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Image of the tattoos Ridge and Lydia get above! Do you like them?
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I have a date with Ridge tonight.
So that's why Erica, Kiara and Trish have decided to gather in my house and have their fun here with Em while I'm gone. How convenient.
Ridge wanted me to dress up casual so I'm standing in my closet, trying to find an outfit other than a pair of sweatpants and on over-sized hoodie because that's what I call casual in my language. My eyes roam around the multiple items of clothing before settling on a black oversized blazer - comfortable yet classy, maroon coloured bralette and black high waisted pants. Since I just washed my hair, it looks fine in it's natural waves. Deciding to go free make up today, I step out of the closet to show the girls the outfit of the night.
"How do I look?" I ask them. Looking at their stunned faces and appreciative smiles, I can tell that I look good.
"Damn girl!" Trish whistles, smiling brightly.
"You look smokin hot." Erica winks at me.
"How do you manage to look so good in legit every single outfit you wear? I mean, you don't even need make up to look good." Kiara mumbles in all seriousness, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, give us some lessons."
I chuckle at her question. "I got it from my mama."
Everyone laughs along with me.
"Ridge might cause an accident tonight honey, so just be careful. I mean I wouldn't have been able to control myself." Em teases me, wiggling her eyebrows in a suggestive manner, munching on a bowl of marshmallows. I roll my eyes at her and grab my phone from the nightstand.
Ridge said that he'll be here at six and it's only a few minutes left so I decide to head downstairs for the time being. "Bye folks. I'm gonna head down and then straight away go from there when Ridge comes."
"Enjoy babe!" Erica yells while others just wave at me, too busy filling their mouth with food. I walk downstairs but get a surprise when I see my dad talking to Ridge in the living room, both of them laughing. I clear my throat to capture their attention. They both turn around on hearing me, laughter dying down.
"Hi dad." I smile at him. "I thought you had a video conference?"
"You really think my conference is more important that embarrassing my daughter in front of her boyfriend?" He laughs, crossing his arms across his chest.
"Yes, dad." I deadpan, mentally face palming. I take a few steps forward and stand in front of Ridge. "Shall we go?"
"Yes." He grins at me.
"Bring her home in one piece and make sure you do too, Ridge." My dad affirms. "Because you know, she's Lydia."
"Yes sir. I'll take care of everything." Ridge nods, though I can see a smile threatening to break onto his face.
"Also, stop with these formalities. I'm not old enough to be called sir, so please call me David." Dad gives him one of his friendly smiles, to ease the tension.
"Okay, David."
"Bye dad, you have a video conference. Go attend that. Stop bothering us." I mutter and push my dad playfully towards the stairs. Both of them laugh at me.
"Take care of yourself, Ridge." Dad yells playfully, briskly walking away from us, leaving a laughing Ridge with me. I stomp my foot on the floor, putting my hands on my waist, annoyed and embarrassed.
Ridge stops laughing, his features softening. His eyes roam around my form, taking his sweet time to look at me with so much intensity in his gaze that it makes me squirm on the spot. Oh boy, I'm in deep shit. "You look beautiful, baby."
I feel myself melting away at his sweet words, a smile grazing on my lips. I take a step forward, standing right in front of him. Close enough but not too close. Biting my bottom lip between my teeth, I kiss his cheek softly. "Thanks. And you look so handsome."
His denim jacket rests loosely on his broad shoulders, a white t-shirt snug against his body, not really doing its job at hiding how hot he is underneath. Light stubble adorned his pretty jawline, casting a dark, mysterious look. God really blessed me with the best. A pair of baggy ripped denims complete the fit.
Satisfied when I hear his sharp intake of breath, I take a triumphant step back and grab his hand, pulling him with me towards the door. His fingers interlock with mine as we walk out of my house, closing the door behind us.
"Where are we going?" I ask him, excited for our date.
"Uh huh, I'm not telling you anything. It's a surprise." He shakes his head, a secretive smile tugging at the corners of his lips. I press my lips together to feign disappointment, but don't say anything. I did the same thing on our first date so it's fair enough.
"So, are we taking my car or what? Because I don't see yours anywhere." I arch a brow at him.
He dangles a pair of keys in front of my face. "We are taking my bike today."
As soon as he utters those words, a wide smile appears on my face. I wrap my arms around him happily, squeezing him hard. He chuckles and wraps me in a hug. I pull away from him, dragging him towards the entrance. "Come on, let's go."
He hands me a helmet and wears one too. I climb on the bike, wrapping my arms around his torso in a tight grip, resting my head against his back as he zooms the bike towards our destination, the scenery passing by us like a cold breeze.
Don't you just love the feel of fresh cool wind whipping your hair in all directions? It's so serene and calming. The sun was setting, bright hues of yellow and orange dusting the whole expanse, as we passed by the busy streets.
Ridge stopped the bike a few minutes later in a remotely deserted area, covered by trees and small aesthetic shops and buildings. Disappointed by the limited time of our ride, I jump down and remove the helmet from my head, freeing my hair.
He parks his bike in a corner, taking the helmet from my hands. "Let's go."
I take his free hand in mine and follow his lead, silently observing the pretty surroundings. We stop right in front of a small cafeteria called Crush - The Coffee Therapy. The outside of the cafe has a small double door in the shape of a coffee bean. I give Ridge a small appreciative smile, as he opens the door for me to get inside.
The insides of the cafeteria is just as gorgeous as it is on the outside. The walls are all painted coffee colour, miniature coffee mugs are hanging from the ceiling and there's a small counter on our right. I'm in love with this place.
"This place is beautiful." I whisper, my eyes roaming around the interiors admiringly.
