The Only One He Wants

A wide smile appeared on his face as well. “Well, nothing as you can see. I delayed it. The Caribbean can wait, can’t it? It’s there today and will be tomorrow and next month and next year.”

“You’re right. But why? Was something wrong with the plane or—?”

“It was simple. I had to surprise a very dear… friend of mine,” he replied and winked.

“No way!” Gabrielle was speechless and stunned. This gorgeous man that stood before her had canceled his trip because of her. Because of one little Gabrielle he had gone to a dinner with the other night.

“Yes way!” he replied and chuckled.

“That means the world to me,” she whispered and took his hand in hers. Michael squeezed it and smiled at her. He was such a lovely man. A man any woman would fall for.

Silence. Their occasional colliding looks said more than any words possibly could. Their touches as well. Gabrielle felt as if his hand was made to be in hers since the day they were born.

“Now seriously, tell me why you didn’t go on that trip,” Gabrielle said, stopping out of the blue.

The light reflected from Michael’s white teeth. “I told you already. Don’t you believe me?” He took both of her hands in his. She was looking at his eyes as if hypnotized. Yes, it was definitely the work of some ancient magic.

“No, it’s just that… It doesn’t seem real that you would cancel a trip for me.” She hesitated for a moment, falling silent. Then, she finally uttered, “No one has ever done such thing for me.”

His hands encircled her again. Her head was on his chest and she could clearly hear his heart’s loud, rapid beating.

“I went to the airport, but I felt really depressed and miserable. Have been feeling like that since the moment I stood up. And when I saw the plane, I realized that my feet were dragging me backward. Business could wait. I didn’t want to go. I—I can’t really say what it was. As if you were pulling me with some kind of a magnet or something like that. I’ve never felt like that ever in my life.” His hands were playing with her hair.

She knew that they shouldn’t be telling each other these things. After all, they were still strangers who had met by pure accident. They knew nothing about each other. Yet Gabrielle felt as if she knew everything about Michael. As a matter of fact, there was the strangest feeling in her that told her she had known Michael all her life.

The light from the sun was blocked from the ground thanks to the tall branches obscuring it. The park was a cooler place than someone might imagine in that time of the day. There was no one around them. They were all alone, enjoying the moment.

“I love you.”

“I love you.”

They both blurted it out at the exact same time. It was as if Gabrielle was hearing an echo of her words. After realizing what had happened they chuckled. Heat filled her cheeks. She hadn’t had the chance to tell someone that in forever.

“Say it again,” Gabrielle whispered.

“I love you,” Michael said with a smile.

“Louder.”

“I love you,” Michael screamed, which made a few birds fly from their comfortable branches.

They laughed.

“I love you, too!” Gabrielle yelled, following suit.

“It’s insane,” Michael said, fondling her cheek.

“What is?”

“All of this. We met a few times and we grew so close. Pinch me so that I know that it’s real, because it sure as hell doesn’t feel like it,” Michael answered.

Gabrielle giggled. “I feel the same way.”

And then he kissed her. It was a full-on kiss. All of a sudden his lips were on hers, his emotions pouring from them. Gabrielle accepted the kiss, putting her tongue in his mouth as they exchanged touches of love. In that moment, she found out that that man was everything to her.

Her back was against a tree bark. His hands found the small of her back. His fingertips gave her goosebumps and tickled her at the same time. She locked her palms on his nape, totally lost in the kiss. She devoured his lips. The softest, sweetest, hottest lips in the whole wide world.

“Someone might see us,” Gabrielle said, trying to catch her breath.

“You know what? I don’t care. I don’t give a single damn about other people,” Michael said and kissed her again. He was more passionate now. More vigorous.

And she felt twenty years younger. She remembered a saying she had read somewhere. A person was as old as he or she was feeling inside. Age and years were just numbers which were totally unimportant. They both had young souls. That was what mattered. Their souls wanted love and joy and pleasure. Love in the purest, cleanest, truest sense. Love which meant living together, growing old together. Dying together.

“I don’t know how I lived all these years without you,” he broke the kiss and said breathlessly.

His lips were smeared with her red lipstick. And even that looked sexy on him.

“Me too. It’s like this is the first day of my life,” she replied and kissed him again. He kissed her mouth, her nose, her cheeks, her forehead, her neck. They couldn’t get enough of each other.

After a while, they stopped. “Wait a sec,” Michael mumbled before he ran off, leaving her alone in the empty park. The colors in the sky had changed, she saw. The light had diminished as the shadows had grown longer.

In a minute or two, Michael was approaching her again. He was running and was holding something. Something that looked like…

“A basket!” Gabrielle exclaimed. “This man is so full of surprises that I can’t cope with him anymore,” she whispered to herself.

“Time for a picnic!” he said theatrically once he was close.

Gabrielle couldn’t help it but chuckle. “How did you think of that?”

“The better questions are where I got this from and when I prepared all of this. First, let me say that I made all of it. Every single detail is a product of my imagination,” he said proudly, putting a hand to his chest as if he was an actor on Broadway.

“Oh wow! Quite the introduction. And you made all of it? A billionaire knows how to cook and doesn’t need help from his chef or maid?” Gabrielle folded her arms over her chest and looked at him rather quizzically.