Episode 24
Jill Malik P.O.V
Get ready tomorrow at 4PM, we’re going on a picnic .F.
I typed a quick okay back before turning my attention back to my laptop. Lately more work has been piling up, because Ximena was on a mini vacation. She was having a good time at the burj al arab in Dubai, while me and Claire were trying to finish all the work that was as high as that building.
I didn’t mind that she was on a mini four day vacation in Dubai. Her parents recommended it to her the day she broke up with Blake. They couldn’t see their only daughter being depressed especially before her makeup launch. It was good for her. Yesterday she sent me a picture while she was having a massage. She looked happy and healthy.
About Blake, that cheating bastard. He didn’t even felt sorry about it. He just continued his ‘relationship’ with his slutty PA and even proposed to her after he broke up with Ximena. He even proposed to her with the same ring he gave Ximena. To put the cherry on top, their wedding will be held on the same day Ximena will launch her makeup. All the time he wasn’t arranging his marriage with Ximena, but with his PA.
I don’t know why he did this to Ximena, but I’m sure Karma will get back to him one day. He’s such a disgrace to all the male species in this world.
Yesterday Flynn came over and had lunch with me. He brought chinese and we had a pretty good time. He made me laugh and I felt more comfortable around him. He isn’t as bad as I thought he was in the beginning.
He’s actually really cool and hot, with his occasional dirty jokes. But then again Flynn without his dirty jokes is not the Flynn I know.
He laughed and every time he did that, my heart skipped a beat. The sound of his laugh was the best sound my ears had ever heard. It was so laid back and chill.
I felt like I knew him. But I couldn’t put two and two together, because something is missing.
Like an important piece of information.
Or maybe I’m just imagining things, because I’m still thinking about him. It’s weird and I hate that I can’t let it go.
I asked Flynn what he thought of Blake, but he just shrugged it off and muttered something along the lines of: “My sister is old enough to know that this is just one of the setbacks in life.”
His answer was weird, because most brothers would beat the guy who f**ked his sister up. Flynn on the other hand seemed unfazed. Like he didn’t care about the situation. I decided to not question him about it anymore, because I know it would be pointless.
“Miss Malik?” Claire walked into my office, with a donut and coffee. “You didn’t had breakfast nor lunch, so I brought some for you.”
She placed it on my desk and my eyes went to the clock on my table. Three pm.
Dammit, did I work for so long. No wonder I had cramps in my fingers and my eyes were watering.
“Miss Malik, you should take a break sometimes. All this work is not good for you.” Claire said, as she handed me a tissue to wipe my eyes off.
“It’s okay, Claire.” I replied, slowly wiping the tears off. “I’m just doing what I need to do.”
“No, no. Ximena is actually really worried about you. She specifically told me that the work she left behind should be done by me, you, and the rest of the team. At this point you’re the one who’s doing most of the work.” Claire shut my laptop off and took it off the table.
“Hey! Where are you going with my laptop?” I asked dumbfounded as she walked out of my office with my laptop in her hands.
“Hiding this.” she said casually. “Tomorrow you have a day off. Don’t worry about us, we will be doing just fine.”
“Claire, I was just doing my work !” I protested.
“No Miss Malik. Your work is finished. That was giving a name to the makeup palette, the rest was our work and we’re going to finish it. So you can as well pack up and go home and give yourself a nice bath, because you deserve it.” With that she walked out of my office with a content smile on her face.
I leaned backwards on my chair and sighed deeply. It was hard hearing the truth from Claire. I wanted everything to be perfect, because I know how much this launch means to Ximena. But that’s why she also has other people working in this building.
I tend to forget that sometimes.
I packed up my stuff and closed my office. When I walked passed Claire, she gave me a warm smile and said: “Have a great day Miss Malik.”
“You too, Claire.” I replied back, smiling.
I passed other cubicles and said my goodbyes to my other colleagues, before exiting the building.
……….
When I arrived at my apartment, it was empty. Reina was still at work and she would probably have dinner with Luca and his parents who were currently in town.
I took a nice bath and dressed up in a my skimpy peignoir and ordered pizza. After my dinner -pizza- arrived I turned on netflix and watched Riverdale. I felt so relaxed.
The front door opened and Reina came in. “Hey.” she greeted, putting her bag on the table. “Hi, how was dinner?” I asked, as she plopped down next to me.
