HARLEY

“You smell really nice,” Jae mentioned right when I took the biggest gulp of my bubble tea. 

I very carefully swallowed my drink, and barely chewed the several bubbles in my mouth. When I looked up, Jae was smiling at me but his eyes seemed worried. 

“Sorry,” he added, but I shook my head. 

We’d been at the cafe for over two hours, and eventually decided to get food there too. The conversation was easy, and I felt comfortable enough to answer his questions honestly. I also noticed that he’d turn a shade of red when I asked more questions about his art hobby. 

“It’s okay,” I waved off the apology. Though part of me wanted to make fun of his timing, I was too flustered to do so. 

“Thank you, I got it from Bath & Body Works. It’s called Vanilla Bean Noel. I love Bath & Body Works,” I mused.

Jae nodded, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

My heart skipped a beat, and I sighed inwardly. His mention of the future made me think ahead to Valentine’s, Birthdays, and Holidays. I could see him walking into Bath & Body Works to get me a Holiday-scented candle, or some new body butter he thought I might like to celebrate my birthday. 

Even though it was going well, I kept stopping myself from saying, doing, or expecting too much. This was the freakin’ first date and I was over there hoping for the best and thinking months down the line.

“...ley... Harley...”

My head twitched a bit, and my brain just noticed then that Jae had been calling me. “Sorry, did you say something?”

He laughed, but the smile on his face couldn’t hide the slight falter in his eyes. Jae went on anyway, “I asked if you were free this Saturday. I know it’s only a few days from now, and I hope you weren’t just ignoring me earlier. But, you’re busy so I understand if you can’t-”

“I’m free,” I blurted out, my heart racing in my chest, “when?” 

Thank God.

Actually, maybe I sound too eager.

“I mean,” I cleared my throat, “I don’t have anything planned.”

Jae grinned, then glanced at his phone. After a short while, he looked back up, “How about 2pm?”

“Sure, that works for me. What did you wanna do?”

He shrugged, “what do you like? Aside from movies and tennis.”

I opened my mouth to retort his phrase, but when I noticed him smirking I realised he must have been teasing me. 

“Well, my many interests, Jae, include the Harbour Front. They have a skating rink, have you been?”

Jae nodded, “too many times.”

“Oh,” my smile fell a bit, “then we can go somewhere else.”

“Nah, my bad. It’s been a while, and I haven’t been there with you. We should go. We’ll go. And there’s this great poutine place nearby.”

My face felt hot as I said, “okay,” then dipped my head and took another sip of my boba.

We walked out of the cafe twenty minutes later, cold fries and burgers in our respective to-go boxes while Jae held the door open for me, and I already started to miss the warmth of the inside when a gust of frigid wind hit my hands and face. I shivered a bit as he closed the door behind us, then turned to say ‘goodbye’ to my date.

“I’m glad I was convinced to come out. This was nice,” I let him know.

Jae smiled, “good to hear. I had a great time. And I learned a lot today.”

“Really,” I giggled.

“Yeah, I’m adding Erased to my list of things to watch on Netflix as soon as I get in the car.”

That made me laugh louder, and longer, than I intended, but I was glad to see Jae laughing too when I snuck a peek at him. Our laughs died down, and we stood there in pleasant silence for a bit, the sounds of nearby traffic and a cold breeze being the only things we could make out. 

Part of me didn’t wanna go, and I was tempted to suggest another place we could sit and chat at. But, it was already close to 9pm, and the weight of the day started to hit me. I yawned unexpectedly, and Jae seemed to take that as a sign.

“You must be tired, I don’t wanna keep you,” he said.

I opened my mouth to disagree, but all that came out was yet another yawn. 

“Sorry,” I half-said, half-yawned. “I guess it’s been a long day.”

As I rubbed my bare hands together, Jae and I watched each other. He was suddenly closer than before, and the inches he had on me were obvious. I tipped my head back a bit to meet his eyes, and felt his breath as his face inched toward mine. The heat of our breathing was visible in the air, and it seemed like a kiss was inevitable.

Then a phone rang.

I cursed at my cell for having not been on vibrate, “sorry, that’s me.”

And it happened to be my mom, who would never let me just hang up without a reason. As she asked about my day and how things were going, I realised it would be a while before I could talk to Jae again. 

“Mommy, can I put you on hold?” I asked, but did anyway. “Jae, I’m sorry I have to go. But, thanks again. I’m looking forward to Saturday.”

“Yeah, same. I’ll text you,” he said with a wave.

I turned and walked toward the station after I took my mom off of hold. She went on, and I did my best to listen, but all I could think about was the next time I’d see Jae.