Interests

"What are you thinking about?" Blake asked as he watched Cathryn with her eyes closed, lifting her chin to the sky as if to feel the pitter-patter of the rain more every time it hits her face.

The way she looked right now--with her messy red hair combed backward with the use of her fingers--felt like Blake was staring at a wild child, a free-spirited goddess.

The jacket he gave her had its sleeves wrapped around her neck, and it was so fucking weird to see a girl do that, especially if the said female was drenched in the rain with him for no reason.

Blake had never seen a girl like her before.

"I was thinking about my art." Cathryn opened her eyes to look at him directly while she had her fingers clasped on the wet bench, swaying her feet playfully like she couldn't stand to be still.

Blake was sure that thinking about art made her giddy and excited.

"I was thinking about coming back here at the park when it's sunny, you know? Have picnics by the river and laze around in the sunshine, spend the whole day just painting things—clear blue waters and wildlife--as I hear birds chirping and the sound of the stream gurgling and tinkling laughter of kids playing nearby, just getting lost in my thoughts and in my little world, that kind of thing."

Cathryn smiled at him, and it almost made his heart stop when her face neared to peer at his reaction closely when she told him about her daydreams.

Blake could almost count each freckle on her face.

Cathryn stared at him with her bright eyes as if she could see the depths of her soul.

Her green eyes were bright and intense in its depths that he couldn't afford to look away, or it might feel like he was missing an opportunity.

"Hmm." Blake nodded, and as if Cathryn got a hold of herself, she looked away from him consciously as if the simple act of eye contact made her feel vulnerable.

"I would like to go with you next time if you wanted," Blake said.

Cathryn cleared her throat, and Blake looked somewhere else to make her feel at ease.

There was this rising tension between them that made him so painfully aware of Cathryn's presence--a slow-burning warmth emanating from beside him.

Blake wanted to feel more of that elusive warmth, so he inconspicuously stood a little from where he sat and moved closer to her seat until there was only a little space between them.

Blake wanted to keep moving and wrap his arms around her body to help Cathryn get rid of the cold shivers, but he didn't want to scare if he moved too fast.

'That's not going to be smooth.' Blake thought.

Blake was so used to flirting with the Mild Savagery's band groupies that he can almost do it with his eyes closed or just stand still while the girls surround him.

He didn't even have to do much.

Just throw some cool, unique pick-up lines here and there and voila, he already had two girls wrapped around on each of his arms, determined to worship the ground he walked on.

Blake had done it so much that he had grown so detached from the art of flirting.

But this girl… this girl Alexander had met.

She was different.

There was something about her that made him feel slightly nervous.

Cathryn was mysterious and obsessed with her art--the type of girl that seemed to live in fantasy lad but he didn't mean that in a bad way.

It felt like she was detached from reality where she didn't care about what other people think of her.

She wasn't that much affected by Blake's physical appearance.

The way he tried to engage her in a flirty banter made her suspicious of him.

Obviously, Cathryn was the type of girl who didn't trust so quickly.

Blake considered that as a challenge and it made her want to win her trust through honesty but he didn't think that was a good idea when Alexander, his band member, had an interest in her.

But it had been so long since there was a girl whom he was curious about.

Cathryn was hot in her own way, definitely not the prettiest girl he had ever met in her life, but there was something magical and dreamy about a creative artist.

They are more free-spirited and not bound by anything, contracts, fame, and reputation.

They do what they want.

No hectic schedules to be followed.

They live their life how they wanted it to be, and Blake missed that.

Perhaps, he could live and enjoy the kind of life he missed whenever he was with her.

"What do you think of Alexander?"

"What is that question?"

"Can I date you?"

"You don't make any sense." Cathryn stood up from the bench and stepped backward away from him, glancing at her surroundings and looking for possible witnesses, as if Blake had admitted he was a psychopathic serial killer who had confessed to her that she was the next victim.

Blake couldn't forget the look of outrage on her cute face when she opened and closed her mouth like a fish-out-of-the-water. It was always a great achievement, rendering her speechless.

"You." Cathryn pointed an accusing finger at him as he scowled. "Something is wrong with you--you and Alexander. I am sure of it."

Cathryn looked like she was about to scream and run off to god-knows-where leaving him behind.

But, kudos to her, Cathryn didn't move any further.

"So, you mean any man who wants to go out with you is not right in the head?" Blake chuckled as he shrugged with nonchalance. "What does that make you? Perhaps, you have low self-esteem when it comes to dating?"

She stepped back every time Blake moved towards her direction. She stopped when he stopped moving, also. It was like they were playing a fun game. "Don't go psychoanalyzing me, Blake, you don't even fucking know me."

A huge belly laugh escaped Blake's lips as he scratched his scruffy jawline. "Then tell me, how would you know if I'm your type if you don't hang out with me regularly?"

She gawked before clearing her throat.

Cathryn admitted. "Of course, I know your type."

"Ah, you are generalizing then. " Blake smirked, snapping his fingers as if he already figured Cathryn out. "You are the one psychoanalyzing and judging me even if you don't even know me well."

She didn't answer.

"Guilty as charged, then. Cathryn." Blake said as he clapped his hands, not applauding for Cathryn but his people-reading skills, instead. "Guilty as charged."

Cathryn's voice was low and hoarse as she forced her eyes back to Blake resignedly, not wanting to argue with him anymore. "I think we should go back."