Assigned to You (Completed)

Chapter Ten: Everett

For the rest of the week, it went by smoothly. I had breakfast with Evangeline every day and she’ll bid me goodbye when I went to work. Last Wednesday, Grant told me that the last game I had proposed was being re-evaluated and that it might potentially be approved. I was happy but I knew that Papa pulled some strings, knowing that with the prospect of having my game developed was the only thing I ever wanted in the world.

As for Papa and Curtis, neither of them had called me about working on the ‘other’ family business we had since Monday. I wasn’t too keen on the invitation but Papa had left me with no choice on the matter like he always did. When either of them would call it, I was expected to answer and go wherever they’d want me to go.

I didn’t like it one bit but what choice did I have?

For the meantime, I enjoyed the time I spent with Evangeline. Aside from breakfast, we’ve had dinner together all week. Both of us enjoyed each other’s presence and when you know your neighbor and you don’t have anyone to eat with, why not just eat together? I mean, what’s the point of choosing to eat alone when you can have someone to dine with.

“So are we supposed to still have breakfast here?” Evangeline said, letting herself into my apartment. We’ve grown used to each other’s presence in the past few days that we’ve decided to unlock our apartment for each other on mornings because sometimes I’d have breakfast over at her or she’d have it at mine’s if she chooses.

I grinned back at her. Today was Friday and earlier this week, I had asked her out for a proper date. I didn’t have a plan yet other than bringing her to the beach and then have a picnic by the ocean. I remembered how often she said that she loved being near the water and I felt like she would enjoy a day at the beach. But as for the food, I think she would love to cook a meal for us to eat.

And by that, it meant we’d be off grocery shopping this morning.

“Did you make breakfast?” I asked. I’d grown used to her cooking for me, even if it had been just a few days.

She shook her head. “Nope. I’m not really sure what you planned for today.”

I wanted to walk another step closer to her and wrap my arms around her waist. But that action was meant for two people who were officially dating each other. We weren’t official…yet. I liked her. I’ve liked the first time I’ve met her, getting to know her, even more, when we’ve had breakfast and dinner just made me like her even more.

“Hey, quick question though,” Evangeline said, sitting on one of the chairs for the island counter, “You don’t have work?”

I shook my head. “No. It’s Friday. I have days off on Friday and Sundays. Go figure.”

She chuckled and then hopped off the chair and headed to my fridge. She poked her head inside for a moment and then pulled back, her nose wrinkled. “You have no food here.”

“You don’t even know if we’re having breakfast here or not.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Well?”

I grinned and walked to where she now stood. I badly wanted to pull her closer to me but restrained myself from doing so. I didn’t want to blow my chances with her by being too fast. “Well, I thought maybe we should have breakfast and then go grocery shopping for my fridge.”

“That doesn’t sound like a good date.”

I chuckled and reached out to touch her face, lightly caressing the edge of her jaw. “I thought we might need to go grocery shopping for the food we want to bring to the picnic.”

“Picnic?”

“By the beach,” I said, smiling brightly at her, “We’ll spend the rest of the day by the beach.”

Her eyes glimmered with delight and she suddenly jumped into my arms, hugging me tightly. “Oh my gosh, I’ve been dying to go to the beaches here!”

To say I was surprised would be an understatement. I didn’t expect her to leap into my arms after telling her about such an ordinary date. But she seemed so thrilled that it painted a bigger smile on my face as I hugged her back, and soon, we were slowly rocking back and forth, still in each other’s embrace.

“This is kind of like slow dancing,” Evangeline murmured, her face tucked just a shy above my shoulder, “There’s just no music.”

I closed my eyes and inhaled her lavender scent. I started humming the first song that popped into my mind slowly, and we continued on with gently rocking ourselves back and forth. My arms circled around her waist while hers were around my neck and I could feel her fingers playing with the strands of hair on my nape.

“This is nice,” she whispered again and I shivered when her breath touched my ear.

“I would really like to kiss you right now,” I said, knowing that the moment was too perfect to pass up the opportunity.

She laughed and gently pushed me away. Her green eyes met mine and I badly wanted to close the gap between us. She raised her hand and cupped my right cheek with her palm and slowly leaned in, her eyes dancing with delight. “Sorry, hon, but it’ll take a little bit more than that for you to kiss me again.”

I groaned and rested my forehead against hers. “The first time you wanted me to.”

“Who says I don’t want it now?” she asked, slipping away from me and then heading to the door.

“Where are you going?”

“To go get the two of us cereals for breakfast because I didn’t cook,” she answered. I followed her to her apartment. Her apartment’s as comfortable for me as mine is. In truth, it felt like the entire floor was mine with how much I seemed to be in and out of her unit. It was like her unit was simply her room and mine as well, mine and the rest was ours to share.

“Cheerios?”

She held out a bright red box. “Fruit loops.”

Evangeline took two bowls from her cabinet and then poured me my breakfast. I opened the fridge and took out the milk. This was probably the second or third time I’ve had breakfast in her place and with how many times I’ve been here the past week just to simply hang out with her, I’ve come to memorize where she places everything.

