The gift had arrived that morning while she had been sleeping. Asami woke up to see a small bouquet of flowers with a small cake on her bedside table. Confused by the fogginess of sleep, she slowly sat up and read the tiny note that had also been left behind.
All this time I've been with you, I've been too shy to tell you how I truly feel.
But now I think I've mustered enough courage to tell you.
Asami, please meet me at Quang's Cuisine restaurant at 7:00 pm tonight.
From,
Your secret admirer.
Asami smiled at the note and gently placed it back on the table and opened the bag that held the cake. "Secret admirer, huh?" she asked herself. "I wonder who it could be?"
Bolin walked away from the house with his hands shoved in his pockets. "Do you think she'll like the gifts, Pabu?" he asked the fir ferret that was riding on his shoulder. Pabu squeaked as he turned to Bolin, staring at him with his beady little eyes. "Me too."
He walked into the city back to the small apartment where he and his brother were currently living. Korra came to visit from time to time as long as she had free time from her avatar and airbending studies. Bolin was still mad at himself for falling in love with her when he should've known that she liked Mako better. All the girls liked Mako more than him.
He just hoped that he wasn't making the same mistake with Asami.
At first, Bolin liked the fact that Asami ran over Mako with her moped; it gave him the chance to get with Korra. But everything seemed to have crumbled to pieces with that one, simple kiss Mako and Korra shared. His heart had split into two when he witnessed his own brother, who was in a relationship, kissing Korra. Bolin's girlfriend. Bolin could only imagine how Asami felt when she found out the truth that Mako hid from her for weeks. That was when he began to feel something for Asami. She had felt heartbreak from Mako just like Bolin had when he watched that kiss.
Bolin opened the door to the apartment to find Mako gone. "He must be visiting Korra." he mumbled. Pabu scurried off of him and ran to his small bed. "Well, with the place all to myself, I might as well get ready for tonight."
He just prayed that Asami wouldn't leave him hanging like Korra had.
Asami had her inklings for Bolin's crush on her for a while now, but she hadn't thought much of it. She had thought he still had feelings for Korra, but it turned out to be the opposite. She didn't quite understand why Korra still wanted to be with Mako when Bolin was such a sweetheart. Mako wasn't available at the time, and yet, Korra kissed him. It just didn't add up. Asami's relationship with Mako might have been a mistake but a gift from the start. They had jumped in a full blown relationship after the moped accident and truly believed that they were in love upon meeting.
But perfect relationships like that only last for so long.
When Ikki had blurted out that Korra like Mako, that was when things began to crumble. Then it really fell apart when Bolin had told her that Mako and Korra kissed. The fact that Mako even tried to deny it and blame his brother for telling her irritated her. There was a time Asami even had blamed herself for the relationship falling apart. But it was no one's fault, really. Things like this always happened. Right?
The clock sang, indicating that it was six o' clock and she only had a few more minutes left to get ready to meet with Bolin. Asami began to gently powder her face and add the rest of her usual makeup. She slipped on the same red dress she wore for most of her special occasions. She styled her hair, adding mousse to make sure it looked perfect. But she stopped herself from finishing. Bolin wasn't the type of guy who cared so much about looks. Asami brushed through her hair, still looking beautiful, and headed for the door.
Bolin stood outside of Quang's Cuisine, counting the money in his wallet for the fifth time. This restaurant was the most expensive in the city; he didn't want Asami to think that he was just a stupid street rat who was trying to impress a beautiful rich girl. He had enough yuons to pay for both of their entrees and a shared dessert. He hoped she wouldn't order the most expensive meal on the menu.
"Bolin!" He heard someone call. He looked up to see Asami walking towards him. Quickly, he shoved his wallet back in his pocket and grinned.
"You came!" he said. At least she didn't leave him standing alone.
"Of course I came; I couldn't just leave you all alone! That would be terrible of me." she said.
"You…you mean you knew I was the one who left the note?" he asked, nervous. Why do I always fall for the most beautiful women?
"Well, who else would leave me gifts? I mean, if it weren't you, my next guess would've been Pabu." she joked, laughing. "I'm surprised that you're treating me to this restaurant."
"Well of course I would!" Bolin said, his smile growing wider. "Why wouldn't I take you to a nice place like this? A beautiful girl needs to eat beautiful food!" He held out his arm so that she could link her arm around his. "Shall we go inside, Lady Asami?" Asami giggled and wrapped her arm around his.
"You don't need to call me that, Bo." she said.
"Well, you are a lady, aren't you?"
The host showed them to their seats and handed them their menus. Asami carefully turned the pages, looking through the variety of foods. Occasionally she would glance up to see Bolin peeking around his menu, staring at her, then hide behind it again to hide his blushing face. He's so adorable. She thought, closing her menu. "Thank you for the flowers and the cake, Bolin. It was really sweet of you." she said. He peered over his menu and smiled.
