Page 4 of Ever After

I scroll through the questions and find another playful one. For the trip, I will stick to easier questions. I don’t want our trip to blow up.

“If you could travel anywhere outside the country, where would it be and why?”

“Hmmm. Probably Rome. It has a lot of history, and I would love to see the Colosseum.”

“I would like to go to Greece. It looks beautiful. The houses that live on the sides of the mountains would be nice to look at and explore.”

I throw my own question out there to see if he remembers. I ask, “What’s my favorite color?” This should be a no-brainer, since everything I choose is pink.

“Pink,” he says.

“And yours is black.”

The server brings out the other rolls. We eat these in silence, which I’m okay with, and it doesn’t seem to bother him.

After dinner,we walk around the shopping areas they have in the Ala Moana Center. My body is more relaxed and at ease. It’s probably the alcohol that’s calming me. The wind helps with the humidity, too. It seems late because the sun has already gone down, but it’s only around seven o’clock. Everyone is walking around and grabbing dinner. Some people are still in their swimsuits from their earlier visits to the beach.

There hasn’t been much tension between Aiden and me since the restaurant. It feels good. We’ve been holding hands and going from store to store looking around. We are walking past a booth selling oysters with pearls in them when Aiden stops and pulls me toward the booth.

“Let's get you a pearl.”

I look up at him and smile and follow him to the booth. The employee explains how it works. You pay to pick an oyster that holds a pearl in it. You can put the pearl in a ring, earrings, necklace, or bracelet. She let us know they are easy to set, and she could have it ready for us by tomorrow if we decide to set the pearl.

“Do you want to pick an oyster?”

“Yeah! This sounds fun.” I walk over to the bucket of water to get the oysters. I turn to Aiden and say, “It’s hard to choose. Do I pick a big oyster, small, or better looking shell?”

“I don’t know. You could close your eyes and feel around and feel what one you like the best.”

“Okay, here goes nothing.” I close my eyes and feel around the oysters. Some feel smooth like a seashell and others are rougher around the edges. I chose a smooth one, and I open my eyes and my hand is holding one that doesn’t look too bad. The employee asks if I want to open it but I ask her to do it. I don’t want to risk losing it or damaging it. She opens it up, and it’s a small pink pearl. “It’s beautiful,” I say.

“It's pink, your favorite color,” Aiden says.

“Do you know what setting you want it in?” the girl asks.

“Yes. Let's get a necklace.” I pick out a thin rose gold chain to put it on. She lets me know to pick it up tomorrow around this time. Aiden hands her his card and pays for it. As we walk away, I grab his hand and say, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Anything for you.”

“Do you want to get a drink?” I ask.

“Sure, that sounds good. The buzz from earlier has gone away, and this humidity is making me sweat, even with the wind. An air conditioned place sounds good right now,” Aiden explains.

We stop at a bar to get some drinks. Music plays in the background as people chatter, talking and laughing and sipping on drinks. We grab a booth and I marvel at the air conditioning. It feels so good. The waiter comes over and takes our order. As soon as he leaves, I notice Aiden already on his phone.

We sit in silence as he thumbs away on his phone. I’m waiting to see how long it takes for Aiden to get off his phone. The night has been good so far. I don’t want to ruin it with my nagging. The waiter brings us our drinks, and I chug mine. Before the waiter leaves, I ask for a shot of tequila. I might as well get tipsy if we’re going to sit here in silence. I look around at everyone around me. Couples are laughing and talking together. Even the waitresses are laughing with the people in here. I sit here and wonder what people think of us. It’s so disrespectful to be out with someone and sit on your phone. It is a common occurrence when we are out together. I stopped going out with him because of it.

My shot comes and I take it down quickly. The waiter sees I’m a little irritated. He takes my shot glass away and asks if I want another and I nod. Aiden looks up and gives me a questionable look and shakes his head.

“What?” I ask.

“Nothing. Wondering why you are pounding shots.”

“You see nothing wrong here?” I ask and he looks at me with a confused look.

“Do you realize it’s embarrassing to sit here with you while you sit on your phone the whole time?” I ask. I don’t want this to trigger a bigger fight, but I also want him to be present with me.

“What’s embarrassing about that?” he asks with his phone still in his hand.

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