Catch or Fall

Chapter Twenty Two

Harper

Skymore is everything I imagined it to be.

Uniformed guards line up outside the glass doors to welcome the guests. Postmodern paintings and posters of classic films and theatre plays adorn its bronze walls. Statues are displayed around the lobby, and classical music can be heard in the background.

Ashton puts his hand on the small of my back and leads us to the ticket booth.

"Wait, babe. I'll call Harold Jenkins."

"Who's Harold Jenkins?" I ask.

"The event manager, babe," he replies, smiling wide at me. He dials Mr. Jenkins' number and when his call is answered, he goes, "Hey Harold, we're here at the ticket booth. Yeah, sure. Thank you."

"Five minutes, he said," he tells me once he hangs up. He lightly brushes his thumb on my chin and whispers, "You look beautiful."

I feel my cheeks warm. Fuck this. Why is he always like this? And why is he so good with words?

Ashton closes in the gap between us to kiss me just as when Samantha decides to approach us. She's wearing a long beige dress, and damn, she looks like a goddess. She is with a tattooed guy I've never seen before.

"Hi Ashton! Hi Harper!" she greets. She sounds, I don't know, calm? Ashton said he already made things clear with her after I asked him, too. So, I guess everything's okay from now on.

"It's nice to see you both," she continues. "By the way, I'm with Allen Kryzenski. I hope you do remember him, Ashton. From middle school?"

"Oh yeah, hello there, buddy," Ashton says after a beat. "How're you doing? I hope things are going well in Duke."

"Yeah, they are, and I hope things are going well with you in Easton," the tattooed guy replies.

"Everything's magnificent. Oh, by the way, here's Harper. My girlfriend."

My heart stills for a second. Did he just refer to me as his girlfriend?

The tattooed guy, Allen, offers his hand out for a handshake and says, "Hello, Harper." He then takes another sweeping look at me, his eyes lingering longer on my boobs, before he puts an arm around Samantha's waist.

Ashton grumbles under his breath and pulls me in a semi-hug.

"We better get going," Samantha blurts out. "We hope you enjoy the showcase."

And then they're off. What the heck was that?

"Okay, what's that about?" I break the silence.

"I don't know. That fucker is going out with Sam but then he has the guts to eye-fuck you. Totally a freak—"

"That's not what I meant," I stop him. "Why did you call me your girlfriend?"

When he doesn't answer, I continue, "I thought we're just going out...you know...not dating."

"What do you call this?" he breaks. "This is dating, right?"

"Are you serious?" I say, sounding more annoyed than I am. But now I am more annoyed thinking that he probably said that just to get to Samantha.

"What's with that face?" he asks.

"Did you just call me your girlfriend because of Samantha?" Now my voice is as high as a sky tower. I gulp, realizing that people are probably looking at us.

"Okay, babe. First of all, you are my girl," he comforts, sounding not irritated at all. "And second, Jenkins is here. Stop thinking non-sense things, okay?" He then kisses me on the forehead before he moves to greet the events manager waiting to give us our tickets.

The showcase is not that bad. Okay, scratch that. The showcase is superb.

I found myself awestruck the entire time. Well I was in a bad mood when we got here, but now, I feel like twirling and flying. God, I miss ballet.

"So, how did you find it?" Ashton asks, tugging my arm lightly. We're still on our seats, and he has his arm around my shoulder.

Since I still feel bad and annoyed at myself with how I acted earlier, my reply comes out in a whisper. "I actually enjoyed it. Thank you."

"Wait, what did you say? Can you repeat it?"

With that, I laugh. "Sorry, but you won't make me repeat what I said." I give him a light nudge and say, "I'm sorry about how I acted earlier."

"Don't mention it, babe. And just so you know, there's no other girl I'm interested in... just you."

I'm still confused with what's happening and with how he's acting for the past few days, but I don't let those thoughts stop me from kissing him.

Damn, he's such a good kisser.

"Wait, Harper," he says once he's stopped kissing me. "I—I like you."

I blink.

"And not just this. I don't just like this. I'm not sure how it happened or how it started, but I like you and I care for you."

I gulp.

"So, will you give me the chance to take this to another level and be my girlfriend?"

There are some things that make me confused; and there are things that I fear. Ashton makes me feel both confusion and fear. I know I should run, but deep down I know I can't lose him.

And so I say, "Yes, Ashton."