Whatever It Takes

“You were right” Arianna said, as they walked through a local park eating their ice creams, “this is the best ice cream in town”. Patrick looked at her, “Obviously. I’m always right” he commented as he gave her a smile. She laughed at his cockiness, something she was starting to find charming. He had brought her right outside the downtown city lines, to a nearby suburb ice cream parlor. It was quiet and peaceful, and probably one of the prettiest places she has ever seen.

“You know, I think my theory was right” Patrick said as he starred at her ice cream cone, “food seems a lot better when it’s coming from you”. She starred at him, “is that your way of asking me if you can have a bite?”. “Actually it would be a lick, not a bite. Biting ice cream gives me a brain freeze,” he told her, as he continuously gave her one of those captivating smiles. She reached up and let him have a lick of her ice cream, laughing as he tried to grab it out of her hand.

“So I have a question for you” he asked her as they resumed walking again. “Another one?” she joked as she continued to eat her ice cream. She saw him blush from the corner of her eye, “I’m kidding. Ask away, I’m an open book for the most part,” she teased. She saw his blush fade as he turned to stare at her.

“You mentioned before at lunch that you had dealt with more than your share of athletes,” he began as he kept his focus on her, “I was just wondering what had happened”. Arianna silently kicked herself; obviously she had walked right into this one. She didn’t really have anything to hide, but if she confided in him about these guys, especially the ones who had hurt her, it would make her more vulnerable to him. Something she wasn’t so sure was a great idea, considering the feelings she was starting to develop for him.

“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want,” he continued, as he took her silence for anger, “I didn’t mean to pry”. “No, its really fine” she replied as she finally looked up at him quickly, before looking back straight ahead. “Come, let’s sit down,” she said as she tugged on his arm and led him to a nearby-secluded bench underneath a tree. They sat down side by side; across from them was a small pond with ducks inside.

“Have you ever been in love?” she asked him suddenly, turning her head to look at him. “Uh, yeah” he responded, slightly caught off guard by her question. I think, he silently added in his head. Truth was, he was never really sure if had loved any of his “serious” girlfriends. He hadn’t been one for a relationship, so how was he to know what love really was?

“I’ve only been in love once” Arianna continued as she turned her head back to look ahead at the pond. “He was my first serious boyfriend, my first and only boyfriend actually. We were together for 2 years,” she added.

“I don’t believe you,” he interrupted she turned to look at him; “there’s no way you’ve only had one boyfriend”. She looked at him confused, “I don’t understand”. He shifted slightly in his seat, “I know this is going to sound like another one of my lines but its not I promise. Its just your so beautiful, I can’t believe you’ve only had one boyfriend. How have guys not been throwing themselves at you?” he questioned.

“Did you just call me beautiful?” she asked him as a little smile played on her lips. He blushed slightly, “you must already know that” he responded as he starred at her. “Actually, no I don’t. I mean I’ve heard it once or twice before but its not something I spend a lot of time thinking about” she said as she let the smile fall from her mouth.

“But to answer your question, the reason why I’ve only had one boyfriend is because I don’t trust people very easily. Trust and honesty are everything to me. So for me to be involved with someone in a relationship, it means I’m giving them my everything. And a lot of guys they just didn’t deserve that” she continued, as she turned to face the water again.

“Anyways, after David and I broke up, I never really dated anyone else seriously. They were all just casual flings,” she said slowly, her eyes gazing straight ahead still. “A lot of them though were athletes in some way or another. For some reason, I seem like their type and all of my friends had the “perfect” guy they wanted to set me up with” she chuckled at the recollection of her dates. “Turns out though, none of them were as perfect for me as they thought. I’ve been involved with a basketball player, football player and soccer player and the only thing they had in common was the word player”.

Patrick could feel himself tense up and he wasn’t sure why. All he knew was that it made him jealous to think of her with other guys, and that wasn’t something he was expecting. “I can’t imagine anyone every playing you” he managed to get out as he stopped staring at her and finished his cream. “You think too highly of me” she teased, “Thankfully I never let myself get too close to those guys. Only one of them actually physically hooked up with another girl while we were seeing each other. But the other two, mentally, were fooling around with plenty of girls”.