"Very beautiful." I hear him whisper in my ear. But I have a feeling that he isn't talking about the cafe. "Come on, I have to show you something."
He walks me towards a door on the right, opening it to reveal an indoor room that looks like a library. The room is large, with shelves filled with books. The floor is carpeted, there are small couches, bean bags and chairs to sit. I see a few people sitting near a window, reading silently, a coffee mug in hand.
I've always wanted to go to such a cafeteria with indoor libraries. But unfortunately, we didn't have such things back in Washington.
"How?" I breathe out, looking at Ridge.
He blushes, biting his lip. "I took some pointers from Emilia and Tanner."
I jump into his arms, catching him off guard. He staggers a bit but wounds his arms around me, chuckling in my ear. "I'm glad you like it."
"Thank you." I whisper against his lips, giving him a soft kiss.
We get comfortable in one corner of the room, by the window, away from others. I order myself a cup of hot coffee and my favourite walnut brownies and Ridge orders a cappuccino and croissants.
"Why don't we pick out random books and see who finishes reading the whole book first?" I suggest, my eyes already flickering between the different choices this place has to offer.
"You're on, babe." He flashes me a wink, finding a book of his own.
My eyes fall on a particular author, Sidney Sheldon. I take out his book called The Silent Widow. I've heard a lot about this book but never got the chance to read it so might as well read this one now. I smile to myself and take it out of the shelf.
"What did you choose?" I ask Ridge when I see him reading the backside of the book in his hands.
He lifts his head up to give me a smile. "Reckless by Sidney."
A grin tugs at my lips. "Come on, Mr. Meanders, let's get started."
We get comfortable in our place, munching on the snacks, reading our book, stealing glances, passing challenging smiles at each other. It takes me an hour to finish the book completely. I turn over the last page of the book, closing with satisfaction. I absolutely loved the book. I put my attention towards Ridge to see him still in the middle of reading, his book only halfway complete.
"I'm done with the book," I giggle, taking the book away from his hands. "You lost."
He bends a little forward, looking straight into my eyes. "I got to see you making cute faces while reading the book, so I don't think I lost anything sweetheart."
A wide smile appears on my face. I ruffle his hair affectionately. "You are such a dork."
We leave the cafe after after having some of their delicious food, stuffed completely. We hit the roads, the night sky shining with twinkling stars covering the entirety. Stars have always been a source of warmth to me. Their light illuminating the sky, vanishing the darkness, a promise of life in the cold.
I wrap my arms tight around Ridge, relishing in the warmth of his body, looking us as the moon follows us everywhere we go. When I was a kid, I used to think that the moon followed us everywhere. My mom used to say the it's because the moon shines it's light upon us to eliminate any ounce of darkness so that I don't get scared or lost anywhere. As I kid, I was so fascinated by these theories. How these little stars twinkle, or how the moon changes it's shape almost everyday. These little phenomena show that beauty lies everywhere.
Ridge abruptly stops the bike, making me jerk in the front, almost falling on him. But I steady myself, taking a deep breath. He puts the bike on the stand, climbing down. I take off my helmet, to look at him in confusion.
He jerks his thumb behind him. A big red sign illuminates in the dark, spelling out Tattoos by Tony. My eyes widen, a gasp escaping my lips. "A tattoo studio?"
He nods, grinning. "I know that you've wanted to get a tattoo for a very long time so, here we are."
My face splits up into a wide, toothy grin. "How do you know that?!
"You mentioned it once while we were in Bali." He replies.
And he remembered such a little yet significant information? Wow. I'm speechless.
"That's amazing and awesome but there's a tiny problem. I'm underage and dad doesn--"
"The guy who owns this studio, Tony, is a very good friend of mine and as for your dad, I've already asked for his permission and he's completely fine with you getting a tattoo. He even showed me his tattoo before you came down today. Man, you father is the coolest person I know," he remarks, grinning like a fool.
I beam at him, biting my lower lip softly. "This is perfect Ridge. Thank you for this."
We walk inside the studio where Tony greets us and then asks us what tattoo we want. We both go to the separate booths to get our tattoos done. People say that getting a tattoo hurts like hell, but I don't really feel that bad. It's just like needles pricking my skin constantly before the pain fades away gradually. It takes roughly half an hour for my tattoo to be completely done. Tania, Tony's girlfriend who did my tattoo, covers it in a plastic wrap kinda material to keep it safe from contamination and infections telling me that Ridge is waiting for me outside.
I step out of the booth to see Ridge standing outside, talking to Tony, both of them laughing loudly at something.
"Hey guys." I interrupt them, capturing their attention.
Ridge strides towards me in quick steps, looking at my exposed shoulder, where there is a tattoo now. A smile takes over his face. "This is beautiful What does this signify?"
"Freedom. I got this for my mom. She had the same tattoo on her wrist." I whisper, a nostalgic, sad smile tugging at my lips.
"Where's yours?" I ask him.
He lifts his left arm up to show me the three armbands inked on his skin. It looks amazing. "I like this a lot. It's amazing. What do these bands signify?"
"Strength and good luck." He replies. "I read this on a website one day. Plus this looks really cool."
I chuckle at his words. "They do. But let's go now, or we'll be late. It's already a few minute past eleven."
"Let's go." We bid farewell to Tania and Tony only when Ridge promises to meet Tony soon. We leave the studio, and hit the road, the beautiful night slowly coming to a beautiful end as we near my house in the quiet night.
Though I wish that this night never ends!
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I wanted their date to go on forever but you know, we don't always get what we want! Anyways, did you like the chapter?! Comment your thoughts and let me know!
And please share the story with your friends if you like the book!!! It would mean the world to me!
Next update soon!
Till then,
Stay Safe and Stay Happy! <3