Chapter 24 - Be my girlfriend, Alice!

One morning, I was roused awake from a dreamless sleep by a soft voice and a warm hand that was running through my hair. Opening my eyes to a beautiful sight, I could only squint at the rare sight before me and wondered if an angel had come to take me away.

"Good morning, love."

Voice so soft and melodious; kind and reassuring. A voice that I knew very well. The hand in my hair stopped it's caress and went to cup my cheek. The warmth was making me sleepier, and I curled into the warmth - murmuring under my breath as I tried to locate the rest of the warmth with a wandering arm.

A bright laugh when I felt a thigh and I began pulling the pant leg towards me, wanting more of the warmth to envelope me.

"Stop it, Alice."

"Just come here," I whined.

"You gotta get up, it's already noon."

Hearing the time, I shot up in surprise - my eyes cracking open as they went to search the clock on the wall opposite the bed. How can I oversleep till noon? It was impossible! Hearing him giggle and me seeing the time, I let out a groan and fell back onto the bed with relief.

Though it was ten in the morning, it was already late.

But it was a Saturday so it's fine.

"Did you have a late night yesterday?" Jiminie asked as he sat down next to me, curling up so he could play with my hair. "It's rare of you to wake up this late."

I pulled myself and rested on his thigh, curling my legs up to my chest. "I had meetings after meetings with an important client as we wanted to clinch this deal and then I'm preparing a presentation with a prospective business partner. We have a meeting with them in a few days," I explained.

"What time did you reach home yesterday?" he asked.

"At three in the morning. Nathan had to drive me home. I was so exhausted."

"You should take care of yourself."

"Mmm."

"Come on, let's go do something together," he suggested. "Why don't you go and wash up?"

"I have work today, bub," I said sleepily.

"You don't," he replied.

"Huh?"

"You don't have work today."

"What're you talking about, love?" I asked curiously. "Did you clear my day today? How did you get Sebastian to do that?"

"Being me, has its perks."

"Really?" I asked. "You're gonna use that against me?"

He laughed. "Go and wash up!"

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see," he said.

Curious as to what he had planned, I got up from the bed and headed to the bathroom for a shower. I did my usual routine and stepped out of the bathroom smelling of roses as I headed to my walk-in wardrobe to pull on an outfit that compliments the cool weather.

We left the loft and headed down to the carpark. Jiminie was whistling, and he skipped to the car - taking out the car key and pressing a button to unlock it - much to my surprise and chagrin.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

He was holding the passenger door open for me and looking at me expectantly. "I'm driving," he said firmly.

"But -"

"No buts, get in."

Not understanding what he had in mind, I got into the passenger side of the car. It was unfamiliar to me, and as I buckled in, I looked at the driver - seeing Jiminie adjusting the rear and side mirrors before adjusting the seat position. A mix of nervousness and awe could be felt in my dead heart.

This was a rare sight of him and I was liking it.

"Do you trust me?" he asked.

He's pulling this on me, I realised. "Yes."

"Then trust me."

He brought us to a few places. I had an inkling of what he planned to do but since I was with him, my plan was to enjoy my time with him. The first destination was a strawberry farm, and the fields were so beautiful it reminded me of a time long forgotten.

We got packs of fresh strawberries we had hand picked and the boot was half-filled with styrofoam boxes. Next, Jiminie drove us to a restaurant, for a late lunch.

The food was delicious, the service was top notch and we had fun chatting the hours away. Our topics usually ranged from my extensive history as an immortal to our shared memories while growing up together. We had a lot to talk about, and the little one was curious about my history.

The little one was glowing today, smiling brightly and he was very excited. As we got desserts, I asked him where we were going next. He simply gave me a smile and told me that it was a secret.

How many dates has he planned for today?

Is today a special day?

I glanced at my Rolex curiously, finally seeing the date on the watch face and realisation dawned on me. Today indeed was a special day. I'm surprised he would do something special on this day. I didn't think he'd do that, I was touched at his thoughtfulness.

After we were done eating, we left the restaurant and we went downtown. Since it was Saturday, getting into a carpark in the shopping district took awhile due to the traffic and once we managed to get a spot, we got out and Jiminie led me to the lift lobby.

Walking out to the fourth floor and out of the lift lobby, Jiminie held my hand as we entered the crowded corridor, his warmth spreading across my hand and making me feel better. We walked past many crowded shops and then finally, he led us down to a bowling alley.

My eyebrows went up to my fringe as we entered the store, surprised at the activity he had picked for us to do. Walking along a tunnel covered with pulsating lights that lit our way, Jiminie pulled me to the left where the counter was. A bubbly woman was manning the cashier as we paid for a lane and rented the bowling shoes.

A bowling alley.

It's been a long time since I've played bowling and everything looked different. Gone were the retro cages and simple designs, they were replaced with neon lights that flashes every now and then. Excited, we walked to our lane. The monitor and the lane were lit up, waiting to be played. There were large groups of people and couples around us, and we shared the machine with another group of people.