She shook her head as she thought of it all, “and that to me is just as bad. You don’t actually need to physically cheat with someone for me to be finished with you”. Patrick gave her a confused look, “I don’t think I understand”. She tried to find the right words to explain what she meant; she knew she probably sounded like a psycho. “Sending messages to girls saying how much you wish you could see them, and how hot they are, and how you miss them…that’s all part of emotional cheating. And to me, that’s probably even worse than physically cheating. Because it means that your heart wasn’t in it to begin with”.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, both soaking in everything that had been said. Patrick was feeling nervous, his hands sweating a little. If she had only known everything he had done to girls before he met her. He was exactly like those guys she hated, and that was enough to make him sick. There was this sudden urge in him to be someone that she would be proud of, someone she could depend on. “I’m sorry you went through that,” he said, as he leaned over and put his arm around her shoulder pulling her in closer to him. “It’s ok,” she responded, as she turned to look at him. “I believe everything happens for a reason. You have to go through the ups and downs so that it’ll all work out”.

“Whatever happened between you and your ex? David” he questioned, feeling nervous as he did and pulling his arm away. She chuckled lightly, “That’s a story for another time”. They watched in silence as the ducks floated by in the water, basking in the sunlight. “Shit, it’s already 4 o’clock” Patrick said suddenly, realizing he had to go home and get ready for tonight’s game.

“I didn’t realize the time, im sorry” Arianna said, all of a sudden getting nervous. What if he had to go because he had another date planned tonight? She knew her thoughts weren’t fair; he had been nothing but a gentleman the entire afternoon. Yet she couldn’t help how her brain was programmed, how hard it was for her to trust him. “No it’s not your fault. I should have been keeping track,” he explained as they got up in unison and began to walk back towards his car that was parked in front of the ice cream parlor.

Patrick was nervous; he didn’t want to leave her just yet. If he did, he couldn’t guarantee he would see her again. “So what are you doing tonight?” he suddenly asked her. “Uh, nothing special. Michelle, my cousin Lisa’s friend, is having us all over to watch some game that’s on tonight. I don’t know, they said something about game day rituals” Arianna explained, chuckling as she remembered their enthusiasm. They reached his car and got in after Patrick opened Arianna’s door for her.

Patrick began to laugh, “Oh yeah?” he said as a smirk appeared on his face as he got into the driver’s seat. “Apparently so” Arianna replied, confused as to why that smirk had appeared on that gorgeous face of his. “What are you up to tonight” she asked him back, slightly scared to hear the response. “I have a game tonight actually” he said, his smirk growing bigger. They began to drive back towards the city, passing by the park with the pond in the process.

All of a sudden it hit her, “I’m going to be watching your game aren’t I?” she questioned him as she shook her head. He smiled big, “It’s ok, I know you’ll spend the night checking me out on the ice” he teased. She hit his upper arm with her hand, “You wish”. They teased each other the whole back to her hotel, singing along to the radio every time a good song came on.

As they pulled up her hotel, Arianna could feel her chest tighten and a lump form in her throat. Was this the last time she’d see him? The thought kept spinning through her head and it made her nauseous. This was why she didn’t want to go on this date with him; for fear that she would end up like this. Suck it up, she thought as she tried to put on a brave face, you knew that this couldn’t go anywhere.

“Thanks so much for today Patrick” she said as she turned to face him. He smiled in response, “it’s no problem. I had a really great time with you”. Patrick could feel himself get nervous; his hands clenched the wheel tightly even though he was parked. She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek quickly, “I had a great time too. And even though I’ve said it before, it was nice to meet you”. She turned to open the door, her foot halfway out before she felt his cool hand on her wrist gently.

“Wait,” he said as he reached over to grab her. “After the game tonight, if you’re not busy with your friends, you should come by this bar me and the guys go to after games sometimes for a drink” he said quickly, all of a sudden nervous. Why does she keep making me nervous, he thought as he tried to cool himself down.

Arianna shot him a curious look, “you want to see me again?” she questioned him. He looked at her surprised; “of course, why wouldn’t I?” he asked her back. “I don’t know…isn’t this a boys night though?” she asked him, her passenger side door still slightly opened. “It’s not really a boys night” he began as he saw her give him an unconvinced look. “I mean none of the guys ever bring their wives or girlfriends or whatever. But it’d be cool if you came, and I could introduce you to everyone. They were all curious about you yesterday anyways” he confessed as he gave her a shy grin.

She could see it in his eyes the hope and excitement; they were shining bright. She knew right then that she was a goner. “Ok” she replied, “I mean I’ll be with Marissa though…” “That’s fine! Bring her along too” Patrick said a little too excitedly, which made Arianna laugh.

“Alright, so it’s settled then, you’ll come?” he asked one last time. “Yeah” she responded as she gave him a smile, “text me the address and name and I’ll be there”. With that she got out of the car and stopped herself from screaming and jumping like a little girl as she entered the hotel.