16For the next few days, Cedric and I texted like no other and if we had nothing to do, we just sat around and talked. He couldn't meet up with me during those days because he couldn't get away from work (still yet to understand what in the world he actually does) so we just called each other.
His eye condition kind of threw me off, so I Googled it. Though I didn't really find anything that actually said it existed, I didn't find anything that said it didn't, so I chose to believe him. Amelia thought I was such a loser to believe that what he said was actually true but she had never met the guy nor heard his lovely voice, so she really could not relate.
Finally, on our fourth day of calling and texting, Cedric called to ask me out on a date. I was so ecstatic, I nearly screamed through the receiver, but I stopped myself, knowing Cedric would probably think I'm a huge idiot. We agreed that he would pick me up from the apartment that night and we'd go out to dinner, a restaurant he knew of that had the most amazing food and was low-key. For some reason, this made me feel weird. I felt like he was the kind of guy that would splurge on an expensive date for a girl and though that's never been my expectation or my standard, I felt kind of disappointed for going somewhere "low-key." Does that make me sound horribly shallow? Those dates are never fun anyway but I felt cheated and I didn't even know why!
I forced myself to get out of that mind frame though, and ran out to tell Amelia about my date. Though she thought Cedric was lying about his condition, she still squealed at the thought of me going out and promised that she would do my make-up and find an outfit for me. I didn't protest; her make-up jobs are flawless.
At quarter to seven, I was fidgeting in my seat. Amelia kept telling me to calm down, but I wouldn't listen. I walked over to the mirror to look at my reflection for the umpteenth time that night and I was happy by what looked back at me. I had told Amelia that I didn't want anything too done up, because I didn't want to try too hard and I didn't think we were going anywhere fancy. But at the same time, I wanted to look better than normal and pretty. She had found the perfect medium. My eyes were dusted gold with a tiny bit of black eyeliner at the edges. She had applied two coats of mascara and then bronzer all over my face. After that, she applied some blush on my cheekbones and put on a pink, rosy lipstick on. I loved it! I was wearing black tights, with a floral dress and a jean jacket over top. Looped around my neck was a white wrap-around scarf and I was wearing my light brown, cowboy boots that Amelia had stolen before. Overall, I really liked my outfit.
Fifteen minutes later, right on the dot, our doorbell rang. I sprang up from my seat, my heart beating way too fast.
"Go get him, tiger," Amelia whispered in my ear, slapped my butt, and then ran away into her room. I laughed at her silliness and then opened the door.
My heart started beating even faster.
Cedric was standing in front of me, and my eyes could not stop roaming him over. Somehow, I could tell he was doing the same thing. He was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans, and over top was a white button down with a black, fancy blazer. The buttons of his shirt were unbuttoned to a little below his collarbone, showing off a tanned chest. His annoying sunglasses were obviously still on but he had ditched his baseball cap. Underneath it, he had been hiding dirty brown hair that he had spiked up with just his hands; there was no gel. He looked so handsome.
"Hello," Cedric said, than he blurted out, "You look absolutely beautiful. Well, you always do."
I blushed, and then blushed even more when I realized I was probably so red. "Thank you, Cedric. You look quite handsome yourself."
"Shall we go?" He smiled at me, showing his perfectly aligned, white teeth and held out his arm. I looped mine through and we got into the elevator, descending down to the first floor. When we got out of the building, he steered me towards a Range Rover.
"What really is your job?" I asked, suspiciously.
"I'd have to kill you if I ever told you," He threw me a grin as he opened the passenger door for me.
"Should I be getting into a car with you?"
He gently closed the door behind me, not even bothering to grace that with an answer.
He pulled up in front of an Italian restaurant called, Mmm, Mario's!, and parked the car. It really was very low-key but suddenly it didn't matter to me and I knew that what had been going through my mind was really stupid. I was happy just being around him, it didn't matter whether we were at a fancy restaurant or a normal, low-key one that I would usually go to. As he opened my door again for me and walked me to the restaurant, I couldn't help but look over at him. He was truly the most handsome guy I had ever seen, let alone went out with. Even without seeing his eyes, I felt like he was a god. Though he seemed shy a lot of the time when he was around me or talked to me, I could sense the power in him and how strong he really was through his arms. Cedric looked down at me just then, and I knew I was caught. He smiled at me and I blushed and looked away.
When we were finally in the restaurant, the smells that wafted to my nose were so strong and delicious that my stomach growled hungrily. Cedric laughed and said, "Come on."
We walked further in and a chubby, round woman with rosy cheeks and happy eyes popped out of nowhere and embraced Cedric.
"Mi amore! I am so glad you are here, I haven't seen you in forever!" She exclaimed in a thick, Italian accent, kissing his cheek and hugging him.
"Adalina, I've missed you! This is Scarlett, my date." Adalina finally glanced my way and looked me over from head to toe. I felt like I was being inspected to see if I was good enough for Cedric. Finally, she broke out into a huge smile and bustled over to hug me.
