A Walk Beneath the Stars

Recap:

Mari was playing alone on the side of the river just under the bridge when she thought that she was being watched. She decided to leave the place and then she realized that there were a couple of people on her tail.

She went to the lengths of walking around town and through back alleys and all in an attempt to shake her supposed pursuers. When she was about to run out of roads and run out of air she found herself at the doorsteps of the fast-food restaurant where Jeremy was working part-time.

Continuation:

Mari just finished eating the burger and the beverage that Jeremy brought her in the backroom. Jeremy left her while she was eating to let her compose herself and be at ease with her surroundings.

"Hey Mari. Are you feeling any better?" Jeremy asked when he came back to the room. He then walked past her and to his locker. He pulled out his bag and his school uniform.

"I'm good. Thank you very much. Hmm. How much do I owe you for the food?" Mari asked.

"Hey now! That's all right, don't mention it." Jeremy said.

"Oh, no. But I insist. I would never hear the end of it from my parents if I owe anyone anything."

"But you don't owe me anything. I gave it to you in my own free will, there's no debt incurred. We're friends, aren't we?"

Mari fell silent and she was holding her head down. She was blushing and she was trying to hide it from Jeremy. On the other hand, Jeremy saw her with her head down and he thought that she was feeling bad or maybe that he had offended her somehow. He thought that she was holding her parents' wishes very highly and he may have forced his own ideals towards her.

"Tell you what, why don't you pay me some other time. You can pay me some other time and some other place, you can just buy me lunch or any meal next time. Deal?" Jeremy said as he walked towards the doorway.

He thought to himself that it was only fair and square that she could pay him a meal back for the meal he provided her. But Mari was on another wavelength and thought that it was something else.

L...lunch? Other meal? D....dinner? Is this maybe... a d..d..ddd.date?

"Deal!" Mari replied enthusiastically as she looked up with stars shining in her eyes.

"Alright, I'll go change for a bit, and then I'll walk you home."

Two souls traversing side by side under the brightness of the moonlight. Two people within the darkness of the night sharing the same light above the sky and drowning in the silence between the two of them.

"Uhm.." it's as if a choir made out of two people decided to speak together. They looked at each other, paused, and then chuckled at their impromptu duet.

"Okay, you go first." Jeremy said gesturing his hands towards Mari.

"Oh, no it's okay. You go first," she replied gesturing the same with her baseball bat.

"Ladies first, I insist."

"Hmmm... Just... thank you." Mari looked at him and smiled with a slight tilting of her head. The moon shone brightly and happily on her face as the wind blew making her hair wave with it. It may have been the effect of the moonlight but Jeremy was just frozen in time with his eyes glued to her smiling face. It was just a scene taken from a romantic movie and Jeremy could not move a muscle. A beautiful girl alone with him under the lovely sky, she was the portrait of a perfect pretty girl, delicate and innocent, save for the baseball bat in her hand of course.

Mari opened up her eyes and saw Jeremy looking intently at her.

"Is something wrong?" she timidly asked.

Jeremy was quick to dodge the coming stare and he scratched the back of his head as he began to walk again.

"Nothing. You're welcome. Anytime." he answered with a flustered face as he was looking up.

"So what were you going to say?" Mari inquired.

At this point, Jeremy totally forgot what he was supposed to say. He could not shake that look on Mari's face when she thanked him sincerely. That sweet smile and innocent face.

"Uhm.. why do you always bring that bat along anyway?" he improvised.

"I just feel calm with this around. It's like my grandpa's still with me. We were pretty close. My grandpa and I." she said while looking at the bat.

He doesn't know how far he could push the subject but he was prepared to ask more about it.

"This is me." Mari said as they stopped at a big apartment complex.

"Good evening Miss Smith!" she was greeted enthusiastically by the doorman of her building.

Jeremy examined the building and it really looked like it was a hotel or something. He almost forgot that she was the daughter of the school director. Is he the only commoner student of the school?

"Thanks again for walking me home Jeremy." Mari waved at him as he waved her goodbye.

He started his way home and maybe it was because of Mari's story and experience that he somehow became anxious about his surroundings. He felt an unusual and heavy stare from the darkness behind him. He grabbed his phone from his pocket and keyed in the emergency number. He then rested his thumb over the call button of the phone just in case he needed to dial fast for help.

He got home in one piece and he was able to let out a big sigh of relief. But he still could not shake the feeling that someone's watching him from a distance.

He looked out of the window and searched through the dark streets. When he was satisfied that he could not see anybody lurking around he locked the window and closed the curtains.

Ohalucky!!!

Aaaaahh! A walk under the moonlit sky with the stars shimmering up above while holding hands with your loved one? Is there a night more perfect than that? Have you done that before? How was it?

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This is already the 32nd installment of our story and I hope that you are still with me. And here's to more episodes ...

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Series    : The (Not So) Perfect World of Jeremy
Episode   : 032
Title     : A Walk Beneath the Stars
Published : 18-Nov-2021
Author :  © RB