“His parents were too… happy.” she sighed, grabbing a pizza from the box. “No, happy is not even the right word. Let’s just say excited. Overly excited, to the point where they started talking about baby names.”
“Wow.” I chuckled, “That’s a lot for meeting them for the first time.”
“I know right, but they are nice people. Their english is funny and the dad kept using google translate on his phone to talk to me.”
“Nice in-laws you have there.” I laughed.
She rolled her eyes. “I’m going to take italian lessons.”
“Really?” I asked surprised.
She nodded and smiled. “Hard to believe right. I swore to myself that I wouldn’t learn any other foreign language after English. But here I am, thinking about taking Italian classes.”
“The things you do for love.”
“The things I do for love.” she sighed chuckling, taking a bite of her pizza. “So, how are things going between you and loverboy?”
“Will you stop calling him loverboy? That’s so… high schoolish.”
She laughed loudly. “Okay, what should I call him then? Prince charming? Gentleman in a bugatti?”
“Yikes no, Flynn is fine.” I said after hearing the awful nicknames she had for him. Gentleman in a bugatti? Really, is that the what they call prince on a white horse in this century?
“Yeah whatever, so are you guys dating?”
I shook my head. “Nope, just friends.”
“Really?” she said disappointed. “I thought you guys were already passed the friendzone.”
“Why would you think that?”
“I don’t know.” she shrugged, “He’s so nice to you.”
“That’s true, but that’s what friends are supposed to be. And bytheway he reminds me a lot of him.”
Her eyes widened. “You mean one night stand guy?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I know he’s not the one. If he was he would tell me right? He wouldn’t keep it a secret.”
“What if he is the one? But he is afraid to tell you?”
Reina’s question made me think for awhile. I haven’t thought about that.
“But what if he knows, but he doesn’t want to remind me about it, because it was just a one night stand.”
“Mmh, that’s another way of thinking about it. You will never know if you don’t ask him.”
“So you are telling me that I should ask him?” I said, looking horrified. “Are you crazy? What if he’s not the one?”
“Then he’s not the one.” she simply shrugged.
“No, no. If he’s the one he should tell me, because he remembered. I don’t. And it’s only fair if he does, because he left me without a note or something. And that’s already a hint that it was just a one night stand. Nothing less, nothing more.” I stated.
“But you fell in love. Maybe he did too. You never know if you don’t ask hunny. You said it yourself. You guys didn’t f**k, but made love.”
“Maybe he is not even the guy. Maybe I was being delusional. Maybe it was someone else.”
“You will never know until you ask.”
“And I will not.” I said, crossing my hands across my chest.
“What if he’s the one?” Reina said, “How will you feel about it?”
“Mad of course.” I laughed, “I mean all this time he knew and didn’t bother telling me. That’s lying.”
“But,” I added. “He’s not the one.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Pretty sure.” I replied confidently.
I was just being delusional.
……….
I was getting ready for my picnic date with Flynn. I wore a baby pink scalloped skirt with a white lace top and I put my hair in a messy bun. I applied some makeup and I was ready to go. Earlier today Reina went to go sightseeing with Luca and his parents and she told me she would be home by midnight, because Luca was planning to take her for dinner tonight. And with dinner, I don’t mean five star restaurant. More like his apartment and lace. Lots of lace, probably handcuffs too.
I heard a knock on the front door and walked out of my room to open it. Flynn was standing there in a pair of brown jeans and a denim shirt. Like always, he looked handsome.
“Hello pudding.” he greeted, flashing me his oh-so dazzling smile. My panties just melted and I didn’t even wore panties.
“Hey, Vasilios.” I said smiling, closing the door behind me.
“Ready to go?” he asked, lacing his fingers with mine.
I nodded. “I’m excited.”
We exited the apartment and in his bugatti we drove to the place he was taking me. He brought me to the East River State Park. It was not a fancy place, but the view of Manhattan is breathtaking. The park was flush against the river, offering stunning-and previously fenced-off-views of Manhattan’s skyline. Aside from the barbecue platform and children’s playground, it’s a mostly wide-open lawn dotted with picnic tables, making it a perfect locale to set up blankets and have the most amazing picnics.
I stepped out of the car and saw that Flynn was holding a basket in his hand. “What’s in there Vasilios.” I asked curiously.