"Scarlett! I am so happy to meet you, you are a beautiful girl!" Her head came up to my shoulder but she was just so cute. I had only met her but I liked her instantly, she was so warm and nice. "Come, come, and let me show you to a table in the back."
We walked through many different tables of couples and families eating when finally she sat us down. Cedric then said he'd back in a second; he just wanted to go say hi to the cook, Adalina's husband. Even before he had walked away, I could tell Adalina had something important she wanted to ask him and steered him inside.
I sat and made myself comfortable. Looking around, the restaurant brought a smile to my face. The inside looked rustic, kind of like a cabin. Placed all over were pots and pots of beautiful flowers and different types of plants. Along the walls were family photos of Adalina's children and vacations. Near the door, there was a photo that I had missed whenI walked in, but it was a picture of Adalina and her husband with a very handsome man in the middle. He was wearing a suit but looked happy with his arms around the couple. The guy kind of reminded me of Cedric, with the same hard jaw line and brown hair but other than that, I didn't see the resemblance.
When he walked back in a couple minutes later, I pointed out the photo to him. "Don't you think that guy looks so much like you? Who is he?"
"What? He looks nothing like me! I have no idea who that is." Cedric sat down and his tall frame blocked out the photo completely. Oh well, I shrugged. I picked up the menu and my mouth watered at all the yummy choices in front of me.
"What are you getting?" I asked Cedric.
"Spaghetti and meatballs. Simple, but I've had it every time I've come here since I was a kid."
"How do you know Adalina? The way she acts, it's like you're her child."
"My parents always brought us here; it was the first restaurant I've ever been, too. In a way, I kind of am. Her own children have all grown up and have lives of their own, but I'm always here for her to boss around and hug." His face lit up when he spoke of her and I could tell how much he really loved her.
"That's so sweet," I responded, smiling. His hand was resting on the table and I did something I never thought I could ever do without blushing like crazy. I reached for his hand. He looked at my fair colored hand placed on his incredibly tanned one and then flipped his own over so that we were holding hands. He squeezed it, and then I suddenly felt really awkward, as if I had just gone somewhere too early and took my hand from his, picking up the menu instead.
"So, I'm starving!" I just said, trying to change the subject and make him forget about what had just happened. Though, I really couldn't myself, his hand was smooth with few calluses and all that kept going through my head was his hand flipping over and squeezing mine.
"I could tell," Cedric replied, laughing. I blushed and looked down at my menu. The fettucine alfredo sounded amazing so I finally settled on that. When the waitress came by to take our orders, Cedric requested to have some wine with a name that I didn't know. It sounded classy and probably expensive. The problem was I hated wine. But I obviously couldn't tell him that, so when it came around, I drank it with a smile on my face, commenting on how delicious it was.
But he saw right through me, because as I was drinking a small sip, he said, "You hate it, don't you?"
Upon hearing this, I spat what was in my mouth back into my cup. "No, I love it! It's so good, seriously."
"No, really. I hate it, too. I just ordered 'cause I thought you might like wine," He stated sheepishly.
"Oh, thank God, I loathe it," I breathed, than realized that sounded incredibly mean. "Oh, I'm sorry. But you drank it so nicely, no one could ever tell."
"My parents have a lot of parties where I have to walk around acting like I enjoy myself. People hand me wine and I have to pretend to like it, even though what I'd really kill for is a bottle of beer." I felt like just by this little confession, I had learned so much more about Cedric. Smiling I looked over at our waitress and asked her for two beers. Cedric laughed at this.
For the next hour or so, we sat drinking beer and eating our absolutely delicious food. I stole some of Cedric's spaghetti—I warned him I would—and he in turn, took some of mine. I fully understood why he ordered the same thing every single time he came to this restaurant. Adalina visited us a few times and then brought out dessert, a chocolate brownie lava cake that we hadn't ordered.
Even though we had spent days talking, it felt like we'd never run out of things to say. When one topic ended, one of us blurted out something random and that started an entirely new conversation. Talking with Cedric felt so easy, like brushing my teeth. It was nice to have that feeling after years of being around guys who would either run out of things to talk about or would stop the conversation to check out another girl that walked by.
Adalina came to our table once again and told us that the bill was taken care of. Cedric would have none of it, he kept trying to wriggle past her and go pay but she wouldn't let him. He then promised her that he'd send over a nice present tomorrow and she proceeded to tell him that if he did, she would call his mother and tell him everything. He hugged her and pulled me out of the restaurant. I couldn't help but laugh the entire time, they were absolutely adorable together.
The restaurant was by a small lake, and seeing as I would rather spend more time with Cedric than go home, we walked over to the bench and sat down, looking over at the lake. The air was brisk and chilly and now I felt like I had come unprepared; when I had worn my outfit, I was only thinking about how cute it would look and not the practicality of it. I shivered involuntarily and all of a sudden, I felt something big and warm being placed around me. Cedric had given me his coat.
"No, Cedric, please. You'll freeze!" I exclaimed, wanting him to take his jacket back, even though what he had just done made me feel so happy.
