The Devious Divorcee: Single and sly

NAOMI SINCLAIR "Pretty, let's accompany you." The street was as silent as a graveyard and I happened to be the only road occupant at the moment with a gang of scary looking thugs. "Aren't those books heavy?" One of them asked as he walked closer to me. "Let me help you." "N-no thank you." I whimpered as I quickened my pace. "No need to rush, sweetie." Their leader pulled me by the hand and I screamed. "Hush darling." My books fell to the ground and another yanked my bag from me. "Please." "We won't hurt you love." "Let her go!" A voice yelled out from behind us and we all turned around to notice a guy that looked my age. He stood there with fidgeting hands and adjusted his glasses. "Who are you?" He left my hand and instantly rushed to him. Without hesitation, left him with a punch. "Stop!" I yelled as I saw him fall straight to the ground. As he was about to attack him again, the street police officer appeared out of nowhere and interfered, the gang immediately cleared off. "Are you okay miss?" "Yes, he saved my life." I smiled at him and he smiled back. ★★★ A few days had passed since the incident and I hadn't seen the stranger since then. As I walked into my mother's restaurant, a hand pulled me unannounced and it turned out to be my mom. "Naomi!" "What is it mom?" I frowned. "Look at that guy over there." She pointed to a guy in glasses. "He is the best at what he studies, something related to computer I think..." As she kept praising him, I noticed that the young man was the one who saved me. "Computer huh?" I yanked free from her hold and ignored her voice as she called me. I raced for my laptop from the inner room, "okay." I gently slammed it on the floor to minimize its damage and I shrieked as I saw the crack. After composing myself, I walked to him, "hi." He looked at me and almost choked on his noodles. "Are you okay?" I handed him a napkin and he shyly accepted it. I sat next to him with a smile and slid my laptop to him, "can you fix it?" He nodded and smiled. "Naomi." I smiled. "Huh?" His eyes widened. "My name… Naomi." "Oh right! Chris… nice to meet you Naomi." A bright smile took over my face. "Thank you for saving me then." "Oh I did nothing! I just got a beating." He chuckled and I joined in. He stared at me with admiration for a short moment before saying, "tell you what, I'll fix your laptop for free." "For real?" "Yeah." He smiled. "Can we… hang out sometime?" I felt ecstatic but managed to keep it cool. "Sure." For the next few weeks, we kept hanging out, after class, sometimes I'd ditch class even though he never agreed to such an act. ★★★ I felt a hand wrap around mine and it dragged me, almost off my balance. "Chris! Where are we going?" He pulled me along with him as he hurried to the school's garden, "it's a surprise!" He stopped as we got to the garden's entrance. "What is it?" I asked. He moved closer to me then stood behind me, with his palms covering my eyes, I felt his breath against the nape of my neck and I shuddered. "I don't want you to see it." "I might trip on something Chris, I really don't like the dark." We stopped, he got even closer to my back and whispered in my ear, "do you trust me Naomi?" His tone was stern but enough to sweep me off my feet. "I trust you with my life Chris." We stood silently for a minute and I wondered what he was thinking. I opened my mouth to speak but I felt his gentle nudge, instructing me to keep walking and I obliged. After taking a few more steps, we stopped and I heard him say, "on three… one… two…" he stopped. "Oh come on Chris! Curiosity is killing me!" He chuckled at my whining. "Okay… three." He let go and moved an inch backward. I squinted due to the scorching sun. Finally opening my eyes, I felt my jaw drop, I felt loss of words to express the way I felt. Lying on the grass was a beautiful plaid picnic blanket and on it was a basket filled with heart shaped treats, all in chocolate and vanilla. A bouquet of my favorite kind of lily, a small chest with a note that said open me. "What is this? Chris?" I turned around and found him tugging at his glasses excitedly. He cleared his throat and sang the chorus of "you are the reason" by Calum Scott loud enough to call the attention of others in the garden. My cheeks flushed red at how off tune he sounded and the fact that all eyes were on us. I found myself chuckling as he sang and patiently waited for him to sing every line. After taking a long and deep breath, he smiled nervously at me, "I know you said to be best friends but I find myself thinking of you every time, I can't help the way I feel around you. I think you are very beautiful and I know you would never date the likes of me but I wonder… can you ever be mine Naomi?" I chuckled softly at his cute yet awful way of asking me out. "Uhm… I don't know, do you want me to be yours?" "With all my heart Naomi, I want you more than I want to live, I want you in my past, present and future." "Your past--" I chuckled with a nod, "--sure, I'll be yours forever Chris." I jumped in his arms and he gave me a twirl. The others in the garden cheered and applauded. Later that day, I overheard him talking with his friends about never letting his wife be a full house wife. "I want to be a full house wife!" I yelled, not realizing when it came out. "Will you still marry me?" He stared at me with an unexplainable gaze, I felt my heart pound at the fact that he was actually thinking about it. "I…"