My First Kiss

Chapter 4: Serendipity

Amelia gracefully wheeled her bags as she was welcomed by one of the attendants at JW Marriott Los Angeles. She chose to stay in a different hotel than the initial one that she earlier booked. Millennium Biltmore Hotel Los Angeles was gracious enough to let her use her initial booking on a later date. She was looking forward to staying in the hotel, basically the area where it was located. It was close to all the areas included in her travel bucket list.

She secured her room key and was half paying attention as the attendant wheeling her stuff followed her. 

“I am really starving,” she told herself. She grabbed her phone and was checking for restaurants located near the Marriott. She was surprised to see a hand grabbing the elevator door as it was about to close. 

To her surprise, it was Jake, with a smirk on his lips, looking directly at her, as if he was already expecting to see her there.

“Well, hi there, darling,” Jake casually greeted her.

“What are you doing here?” She managed to add a tone of sarcasm to her voice when the truth is her heart was about to leap out of her chest.

“I was about to ask you the same thing.” Jake teasingly replied.

“I changed my mind..”, her face was now directed to James as she was about to explain herself.

“No need to explain anything darling. You’re free to go anywhere you want.” Jake replied, still teasing.

She let out a defeated sigh, just about when her stomach let out a noticeable rumble.

“You know what, let’s have that lunch today,” Jake said as she pulled her free hand. “Thomas, please bring Ms. Wilson’s bags inside her room.” He told the attendant while pulling Amelia as the elevator opened on the 5th floor. “I know a really nice place where we can grab lunch,” he turned to Amelia.

Amelia heard Thomas replied just as she was about to step out of the elevator with Jake leading the way. “Most certainly Sir Murphy,” that was Thomas’ reply. 

The attendant knew who Jake was, Amelia thought. He addressed him with a certain level of familiarity. Or maybe it was just her head thinking about a lot of things while she allowed Jake to pull her to the next elevator, this time, going down.

Jake uneasily let go of her hand when they entered the elevator. There was an elder man in a black suit inside when they entered but he stepped out a floor down from where they entered.

It was dead silence. She knew she was just imagining things but she felt that she was hearing Jake’s heartbeat racing and competing with how her own heart is working overtime right now.

“Where”

“By the way”

They interrupted each other.

“Go ahead,” Jake signaled her.

“No, you go first.” She said.

“I insist, please, continue,” he said encouragingly.

“Where are we going?”

“I know this very nice place near the hotel which is quite perfect for people who just got out of a long flight like ours.” He excitedly explained.

“Ok...Ummm, why were you at the hotel?” She had the courage to ask.

“My father owns the place and I stay here whenever I am here in LA,” Jake answered.

“That explains”

“That explains what?” Jake asked.

“The attendant was familiar with you,” Amelia said.

“Yes, that’s Thomas, you don’t remember him?” Jake was holding her hand again as they went outside the hotel.

“Should I remember him?” she asked with curiosity.

“We all went to the same school, remember?” Jake explained as he was guiding her through the streets, with several restaurants lined up a few blocks from the hotel.

“Well, maybe you don’t.” “He was very frail back then, and always not around because he was sick most of the time.” “Thomas didn’t manage to finish school and was around bad people for quite a while,” Jake explained. “He even had a crush on you back then.” He added.

Amelia was following Jake while trying to recall who Thomas was. The attendant she met earlier was quite handsome, medium built, and showed no trace of being sickly in the past. She could not recall him at all. Her life back then was all about school, charity works, and Jake. And she was an exchange student so she was only there for around three semesters and had few friends.

Jake let go of her hand to pay for the sandwiches that he ordered to go from The Italian Station. “Just a few more minutes walking darling,” Jake told him as he grabbed her hand once more, with the other holding the sandwiches.

Jake brought Amelia to the Civic Center. It was just a few minutes away from the Marriott. The 12-acre park had several fountain areas with a membrane pool, an open area for performances, and an intimate area where you can sit back and simply enjoy the day amidst the fast-paced life in the area.

Jake sat on one of the shaded areas and patted the spot beside him encouraging Amelia to sit. She had to remove her heels first so she could comfortably sit in the grass area. Jake took out the sandwiches and drinks from the brown bag he was holding earlier and offered her two of the four sandwiches.

"I'll just eat one," Amelia said as she settled comfortably beside Jake, with a view of the playground where several kids with their parents played around.

"Aren't you hungry?" Jake teased.

"Actually I am starving,"  She smiled as she accepted the two sandwiches.

"Oh my God I am so hungry." She said in between chewing and talking. "This is so delicious," Amelia added.

"Told you so," Jake answered.

She finished the first sandwich in less than five minutes and was already devouring her second one when she looked at Jake who was closely watching her.

"What?" She asked, flushed.

"I have never ever seen a girl eat the way you do." He answered.

"Common, I am so hungry and you dragged me for several minutes walking around." She said, now more relaxed than she felt earlier.

"And I am not a girl anymore." "I am an established, successful, grown woman." She exclaimed.

"To that, we toast," Jake responded as he raised his soda to toast with hers.

"To Amelia" She joked.

"Absolutely". He added.

It was silence after that. They simply finished their meal while enjoying watching the people strolling around the area. The sun was somehow endearing that day and it was quite relaxing just to sit around after enjoying their meal.

“So this is how I spend my first day in the City of Angels,” Amelia said as she lay on her back arms up facing the blue sky.

Jake followed suit and lay down beside Amelia, trying his best not to look at her who was just a few inches away from his shoulder.

“Is this your first time here?” He asked.

“Uhmm.” 

“You don’t travel a lot?” He inquired, still focused on the sky.

Amelia turned to him with her head leaning on her hand, too close for comfort. “I did not have the luxury of time to travel back then because I was really working on building the foundation of my company.” She was opening up, not feeling intimidated to her surprise. Actually, she felt comfortable telling her story, even with Jake just a few inches away from where she lay.

Jake turned to her as well now directly looking into her eyes.

“How many years has it been?” He asked.

“Two decades, maybe less.”  She answered with a shrug.

“And look at us now.” Jake continued with a tenderness in her voice. “Still the same kids lying around the park enjoying the sun.” He added.

“I actually miss this,” Amelia said. “Being in a moment where you can just pause, a few minutes of not thinking about anything, or not worrying” She added as she closed her eyes.

“Yeah.” He agreed. “My life is so different right now.” “I rarely get the chance to sit and simply be a bum and not worry about work, the company, Dad, Mom, life.”

He was intently looking at Amelia, whose eyes were closed as he continued on talking about how he missed being a kid, how he missed his life back then.

“I missed you too, a lot. I thought of you a lot for the past years.” Jake finally had the courage to say. To his surprise, he failed to notice that Amelia was already asleep. He was hearing her silent and steady breathing as she lay free of inhibitions - in her nice Prada coat, on a grassed area in the middle of downtown LA.

He stopped talking laid beside her and continued enjoying the view. The same view he loved seeing 18 years ago.