I hope you enjoy this. Short because I have more planned later.
Chapter Twelve:
Faye walked past the rolled-up tents and cages of animals. She approached Shawna who was getting coffee.
"This place is already a circus," she said. "What made you think of adding literal clowns?"
"It should be fun," Shawna said. "The women are going to put a talent show and whoever wins gets to watch the show in the VIP section with Spencer."
She merely rolled her eyes.
"So, are you going to watch his picnic date with Leah today?"
"Sure," she said. "A perfectly tame normal date."
"I still don't know what Spencer sees in her. I thought he'd keep the Hawaiian."
"I think he likes her honesty and her general…I have no idea."
"You'll see on the date," Shawna said.
"I will."
…
"I can't believe I'm still here," Leah said honestly as Reid carried the picnic basket up the hill.
"I find your sincerity to be refreshing," he said. "You also have a good heart."
"You do too," she said. "For keeping me."
"You aren't a pet, and I am looking for love with you," he said.
"So, what was your first relationship like?" Leah asked as the spread out the tablecloth.
"She was a Russian exchange student at Caltech," he said. "She had stunning eyes. It has been researched that a person's eyes are among their most attractive features. She didn't know much English so I spent the weekend studying the language so I could talk to her."
They sat down.
"You learned an entire language to impress one girl. The most I ever did was memorize a guy's class schedule," she said with a laugh.
"It is a really interesting language with different to dialects," he said with shrug.
"So how long were two together?" she asked.
"A year and then she went home to become an engineer in her home village."
"That must have been special," she said.
"It was," he said. "Now tell me about yours."
"I wasn't much to look at in high school so my first real relationship was with a high school drop-out who worked at the gas station. We got along fine for two years until I decided I wanted to move out of Prairie Haven after high school and try to become something different in Los Angeles. He just didn't want to leave our little dusty town behind."
"Do you know what happened to him?"
"He owns the gas station and has a couple kids."
"I see," he said.
"So how about you last meaningful relationship?" she said.
"It lasted ten months and then she died suddenly," he said without looking up. "You?"
"One year with a talent agent," she said. "I'm sorry. I'm a cliché. You don't want me Spencer," she began to get up.
"Why do you keep running?" he asked, getting up also
"Because I think you see me as a charity case."
"I see someone looking for love with little luck like me," he said. "I see someone who's used to being judged based on looks. I see someone who is both beautiful and inside and the outside I—"
He stopped talking and kissed her.
There were squeals of delight from the crew hidden below the hill.
"Wow," she said.
"How bad was I?" he asked nervously.
"Honestly?"
"Please and always."
"Terrible," she said with a laugh.
"Would you care to share what I'm doing wrong?"
"Are sure you want to keep kissing?" she said.
He turned red. "Yes. I just felt like words weren't properly expressing what I was feeling. It just came over me. I hope you didn't mind."
"No, I'm flattered, and—" she began to kiss him.
Faye watched and smiled. "Who needs a circus, when a perfectly simple picnic date will suffice?"