On Sunday evening, Eric and I were sitting on my bed, and I gently ma.s.saged Brownie's neck. I couldn't suppress a yawn.

'If I bore you, just say so.' Eric said.

'No, not at all. I'm just tired already. Sometimes I go to bed at 10 pm but in the morning, I still feel like I haven't slept at all.'

'Maybe you are just stressed. What was it you needed to tell me yesterday?' He grinned.

'I kind of had a date today.' I said.

'You did? With Fiona? How did that happen?' He asked surprised.

'I ran into her and her boyfriend last night. Her boyfriend is such a douche and didn't want to play in a volleyball tournament with her. So, I asked her if she wanted to partic.i.p.ate with me and she did! It was awesome. She is very fit. I think she could keep up with me.' I laughed.

'Well, sounds good and nice, but what about her boyfriend?' Eric wondered.

'I don't know. But we won a coupon to have an ice cream sundae and she will eat it with me. I need to make a good impression.' I said.

'Well, then, you can give up right now.' Eric teased.

'Man, I need some good ideas here, this is serious.'

'Okay, okay. Wow, again, I'm amazed how this girl starts changing you before you even know her.' He paused for a moment. 'Well, just be attentive. Ask questions and listen to her. Only once I had Lea convinced that she was the center of my universe, she really trusted me.'

'Center of my universe. Not at all demanding these women.' I shook my head, thinking that already all my thoughts evolved around Fiona anyway, so how could she become even more my center?

At last, these seven long days had pa.s.sed and I hit the road towards her house. After breathing deeply for three times I felt strong enough to get out of the car and walk to her entrance. It was a nice house but there was no s.p.a.ce for a lawn, only a little porch.

I rang the bell and waited. Her mother, a woman in her late forties, short brown hair and wearing leggings and a fast dry sports shirt, opened the door.

'h.e.l.lo, you must be Kevin.'

'Yes, I am. h.e.l.lo Mrs. Mortenson.' I held out my hand.

She raised an eyebrow and smiled but shook it. 'Do you want to come in for a moment? Fiona will be ready in a bit.'

'Okay.' I stepped into the hallway, which was decorated with many paintings. Opposite the door was a stairway leading upstairs.

'So, you go to Baldwin High School?' She asked, placing one hand on the k.n.o.b of the end of the stairway railing.

'Yes, I'll graduate next summer as well.'

'Do you also have plans already? We really hope that it works out for Fiona and she can go to Florida.'

'Florida?' I asked more to make sure if I had understood correctly.

'Yes, to this college in Florida who offered her a scholarship if her sports results are good enough.'

'I'm not as aspiring as her but I've also picked out some colleges I'd like to go to.' I overplayed my insecurity. Florida wasn't exactly around the corner. If she really went studying there, what would that mean for us? If, anyhow, we'd become a couple until then. My shoulders relaxed when Fiona came down the stairs at that moment and, for the time being, saved me from more of her mother's questions.

'Have fun you two.' Her mom said and off we were.

I opened the door of my pick-up truck for her.

'Oh, thanks, what a gentleman.'

I guess that left a good impression.

'So, what have you been up to the past week?' I asked once I started the engine.

'Nothing special. An hour of jogging every day after school, some more training and a few arguments with Ryan.' She grumbled.

'Mhh.' I pressed my lips together. Ah, yes, Ryan still existed as well. 'What have you been arguing about?'

She stared out the front window. 'Mainly because the college I'll most likely get my scholarship for is in Florida and he doesn't want to go to Florida and neither wants me to go.'

I ignored the fact that she was going to Florida and rather wanted to concentrate on the problem with Ryan. 'That's not fair! It's your life and if Florida offers you a scholarship, he should be proud of you. If you are important to him, shouldn't he want to make it work either way?'

'Exactly, that's what I thought!' She sank lower in the seat. 'Actually, I don't know what to think at all at the moment. I hardly get to see him and I feel like I am maybe number eight on his list, while he is my number one.'

'Of course.' I answered, thinking that this was exactly what Eric had told me.

'Yes, so, I am glad to have this special treat tonight. I've been looking forward to it all week.'

'Couldn't wait to see me again, could you?' I grinned at her.

Her cheeks reddened. 'Or, because I love ice cream so much.'

'Who doesn't?' I smiled and concentrated on the traffic again.

Although it was a beautiful evening, there were not too many people at Giovanni's. We found a table on the terrace with a pretty view overlooking the ocean. When the waiter came, we showed them our voucher. His face lit up. 'Bravissimo, una coppia inammorata!' He said, as Giovanni's was a family business and they all migrated from Florence. 'I will do a little magic and create a delicious sundae for the young man and his bella.'

We did him the favour and gave each other an extra amorous smile.

'Looks like we will have to play lovers for tonight.' I whispered as soon as he was out of earshot.

'I guess we have to. It would be a shame to disappoint Giovanni.' Fiona answered.

'What's your favorite flavor?' I then asked.

'Chocolate. I eat any dessert with chocolate.' She raved. 'What is yours?'

'Vanilla.'

'No.' She said determined.

'Yes, my favourite is vanilla. I should know myself.' I answered bemused.

'Yes, of course, but vanilla is so boring!' She exclaimed. 'It doesn't taste like anything.'

'But you can eat it in any combination. With berries, with chocolate sauce, no matter what you eat it with, it always tastes good.'

'See, with chocolate, you don't need anything else.'

