"So how does it feel to finally have a boyfriend?" Ivy asked when she finally had the time to visit me.
She had been busy the whole year with all the projects she's in. I'm happy that her acting career is finally taking off. She still hasn't landed a lead role but her screen time is gradually increasing.
We both decided to have a girl's day out today so we're both currently getting massages and it felt good.
"I don't know." I replied honestly.
"What do you mean you don't know? Aren't you dating Skyler?" She asked, shocked.
"Yes." I answered.
"You've been dating for half a year now, right?" She asked.
"Yeah. I really don't know how to feel about it. Is there supposed to be some life changing impact or something?" I asked.
"Yeah. Do you love him?" Ivy asked.
"Love? I don't know but I like being with him. He makes me happy. He gives me motivation to actually do something. Something out of my routine." I explained.
"So he makes you happy but you don't know how it feels dating him?" Ivy asked.
"I guess he makes me happy but honestly I already felt like that even when we're friends." I explained.
"Ah… it might be because the two of you are in a long distance relationship." Ivy said.
"That's what I thought too." I replied.
"That sucks. I mean why does your first relationship have to be like that. It would be nice if you could just date normally." Ivy commented.
"Yeah. I have to agree to that. Dating is so confusing. I don't really know if I'm doing well or not." I replied.
"Girl, no one's gonna judge you. You don't have to stress yourself with questions like are you being a good girlfriend or not. You just need to be yourself." She suggested.
"Thanks. I needed to hear that." I replied.
"So when's the last time you saw him personally?" She asked.
"Last September. We went on a short trip here and there." I said.
"And?" She asked.
"It was fun and relaxing." I replied.
"Hey, what do you like about him anyway?" She asked.
"His pretty face?" I replied nonchalantly and Ivy glared at me.
"There are a lot of pretty faces who have tried to court you but you don't give them the time of your day." Ivy replied.
"There's no such thing. There's no one who has tried to court me before." I replied.
"Then that's worse you didn't even notice their pretty face so why Skyler?" She asked again.
"I don't know. He makes me smile. He has a bright personality that I'm attracted to. I like seeing him smile." I replied and smiled remembering his beautiful smile.
"I'm happy seeing you like this." Ivy commented.
"Seeing me what?" I asked.
"You look happy. You're smiling just by thinking of him." She replied.
"Speaking of him, what do you think I should give him for his birthday?" I asked.
"When's his birthday?" She asked.
"February." I answered.
"That's still far." She commented.
"Yeah. You know I'm bad with gifts. It's the first birthday he has that I'm celebrating as his girlfriend." I explained.
"What did you get him last year?" She asked.
"Nothing. I didn't know it was his birthday. He didn't even tell me it was his birthday." I replied.
"What are you thinking of doing?" She asked.
"I don't know. I'm thinking of going to country Y. As for gifts, I can't think of anything. He probably can afford everything I'll give him. I was thinking of something handmade but I'm not exactly artistic. The only thing my hand is good at is programming. I tried crochet before but the output is not exactly something I can be proud of." I explained.
"I agree with handmade gifts. It's more personal but if you're not good at it, there's nothing wrong with buying a gift." Ivy suggested.
"I'm shocked that you're not suggesting putting a ribbon on myself." I replied.
"If I did, would you do it?" She asked.
"Of course not. If I buy it, what should I get him?" I asked.
"He's your boyfriend, you should probably know more than me what to give." She replied.
"I don't. I really can't think of anything." I said.
"How about you cook for him?" She suggested.
"But I usually cook for him when he's here." I answered.
"How about you bake him a cake?" She suggested.
"But I don't know how. Should I take classes? You know what, I should do it whether or not there's a gift, a cake is a must. I still have a few months left to think of a gift." I said.
"You can also practice crocheting." She advised me.
"Yeah. If all else fails, I can buy him a shirt or something." I replied.
The days passed by quickly, too quickly for my liking. The new year has passed and now it's already February, to be exact February 25. I was supposed to fly to country Y but Skyler told me he'll fly here to celebrate his birthday.
"It's good to be back here." Skyler said when we arrived home.
"You've been busy." I replied.
"Yeah, we're really busy during the year end. I'm sorry I couldn't celebrate Christmas and New year with you." He said sadly.
"It's alright. I celebrate it with my family anyway." I said.
"Does your family know about us?" He asked.
"I… haven't got the chance to tell them and it's not like they're gonna believe you're my boyfriend." I explained.
"Oh, I should probably introduce myself properly to them then. Let's schedule that?" He suggested.
"If you want to. It's okay if we don't do that now. Anyway, how was your flight?" I asked.
"Tiring." He replied.
"Well, it's late already. Let's sleep?" I suggested.
