When I Knew

by Jayrin Park

  “Well, let’s just say what happened in the office was just a little show to what I can do.” He made sure his lips grazed my ears as he pulled himself up. I internally screamed.

  He walked away like he hadn’t just made me excited all over. I stared at the back of his head as he walked over to my parents and breathed deeply. He winked at me when he got to where they stood. My face went hot.

  I turned and retreated in the direction of the bathroom to wash my face.

  Chapter 8 - In Our Hearts

  Lela Olsen

  I had only made it halfway when I felt a tap my shoulder, making me jump a little bit. I turned to face Mike, and my eyes widened.

  “Wh-what are you doing here?” I asked him. He looked shy – different from the man that had threatened to rip my clothes off a few minutes ago.

  “I’m sorry I startled you. I just wanted to ask you something,” he said. Mike looked around nervously.

  “Oh, okay, go ahead,” I told him.

  “Uhm, do you want to grab something to eat later?”

  “Are you asking me on a date?”

  “Yeah…I guess I’m trying to do this the right way.” He scratched the back of his head. “I’m interested. Are you free at seven?”

  “Yeah, I can be free.” My heart started racing.

  “I’d be happy to pick you up. I just need your address,” he said handing me his phone. I typed it in an handed the device back to him.

  “See you at seven,” he said before walking away. I looked around to see if anyone had been watching. I caught my mother staring at us. She smiled and gave me a thumbs up. I sheepishly gave her one back. My mother and I had tried to settle any little disputes we had since the training started. She’d also been giving me a few pointers on how to get Mike.

  She walked up to me when she was sure Mike had left the scene entirely.

  “I took three months on a course to read lips, and I’m pretty sure I just read something about a date,” she rushed out. I looked at my mother in surprise. I knew she was interested in seeing Mike and me together, but I didn’t realize she was that interested.

  “Mum!” I whispered.

  “What? I get bored working out most times. Watching both of you flirt is like watching my telenovelas again,” she said.

  My mother had an addiction to telenovelas. She could spend her whole day binge-watching them.

  “Mum, I can’t deal with you right now,” I said, walking over to my dad.

  “What are you gals talking about that’s making you all flushed?” my dad asked. I groaned and moved away from him too. If I got any redder than this, I’d probably pass out. I was glad that I was going to be out of the gym soon. I wanted to prepare and look hot for my date with Mike.

  * * *

  I stood in front of the mirror and brushed my long blond curly hair. It cascaded down my back. I didn’t want to be late, so I had started preparing for the date an hour ago. I had on a leather baby-pink strapless gown that stopped mid-thigh. It hugged all my curves perfectly. I applied a little mascara and nude lipstick.

  I was ready and good to go. Mike was supposed to arrive at any second. As if he had heard his name in my head, my phone buzzed on the table. It was from Mike. I placed the phone on my ear and waited for him to speak.

  “I’m downstairs. I can wait if you’re not done,” he said.

  “No, I’m ready.”

  “That’s a first. You’re always late to the gym,” he teased. He wasn’t wrong.

  “I had my reasons then, now I’m on time.”

  “Sure, you did. I’ll be waiting for you downstairs,” he chuckled and hung up.

  The ride to the restaurant wasn’t too noisy or quiet either. I hummed to the songs on the radio. I was a little scared of singing in front of Mike, especially since I wasn’t the best singer, but Mike didn’t care. He sang the lyrics to the songs, even with his horrible voice. I ended up laughing the whole journey to the restaurant.

  “Singing is not for you,” I said.

  “That was my career path if I hadn’t started this gym with my brothers. Thanks a lot for trampling my dreams,” he said dramatically. I smiled. It was fun to see his playful side.

  “I’m glad they did. No one would have bought your songs,” I chuckled.

  “Wow, I’m hurt,” he grinned and placed his free hand on his chest.

  “No, wait, you’d have female fans. Ladies love a hot artist.” I patted his shoulder playfully.

  “So, you think I’m hot?”

  “You work at a gym, don’t you?”

  “So, the only reason you think I’m hot is because I work at a gym?” He pouted.

  “I might tell you that you’re hot if this date goes well. Maybe.”

  “Oh, it will. I’ll make sure it does.”

  He parked in front of the restaurant and ran to the other side of his car to open the door for me. I smiled and took his held-out hand.

  “I feel like royalty,” I smiled.

  “You are royalty,” he winked. My heart did little flips at the sight.

  “We’re off to a great start.”

  “I promised you a great date, didn’t I?” He grinned and took my hand before helping me get out of his car.

  He led me to our table, and a waitress appeared in front of us as we were seated. She looked at Mike seductively. I felt uncomfortable as she stared at him.

