Chapter Sixteen: The Rose Garden

I can't be bothered writing one of these little things so just go ahead and read :)

I stared, open-mouthed, at the person in front of me. It was the brat that had snapped at me in front of the studio earlier. This time she had removed her dark shades, revealing her heavily made-up eyes. They were piercing blue and were decidedly unfriendly.

‘’Can’t you look where you’re going?’’ she asked, her English accent heavy.

‘’If you were looking where you were going, you would have been able to avoid me,’’ I pointed out. Her frown deepened and her lips twisted into a sneer.

‘’You Americans really don’t recognize status, don’t you? It wasn’t in my place to move out of the way. You should have watched where you were going,’’ she said, as if it were the most logical thing in the world.

I rolled my eyes. ‘’Would you listen to yourself? Your place? Seriously, I’m sorry I crashed into you, but it wasn’t only my fault. I was careless, yes, but so were you.’’

She opened her mouth to, no doubt, say some extremely nasty things, but was stopped by Tanner’s voice.

‘’Em! Are you okay?’’ he came to stand next to me, slinging an arm around me. The brat’s eyes widened.

‘’Tanner?’’

I felt Tanner stiffen beside me and turned to look up at him. Don’t tell me they know each other, I pleaded inwardly. Too late, the brat had already launched herself at him and was kissing his cheeks like there was no tomorrow. Disgusted, I slipped from under Tanner’s arm and took a few steps back.The b***h (I decided to rename her) turned to look at me with a fake apologetic look on her face.

‘’Ooh, sorry. He isn’t your boyfriend, is he?’’ she asked, her voice sugary sweet and oh, so fake. Then her smile changed to a sneer. ‘’Like he’d ever want you.’’

Tanner clenched his fists, I could see him do it. ‘’Ameliè. That’s enough.’’

She turned to him with wide, innocent eyes. I almost gagged. ‘’But Tanner! Don’t seriously tell me you’re with that, that, teenager.’’

‘’For your information,’’ said Tanner. ‘’I’m a teenager too, and last time I checked, you’re one too. Seventeen isn’t an adult yet, you know.’’

Ameliè giggled, a fake laugh that made my ears sting. This is why I didn’t like to giggle. Only fake b*****s like her giggled when they were trying to flirt.

‘’Oh, but you must admit I’m way more mature than that piece of-’’

‘’Enough,’’ Tanner said, his voice deadly calm.’’I told you two years ago, and I’m telling you again: I don’t want to ever see you again.’’

With that, he stalked away from her, grabbed my wrist and started dragging me to the car. I didn’t complain about his tight grip, I guessed he was pretty angry. He yanked open the door and I got in quickly. He got in on his own side and slammed the door, quickly turning on the ignition. He drove fast, too fast. I felt the vehicle swerve more than once, but when he almost hit the curb I decided it was enough.

‘’Tanner!’’ I spoke calmly, but sternly. ‘’You’re going to have an accident if you don’t calm down. I don’t know about you, but I don’t quite want my life to end right now.’’

I laid an arm on his arm and noticed how taut his muscles were. He was really clenching the steering wheel tightly with his hands. When he felt my hand on his arm, he visibly relaxed, and slowed down. His angry face disappeared and he seemed tired all of a sudden.

‘’I’m sorry,’’ he spoke, without looking at me. I nodded, but then realized he couldn’t see me because he wasn’t looking at me. ‘’It’s okay,’’ I said. ‘’Everyone needs to blow off steam sometimes.’’

Tanner didn’t say anything, but I could see he appreciated that I understood. His expression lightened and he looked a lot more relaxed. We kept on driving, but now it seemed like he actually knew where he was going. I didn’t ask, deciding I trusted the guy enough to accept that he was bringing me somewhere nice. He parked next to a park of some sorts, surrounded by a large black iron gate, twisted elegantly into shapes at the top. I could smell the flowers from here, and identified the strongest smell as that of roses.

‘’Where are we?’’ I asked, unbuckling my seatbelt.

‘’We’re at the Roseraie du Val-de-Marne,’’ he said, speaking the french name with ease.

‘’Okay?’’ I said.That didn’t exactly tell me much.

‘’It’s a rose garden,’’ he explained. ‘’I used to come here a lot with my sister, before-’’

He stopped, biting his lip. Then abruptly, he got out of the car and closed his door before opening mine for me. Ever the gentleman. I didn’t ask about what he’d said before. I might have blonde hair, but I wasn’t so dumb as to not notice he didn’t want to talk about it. He’d tell me in his own time. I wouldn’t pry.

I followed him into the garden, and marvelled at the beautiful sight that greeted my eyes. Roses were everywhere, in different shades of red, pink or white. I caught a couple of yellow ones, my favorite, in the corner. The bushes holding the yellow roses were gathered around a large tree, the grass looking lush and green, the shade inviting.

‘’Let’s go over there,’’ said Tanner, pointing to the exact same place I’d just spotted. I smiled in agreement, and started following him there. I saw down in the shade, leaning my head back against the thick wooden trunk. It was peaceful in the garden at this time of the day, but we’d lunched early, so I guessed most people would be in café’s and restaurants now.

Suddenly, I felt a larger hand intertwine with mine and I looked up, surprised. Tanner stared back, a ghost of a smile hovering over his lips. I bit my lip, then quickly stopped. This wasn’t-- how could he just do that? How could he just make me feel all weird and awkward all of a sudden?

‘’Emily?’’ his voice didn’t sound as steady and confident as it usually did. I swallowed. ‘’Yeah?’’

I tried to keep my voice from trembling, and with effort, I managed. Tanner just smiled. ‘’You’re a really cool person, you know that?’’

I smiled, suddenly feeling the urge to laugh. I decided to lighten the mood and relax.‘’Tanner, if you’re trying to ask me out, I’m going to have to ask you to do it with a possibly more relaxed face. It’s not like I’m going to have you killed if you’re not romantic enough.’’

I didn’t know where the confidence came from, but as soon as it had come, it disappeared. I had the urge to put a hand in front of my mouth. How could I have said something like that?

Tanner grinned, seeming relieved. ‘’How would I know, I’ve never asked anyone out!’’

‘’What?’’ I asked, incredulously.

‘’Well, nobody I had no idea of what her feelings were. The others were too obvious.’’ For a minute he looked disgusted, thinking of those girls.  ‘’You, however, one minute it seems like you like me, the next it seems like you only think of me as a friend. I can’t, for the life of me, figure you out.’’

I laughed, half from disbelief, half from real amusement. ‘’I thought I was being too obvious, that’s why I tried to hide it and act like friends. I mean, seriously, I’m not even like all those models you’ve probably dated before. It’s like--’’

Before I could continue my ramble and making a fool out of myself, we were kissing. Don’t ask me how it happened, because I didn’t know. He slipped his arms around my waist, and I reached up to encircle mine around his neck. Then we were hugging, my cheek pressed tightly against the soft material of his t-shirt.

We stayed in the rose garden until late, just talking getting to know each other better and acting like all those sappy couples I’d sworn I’d never act like. I was past caring. All I cared about was the fact that I was with Tanner, that we were in France and that I was undeniably and irrevocably happy.

Author's Note

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