We sat across from each other as we ate our breakfast. “So if you have a day off at your regular work, does that mean you also have the day off with the work you have with your grandfather?”

I nodded. “I’ve talked to Curtis about this. I wanted my Fridays and Sundays free.”

“You don’t like having days off on Saturday?” She asked.

“I do want my weekend off but like I said, my boss gave me a Friday off and a Saturday in. But Curtis told me yesterday that I needed to be with them tomorrow the entire day.”

“And what happens with your regular work?”

I shrugged. I’m sure Grant didn’t mind. He’d rather have me working my ass off for my grandfather as long as we don’t buy his company from him. “Dunno. But I feel like Grant won’t mind.”

“That makes him a crappy employer.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head and then swallowing a spoonful of soggy fruity goodness, “That makes him want to keep his company. He knows the wealth my family has. Papa can buy him out of business in a snap.”

“So he’d rather have you mulling around your grandfather than lose his dreams,” Evangeline mused, “Smart move.”

I chuckled and we finished our meal. I headed back to my apartment and showered and readied for the day. I went back to Evangeline’s unit and found her ready and waiting for me in shorts and a tank top. Her hair was tied back in a high ponytail and she had a cute bandana, or headband or whatever you called it, on.

She stood up when she heard me come in. “Took you long enough.”

“That’s not fair. You’ve showered already before we had breakfast.”

She rolled her eyes and then grabbed my arm, dragging me out of her unit. I waited for her to lock the door before we headed to my car which was in the basement. It felt nice to hold her hand as we headed to our transportation. I opened the door for her and she laughed in amusement but smiled at me, “Thanks.”

I wiggled my eyebrows. “Chivalry’s not dead. Not in my book.”

I closed the door with her laughing. She still had a faint smile on her face when I took my seat and as I backed out from my parking space and headed out of the apartment building. The ride to the grocery store wasn’t that long and we were there in about eight minutes.

“Well, that didn’t take too long,” Evangeline mused, unbuckling her seatbelt, “So what do you want to eat at the beach?”

I shrugged. I wasn’t very picky about what I ate nor did I watch what I eat. “Whatever you want.”

Her eyes narrowed playfully. “That’s not a very good idea, Ev. I’m not the only one eating here.”

“I’m not much of a picky eater, Ev,” I replied and then grinned. It had occurred to me last night that both of our names started with the same letters, “Our names our twinning.”

She busted out laughing and slapped my arm, before grabbing a cart and strolling off. I chuckled and rushed after her. “So, what are you planning on getting us?”

“Some berries, something to use to make a sandwich. A chicken avocado sandwich sounds really good to me right now. Chips and drinks. Oh, and ingredients to make a brownie. I’m thinking of skewering strawberries and brownies.”

I smiled. I always watch her when she cooked dinner for the two of us and she always seemed so concentrated yet at the same time, at peace with what she was doing. “You really like cooking, don’t you?”

“Yup. Growing up, someone had to prepare the meal for my uncle and I and the task fell on me since…he was always busy working,” she informed me with a small smile, “I used to watch those cooking shows every morning since I wake up at the crack of dawn.”

I made a face. I couldn’t remember a time in my childhood that I woke up that early. “Why did you wake up that early?”

“Training,” Evangeline answered with nonchalance and then stopped for a moment. She bit her lip and then shrugged, “My uncle liked to bring me to his early jogs and workout sessions. He usually does it that early so he could use the rest of the day for work.”

“Didn’t you get tired at school?”

“I was home-schooled,” she answered quietly, “My uncle knew someone who could tutor me. So yea, I don’t have a lot of friends. Just the kids in our neighborhood that were also home-schooled.”

I nodded my head slowly. Evangeline tossed some fruits in our cart and then a pack of strawberries. I quietly followed her. There were things that she told me that amazed me. Random things that she just blurted out that had occurred in her head at that moment and facts about her that she just randomly shared. It’s what I liked best about her.

We finished grocery shopping and came back to the apartment around nearly lunch time. Evangeline told me to fill my fridge with grocery before I could help her out in preparing our food. I obliged and when I came to her unit, she was nearly done and had everything neatly packed in the basket we had bought at Target before coming back.

“That was fast.”

She grinned. “They don’t call me Flash for nothing.”

“They don’t,” I replied, holding my towel and dry clothes to wear. I was already wearing my beach shorts and didn’t bother bringing a bag. I could just leave my clothes in the car. But Evangeline noticed me holding them and reached to snatch them from me.

She wrinkled her nose. “Boys and laziness.”

My eyebrows shot up as she headed over to a bag sitting on the couch. She neatly folded my towel and clothes before stuffing them inside. “When did you get that ready?”

“When I was waiting for you to get ready before we headed to the grocery,” she said and winked, “They do say girls are great at multi-tasking.”

I rolled my eyes and carried the picnic basket as we headed back to my car. I still managed to open her door for her before settling into her bag and basket in the backseat and taking my position as the driver. She was looking at me when I got in the car and I raised an eyebrow.

“What?”

“Nothing. It’s just that I didn’t think guys like you still existed.”

My eyebrows furrowed as I backed out from my parking space and headed out of the parking lot. “What do you mean?”