  We decided on our food and placed our order. Mike didn’t seem to notice her looking. His eyes were too busy staring at me.

  “You look great by the way,” he said as the waitress walked off.

  “Thanks, I try.”

  “So, you’ve been single since…?”

  “I swore off men since my last heartbreak.”

  “So, why are you here with me?”

  “You seemed decent,” I joked.

  “I’m more than decent. I’m a gentleman.”

  “Errr, you’re alright.” I rolled my eyes before grinning. “So, what’s your story? Why are you single? You run a gym like it’s a hotspot for women.”

  “I swore off women after I got my heartbroken,” he mimicked my reply.

  “Get out! Macho men get their heartbroken too? I guess nobody is untouchable,” I sighed playfully.

  “We get our hearts broken the most. We’re big fragile teddy bears,” he pouted.

  “So, what happened? Did she cheat?”

  “She just got…tired,” he shrugged. He looked a little uncomfortable. I was certain I had passed my boundaries in this game of twenty questions.

  “I’m sorry if I pried.”

  “No, it’s fine. How about you? What happened that made you swear off men?”

  “The usual unfaithful story. He cheated on me with someone at his workplace, I think. I really don’t remember,” I shrugged. “He probably left me cause her found her prettier, I don’t know.”

  “You don’t remember? It’s been that long?”

  “My horoscope said not to focus on the negative,” I chuckled because I had never looked up what my horoscope had to say. I just didn’t like remembering the past.

  “I’m sorry for the delay,” the annoying waitress from earlier appeared in front of us.

  Our food had finally arrived. I didn’t like the way the waitress was ogling him. She didn’t even try to do it discreetly. My nostrils flared as I glared at her. She dropped our food and walked off.

  “You look so red,” he teased.

  “It’s because I’m starving.”

  “Sure it is,” he said sarcastically. I ignored him and took a bite of the food on my table.

  Chapter 9 - Late

  Lela Olsen

  The date was everything I had hoped for. It was so fun – I wished for the night not to end. We finished our meals at the restaurant and talked some more before Mike suggested a walk in the park.

  “We need to burn those calories,” he said.

  “The only reason I’m agreeing to this walk is because I’m stuffed, and I’d like
to feel a whole lot lighter. Plus, I’ve never been to park at night,” I said.

  “Really?”

  “Yes, really. I spend my nights blogging or out with my friends.”

  “Well, you can blog about this.”

  “It would ruin the whole bad girl facade I put online.”

  “I should actually read your blogs.”

  “You should. I review clubs, restaurants, and pubs. Maybe you could get an idea of where to take me next from my blog.” The words left my mouth before I realized I had let him know that I wanted to go out again.

  “Take you to? Does this mean you want a second date?” He stopped walking. I didn’t stop walking; I continued. If I stopped and turned to face him, he would see how red my face was.

  “Well, umm, I only said that because I knew you were going to ask me out on another date.”

  “Beautiful and foresees the future,” he complimented me as he caught up to my side.

  If he kept up this up, I’d probably become permanently red.

  “What’s that on your hand?” he asked me. I searched my hand frantically.

  “Wh-what? What did you see?” I stammered. I would pass out if it happened to be a bug. I hated bugs.

  “My hand,” he intertwined his hand with mine and winked.

  “Are you serious?” I rolled my eyes at him. “You almost scared me to death because you wanted to hold my hand?” I shook my head.

  “Well, that was the best tactic I could come up with. You have to admit it was cute.”

  “Far from cute. I was just about to pass out because I thought it was a bug.”

  “Well, if there was a bug, I’d squish it with my larger fingers,” he tapped our intertwined hands with his other hand.

  I had just fully registered that his hands were holding mine. My face went red again. My stomach did flips at the warm feeling of having his hands in mine. I bit my lips to stop from smiling.

  The rest of our walk was beautiful. We spent time talking about random things and sat down on the bench at the park, just enjoying the silent and chilly night. I was perfectly wrapped in Mike’s coat. His musky scent around me made the night ten times better than it already was.

  “We should get going. It’s getting late,” Mike said. I didn’t want to leave yet. I liked his company and wasn’t ready to leave it. I pouted and sighed.

  “Yeah, we should.”

  “We can do this another time,” he got up from the bench and stretched out his hand so I could take it. I took his hands in mine, and my legs wobbled as I got up. I still wasn’t used to holding his hands without wanting to start squealing.

  We walked back to where he had parked his car hand in hand. The ride back to my apartment was far from silent. We had a lot to talk about.

  “We’re here,” he said as he pulled up in front of my apartment.

