SIX
Diane and Rick decided to take this day out of their busy schedule. It was a special day to them and they would never spend it holed up within the four corners of their house or at work place.
They entered the Stop and Fork Eatery. The restaurant was beautifully decorated and by the look of it, we would say it was made specially that day for people in love or maybe that particular day was love’s day.
Each table has a girl and a boy looking passionately into each other’s eyes. And a slow love song played in the background. It was Valentine’s Day.
Diane was having ice-cream while Rick had juice. They were playing and laughing at their table, both lost in each other’s realm.
Vanessa, a very slim sexy hot lady and perfectly heighted 6’ft tall, walked into the restaurant and went straight to the counter to make an order.
Rick looked at Diane taking the ice-cream.
‘You know you shouldn’t be taking that.’
‘Why?’
‘Because you will grow fatter and fatter.’
‘Hmm,’ she swallowed the ice-cream in her mouth. ‘I thought you said my stature doesn’t matter to you will still love me.’
‘Yea but that doesn’t give you the go ahead, get fatter,’ he dropped nonchalantly.
Diane found that funny and laughed.
‘Before you know, you will start to talk like wowowowo,’ he imitated an old woman with too much fat in the cheeks.
Diane burst into laughter and Rick joined.
Their laughter caught Vanessa’s attention. She looked at the direction and raised an eyebrow and then squinted at Rick.
Rick saw an ice-cream stain on Diane’s upper lip and leaned over the table to kiss it away. Meanwhile, Diane wasn’t sure of what he was doing but welcomed him anyways. She closed her eyes as his lips got closer to hers and Rick kissed the ice-cream away.
Diane opened her eyes and looked into his eyes.
‘You’re not scared you know?’ she said in the lowest bedroom voice possible.
At that moment, Vanessa was standing behind Rick but they were too engrossed in their lovey-dovey to notice her.
‘Scared of who, you or them?’ Rick gestured to the crowd. ‘You know, I can kiss you anywhere I want and I can even kiss you here from now till morning.’
Vanessa smiled watching them.
‘Uh huh?’ Diane dared him, nodding up at him. Their faces were breath apart.
Rick nodded, ‘huh.’
Then he slowly moved his lips closer to kiss hers. Diane was about to close her eyes to welcome the kiss when she noticed a presence. She rolled her eyes up and widened her eyes seeing a lady standing behind Rick. She muffled Rick’s name in-between the kiss; Rick stopped kissing and looked at her.
‘I told you I would do this till dawn,’ he moved to kiss her again.
‘Rick,’ Diane whispered.
‘Yes my love,’ he was closing up to her lips.
‘Rick!’ she shot in a whisper trying to alert him.
Rick stopped and looked at her.
She gestured with her eyes at him to look back but he looked at her in confusion and then she gestured again.
Rick raised his brows and looked at his askance then he rose slowly and took his seat. He adjusted himself and looked up, and to his utmost shock, a lady was standing and watching. Rick frowned at Diane and nodded up at her but Diane shook her head and gestured back at him to ask her.
Vanessa laughed silently watching their childish acts.
Then Rick cleared his throat in a bid to talk and looked at Vanessa who stopped laughing immediately; he saw that and stopped, furrowing at her. He cleared his throat again and gapped his lips to talk but Vanessa did the trouble for him.
‘Hi,’ Vanessa smiled at him.
Rick closed his mouth abruptly and took few seconds.
‘Hey, sorry do I—’ he looked at Diane and back at Vanessa, ‘—we know you?’ Rick questioned.
Vanessa couldn’t take it anymore, she finally burst into laughter.
Rick and Diane looked at each other in confusion, then at Vanessa.
Vanessa tried to control herself but to no avail, she laughed hard and enjoyed it. Then she tried suppressing her laughter by placing her left palm close to her mouth and waving the other hand at them.
‘Sorry,’ Vanessa said amidst laughter and then finally she could control herself. ‘Oh God, you guys are funny,’ she breathed heavily catching her breath, ‘and I love that, I do.’ She turned to Rick, ‘um dear, is there any way you could be mine, because, I would really love to be cherished that way?’
Rick looked at Diane sharply; Diane’s eyes were becoming tiny, blinking every second, staring back at Rick. Rick saw that and turned red instantly then he turned to Vanessa.
‘Who the hell are you?’
Vanessa smiled, ‘c’mon Stone.’
Rick paused at that and stared at Vanessa in confusion. If anyone could call him that, then…
Diane furrowed at Vanessa hearing that.
‘Yeah, Stone,’ Vanessa stressed, staring at Rick.
‘Uh, um wait,’ he tried to recall, scrutinizing Vanessa from head to toe and then focusing on her face.
Diane watched them in confusion.
‘Van— Vanessa!’ Rick jumped out of his seat, bewildered, ‘no! It’s not you.’
‘Yeah it’s me,’ she laughed.