Exchanging my shoes with the bowling shoes, Jiminie went up to the monitor and started imputing our names into the screen. Our names were displayed on the monitor ahead, both with ten games to play. Once he was done, he went up to me and told me that we could start playing.

"Which ball are you using, Alice?" he asked curiously as he pondered over the row of balls on the conveyor belt machine that spits out bowling balls. "A 7 pound ball? Or an 8 pound ball?"

"Whatever you use, little one."

He looked up at me in surprise and went up to me. "You can't carry too heavy or it'll be suspicious," he said quietly as he played around with my fringe. "It'll be good to take the 7 pound ball, baby."

I pouted, making him laugh. "Okay. I'll take the 7 pound ball," I said with a huff. "I won't show off too much."

He laughed again as he held my cheeks. "It's because I'm taking the 12 pound ball, baby."

I made a face, making him squeeze them. "You're just being unfair," I pointed out.

"No, I just got stronger," he replied. "I'll play first."

He ruffled my hair and excitedly took the 12 pound ball from the belt. I watched as he moved, swinging the ball back before executing a perfect move - as expected from someone who's trained in dance and Taekwondo. I watched him in fascination, staring at his muscular back, lithe legs and only snapped out of the reverie when he came back squeezing my cheeks.

"Concentrate, Alice."

"Shut it."

.

After we were done with bowling, Jiminie drove us out of the mall and we took a leisure drive along the highway, playing pop music over the radio. The view was magnificent; showing the orange sun sinking into the horizon and basking us in an ethereal glow.

This is a peaceful moment.

I turned towards the young one. I watched him drive, a hand on the steering wheel and another propped up against the window as he stared ahead. He had put on a pair of round shades, to block out the dying sun rays and his curly hair was a beautiful mess framing his pretty face.

My dead heart squeezed. "Jiminie."

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for today," I said. "I love it."

He broke into a smile. "I'm glad you loved it, Alice," he said. "I was worried you'd be bored if I brought you to a normal date but Sebastian assured me that you won't."

"I can't believe you consulted Sebastian for this."

"He knows you the best! And Jaemin of course," he replied. "Both of them said you'd enjoy it a lot."

"As long as I'm with you," I said.

He chuckled. "That's what they said."

"Where are we going, baby?"

"You'll see."

He drove on and exited the highway, taking the roundabout which led us to enter the East Coast Park's exit, making me wonder if we were heading to the beach. Soon enough, we were driving down the road that would lead us into the beach's numerous car park and he turned left to Carpark D.

We got out of the car and together, we walked straight on until we met the sea. The sound of waves crashing on the beach was calming, and the breeze that rustled the leaves were cooling against my skin. We walked until the grass turned to white sand and we stood against the bank, looking out to the dark sea quietly.

The waves crashed against the beach, the white foam forming onto the sand as it travelled forwards - leaving a small gap between our feet before retreating back into the sea. I sought out Jiminie's hand and held it tight in my own - he responded by curling his fingers in-between my own.

"Alice?"

"Hmm?"

"I still don't know if I would want to live forever but I know that I would want to live forever with you by my side," he said. "Being immortal isn't half bad when I know that you're with me."

My eyes went round with surprise and my head whipped towards him in shock, my dead hurt threatening to beat once again.

"Alice, I would be honoured to spend eternity with you," he continued.

"What?"

He broke into a smile as he turned to face me. Suddenly, I realised that he was shaking and I grabbed a hold of his left hand immediately. The adorable kitten was trying his best, and he licked his dry lips as he gathered his courage. His heartbeat was erratic, and he took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself.

"Alice, would you give me the honour of being your boyfriend?" he asked.

I sucked in a deep breath. "Yes, baby."

"Oh thank god," he replied with relief. "I was so nervous the whole day!"

I chuckled as he collapsed onto me, my arms catching him as he dropped his head onto my shoulder. I rubbed his back, trying to ease his nervousness and listened as his heartbeat stabilised. He took a step back and looked at me with all seriousness that it made me nervous.

"Can I kiss you?" he asked firmly.

I looked down at his lips and looked back up at his starry eyes. "Yes," I said and without hesitation, he crashed his lips onto me. I let out a sound of surprise as I felt his soft lips on mine. Hearing him groan made me lose all sense, and I took over the kissing.

I showed him how to kiss, our lips moving against the other as fireworks exploded at the back of my head. Eager for more, my hand crawled up to his head, pulling him down as I dragged my tongue across his lips to coax him to open his mouth. I held him closer to me as he stumbled backwards in surprise as my tongue plunged in.

However, the kiss abruptly stopped as Jiminie fell, his knees buckling and I caught him before he hit the ground. He was breathing hard, flushed red up till his neck and his lips were swollen from my aggressiveness. His heart was beating hard, and he was trying to blink away the haziness of ecstasy.

"You good?"

"...Yeah."

"How is it?" I asked as I righted him, pulling him up so he could stand on his own and adjusted his hair and clothes, so it looked less obvious that we made out for a second or two.

"10/10 would do it again."

I laughed.

.