"Yeah, sorry, I couldn't stay long this time also." He said apologetically.
"It's okay. I know you're busy. I'm already happy to at least have a whole day with you tomorrow." I said understandingly.
"I've missed you, Fay. Really really missed you." He said as he hugged me.
"Me too." I replied.
I let him use the bathroom first to clean up and prepare for bed. After I was done preparing for bed, I saw him on the bed already sleeping.
I slowly laid down beside him and looked at his beautiful tired face.
I really missed him. I put the blanket on him properly and hugged him.
The following day, I woke up earlier than him and prepared breakfast.
"Why are you up so early?" He asked when he reached the kitchen.
"You should sleep some more." I told him.
"I can't sleep anymore. You're not there." He replied and I rolled my eyes.
"You must not have been sleeping well these past few months then." I replied.
"How did you know?" He asked and pretended to be shocked.
"Here, breakfast. Eat. You must be hungry if you're talking nonsense." I said.
"That was not nonsense. I can only sleep if I hear your voice and feel your presence. That's why I don't like ending our calls and just let them turn off by themselves." He said.
We both sat down and ate our breakfast.
"Do you have plans today?" I asked.
"I plan to spend the whole day with you." He replied.
"Then get ready to go out." I said.
"Did you say go out? You? Go out?" He asked, shocked.
"Yes." I answered and continued to eat my food.
After breakfast we both quickly changed our clothes to go out. I brought him to an indoor adventure park. They have indoor rock climbing, obstacle courses, trampolines, and many more.
"Wow, I'm shocked you brought me here." He said when we arrived.
"I actually enjoy places like these. I wanted to go but it's lonely going alone. So this is the first thing I thought of when I was thinking where to bring you for your birthday. I thought you would also like something like this." I explained.
"I actually really do." He replied.
We played for the whole day. It was fun and I saw a very manly side of him today. He is really very sporty. I enjoy these places but I'm not sporty, I'm just competitive.
"I'm tired." Skyler said when we reached home.
We had dinner in one of the nice restaurants outside.
"Did you have fun?" I asked him.
"Yeah. A lot of fun. Thank you. I enjoyed today. You're way better at preparing events, I feel sorry that I couldn't do the same for you." He said.
"It's okay. I've been in this country longer than you. I knew more places. If I ever go to country Y then you should bring me to nice places too." I told him.
"Of course. That's given." He said.
I went to the kitchen and took out the cake I baked last night. I would like it to be freshly baked but I have no time today.
I went ahead with the baking classes. I actually enjoyed them.
"Happy birthday! Make a wish." I said as I brought out the cake with the candles.
He looked surprised as I approached him and settled the cake on the table. He was silent for a moment and blew the candles.
"Thank you. When did you buy this?" He asked.
"I baked it last night. It'd be nice if I did it this afternoon but I don't have that much time." I explained.
"You baked this?" He asked, surprised.
"Yeah. Oh, I forgot the knife. I'll get one so we can eat." I said and I stood up.
"You're gonna cut it? Wait. Let me take a picture first." He said as he took out his phone.
"If we don't cut it, how will we eat it then? I know it's not that big but it's not small either." I said as I brought out plates and forks.
"It looks so pretty. I don't want to slice it." He said as he kept on taking pictures of it.
I made a simple 1 layer mini chocolate cake. I added some design on top which was him with a microphone. That was also the reason why I couldn't make them today. The cake toppings took a long time to make.
"It's meant to be eaten. It might not taste really delicious but I'm sure it's not so bad." I said.
"I'm sure it tastes good. Thank you. Really thank you." He said.
"You're welcome. Now let's slice it." I said.
He finally sliced the cake and we both tasted the cake and as I expected, the cake was edible.
"Fay, I love you." He said suddenly.
I was shocked to hear him say that.
"Ah, I forgot to give you your gift." I said.
I stood up and went to get it. I don't know what to say after he said that. I like him, yes but I still think it's not love. I don't want to say something that I don't mean.
I went back with my gift and handed it to him.
"It's alright. I just wanted you to know." He said and he smiled at me.
That smile made me feel at ease.
"Umm… I hope you're not expecting anything extravagant with my gift. I'm actually really bad at picking gifts." I explained as he opened my gift.
It was a shirt. I bought it. I just bought the shirt that I thought would look good on him.
"I'm sorry. Choosing a gift is something I'm really bad at." I explained.
"Thank you. You're not bad at choosing a gift. This whole day is a gift. A very beautiful gift. I like this also." He said as he showed me the shirt I bought him.
"I wish I could think of a better gift." I sighed.
He went to me and gave me a big hug.
"You're already a gift to me. Thank you. Really thank you. You don't know how happy I'm feeling right now." He said and kissed me.