"Oh, please, I can handle it. I couldn't live with myself if you were cold," And then he grinned knowing that what he said was incredibly cheesy. I thought it was incredibly cute all the same.
Without thinking, I leaned forward and kissed him. I could tell he was surprised at first, probably as surprised at me for doing something like this but instantly, the shock wore off and he was kissing me back. It compared to nothing else and no one else; it was hands down the best kiss of my life. It seemed like his lips fit perfectly against mine and soon I had a hand deep in his hair and he had one hand in mine. It felt like there was no distance between our bodies and I sighed, my breath exhaling into his mouth. I went to bring my other hand up when it suddenly hit his glasses and they fell over. He broke apart from the kiss before I even understood what happened and had his glasses back on as quickly as possible.
We were both staring at each other, or at least I thought he was staring at me, our chests heaving up and down, taking in as much breath as possible, because that kiss had literally took my breath away. Without saying anything, he leaned over and planted a kiss on my forehead, then my nose, and then my lips. I was too scared to hit his glasses again so it took all I had to pull away from his soft and lovely lips. I felt like he was probably wondering why I had done that so I told him the reason. He smiled and then kissed my cheek, pulling me back against him. We sat like that for a while, my head rested on his shoulder and his arm around me, staring out at the lake.
I couldn't stop smiling, everything about it just felt so right.
The next day was when everything was blown to shit.
It was Sunday and the store was closed so I was folding mine and Amelia's laundry on the couch, waiting till three when Cedric was going to come over. Amelia had a show on which was going over random interviews with different royals and celebrities who have visited London. At the moment, it was showing an interview with the king and queen of England. Sitting beside them was their son whose name I didn't quite catch. It looked incredibly boring so I didn't even bother looking up or actually tuning in. I picked up a shirt to fold and realized it was actually my shirt and it was brand new; I had yet to wear it. I looked up at Amelia and threw a pillow at her.
"Sorry! Love you!" She said as soon as she saw what I was holding up.
"Sure, you are," I replied, shaking my head. I wasn't actually mad; it was just so much fun to pretend to be with Amelia.
As I was getting up with our two piles of clothes, I suddenly heard Cedric's beautiful, lilting voice loud and clear. I was so startled I nearly threw the clothes down. I looked around me and no one was there. I thought I was crazy. But then I heard it again and my eyes fell to the TV. All the clothes in my hand fell to floor along with my stomach.
"What? What's wrong?" Amelia said, looking at me with concerned eyes.
But I couldn't get anything out. Nothing. For on the TV, sitting beside the king and queen of England, was Cedric. Or as he is more commonly known to others, the prince of England.
The fucking prince of England.
I felt so stupid. I felt so incredibly and completely stupid. When I first saw Cedric, I knew he looked familiar, and that guy I saw in the club? It was definitely him. Amelia had said that royals went there all the time. That picture in Adalina's was him too and he had lied right to my face about it. I knew they looked the same, I just knew it! But the thing that really got me the most was that dumb eye condition. I had chosen to go against the all mighty search engine that is Google and say that it did exist and believed him. I believed him! He probably thinks I am such an idiot for actually going for the stupidest lie known to mankind.
I turned around and slammed the lamp on the table to the ground, seething.
"Whoa!" Amelia said, jumping up and grabbing my hands. "What is wrong? Tell me right now!"
"He lied to me!" I cried, tears flowing down my cheeks, "He lied about who he was!"
"What the heck are you talking about?" Amelia looked at me as if I was going crazy.
"The-the eye condition. It's not a condition at all. He just didn't want me to know who he was. Cedric isn't just Cedric. He's Prince Cedric." I pointed toward the TV and to make my point even further, written across the screen was his name.
"Oh, fuck," Amelia blurted out.
"Yes! Exactly! What an idiot I am for believing everything he said and last night was just so magical and I really like him and I hate that this is happening right now, Amelia. I hate it!" Amelia pulled me down onto the couch, hugging me and patting me on the head.
"Babe, why don't you wait until he explains? Maybe he has a logical reason for doing what he did. Just calm down."
So I did. I waited until three rolled around and kept everything that I was feeling under but when I opened the door and saw his handsome as heck face, everything came bubbling up to the surface. I didn't even say anything to him. I merely stepped back for a moment and pointed at the TV where I had paused the show on him, with the caption, "Prince Cedric", underneath it.
He looked from the TV screen to me and then said, "Shit."
"You're such an asshole," I said, knowing how bad I looked with my eyes completely red, my nose puffy and my face twisted in anger, "An eye condition? I can't believe how little you thought of me. I'm such an idiot."
"Scarlett, you know I don't think that. Please, let me explain!"
"Take the glasses off!" I yelled at him. "Take them off right now!" And so he did. He pulled them off slowly and for the first time, I was finally looking into Cedric's sky blue eyes. And they made his face even more beautiful than I thought it could. I hated him for that. I could see the concern and the apology in his eyes but I wouldn't have it.
"Scarlett, let me come in, please," Cedric pleaded, his eyes pleading with me.
I used all the strength in me to spit out, "Get out," and then I slammed the door behind him.