Page 45 of Becoming His Muse
She looked around as they entered the garden. Yes, it’d definitely been a while since she’d been. There were far more flowers than there had been the last time. She was willing to bet there were at least double what there had been.
“I thought we could walk around the garden before dinner,” he stated.
“And dinner was where again?”
He smirked down at her. “Nice try.”
“Can’t blame a girl for trying,” she responded with a shrug.
They walked around the garden looking at all the different roses. Olani hadn’t known there were so many different species of roses, and according to Elion, each color within a species meant something different. She knew that the color of a rose represented something, but for each color in each species to do so was new to her. She felt sorry for the person who had to come up with them or keep up with them initially.
“How do you know this?” she asked as she took in the yellow doll roses in front of them.
“I did a show that consisted of flowers. I’m not sure what sparked my interest in it for an exhibit, but something had.”
They continued walking around, taking in all the roses until it was closing time. Once back in his vehicle, Elion pulled out of the parking space and headed to where they were having dinner. She was excited to see what restaurant he’d chosen.
When they pulled into the parking lot of an Italian restaurant fifteen minutes later, she moved to take her seatbelt off, but he stopped her.
“Wait here for me, baby.”
She nodded, sitting back in her seat. She listened to the soft music filter from the speakers, and several minutes later, Elionreturned. He placed the food in the backseat on the floor before getting in.
“Do you trust me, Sweetheart?”
“Yes,” Olani responded, wondering why he was asking.
She watched him open the middle console and pull out a silk scarf. He held it up and motioned for her to turn toward the window. He wanted to blindfold her. Now, she really wanted to know what he had planned, especially if he wanted to blindfold her to keep her from seeing and figuring it out.
Olani did as he requested, and he gently placed the scarf over her eyes, securing the sides behind her ears and tying it behind her head, under her hair. She faced forward in her seat again, and a few seconds later, they were leaving the restaurant parking lot.
Wherever they were going, it felt like it was taking an hour, but she knew that wasn’t the case. The lack of sight heightened her anticipation and made time feel like it was moving at a snail’s pace.
When they finally came to a stop, he asked her to give him a few minutes and told her no peeking. Naturally, she was tempted to do so when she heard him get out of the car, if for no other reason than to see where they were, but she refrained. Instead, she tried to focus on what she could hear.
The trunk opened, and she could hear a rustling of some sort, but it wasn’t enough to help her figure out what he was doing. So, she resigned herself to being patient.
Several long minutes passed before her door opened, and Elion was removing her seatbelt. Olani released a small gasp as he picked her up from the seat. The passenger door closed, and after a short walk, he placed her on her feet. Elion removed the blindfold, and she blinked a few times, taking in the sight in front of her.
The second row of seats in his SUV had been let down, and she found pillows and blankets spread across it, making it cozy. The food he picked up was sitting on a flat tray in the middle of it all. She couldn’t help but smile. He placed his hands on her waist, turning them, and she took in where they were.
He’d driven them to Scenic Drive to one of the overlooks. They could see the city below and the border. With the sun going down, the lights in the city were gradually turning on. It would be the perfect backdrop for their date.
She turned to face him, her arms going around his neck as she pulled him down and kissed him. It never ceased to amaze her the thought he put into the dates he took her on—the creativity behind each one.
“I take it you approve,” he stated when they pulled apart.
“I do.” She released him and sat on the bumper, removing her shoes and placing them beside her before sliding back into the trunk. Elion followed suit a moment later. They unpacked the food, eating as they watched the sunset.
Elion lay on his back, running his hand up and down Olani’s side as she lay beside him. Her head was on his shoulder. They’d finished eating half an hour ago, disposed of their trash, and decided to relax and talk for a while. He was currently listening to her tell him about a play she’d been in when she was younger and how, looking back on it, they shouldn’t have been allowed to do it because it was awful.
“It couldn’t have been that bad.”
“Oh, but it was. And we did it several times. You would think after the first time, someone would have said something. Or thedirector would have noticed that his family and friends were the only ones showing up after opening night.”
“What finally made him realize?”
“I don’t think he ever did. A majority of the cast just ended up quitting, and I’m not sure he could find replacements.”
