A well-spent day

"Ow Ow Ouch, it hurts, it hurts." I cried in pain. My knuckles lost its color as I clenched my fist tightly against my mouth to muffle my loud wailing. I know to puncture our skin with a needle will hurt, but this hurt like a bitch.

Someone chuckled from a distance, clearly enjoying my agony. I glared at my so-called boyfriend who was sitting comfortably on a couch, his arms crossed against his chest, doing nothing to help reduce the pain for me.

"You stupid man, come here and at least hold my hand." I finally yell at him. He's thoroughly enjoying the show and I'm not liking that even a bit.

"So that you can crush my hand? No thanks, I'm good. Moreover, you begged for this, so enjoy." he shrugged his shoulder, his face annoyingly amused. I shoot him an icy cold glare and in return, he gives a wink.

"Wait till I get my hands around your neck. I'll crush it like an elephant crushing an ant." I threatened him, an amazing scenario running through my head.

Maddy, my tattoo artist, which was a female as per Logan's strict instruction, laughed at my threat "You got a feisty girl there, Mister," she says, her French accent very thick. She's a young woman of early '30s with a slim figure and shoulder-length hair dyed in red.

"Tell me about it," Logan rolls his eyes. I narrowed my eyes at him

"You-You...Ouch," I flinched at the pain.

"There… done" Maddy said and wiped off the blood from my skin. I finally let out a sigh of relief and waited for the pain to lessen before slowly standing up from the chair. I walked to the full-length mirror and looked into my detailed rose below my shoulder blade in awe. I wanted this pattern specifically because roses symbolize passion, promise, hope, and new beginnings.

I saw Logan walking towards me before pressing a gentle kiss on my tattoo from behind. "It looks great," he said.

"I loved it. Thank you so much, Maddy." I say gratefully, turning around. She nods her head in reply and smiles. She then applied some ointment on the tattoo before wrapping the skin with a bandage.

"Do you also want a tattoo, young man?" she asks Logan. Logan shook his head in reply.

"Not now," he said. He then looked at me with so much love and admiration "but I will, soon" Maddy pats his shoulder before she sauntered away. Logan turned to look at me,

"Ready for our next destination?"

"What do you think?"

*****

"The Aquarium?" I ask again in disbelief.

"Yes babe, we are in the Aquarium." Logan chuckled and wrapped his arms around my waist. I squealed in delight and hugged him tightly, my arms going around his neck.

"This is the best surprise ever," I mumbled in his neck. He tightened his grip around me. After we left the tattoo salon, Logan blindfolded me before driving to our next destination. Throughout the entire one hour ride, I kept asking him where we were going and this idiot didn't even give a clue even after I threatened to poke his eyes with a pen. But never did I expect he would take me to the Aquarium.

After buying tickets, we entered the huge fish tank, and to say I was awestruck was an understatement. The entire room was covered in glass, the blue color of the water illuminating the entire room. Behind the glass were different varieties of fishes and other water animals, from small to large size. Even the floor was made of glass and I would be lying if I say I'm not scared of walking on the glass. The place was less crowded considering today is a weekday. We walked hand in hand, enjoying the view around us.

At some point, I even pressed my face on the glass unable to take my eyes away from the incredible view. The way the fishes swam in a group and protected their young ones from predators is plain amazing. I removed my hold from Logan's bicep and wrapped my arm around his waist. I felt something hard under his shirt, on the waistline of his jeans. I frowned and touched it again, only to stiffen. Logan immediately took my hand away from there.

"Wha-huh...the hell," I say, unable to form a proper sentence. Logan dragged me to a secluded area before starting to explain.

"I will explain."

"Why do you have a freaking gun with you, Logan? Don't tell me you had it with you the entire time." I hiss at him.

"Are you mad at me?" He asked, his face cautious.

"Answer me, first."

"Fine. It's for safety measures. And yes, I had it with me the entire time."

"Do you have any idea how dangerous-"

"I can handle a gun." he interrupted me

"-that thing is. You can go to jail for carrying this thing illegally. And safety measures? My-"

"It's a legalized gun and I have the license." he interferes again.

"-ass. Why are you even carrying it?"

"Because you wouldn't allow me to keep guards. At least let me keep this." Logan finally said, annoyed.

"Bu-but" I tried to think of something to oppose it but came up with nothing. "Alright." I roll my eyes. "As long as you don't shoot me, I think I'll be fine."

He gave me a cool look and rolled his eyes. "You know I won't."

"Yeah yeah whatever" I muttered and turned away. I know it's not safe for me to walk freely without being cautious and very foolish to avoid guards. But I'm done playing this shit. Playing this hide and seek game. If they want to kill me, then let it be. But I won't die without a fight for sure. I hate living my life in fear and that's also the reason why I didn't change my look or identity when I left Worcester a year ago. But that doesn't mean I'm scared of dying.

We stayed in the aquarium for two hours. After that we had lunch and Logan bought a mini birthday cake. He made everyone present in the restaurant sing 'Happy Birthday' while I cut the cake, which was a bit embarrassing.

During childhood, my parents used to take me to the place which was hidden in the woods. They called it their secret heaven. That's where we are currently traveling. It's a one hour drive as we had to go back to my home town before driving to the woods.

"Are we there yet?" Logan asks as he pulls onto a gravel road.

"Kinda," I mumbled as I looked out of the window and took in the green surroundings. Logan continues to drive for a few kilometers silently, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel according to the beats of the song playing on the radio.

