Playing the Ice Princess

NINE

CHAPTER NINE: In which she goes on a date

I eyed my nails for the third time as I stood secretly spying on Adrian beside the kitchen door while he was waited at a table.

"You gonna keep spyin" on your date, hun?" A waitress asked me, her southern accent thick.

I raised a brow, "How did you know I was spying on my date?"

She rolled her eyes giving me a sly smile, ""Cause you ain"t the first one and I"m willin" to bet you ain"t the last one whose done this,"

I looked at the time using my phone. 5:32 PM and I arrived at the café at 4:47 PM. I noticed Adrian arriving at 4:59 PM, exactly on time... and he"s been sitting at a table for the past thirty minutes while I"ve been stalking him for the past thirty minutes.

Just as he"s about to give up and leave, I quickly stroll over and give him a sweet smile. He looked at me furiously as I gave him a lame ass excuse, "Sorry, there was traffic," Let Phase Three begin...

"Ridiculous. You do realize I don"t even want to be here, right?" He grumbled thinking I didn"t hear him.

I rolled my eyes and extended my hand, "You know what? Let"s let bygones be bygones, so I"ll introduce myself. I"m Lila Shaw, and you are?"

He eyed me suspiciously before taking it, "I"m Adrian Peterson,"

I laughed, "You know, this is the part where you say "nice to meet you"."

He chuckled, "I would, but then I"d be lying,"

Jerk. Just realize that if it wasn"t for the engagement, I wouldn"t spare you a glance.

Instead of saying that I laughed too, but I made sure he could hear how forced it sounded. "You"re such a comedian. So what do you do for a living?"

He stared at me for a second, probably debating if he should tell me the truth. "I am the heir to a small business," he finally said. Lying are we? Alright, I"ll play along.

"Is your... business the reason you"re in Seattle?" I asked, tilting my head.

He nodded, "I am here on behalf of my father, the owner of the small business..."

"That"s interesting. I heard the son of the CEO of Peterson Oils is also named Adrian Peterson... such a funny coincidence, don"t you agree?"

He paled for a moment before composing himself and clearing his throat, "Indeed. People tell me that all the time... shame I haven"t met the man,"

"A shame indeed..." I said, playing along.

"But what about you?" He said quickly trying to change the topic.

"I paint," I said quickly, seeing no need to lie.

"Paint what specifically?" He asked, intrigued.

"Anything I feel like... whether it"s a flower I see walking around a garden or a bird chirping happily in the morning..." I said smiling.

He smiled, a genuine smile, that left a strange sensation in my chest, and said, "My mother used to paint..."

"Used to?" I asked, knowing where the conversation was headed towards.

His blue-silver eyes dulled, "She"s dead." Something in my heart is telling me to comfort him... wait what? Lila Shaw does not, I repeat, does not try to "comfort" anyone! Especially the guy who humiliated her...

The atmosphere turned heavy after what he said until suddenly the waitress from earlier appeared and asked us if we needed anything. What a savior! The date was quickly making a downfall... she saw me looking at her gratefully and gave me a wink.

"I"ll have a peach iced tea," I said while Adrian said "I"ll have a lemon tea," at the same time. We looked at each other while the waitress wrote down our drinks and left.

"Honestly, I think lemon has no flavor..." I said haughtily.

"Really?" His silver eyes flashed, "Peach tastes like expired medicine, if you asked me..."

"Well I"m glad I didn"t ask you!" I snapped.

"This is the part where we both calm down, Miss Fiery Temper," he said raising his hands in surrender.

"How do you know it"s "Miss" and not "Missus"?" I joked, although he looked sick.

"Y-You"re married?" He stuttered.

"A joke. Take a freaking joke," I rolled my eyes.

"But speaking of marriage, didn"t you say you have a fiancée?" I asked innocently, pretending to be clueless.

"More like an arranged marriage," he said angrily.

I gasped, "Oh my! That still happens? Have you at least met the girl?"

He shook his head, "But wait," he said suddenly. "Why am I telling this to a person I"m only going to meet once? A legitimate stranger..." he muttered something along the lines of good going Adrian.

I smiled sweetly, "It doesn"t have to be only once..." I whispered, pretending to be shy.

He widened his eyes as the waitress brought our drinks. I read her name tag as Christy, making a mental note to thank her later.

