One more stop

Anthony let out a soft sigh before he looked at Rebecca with a warm smile. Then he took a step forward to close the gap that had formed between them and took that even a step further as he put his arms around her small frame and pulled her in. This startled Rebecca as she had not expected this from Anthony so suddenly, but Rebecca's words had pushed the careful side of him aside and returned him to his clueless self, acting solely on instinct. Completely unaware as to what he was doing to Rebecca's heart, Anthony continued their conversation.

"You win. There really is no hiding from you. It is true. There is something I have been meaning to tell you, or ask you actually, but I don't really know how. I don't want to make you feel like you have to do something you don't want to do, just to please me. But if I don't ask you, I lose the chance of you saying yes." In a stammering, and clearly flustered voice, as she attempted to escape from Anthony's grasp and yet appeared to be no match to the friendly, clueless giant, Rebecca said, "Like I said, you intentionally keeping things from me, is only making me anxious. So, if you don't want to lose the chance, just tell me already. Don't overthink it, just say it. And while you are at it, do you mind taking a step back. You are hurting my neck like this."

Although it was true that looking up at Anthony for long periods of time strained her neck, this was far from what was happening in this moment. This was simply her nerves getting the better of her, and using their actual struggles as an excuse. A bit dumbstruck Anthony glanced down at his arms, then at Rebecca, and he noticed her red cheeks and furrowed brows. She reminded him of an angry kitten, being held against its will. Anthony quickly raised his hands in front of him as he released Rebecca from his instinctive hug, and said, "Sorry, sorry. My body must have acted on its own. I didn't even realize I caught you in my arms like that."

In reality Rebecca hadn't minded his embrace all that much, and was mostly feeling embarrassed, especially as they were still outside and in public. But she wasn't in a state to admit that. Instead, she glanced away as she raised her hand to hold her other upper arm, and said, "It's okay". Then she quickly shifted the topic back to what they were talking about before the 'hug' had happened, while pretending it hadn't happened in the first place. "So, you were saying?"

Anthony, being the friendly giant that he was, and at time as dense and clueless as they come, bounced back from the rejection relatively easily. In fact, he didn't seem affected by it at all and appeared to have forgotten what had happened as he tried to answer Rebecca's question once more. "Oh, uhm, yes. Well, what I was trying to say is, that there is actually one more stop planned for today, but only if you are willing. Today I showed you where I grew up, and I told you about my friends. Well, a lot of them still live around here, or have moved back after finishing their degrees out of town. When you accepted my proposal and we made plans to come here for a few days, I contacted them, as we are all still in touch. I let them know I would be in town and..."

Anthony paused for a bit, so Rebecca looked over, still having a bit of an embarrassed glare on her face as she repeated, "and?", to provide an encouraging nudge for the question she now already saw coming. Anthony looked at her and continued hesitantly, "And I told them there was someone I would like them to meet. I didn't say who, but they might have an idea of what type of person I am talking about." In full Anthony style, he then added, "But, like I said, I don't want you to do anything you don't want to do. I didn't specify that I would be bringing that person along during this particular visit, and certainly not for tonight's dinner. So, if you don't want to, I'll drop you off at the hotel, and pretend like I meant some day, not today. Considering my track record, I think they won't have any problem believing that. Or if you don't want to be alone, I can just say that you aren't feeling well and cancel all-together."

Rebecca finally smiled again and put her hands around her back, along with the purse she had been holding, as she took a few steps forward and said, "Well, in that case, we had better get going. I can't have you turn into a liar over this just for my sake."