“Food of course.” he replied, taking my hand in his and walking down the park.
I rolled my eyes. “I know, but what kind of food?”
“You will see in a minute.”
We stopped in the middle of the park and he put the basket on one of the picnic tables. I sat down and looked around. It was beautiful. There were not a lot of people and the view was breathtaking. And I wasn’t even talking about the Manhattan’s skyline. That’s just a bonus.
I watched Flynn as he took the stuff out of the basket. Subway sandwiches, strawberries, apples, juice, water, yogurt, and chocolate cake.
“Did you made that yourself?” I asked, pointing at the chocolate cake.
He nodded disappointedly. “Nope, bought it.”
“Oh.”
He handed me a subway sandwich and poured juice for me. “Have I already said that you look stunning?” he asked, giving me a once over.
“Well you just did.” I chuckled, “You look great too.”
“You look better pudding.” he winked, sitting down.
“Oh I know.” I flipped my hair and smiled at him.
He just shook his head and laughed loudly. “Cute.”
We ate in silent, Flynn occasionally throwing bread crumbs at me. After that we talked about plans for the future. And then about Ximena and family.
Half way he stopped talking, and held my hand. His touch sent shivers down my spine. “I want to ask you something.” he said nervously, grabbing something out of his pocket.
If he’s asking me to marry him, I swear I will drown him in that river.
“No.” he said, as if he could read my mind. “I’m not going to ask you to marry me. Who the hell goes from friendzone straight to marriage? Even though I wouldn’t mind, it’s just unrealistic.”
Oh thank goodness.
“But,” he said. He pulled his hands out of his pocket and my eyes widened at what he was holding. A round cut white fire opal gold ring. So goddamn pretty. “This is a promise ring. I swear I didn’t meant to fall in love or I thought I wasn’t capable of falling in love. But then you appeared and yeah how cliche it may sound, I started wanting everything. Your smile, your jokes, you. Just all of you. I’m not the best, but I promise I’ll love you with all my heart. So Jill Pudding Malik, this is my way of stepping out of the friendzone. Do you want to be my girlfriend?”
I couldn’t hold back my tears. This was all so unrealistic. I thought this only happened in fairy tales. Reina was right. He is the modern version of prince on the white horse.
Gentleman in a bugatti.
My heart was pounding against my chest and I wiped my tears away. “Of course, oh my god. This is so cute.”
The things I felt for him right now were indescribable. Butterflies were erupting in my stomach as he slid the ring on my ring finger of my left hand. I was so surprised that it fit perfectly.
“It’s so beautiful. Oh my god Vasilios !” I squealed walking around the table and straddling him. I didn’t care if there were kids in the park. He tilted my face and planted a kiss on my lips.
“Will you please come up with a better nickname pudding?” he whispered against my lips.
I chuckled. “Maybe, but I like that one.”
“My last name is not a nickname pudding.” he put his hands around my waist and at that moment I realized I was wearing a skirt.
How did I managed to straddle him in a skirt?
“Black thongs. Cute.” Flynn whispered in my ear, making me jump out of his lap, but he held me firmly in place.
“Vasilios, let go of me.”
“Oh pudding. The only time I will let go of you is when I’m gonna grab your ass and right now is not the right time since we want to keep things pg-13 for those kids over there.” he smirked, pointed at two kids playing on the grass.
As I already mentioned before. Flynn without dirty jokes, is not Flynn.
He placed another kiss on my jaw, when his face turned serious. “I need to tell you something.”
“What?” I asked. I remembered him saying the same thing when we were in the plane, before I fell asleep. “You said the same thing in the plane, but I fell asleep and you never told me anything afterwards.”
“Well,” he said, “Because it needs to be said at the right time. And I think this is the right time.”
“So what is it?” I was starting to get curious.
“Remember that—”
I put my finger on his lips when my eyes darted to a couple behind him. The man looked exactly like Flynn. Well, a little older.
It was creeping me out and Flynn’s story could wait. This was way more important. Why was there another Flynn in this park, with a beautiful woman. They were old, yes, but even a person with a bad eye sight could see that the old man was a copy of Flynn.
“Flynn.” I whispered, “Why does that man look like an older version of you?”
“Elynn.” I whispered, “Why does that man look like an older version of you?”
Flynn turned his head around and his eyes widened.
“Mom, dad?! What are you guys doing here?”