Page 29 of Summer Haze & Tokyo Craze

"That was amusing," Adam chuckles and visibly relaxes when the villain takes his spot in the crowd again.

"Definitely unexpected," I agree with a nod.

We’re just about to turn around and look for a restaurant when he catches our attention again.

"Hey you!" the villain shouts over the crowd and waves at me. "You may come over now."

Oh god. The whole crowd turns around to look at us, and I want the ground to open up and swallow me whole.

Well, no getting out of it now.

"God, this is awkward,” I whisper as we walk closer, red as a beet when the crowd parts for us. “Can you take the picture?" I ask Adam but the villain has other plans.

I step between him and his princess, but he stops Adam before he takes the picture and demands he get into it as well. So he does, handing my phone to one of the uniformed employees to take the picture.

We thank the characters profusely before we leave and when I pull up the picture, I realize that he's positioned us so that he almost completely covers Adam’s face with his bicep.

"I'm going to get this framed," I giggle as we walk away from the crowd, the booming voice of the villain becoming more and more distant.

"Wow. Hilarious,” Adam says dryly, and I grin, slightly zooming in to the biceps. Is it real or just a really good silicone suit? It definitely looks real.

“Damn,” I whisper and zoom into the other one. “What a swoon-worthy guy.”

“You know he was just doing his job, right?" Adam raises his eyebrow at me, and I roll my eyes.

"It's called delusion, Adam. That's what this whole park operates with. Just let me pretend I'm a pretty princess and villains want me."

I chuckle and put my phone away, but not before sending the picture over to Lucy and Felix because it's hilarious.

Lily: “Here, you wanted a picture of Adam.”

Theday passes in the blink of an eye. One moment we get accosted by a villain, the next it’s already evening. We got some amazing food, found more characters, and we even went on a ride that re-opened after a technical issue right as we walked by it and only had a few minutes’ waiting time.

Just when I lose hope, we finally run into Lucy’s favorite princess and I can ask her to record a birthday message for her. Then I ask a few other characters for good measure, after we’ve taken a picture with them.

And then suddenly it's already dark, and the fireworks show, signaling that the park closing is about to begin.

"You know, I wasn't so sure about you, but I actually had fun today," I admit, nudging Adam with my shoulder as we try to find a good place for the fireworks show.

"I had a blast as well." Adam grins and nudges me back. "Thanks for letting me tag along."

"You didn't really give me a choice," I remind him and shake my head.

We find a spot right as the announcement for a 10-minute countdown blares through the speakers. When I look around, all I see are families with children, or adorable couples, most of which dressed in themed partner looks.

"So interesting that this park is just as much of a date spot as a family spot," Adam points out, noticing the same.

"I mean, honestly, if I had one in my city, it would be my date spot as well,” I tell him with a shrug and smile.

"You really love this park, don't you?"

"Yeah,” I admit and close my eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. When I open my eyes, I try to burn this moment into my memory. "I mean, you know the deal. Work doesn't ever completely leave us. But here in the parks..." I shrug, and when I look up at him, before I can even finish the sentence, I know hegets it."I don't have the urge to look at my phone. I don’t think about work here, not for one second. At home or anywhere else, I'm on my phone or laptop constantly, worried that I missed an important email, call, or message, that there’s some scandal breaking I need to be aware of. These parks are one of the very few things that make my mind shut up and just live in the moment." I quickly avert my gaze. "It might be a marketing slogan to some, but to me, it really is one of the happiest places."

"Yeah. I get it," he says softly.

When I look up, I meet his eyes and my breath hitches. He's looking at me with such adoration, and I quickly look away because I can't quite deal with it.

What's going on here? This is the second ‘moment’ we’ve had today. I can’t deal with this. Clearing my throat, I turn to the castle, subtly trying to get a few centimeters of space between us.

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