"Okay, you can park the car on the side. We have to walk from here." I said excitedly and unbuckled my seatbelt as soon as he parked the vehicle. Logan followed me shortly with a picnic basket and a blanket we bought in his hand.

We walked another mile in silence. Logan didn't even complain that we had to walk this much and helped me to climb steep rocks. He even offered to carry me when I slowed down a bit. But I refused as he's already carrying the picnic basket and don't want to tire him now itself. I'm kinda nervous about this trip. We are away from the city, from guards...all alone. Just the two of us and just thinking about what I'm going to offer is making me excited as well as scared.

By the time we reached the spot, I was breathing heavily. But every time, this scenery right in front of my eyes always manages to steal my breath away. It's a vast green meadow, its soft grass covered with white daisies. In the middle of the meadow is a stream and water lilies and lotus floated across the surface. The sky illuminated a light orange color and birds happily chirped from the branches of trees. I inhaled the refreshing air and turned to look at Logan who looked awestruck.

"So...?" I asked him about the view.

"Wow," he marveled. He intertwined our fingers and squeezed it. I gently tugged him forward, long grass tickling our legs as we weaved our way through it. Logan spread the blanket on the grass and placed the picnic basket on the side. He then pulled me into the blanket, facing the beautiful view.

Logan wrapped his arms around my midriff and nuzzled my neck. I closed my eyes and sighed in bliss. There's nothing more I could ask for than this. We stayed in that position for some time, enjoying each other's company in silence.

"Is it just me who feels like this place and the vibe, in general, reminds of my parents' woodhouse." He asked curiously.

"Now that I think about it, yes. You're right. Maybe that's why I liked the woodhouse too because in some way or another I might have felt nostalgic." I uttered in realization.

"When am I wrong, love." He smirked and I rolled my eyes at his cockiness.

Logan decided to have some fun after that. He picked me in a bridal style and threw me into the water. Can you believe that? He freaking threw me into the cold damn water in my new clothes.

"You bastard!" I yelled at him after I erupted out of the water, gasping. Thankfully the water wasn't that deep, It just reached a bit above my chest level. Logan was laughing hysterically, clutching his stomach. I splashed water at him even though it didn't reach him. I took deep breaths to control my anger that's boiling in my veins. Once I'm controlled, I turned around to face the opposite direction, deciding to give him a silent treatment. But once I noticed I'm surrounded by lotus and water lilies all my anger vanished and a warm feeling settled on my chest. I inhaled deeply, a goofy smile spread on my face. I felt a presence behind me and I turned my head to see Logan standing behind me, water droplets falling from his hair.

He placed a small lotus behind my ear and leaned forward to whisper in my ear "I'm sorry, but I had to do it." he chuckles when I glare at him playfully.

"You're such an ass" I mumbled before completely turning to face him. I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him closer to me before kissing his cheeks.

"Thank you, Log," I say honestly, my eyes shining with gratitude and love for my man. "You made this day a memorable one"

He smirks "I intended to."

I smile softly before brushing the lock of his hair from his forehead with my hand. Our eyes held each other for a long time, allowing each other to explore our deeper soul and desire. Now is the time.

With a racing heart and nerves all bundled up due to nervousness, I say something that will bring a change in our relationship.

"I'm ready, Log" I whisper softly to him. I feel him stiffen, a dark storm running in his eyes. For a moment, I feared he would back out as his face displayed surprise and something else I couldn't put a finger on it.

Logan took a sharp intake of breath before his blue eyes bore into my brown orbs. "A-Are you 100 percent sure?" he asks for confirmation. I know if I say yes, there's no turning back. Once it's lost, it's lost forever. But I'm ready to lose it to him.

I know I love him but I realized that I want to be with this man for as long as I live. Life is short and unpredictable. But now I cannot imagine my life without him in it. With that in mind, I uttered the words that will surely tie me with him forever.

"Tie us together in every sense, Log" I whispered. I know I won't regret this decision because I'm doing this with the love of my life. There's no better person than him.

"Oh love, you've no idea how long I've been waiting for this." He gave me his beautiful smile and cupped my face in his large hands with such tenderness.

"I love you," he whispers before smashing his lips onto mine.

*****

I glanced beside me to watch Logan, a smile making its way to my face. His hands were enclosed in mine while we waited in the elevator. He looked at me and grinned.

"You need to do something for that," he said, staring at my neck in pride, happy about his work. I curtained my face with my hair, blushing furiously and he let out a loud laugh.

We left the place around midnight, but still, we were in cloud nine. We entered the suite ready to jump onto the bed but Logan insisted on taking a warm shower. A large bouquet of red roses was placed on the dining table, a happy birthday card hanging from it.

"Who gave that?" Logan asked as he placed the keys on the counter. I walked up to it and picked it, smelling the fresh fragrance. A smile made its way on my face but it soon disappeared as I read the words from the card.

"Lia," Logan approached me and I immediately crumpled the paper in my hand, hiding it away from him. I turned around and smiled at Logan

"It's from Micah wishing me happy birthday" I lied smoothly. He nods his head completely believing it.

"Why don't you go and take a shower. I'll join you after I send a text to him"

"Okay, I will be waiting." he pecked my lips and strolled away. I glanced at the paper immediately and reread the words.

'Happy birthday'

'You escaped from me. Now the person closest to you is going to pay for your mistake. '

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