up.
My body relaxes, lowering its fortification from her sudden outburst which – not going to lie – sent me into fight or flight mode.
"I saw a shooting star!" She giggles, the melodious sound sending my heart into a blissful pounding.
"I thought you don't believe in wishing upon a star," I sigh, running my fingers through my hair before laying down on the turquoise fleece blanket.
"I don't but I want to open my own gallery," she whispers, resting her head against my chest again.
"Is that what you wished for?" I ask, admiring the twinkling stars above us in the black sky.
"If I say then it won't come true."
"C'mon now, Lana. That ain't true," I peer at her on my chest and her sparkling gaze connects with mine.