At that moment the waiter appeared again with a huge bowl in which scoops of vanilla and caramel ice cream were towering. The top was covered with hot raspberry sauce, which was melting down along the ice cream like flaming lava. Then there were two biscuit hearts dipped in chocolate and to top it all off, there were Bengal matches sticking out of the sundae, their sparks lightening up our faces.

'Qua, ice cream formidable only for you.' The waiter placed the sundae on our table.

Her eyes were also sparkling, like before the Bengal matches, when she regarded the sundae.

'And, happy anyway although there isn't a lot of chocolate?' I asked.

'Yes, it looks delicious. We better start eating before this whole thing melts to a lake.' She stated.

We took our spoons and dove into the delicacy. Every now and then the waiter scurried around our table to see if we needed anything. Mainly to keep up the facade of our love game I started feeding Fiona with spoons of ice cream.

Without a doubt, it was a lot to eat, but it was too good to spare part of it.

'I'm so full.' I patted my stomach, once the delicacy had disappeared in our mouths.

'Yes, me too.' She puffed her cheeks.

'Why don't we go for a walk along the beach?' I suggested.

'Sounds great!'

We walked in silence along the boardwalk but it felt completely natural. None of us felt the need to say anything. It was okay to just enjoy the nice atmosphere with the star-spangled night sky and the sound of the waves. The soft ocean breeze was playing with her hair and every time I looked at the girl by my side my heart beat a little faster and I thought what a lucky guy I was.

'Shall we sit down on the sand a little?' I suggested and she nodded.

The sand was soft and cool. The waves near the beach glistened in the light of the lamps from the boardwalk. We were the only people around.

'I love watching the waves.' She said. 'The ocean has this weird impact on me that it plainly frees my head and takes me somewhere else. It's hard to describe.'

I raised an eyebrow. It was as if she was speaking out of my soul. 'I know exactly what you mean.' I nodded. 'It's so wide and deep and probably hides so many secrets. The surface can be so rough and only a few feet down everything can be completely quiet and still like someone stopped the time.'

'Wow, this sounded really poetic.' She looked at me and smiled.

I got the urge to put my arm around her. Yet, somehow I did not dare to touch her. What if she would not like that? It would have destroyed the whole evening. I was not usually so shy and reserved. Usually, I did not care too much what the girls were thinking and simply did something and then waited for the effect. Until now. With Fiona it was different.

Suddenly, I found enlightenment. Thank you Eric, at least once the visit of all your plays would be useful. I remembered how in one play he and his girl were sitting in a car, and he stretched like he just woke up and then like by accident put his arm around her shoulders. And that is what I did there at the beach. She giggled but otherwise did not repel me. Her skin was so soft. That is probably what j.a.panese silk would feel like if I ever got to feel j.a.panese silk.

'Now it's like I'm Sandy and you are Danny.' She said.

'Sandy and Denny?' I asked innocently.

'Sandy and Danny from "Grease", or did you think I did not notice your little move?'

I laughed awkwardly. 'I guess, you caught me.' I moved a little closer to her. She didn't move away. It became even better when she laid her head on my shoulder. A nice warmth spread through my body. I enjoyed every little breeze the wind sent my way, with the sweet perfume of the peach smell of her hair.

'I love musicals.' She returned to the topic from before. 'I've seen every possible version of "Grease". And at least once a year, my parents take me to see a Broadway show.'

'My best friend Eric also loves the theater. He is a really good actor. Perhaps you could even see a one of his shows sometime.'

She laughed lightly. 'Perhaps.' She scooped up a handful of sand and let it drizzle over her sneakers. 'As a little girl, I used to stand at the beach where the waves roll in and out and wash away the sand under your feet so that they get buried after a while. I still like that feeling. But earlier my mum would hold my hand so that the wave wouldn't bear me away and we would imagine all kinds of things that happened in the mystical underwater world. What if there actually were little mermaids?' She looked at me as if to check if I didn't think she was insane. There was nothing she needed to worry about. I used to let the waves bury my feet too and told her how, once, my whole body was shaking and my lips were blue because I was so cold but I still didn't want my mother to take me back to the warm and dry towel.

Fiona smiled at me and we looked into each other's eyes. I saw an energetic shimmer. I wanted to kiss her then and there but then she turned away.

She cleared her throat. 'It's getting late. I think we should head back now.'

Although I didn't want this evening to be over, I got up and held out my hands to pull her up as well.

'Thanks. Still so charming.' She smiled.

'What do you expect from a guy? That's just how I have been raised.'

'Well, I haven't met anyone like you yet. I thought that was an extinct species.'

I shrugged, not knowing how to respond.

I drove her back to the house and walked her to her porch.

'I had a wonderful evening tonight.' I said. For my taste, it could have lasted much longer, though.

'So did I.' She replied.

I plucked up my courage and asked her if she wanted to get together again sometime. I was unconsciously holding my breath until I had her answer.

'I'd like that.' She surprised me.

'I'll call you then.' I said, when she left it at that.

'Okay.' She nodded, waved and disappeared into her house.

On the whole way back to my house I could have kicked myself for not kissing her. But it was probably better that I did not.

Chapter 5.

I wanted to call Fiona right the next day but I had no idea what I would say to her and what if she had changed her mind in the meantime?

'Where are you with your thoughts?' My mom asked, when I was drying the dishes.

'Hm, why?' I looked at her.