‘Oh I can’t—God—I—wow,’ Rick was too happy and surprised to put a sentence together. He looked at Diane, ‘Diane—,’ he laughed, ‘oh I— I can’t believe this.’ When he realized he was too shock to grab words successfully, he snatched Vanessa into his arms and hugged her tight and happily.
Diane raised her brows at that.
He released Vanessa and checked her out, ‘I can’t believe this is you; where have you been? Wow, you’re tall.’
‘I was on that path,’ she laughed.
She was obviously taller than Rick, the difference was very clear.
‘Oh yeah? And you look good too and slim,’ Rick stood akimbo, admiring her.
‘Yeah, I’ve been working out real good.’
‘Oh I can see that. Where have you been?’
‘I’ve been out of the country, I just came back some days ago,’ she admired him, looking down at him. Even if Rick was a short man, his dark skin was so smooth and his handsome baby face and sexy tiny eyes, made ladies ignore his short height and took on his beauty.
‘You are not looking bad yourself and you look taller. I was so surprised when I saw you, Stone,’ she winked and laughed.
Diane held the ice-cream spoon in her mouth like a baby subconsciously, watching them.
Rick tapped Vanessa’s arm, ‘oh don’t start, I know I’m short,’ he laughed and looked at Diane, who removed the spoon from her mouth immediately.
‘My love, meet Vanessa, an old friend from my childhood. She used to be short, I was actually a bit taller than her but see her now; she took over.’
‘That’s not true,’ Vanessa said laughing.
Diane held the spoon to her ice-cream cup and smiled wryly.
‘You never mentioned her.’
Rick knew where that was coming from, he inhaled and exhaled and then continued, ‘Van, this is—’
‘Diane,’ Vanessa completed his sentence with smiles, doing the trouble for him again while looking at Diane.
‘—my love,’ Rick continued, looking passionately at Diane, he went to her and held her shoulder, ‘the light in my world.’
‘So bright, I can see. Hi Diane, you look good,’ Vanessa admired.
‘Thanks, you look good too,’ Diane smiled back at her.
Vanessa winked at Rick, ‘I’ve always known you for your eyes, you have eyes for good things.’
Rick blushed. ‘So what are you doing here? Oh sorry, my manners—’ he pulled his seat for her, ‘please join us.’
‘Oh no, don’t let me disturb you guys. You’re really catching your fun, don’t let me ruin it.’
‘You did already,’ Rick dropped without thinking.
Diane and Vanessa looked at him with a raised brow.
He saw that and laughed nervously then turned to Vanessa, ‘just kidding, oh you haven’t changed, you still take to heart.’
‘And you haven’t changed too, still so blunt,’ Vanessa returned.
‘So sit,’ he ordered.
‘Rick I have somewhere to get to.’
‘But that somewhere wouldn’t mind sparing you some minutes. Common it’s been long, long time,’ he said pleadingly.
Vanessa smiled at him, ‘you don’t give up do you?’ Rick shook his head. She sighed and said under her breath, ‘can’t bear to change.’
Diane rolled her eyeballs; she was tired of all their familiar words.
‘Can’t can’t,’ she muttered slightly swinging her head sideways mockingly and then she sighed softly.
Vanessa sat in front of Diane, in Rick’s seat. She smiled at Diane and Diane smiled back at her.
‘Let me get you something, what would you care for?’ Rick was thoughtful, ‘uh, do you still love burger.’
‘More than ever,’ Vanessa smiled at him.
Diane turned green slowly, watching them.
‘Great, I’ll get you a whole lot,’ he rushed away.
Vanessa tried to stop him in high pitch voice holding her hand out, ‘no no, just—’ Rick suddenly ran back making Vanessa withdraw her pitch and her hand abruptly, ‘—one or two.’
Rick kissed Diane, ‘I love you,’ and then he rushed away.
The kiss made sure Diane was reminded that Rick was hers and hers alone. Diane relaxed and she was happy.
The girls were smiling, watching Rick rush away.
‘I spoilt him with that,’ Diane flushed and continued her ice-cream. She looked at Vanessa and saw she was smiling and still looking at Rick but before she could think of anything, Vanessa interrupted.
‘Stone man,’ Vanessa thought aloud and looked at Diane, ‘do you know why we call him that?’
‘Stone man?’ Diane shook her head, ‘no.’
‘When we were young, there was nothing he wouldn’t throw stone at, so long the thing would feel the stone when it touched it.’
‘Oh.’
‘Yeah, I remember a day he wanted to open the door to their house. He pushed it just once and it wouldn’t open and the next thing he did was, picked stones and started throwing at the door. When he was asked, he said “the door wasn’t afraid of me so I knew it would be afraid of the stones and open” she mimicked, ‘just like every other thing he threw stone at fled,’ Vanessa laughed
‘What?’ Diane widened her eyes, ‘he knew?’ she laughed, ‘that’s ridiculous.’
‘And you know the amazing part?’
‘No, tell me.’
‘The door was actually afraid of the stones.’
‘It opened? No, don’t say.’
They burst into laughter.
Yeah I say,’ Vanessa said laughing.