If It's With You

017- Kiss-blocking

Nicklaus threw a glance my way, “You don’t make a lot of money in the first few years, and the car was a gift from my grandpa.”

“Oh wow,” I glanced at him, “You must be his favourite.”

“Well, I am but,” he said, stretching the ‘but’ and I turned to him, anticipating what he would say next. “I’m also his only grandchild from his only child.” He shrugged, saying, “You see, he doesn’t have many options.” A soft chuckle escaped him like he was laughing at his grandpa.

I was smiling when I said, “I can see that.”

“You’re an only child too, you should know how this thing works.”

“Well, I might be an only child, but I am not the only grand— wait.” I turned to Nicklaus again. “How do you know that?” I asked. I was sure I never told him that before.

Nicklaus glanced at his side mirror and did a turn on the road saying, “From one of your videos.”

“I haven’t said that in any–”

“It’s an old one from when you were in high school,” he turned to me, smirking.

Embarrassed, I covered my face with my hands, “Why would you watch that? They are old videos, Nicklaus. Old videos. Why would you go that deep?” I placed my head on the headrest. “I looked weird when I was younger.” My first YouTube videos were cringe.

“No, you didn’t,” Nicklaus chuckled. “You’ve always been beautiful, Muna. And I told you, I love watching you.” He said, and maybe it was the way he said that nonchalantly, or the tone he said that in. But it stuck something awake in my heart, making it flutter. I had come a long way to believing I was pretty and growing some self-confidence, but Nicklaus saying it made me feel even more beautiful.

I stared at him for a few seconds before shifting my gaze back to the road, and when my eyes fell on the building ahead of us, I turned to him again.

“This is it? This is what we’re doing for fun?” I glanced at Nicklaus, smiling widely and he nodded at me, smiling.

Oh my gosh, I was so excited.

__________

I rolled my skating shoes from side to side, in sync with the not-so-slow hip-hop beat playing in the background. Steadying my weight and posture, I smiled at Nicklaus, who was right beside me. I missed skating.

I slightly bent my back balancing my weight once again, preparing myself to go wild. One thing was sure, I was going to go wild on a pair of skating shoes, I always had to show off because I was good at it.

Again, I glanced at Nicklaus and he lowered his phone, which he was holding up in front of him.

He said, “I know you’re going to love it.” He rolled his skating shoes on the smooth rink and was now facing me.

“How do you know that?” I asked, gliding towards him.

“I told you, Muna. I love watching you,” he winked.

I didn’t know if it was the way those words rolled off his tongue, or the wink he threw at me that caused the shaking of my heart, because this time it wasn’t a flutter anymore. I felt my heart shake.

It didn’t end in my heart, since I lost a little balance. But before I could fall on my face, I regained my posture almost immediately. One of the perks of being a good skater was being able to manage my weight, and motion on these wheels.

“Give me your hand.” He said, moving closer to me.

Before I could say a word, Nicklaus grabbed my hand and we rolled off, moving in sync with the music playing in the background.