“You know, humorous, chivalrous, respectful,” she stated, and then leaned back on her chair, “The guys I’ve met and dated.”

“Quick question, how did you manage to date when you were home-schooled?”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s not as if I was a prisoner in my own house, Ev. I dated boys my age around the neighborhood and guys my girlfriends knew. Basically, any guy who was interested.”

“So who took your first kiss?” I asked, trying to be subtle and sound like I simply asked to keep the conversation going. I didn’t even know why I asked that. I never asked girls I dated that question but somehow, Evangeline’s dating life intrigued me to no end.

She laughed beside me. “I’m not really sure I remembered his name.”

I stopped at a stop sign and turned to her in surprise. “I’ve overheard my teenage niece once gushing about her first kiss. She remembered every single detail, down to what the boy was wearing and what his shoes were. And of course, she kept on yapping about his name.”

“Well, maybe I don’t remember him because the kiss wasn’t that memorable. There’s only one kiss that I can’t help to forget.”

I turned to glance at her. “And that is?”

She chuckled but didn’t respond. “So why are you taking me to the beach?”

“Why are you changing the topic?”

She laughed and slapped my shoulder playfully. “It keeps things interesting.”

I sighed, not too keen on what she saw as interesting but decided to answer her question. “Because you’ve always told me you loved the waters. I’m not really a master of romantic gestures or dates. I usually just bring my dates to dinner and then after that, we’re at it at my place or theirs.”

“Ugh that’s too much information,” she groaned.

“Why are you imagining me naked and getting hot and heavy?” I asked cheekily.

She slapped my shoulder again. “Shut up, Ev.”

“Oh! You are!”

“You’re not really doing a good job right now at getting more points if you keep on yapping about how much of a fuckboy you truly are.”

“Hey, I’m a changed man,” I argued and then parked the car. We were already at the beach and once Evangeline registered that, she immediately hopped off the car.

I took out the basket and her bag from the backseat and then watched as she took it all in. “It’s nothing like the beach where we met at.”

She nodded. “Yea, Hatteras Island was beautiful but this is also really pretty. And it’s still a beach so I’ll still end up loving it.”

I smiled. “I’m glad you like it.”

The two of us headed down to the beach and I let Evangeline choose our spot. We were near the waters as I expected and she took out a blanket from her bag and I helped her set everything up. She rubbed her palms together and grinned at me, “Ready for lunch?”

“You want to eat first than swim?”

“It’s still too hot to swim.”

I nodded and she removed the contents of the basket and laid it on the blanket. I was impressed by the amount of food she managed to make and pack everything. “Did I take that long to fill my fridge with food?”

She giggled and nodded. “Actually, yes. I was wondering when you were coming in to help me but you came when I was just about done.”

I pouted. “You’re making me feel bad.”

She leaned over to me and placed a soft kiss on my cheek. “It’s okay. At least you’re cute.”

I grinned. “If I had known you’d kiss me on the cheek I would’ve turned my head so you’ll get my lips.”

She laughed. “Oh shut up and eat your lunch, Mr. Saunders.”

I made a face but happily chewed on the sandwich she made. I scooted closer to her and she leaned over to me, her back resting on my chest as we ate our food. “So, how’s your uncle?”

She turned to me with an incredulous look on her face. “Why are you suddenly asking about him?”

I shrugged. “He’s the only family you’ve got, right?”

She nodded. “Well, yes.”

“Then I’ll have to meet him sooner or later if I want you stuck with me. So I might as well get a little more info about him.”

She giggled and rolled her eyes. “You seem so sure that you’ll get me.”

I grinned. “I like you, Evangeline. Have I not made it clear?”

“You did. A couple of times this past week.”

“Then why are you still questioning it?”

She inched her face closer to mine. “Because you’ve known me for a week, Everett. You’ve met me once before that, yes. But what if I’m not the girl that you think I am?”

My eyebrows furrowed. “Does that matter?”

Her green eyes seemed to be searching mine. “What if when we’re together, you find out something about me that you wouldn’t like?”

“Are you afraid?”

She closed her eyes and exhaled loudly. She shifted her position so the two of us were facing each other properly. “I’ve been on dates but I’ve never been on a proper relationship. The way you seem to act and the things you say make me think that you’re serious about being in a relationship with me when even you have never been in a proper one.”

“You make me want to try,” I said simply, “I never really believed when people answered that the reason why they chose to be in a real commitment with someone is that the other half made them want to. I never believed that until I met you.”

“You sound pretty convincing right now.”

I chuckled and then reached out to touch her face, my thumb gently caressing her cheek, “You convinced me without even knowing.”

“We’ve known each other for a week.”

“I feel like we’ve known each other longer than that. Besides, does it matter? I’ve known people getting engaged with someone they’ve dated for just six months.”

“Is this the part where you kiss me?”

I laughed, remembering our earlier conversation. I rested my head against hers. “You don’t know how badly I want to but I think we’d have to enjoy the rest of the day before that happens again.”

She laughed and then shifted to rest her head on my shoulder. “I’m already beginning to like this. Also, this is my first proper first date.”

I kissed the top of her head. “I’m glad I’m setting a standard.”