  I groaned internally. I didn’t want the night to end. I was having so much fun. I nodded and turned to open the door. I was a little surprised when he got out of his car.

  “I’m going to walk you to your door,” he said.

  “Oh, what a gentleman,” I teased him.

  “Perfect gentleman,” he corrected. I laughed at him as we walked to my apartment.

  To get to my apartment itself was quite tiring as we had to go up eight flights of stairs to reach the fourth level. The elevator had been out of order for some time, but the building owner didn’t want to fix it. We finally stopped in front of the door. We smiled at each other until he spoke.

  “Now I see why you’re so fit,” Mike wheezed.

  “Now you know the secret to my figure.”

  “I had a great time today.”

  “Yeah, me too.”

  “Don’t use me as an excuse to come late tomorrow Lela.” He smiled at me warmly.

  “I wasn’t even thinking of it but now that you brought it up, it’s not a bad idea,” I said with a devious smile.

  “I should have just kept quiet,” he sighed.

  “You should have,” I grinned.

  We both fell silent. Not once tonight had we been this silent. I awkwardly shifted from my left foot to my right.

  “Why are we silent?” I wanted to say.

  The usual awkward silence of first dates filled the air. I fumbled with my purse while thinking of what to say.

  “I’m going to go now,” I finally said. My stomach formed knots at the silence. I couldn’t take it anymore.

  “Sure.”

  I turned to open my door and enter my apartment when I felt his hand on mine. He pulled my hand back slowly as I turned to open my door. I felt his lips on mine. They were just as soft as I imagined. The kiss was slow and sensual. I didn’t know if I was the only one that could feel the emotion in the kiss. My head was dizzy from how good the kiss was. I was grateful that his hands were around my waist holding me. I might have fallen to the ground if not for that.

  We broke apart and looked deep into each other’s eyes. His brown eyes met mine with the same desire. He smiled at me, and I smiled back. I pulled him down for another kiss. This time the kiss was filled with intensity, passion, and an urgency to rip each other’s clothes off. I began to hold onto him tighter as I felt my legs beginning to give way.

  “Mike,” I gasped, “Did you want to…?”

  Mike continued to kiss me passionately before he paused and broke the kiss. He then wrapped his arms around me in a gigantic bear hug and held me in that position. I felt so secure in his arms, the scent of his cologne wafted around me. He was so warm.

  “I want to, Lela, but I think I want to save it for when we get married so that our wedding night will be special. That is assuming we do get married.” He winked and kissed me on the forehead.

  “I want to wait because you’re special, Lela, and I think you’re worth the wait.”

  “Okay.” I hugged him tighter, my face buried in his chest. I was smiling. What a gentleman. Finally, someone that wasn’t a jerk, wanting me only for my body. Someone who genuinely wanted me.

  “You know, I might have trouble holding myself together if you kiss me like that,” I teased.

  “I think you’ll be okay,” he laughed.

  We held the hug for another minute, savoring the moment, before we released. Mike put his hand on my cheek and gave me a peck.

  “Good night,” he whispered and winked.

  “Good night, get home safe.”

  “Thanks, Lela. I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow morning.”

  I stared and smiled at him as he began his descent down the stairs. Mike turned his face to give me another wink before he walked out of view. I shook my head and grinned before I turned back into my apartment and closed the door. What a night!

  Chapter 10 - Offer

  Mike Pearson

  “He has that stupid face again. Only it’s stupider now,” Shawn kicked me as I laid down on the couch with my phone in my hand.

  “Dude?!” I exclaimed and touched the leg he had kicked.

  “He’s probably talking to his new girlfriend, Lela,” Austin pushed my legs off the couch so he could sit down.

  “Can you two leave me alone?” I asked my brothers.

  “Let me think for a minute. No,” Shawn smiled.

  “So, dude tell us how it happened.” Shawn laid back on the couch and motioned for me to speak.

  “I’m not telling any of you anything. You might jinx it. You’re bad luck.” I got up from the couch and shoved my phone into my pocket.

  “We should tell Steve to really begin the no dating the clients rule. You look so happy, and I don’t like it,” Austin chuckled.

  “Like I said, you’re bad luck. Plus, if we implement that rule, how would Shawn ever get a girl?” I prepared to leave the living room.

  “Hey! Shawn’s got girlies all over the continent. I don’t need the gym to help with my love life. Austin needs it more.”

  “Don’t you dare bring me into this conversation.”

  “Yeah, I agree, man. Austi
n needs it more,” I chuckled.

  “I’m a career-driven man who doesn’t have time for women.”

  “Austin, you sit on the couch, playing video games. How is that a career?” I raised my eyebrow at my brother.