"You're welcome! You deserve it!" he replied. He moved back behind his menu, still scanning through it. The waiter came by with two glasses of water and asked for their orders.
"I'll have the special." Asami said, handing the menu over to the waiter. "Bolin?"
"I'll just have your noodles and dumplings, please." he said, trying to sound sophisticated.
"So, what have you been up to, Bolin? I heard that you have a new Fire Ferret team?" Asami asked. Bolin scratched the back of his head.
"Yeah; Mako decided that he's too cool for the pro-bending team and Korra is busy doing avatar stuff." he muttered. "The practices have been okay, so I guess we'll see how we do when the pro-bending season starts." Asami nodded as she took a sip from her glass. "Ever since the whole deal with the equalists ended, we hardly ever see each other anymore." It was true, they didn't seem to hang out much, and Asami missed that, since she wanted to be with Bolin.
"I miss you guys too." she muttered.
"Well, you and I could hang out much more. Mako is with Korra a lot so…why shouldn't you and I hang out more often?" Bolin said. Asami smiled at the tender thought and blushed a little.
Bolin was much better than Mako.
The food had been the most delicious noodles and dumplings Bolin had ever had. They both decided to skip over dessert, so he was confident that he had enough money to pay the bill.
Except that his wallet was missing.
"Uh…" Boling muttered, hiding his inner panic. "Could you excuse me for a moment, Asami?" He quickly stood up and bolted for the door. If he had dropped his wallet, it would be gone by now. A hobo would've seen it and run off with it. As he searched on the sidewalk, he couldn't help but be angry at himself. "No, no, no! How could I be so careless?! This date was going perfectly and now it's ruined!" Bolin shouted, angrily. "Maybe it fell in the drain…"
"Bolin?" Bolin spun around to see Asami standing there watching him. "What are you doing?"
She wasn't sure if he was being his goofy self or something serious had happened. Bolin stood up, quickly dusted himself off and looked down at his shoes. "I've uh…lost my wallet." he said. "I'm going to have to wash dishes and clean to pay back for the meal…"
"But Bolin…" Asami began.
"I know, it's stupid of me that I lost my wallet on a date." he continued.
"Bolin, I…" she tried to say, but Bolin covered her mouth with his hand.
"Don't worry, I'll call for a taxi to take you home. I'm really sorry that this happened, Asami." he mumbled.
"Bolin!" Asami shouted, pushing his hand away. "I already paid the bill!" Bolin gave her a confused look and blinked. "When you were gone for a while, I just decided to pay for it."
"B-b-but…the date…I…" Bolin stammered. Asami patted him on the shoulder and handed him his jacket.
"It's not ruined, Bolin." she said. "I've been having a great time tonight and there's no need to call a taxi." She linked her arm around his and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm not ready to go home yet."
The park was so beautiful at night. Bolin and Asami walked side by side together through the pathways in the park. Bolin was still upset that Asami had to pay for her food and his food because he was stupid and lost his wallet. But, she told him that she was enjoying herself and enjoy her time with him, so, this date wasn't a failure, right?
They found a small bench by the lake and sat down next to each other. Asami took his hands into hers and rested them on his lap. "It's so beautiful tonight, Bolin." she whispered. "I had a really great time. I wasn't expecting you to take me to Quang's tonight." She leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. "You're really sweet." Bolin felt his face grow hot as she pulled away.
"A-asami! I-I need to tell you something." he blurted. Asami turned back to face him, waiting for him to continue. "I know that things with you and Mako didn't work out very well and that you probably don't want to be in another relationship right away, especially with his brother." He paused and bit his lip. He didn't want to sound so desperate. "But, I think you're a really special person, and I think you deserve someone who will treat you like a princess." Asami smiled softly as Bolin began to fidget in his seat.
"What are you saying, Bolin?" she asked, giggling. Bolin sighed.
"I love you, Asami." he said. "I fell in love with you the more we started hanging out together. I hated the way Mako pushed you to the side and hid secrets from you. You deserved to know the truth. And you've been through so much with your family…" Asami leaned towards him, cradled his face with the cup of her hand and kissed him. Stunned at first, Bolin felt paralyzed as she kissed him softly and sweetly; he slowly closed his eyes and began to kiss her back. He wrapped his arms around her waist as she pulled away.
"Bolin," Asami said. "Thank you."
"F-for what?" he asked, confused.
"For tonight! It was such a romantic evening. I don't think Mako did anything as sweet as you did tonight. And I'm thankful for the fact that you helped save me from my father. He would've had me killed if you hadn't helped." she added. "I'm glad that we got to meet and became friends first." She gave him a hug. "I love you too, Bolin." Filled with joy, Bolin pulled Asami closer to him and hugged her tighter. He couldn't believe how perfect this date was. He pushed her away slightly so he could see her beautiful face. With another smile, he pulled her to him and kissed her again. They didn't care if others walked past and stared at them; all they cared about was that they had each other and the after all the heartbreak, they could love again.
