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But halfway through, Ryan grabbed Zen’s collar and pulled him to a stop. Both Lizzy and Lola screamed as Ryan raised him up and then slammed him back down on the table. The delicate wood of the table shattered in half in the middle, sending splinters flying everywhere.
Lizzy and Lola both jumped back in shock.
Ouch.
That must have really hurt Zen’s back.
Ryan bent over Zen’s moving body with a serene smile on his face. “You shouldn’t hit women,” he said.
Lola felt a warm sensation in her chest. It was a mix of a shiver, a tickle, a little respect, hope, and desire, along with a lot of other feelings.
*****
Ryan said he would drive Lola home later that night. She couldn’t say no because she still felt good from earlier.
Lola told Ryan more about the Zen case on the way back.
Lizzy, a good friend of Lola’s, was an heiress and a businessman who recently fell in love with the scum Zen and got engaged to him to be married next month. Lola had seen and heard Zen with other women many times. The moron was cheating on her friend, and Lizzy was so in love that she never believed anything bad Lola or anyone else said about him. This is why Lola had to go through this operation and share the live feed of the reality of Zen with Lizzy. Now, Zen was successfully exposed.
Ryan was a quiet and attentive listener. At times, his facial expressions showed how amazed and astonished he was, which made Lola feel proud.
“So, you work as a spy on the side? “
Lola laughed at how he was joking about. “Only when I know my friends are in danger.”
Ryan tilted his head and said, “I see.” He was instantly lost in thinking. “You would be a lively wife—I must be careful.”
That made Lola bewildered, but then the bewilderment turned into a strange, innate hope. “Huh?” “
“Ice cream?” Ryan’s eyes were drawn to an ice cream shop on the side of the road. The front of the store had a happy aspect with pictures of ice cream and cartoon characters that made him want to go inside.
It was clear that he was going to stop answering her.
Five minutes later, they were eating their cone ice cream so that no melted drops would fall. Ryan picked butterscotch for himself, while Lola chose vanilla.
They were sitting on the hood of Ryan’s car, looking out into a parking area between two buildings that opened out to a beautiful, starry sky.
Lola’s wants and choices were quite simple. What was amazing was how she selected these simple things and how much she enjoyed and celebrated them.
Lola thought Ryan had a simple life. But he was really cunning; he liked to act like a riddle to those who weren’t ready for it as if it were all a game to him.
Lola was done with the games.
“You were saying something in the car, Ryan,” she said, bringing up the subject he had cleverly avoided.
She saw him stop for a second, and then he placed the remainder of his ice cream and the whole biscuit cone in his mouth.
Lola was shocked as his eyes became bigger and his cheeks turned crimson from the brain freeze.
“Are you crazy? “Lola punched him right in the back, and he almost fell off the car. “Don’t think this trick would make me forget, you stupid creature!” “
Ryan started to cough a lot since the ice cream appeared too thick for him to swallow.
Lola growled and quickly massaged his back.
He stopped coughing after a while and calmed down. Then he got rigid.
Lola observed that.
He turned to gaze at her carefully, his palm still on her back. He looked straight into her eyes.
Her pulse raced. Her whole body was on high alert, and her instincts screamed that something important was about to happen. Lola would usually pull out her knife when she felt this way, which is a common way to protect herself.
So, she grabbed for the neckline of her shirt with her hand.
Ryan’s hand was on hers in an instant. His big hand covered hers. She shuddered when his fingers brushed the area above the neckline of her blouse, which was near her collarbone.
He moved closer to her across the smooth hood of the automobile. “You want to know what I said…” His voice was low and seductive.
She nodded her head in a way that showed she wasn’t sure. Shit. What was going to happen?
“I said,” he added, “You would make a lively wife, and I have to be very careful.”
“Why?” She was out of breath and already knew where this was headed.
He merely stopped for a second to look for something he couldn’t explain in her eyes. “Because I would be the husband of that lively wife.”
She took a deep breath.
He gently touched her face with his thumb.
She swallowed the spit that had built up in her mouth.
He was quite close.
Too close.
What if he kissed her right now?
“How could you say anything like this so easily? “She said, out of breath.
He hummed like he was in a trance, and then he sighed and got a little serious. “What’s going on with Lena again has made me realize that life is too short and unpredictable not to follow your dreams,” he said, looking at her softly and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “And you’ve been my dream, Lola, for a while now.” Your crazy, foolishness, and boldness have won me over. So, I’m officially asking you out now. “Let’s be together.”
At the conclusion, Lola was speechless. She couldn’t stand to look at him any longer, so she threw herself into his arms and covered her face in his chest.
Lena’s fight to stay alive in the past and even today helped everyone around her recognize how important it is to remain alive.
He put his arms around her right away. She could feel him sighing with relief on her cheek.
He massaged the back of her head and told her to look at him, but she shook her head and didn’t do it.
Ryan chuckled and said, “Are you shy?”
She was, though. She murmured “hmm” in a way that made her angry. Then something clicked in her mind—along with all of his beautiful words, he had said some other things too.
She looked up with a blank face and said, “Okay, I’ll go out with you.” I can’t predict if it will lead to a good relationship in the future, though.
Ryan’s face brightened up when he nodded in agreement. But then he grimaced and said, “I’m glad, but I can’t help but notice that your face doesn’t match your words.”
She said with a snarl, “That’s because you called me crazy and stupid!” “
Ryan arched an eyebrow and said, “I didn’t lie.”
So she had the nerve to punch him in the stomach, which took him by surprise. He took a deep breath and hissed, “You’re quite a force to be reckoned with—” He couldn’t finish his sentence because she grabbed his collars and pulled him in for a long kiss on the lips. His muscles relaxed, and his arms went around her thin body. Before they knew it, the kiss turned into a kiss where their tongues touched and their souls mixed.
A few minutes later, Lola put her forehead on his chin and breathed deeply. Her eyes were closed, and she felt quite out of it.
Ryan said in a low voice, “I didn’t think you would agree to keep dating me so easily, given how arrogant and fiery you are.”
Lola’s mouth turned up into a sad smile. “I’ve learned how important it is to take advantage of opportunities to bring happiness into our lives, to forgive to ease our own heavy emotions, to take a break and do what makes us happy, to enjoy a little sun, moon, and rain, and to find and hold love and friendship in its graceful form because our time on earth is limited.”  “There’s no time to waste.”
Ryan and Lola both understood where she had learnt such things. Lena was back in the situation where she had to cling on to any straws and sticks she could find around her to keep from being drawn into death’s door.
Ryan sighed and pulled Lola closer to him. “I will never take this for granted,” he whispered to her. It was a voice that nestled deep in her heart.