"You know," I said quietly, "I"m willing to give lemon another chance,"

He looked stunned for a second before smiling a smile so pure it made me doubt whether I should go on with the plan or not... Of course you should! Since when does Lila Shaw care about a guy"s feelings?

But Liliana doesn"t want to... but you"re not Liliana right now, are you?

"Do you really want to give lemon another shot?" He asked innocently.

I nodded, and his smile widened, "I think I"ll give peach another chance as well," and I grinned.

"But next time we meet Miss Fiery Temper, I hope you"re not thirty minutes late..." he said sternly.

"There"s gonna be a next time?" I asked feigning surprise.

He nodded, "I did say I"d give peach another chance..."

"For now, let me pay the bill and we can continue this fated date as a stroll in the park," I offered, reminding him of the words I used the first time we met. I ushered the waitress, Christy, to give us our bill.

He shook his head, "I should pay because it"s a gentlemanly thing to do,"

"No way! I asked you out, so I should pay. Simple as that," I insisted.

"But that"ll be a big hit on my ego if I let a woman pay," he said, making me annoyed.

"Don"t be sexist and just go with the flow!" I snapped.

"Fine! I have a negotiation which will make both sides happy. We split the bill. Good enough for you, Miss Fiery Temper?" He asked.

I nodded, suddenly bursting out laughing, in which he gave me a confused look. "What"s so funny?" He asked, probably wondering which type of drugs I was on.

"That we were arguing over who was going to pay when we only ordered two drinks..." And he burst out laughing along with me.

"You"re right, but I"m glad you"re an independent woman who doesn"t go with the stereotypes," he said referring to the stereotype "men must always pay on and for dates".

I didn"t answer him and just hummed a response and we stood standing at the table until Ms. Christy came over with the bill. After splitting and paying the bill, I leaned over and whispered in Ms. Christy"s ear, "Thank you for earlier! You saved the entire date from going downhill," I said sounding relieved. She nodded smiling and gave me a piece of paper contain her number and a note, "Let"s meet up and chat sometimes! I"d love some new friends after moving here all the way from Texas!" I nodded putting the piece of paper in my jean pocket.

I waved her goodbye and exited the café with Adrian. We decided to leave our cars parked in the parking lot of the café and just walk back after strolling through the park.

"Know any good parks around here?" He asked.

I nodded grabbing his hand and ushering him to Myrtle Edwards Park.

I looked at his face and it was slightly red. Blushing because I grabbed his hand? Too innocent to be true! He tried to let my hand go but I smirked mischievously and tightened my grip on his hand, making him shake his head and stop his futile attempts.

***

We arrived at the park at it was slightly crowded, albeit not that much. I saw other couples walking on the pedestrian paths and couldn"t help myself as I dragged him and released his hand, instead clinging on his arm. He looked at me with a look I couldn"t cipher but didn"t complain nonetheless.

We chatted for what felt like hours until it got dark.

He looked at me straight in the eyes and said, "You know, first off, I never thought I"d enjoy this fated date but it"s probably one of the best, if not the best date I"ve had with anyone I"ve gone out with, which isn"t a lot of people. And I never did compliment how beautiful you looked, because I was expecting you to wear something like what I saw you wearing at the airport, but you proved me to never be judgmental. You waltzed in that café wearing something that looked perfect for a first date, something modest... I know I was a huge jerk when we first met, but would you make this man happy and go on a second date with me? I promise to make it all up to you,"

Oh my heart! So freaking cheesy but romantic at the same time... I can"t believe this is the same guy who paid me no attention in the airport... if this plan fails, I don"t mind marrying such a sweet guy... wait what? Where did such horrifying thoughts come from? Shoo, go away! Lila will complete the plan, there is no such thing as failure...

I must"ve been lost in my thoughts for too long because his eyes dulled thinking I was rejecting him. "Yes!" I blurted out, too eager girl! Like a lost puppy... well, I like puppies, I argued with myself.

He gave me a dazzling smile and leaned forward. I thought he was going to kiss me on the lips but instead he gave me a kiss on the cheek. Oh he"s a keeper... no he"s not... the plan!

He grabbed my hand as we walked back to the parking lot of the café, the place we left our cars at...

***