Spirit

Chapter 4: Finally
It was the weekend again and as I woke up, the first thing that was on my mind (other than my dreams) was Lawren. I smiled.
I jumped out of bed, pulled my clothes from my drawer and changed my clothes and ran down the stairs.
“What’s the hurry?” My mom called from the kitchen.
“Can I go to Lawren’s house?” I asked anxiously.
“You would’ve gone anyways,” she mumbled loud enough for me to hear.
I giggled and started walking to his house.
“Hi, Natalia!” Lawren’s mom said as she opened the door before I knocked.
“Hello, Mrs. Shaw. Where’re you going?”
“I need to get to the store. There’s been a mix up with the dresses. It’s like raising kids all over again!” She said and laughed. Mrs. Shaw owned a boutique in Seattle. Her mother owned it before her and Lawren worked there as well. Fashion ran in their family and Lawren was the next generation with it in his blood.
Mrs. Shaw was a very nice woman. She always looked so debonair with her clothes and hair. She looked very put together and classy. She was inspirational as well.
“Is Lawren awake?”
“Yeah. He’s upstairs working on a dress. It’s been three months and he’s still working on it. But beauty takes time. Take a gander at it then you’ll see what I mean.”
“I believe you, Mrs. Shaw. After all, he did learn from the best!”
“Oh, Natalia. Don’t be so modest. Well, I better get going. We don’t want any more trouble do we?”
“Okay. Bye, Mrs. Shaw!”
“Goodbye, dear.”
I walked up the stairs and turned the corner to the room where Lawren and his mom usually did their work. I knocked on the frame of the door.
Lawren turned around from his work and smiled. “Hey there!”
“Hi, Lawren. Are you busy?”
“No, no, not at all. Come on it,” he said and waved at me to come in.
“Are you still working on the dress? How’s it coming along?”
“I’m almost done. Look at it!” He stepped away from where he was standing and there stood a mannequin. He twisted the mannequin around twice. But it wasn’t the mannequin that caught my attention. It was the dazzling gown that was on the mannequin. It looked like something you’d find in the closet of a Greek goddess. It was a creamy beige color. The back of the dress had ruffles from the waist of the dress down. It was like a silky cascade. On top of the cascade was a large white bow that was larger than the width of the dress. On front at the top, the waist up had crystal rhinestones that went to the top of the straps of the dress. The light from the sun bounced off of the rhinestones creating rainbows all over the room. Below the rhinestones was a white silk belt that went around the dress that held the bow.
“So do you like it?” he asked nervously.
I opened my mouth but nothing came out. I tried again, but still nothing. “I-I it’s fantastic, Lawren! It’s so beautiful!”
“I’m not quite finished yet. I still need to do the stitching at the bottom.”
“It still looks amazing.” My face felt like the only expression on it was shock and I couldn’t manage to take that off. He chuckled. “Who’s the lucky girl?” I asked, biting my lip.
He shrugged his shoulders and turned around to face the window. I could see his cheeks rise from the back.
I walked over to the dress and slid my fingers along the front of the dress. It was absolutely gorgeous.
“Are you hungry?” Lawren asked.
I smiled and nodded my head.
“C’mon,” he walked over to me and stuck out his hand for mine. I took it and we walked down the stairs to his kitchen.
“What would you like?” he asked as he looked around the kitchen.
“Pancakes sound good,” I suggested.
“Blueberry?”
“Sure. Sure.”
We took all of the ingredients and followed Lawren’s commends on making pancakes. I had no idea how to cook.
“Can I have half a cup of blueberries?” Lawren asked.
I tried to open up the blueberries from the box, but it wouldn’t open. Lawren chuckled and came up from behind me and put his hands over mines. I froze and I hoped he hadn’t noticed that. Then the box popped opened, sending the blueberries flying everywhere.
We both started to laugh.
“Raining blueberries,” he murmured and popped one into my mouth.
“There’s still enough in the box,” I said and bounced around all that was left.
He chuckled and poured the remaining berries into the pancake mix.
We ended up making more pancakes than necessary. We sat down in his kitchen table and started to munch on them.
I started to think about what Lawren had to tell me. What he always says he’s going to tell me, but never gets around to it. I decided to bring it up myself.
“What’re you thinking about?” Lawren asked.
I looked down, sighed and looked back up. “Lawren. Do you… like-”
Lawren’s sister came marching into the kitchen. She stopped in her place and looked at all of the blueberries scattered across the countertop and floor. “Good thing I don’t like blueberries,” she muttered and went to the refrigerator.
“Hi, Larissa,” I sighed, trying to hide the annoyance in my voice.
“Hi, Natalia. You’re here early. Breakfast date?”
“Larissa, get what you need and go away,” Lawren hissed.
“Jeez, Lawrence. So touchy,” she laughed and walked upstairs.
“So embarrassing,” Lawren muttered. “So what were you saying?”
“Nothing,” I whispered. “Never mind.” Sadly, I lost all confidence I had before.
“Natalia, do you-”
“Yes, Lawren! Yes! I feel the same way!” I interrupted and jumped up off my chair.
He stared at my, confused. “I was going to ask if you wanted to go out to dinner tonight…”
I stared down at the floor, embarrassed. I sat back down. “Oh. Sure.”
“You sound like you don’t want to…”
“Of course I want to!”
“What did you think I was asking you?” he asked tilting his head to the side.
I closed my eyes, sighed, and titled my head back.
“Natalia?” he pressed.
“I thought that you were going to… tell me that you…like me.” I bit down on my lip hard.
His eyes widened and I looked down.
“Lawren, if you don’t feel the same way or if this is way to awkward, I could leave. I’m sorry.” I stood up from my chair and rushed to the door and opened it.
The door slammed closed and I turned around. Lawren was looking down at me and his face was inches from mine.
He took my face in his hand and we looked each other straight in the eyes. He scrutinized my face and suddenly, our lips were touching, moving.
I felt his lips move upward. He moved his face away from mine.
He smiled. “Of course I feel the same way. Probably more than you know,” he murmured, his warm breath was on my face.
I was too much in shock to answer. I felt my face turn hot and my heart beating against my chest. I opened my mouth, but all that came out was a squeak. He chuckled.
“Why did you wait so long to tell me?” I squeaked.
“I was afraid,” he said and smiled.
“Of what?”
“Of your reaction. I didn’t know if you liked me, so I didn’t want to make things awkward between us.”
“All of the signs were there,” I said, irritated, but at the same time full of joy.
“Maybe I was just too stupid to not see them,” he murmured and pulled me closer to him.
I grabbed his shirt collar to pull his face back to mine. He put his forehead on mine and leaned in closer and kissed me once more.