Page 59 of Quarter-Love Crisis
‘The one on the left has pretty eyes,’ I say.
He’s squinting as he throws his head back, his smile stretching across his cheeks.
‘How would we even talk to them?’ I ask.
But I am talking to the air, because Kimi and Pudding are already six steps ahead of us.
‘Excuse me! Hi, hello, I really like your shoes. Where’d you get them?’ she asks, hand on hip.
The man on the right beams widely, launching into some story about shoe auctions as Kimi nods intently. She’s definitely not listening, but she’s doing a fantastic job pretending she is. He is more than sold, although the way that he’s eyeing her up says that he still would have been had she not even spoken.
‘Oh, that’s so cool!’ she says with great faux conviction before turning towards his friend on the left. ‘This is my friend Maddison, by the way– tell her she’s pretty.’
‘Kimi!’ I scold.
‘What? You are. Is she not?’
Kind Eyes chuckles, looking between us and smiling before diverting his attention solely towards me.
‘Hey, I need no instruction. Your face speaks for itself,’ he says, smiling.
Cute. Cheesy, but cute, nonetheless.
‘And you have a beautiful smile,’ he continues.
His eye contact is unmatched, his stare waking a few stray butterflies from their hard-to-locate cocoons. I feel their wings flap, first slowly, testing the waters, before taking off on a shaky but warranted flight.
‘Thank you,’ I reply.
‘I’m Benji, by the way. You from around here?’ he asks, still staring.
The sun is setting on his features, gracing his skin with a breathtaking wash of golden glow. His eyes are even more mesmerizing up close– deep, dark pools of brown that reflect the pinks and oranges of the sky around us. They catch the light the same way Aiden’s do, but this time it’s more fun because these eyes look at me like someone that wants to talk to me. Mymind drifts to Aiden, our texts and our night at the pub, flashing back to the way our knees knocked and the panic in his eyes as he let slip that he thinks I’m attractive. Did he mean it? Was it the alcohol? It shouldn’t matter. I cut it off instantly, returning my focus to Benji.
We go back and forth with ease, topics darting from TV to careers to favourite dinners. It’s all surface level, but that’s where it should be. It’s light and it’s safe, and a perfect first step. Our eyes never leave each other’s faces, blocking out the park, the dogs, Kimi, and his friend next to us. I’m laughing and smiling, and it’s not even forced. Light, happy giggles flow out of me with beautiful ease.
‘Mads, the park’s closing,’ Kimi says, giving me a small nudge.
‘Parks close?’ I ask, still trapped in my daze.
‘Let’s get going.’ She chuckles, tugging lightly on my arm.
Benji smiles softly, refusing to break our stare as Kimi says her goodbyes and encourages me to do the same. We hug goodbye. It’s uncomfortable, but in a way that is new, fresh and thrilling. I think.
‘I wanna see you again, Maddison,’ he says, handing over his phone. ‘You got a number?’
My phone vibrates minutes into our walk out of the park, before we’ve even made our way back to Kimi’s car.
Hey, it’s Benji. Dinner and drinks tomorrow?
We both squeal as we read it, Kimi grabbing my arm in excitement and cheering.
‘Welovea man that takes action immediately!’ she says.
She forces me to recite our conversation word for word as we walk, and again as I sit in her passenger seat. I don’t even care that it’s late– it’s all masked by the buzz of the evening we’vejust had. I have a date. My first proper date of this year, with a man who actually seems like he may be worth my while.
‘Any butterflies?’ Kimi asks.
‘Sort of. At least three.’
