TALES OF A HOPELESS ROMANTIC (Ep. 4)

 The red flags came sooner than I thought, but, I was a hopeless romantic so I didn't care. I finally had a boyfriend. I could boast about it in front of my friends. I could now give advice to the single ladies. It felt like I was stepping into a new world. The problem is I walked into it blind, meaning, I truly lacked the full understanding of what I stepped into.

So, before the red flags began waving, he took me out on my first date, which was the most dramatic day of my life. Leave alone the time I nearly missed an exam during my finals, that cannot come close to that day. I already told my mom I was going out with my guy, and she gave me a long ass lecture about pregnancies, being taken advantage off, school, etc etc. I gave her a blank look. A real blank look. Then my mom also insisted that he comes and says hi to her. I knew that this was going to lead to a crisis lecture, so i prepped my guy in advance. Well, I don't think I did enough prepping, because the fire my mother came down on us, it was much hotter than the April sun. It lasted a whole hour. Yes. A whole hour. We eventually left the house at like one in the afternoon, and we initially agreed to leave at 11.30am. 

We hadn't planned anything specific or fancy, we did a pretty long walk to a mall which just opened. It was not exactly my first time seeing him, but it was my first time actually being with him as my guy. I guess the whole world knew that we were fresh into a relationship, we took so many photos and videos...in public!! The first like 10 minutes I was so nervous and shy, but the guy was all ready. Gangsters are always ready for anything. Maybe he was ready to get me, but he pretended to buy more time. Who knows?

We reach the mall, then we basically began walking round and round the mall. Those escalators know our footprints because of the countless times we jumped on them. Remember videos are still being taken (which to this day I just look and see the dreamy, happy, contented girl). Two or so hours later, he suggests we buy lunch, but I wasn't hungry, I was still nervous and it messed up my appetite. I insist that I'm not hungry, but because he offered I decided to flow with the flow. We sat in the open air, the afternoon breeze relieving the effect of the afternoon sun and we just talked. I remembered I was just starting out to write and I was writing my first book, and he read up to where I stopped writing, and he really talked about it. I also remember I was interviewing him, asking him about his childhood. Now I know why I could smell the gangster in him, it's coz of the way they cheated their way to get fries from this local lady with one shilling coins for the longest time. From his narration of his childhood, it was an amazing, adventurous one, unlike mine which also had adventure, it was really chill. It cannot compare to his. Food came, the long and short of it is, I barely did half of the bhajia on my plate, meanwhile he ate (but didn't finish). I kind of felt guilty, that I insisted to pay part of lunch (I could have paid it all but your girl doesn't have enough)

The highlight of this date was the way, towards the end, towards the time for leaving, we vibed to so many songs and we were just the two of us at a corridor. I'm a horrible dancer, he's a natural dancer. I acted stiff, and decided to enjoy the songs and music playing. I think even if I didn't completely loosen up, I felt less constricted. Time flies so fast, I had to be home if I wanted to see him again. You already know how strict my mom is. We walked back and we talked endlessly (but I feel like he talked more than I did, I just chilled and listened) then we had to go separate ways. I remember him at the end scolding at me for not carrying an extra jacket because of the way the cool breeze was blowing, and I insisted that I'm doing great. He touched my arm and said that I'm cold, and he gave me his jacket. I'm dying in the process, I mean laughing out loud, so i grabbed it and just wore it to stop him from scolding me. I'm very hard to get anyways.

We had to separate ways, it was heading to 7.30pm. We stood at his stage for too long. Saying goodbye was hard to do (we started saying goodbye since 7pm imagine) I wish I coudn't shower that night, just to keep his smell for just one night. Aaargh...did I mention that he held my hand while crossing the busy highway? My gosh, I almost fainted at that small contact...or rather I'm a sucker for touch, makes me slightly uncomfortable.

Remember the red flags? Hold on to them...