Dear Diary

  October 11: Today, Zen took me on our first proper date.

 Vivi stared at herself in the mirror, chewing her bottom lip as  she twisted and turned, her eyes scrutinizing every single detail of the  reflection. The young woman had opted to wear a simple chiffon shirt of  her favourite lilac colour, accompanied by a long black skirt that  stopped just above her ankles. She could have chosen to wear jeans or  pants, but since this was a special day, Vivi wanted to wear something  more...nice. But even so, she never was fond of the way her legs looked,  so she ended up going for a long skirt as always.

"Maybe it's too  casual...or over the top..." Vivi muttered to herself, her eyes  glancing down as her hand shot up to fiddle with the golden ring she  wore around her neck. "Ah, I'm overthinking it again, aren't I? But  still..."

The young woman brought her gaze back upwards towards  the mirror. She had tried to get some proper sleep so that the usual  black circles under her eyes wouldn't be so prominent, but even so, she  still decided to put on make-up, making sure it complimented her golden  brown eyes.

Nervously, Vivi ran her hand through her brown hair.  It was a short cut, reaching just a bit past her shoulders, so there  wasn't really much she can do in terms of styling her hair. The young  woman continued to mutter to herself, twirling a lock of hair around her  fingers.

Eventually, she had grown tired of her reflection and  moved away, choosing to pace around the room instead. She took several  deep breaths as she mentally prepared herself for the evening. Zen had  asked her out for their very first proper date about a week ago, and  even now, Vivi still didn't feel fully mentally prepared.

"It'll be fine," she attempted to reassure herself. "It'll be perfectly fine. Zen will be with me, so it's okay."

Just  then, a knock resounded through the door, causing the poor female to  jump in surprise. Quickly, she walked over to the door, taking one final  deep breath, and finally opening it. Vivi was immediately greeted with  the sight of Zen, his cheeks slightly flushed as he flashed her a  charming smile.

"You look beautiful," the actor breathed out,  completely entranced as though he was falling in love with the young  woman before him all over again. "I mean, not to say you don't look  beautiful all the time, but you just look so much more gorgeous than  usual."

Vivi felt her cheeks warm from his compliments. Even now,  Zen's sincerity never failed to make her blush. "You look very dashing  yourself."

"I do, don't I?" Zen replied, puffing his chest out in  pride, prompting Vivi to giggle. The actor's expression softened at the  sound, and he extended a hand out for her to take. "Shall we go?"

"We shall."

"I'm sorry, the theatre's a bit of a walk," Zen apologized as he  glanced down towards Vivi, slowing down his steps to match hers. He only  had his motorcycle for transportation, and he really didn't want to  take any risks. Granted, the two could have taken the subway or taxi,  but Zen felt as if it would "ruin the magic". He felt selfish, but his  girlfriend easily waved those worries away.

She shook her head, "It's okay. The weather's nice, and I need to get out more often anyways. Plus..."

"Plus...?" Zen urges her to continue.

Vivi  musters up enough courage to look Zen in the eyes as she answers, "Plus  walking there means I get to spend more time with you."

Slowly,  Zen's eyes widen before he breaks out into a wide grin. His hand goes to  grab hers, and he gently pulls the young woman closer against him,  practically hugging her arm as the two continue to walk comfortably  beside each other. "I feel the same way."

Far too quickly, both  Vivi and Zen arrive at the theatre. They take their seats and chat with  each other as they wait for the performance to start. It's almost  sickeningly sweet, the way the two act. Zen is very touchy, brushing his  hand against the young woman's cheek or hands, or threading his fingers  through her hair. While it does embarrass Vivi, she can't find it in  herself to ask Zen to stop, secretly enjoying this kind of attention  too.

Eventually, the show starts, and the two finally stop staring  at each other and bring their attention to the stage. Vivi is in  complete awe of the performance. The whole plot tugged at her  heartstrings, the acting and singing were phenomenal, and just  everything else was done so well. When the performance ends, and the  couple are walking back to Vivi's apartment, the two are  enthusiastically voicing their thoughts and opinions.

"The main  lead was pretty good," Vivi says as she lightly squeezes Zen's hand  that's holding hers. "The emotion he conveyed in each word had me  completely captivated."

"He has some great stamina. All those dance numbers back-to-back looked so tiring," Zen added. "I'm impressed, honestly."

The  two continue to animatedly talk about the show before pausing on a  small bridge. "The view here never fails to astound me..." Vivi breathes  out in admiration when she feels strong arms wrap themselves around her  waist from behind. She leans back, pressing herself closer against  Zen's toned chest.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" Zen asks, resting his  chin on top of the young woman's head. There's a sense of uncertainty  and insecurity in his tone.

"I did. ...I am."

Vivi turns  around in Zen's hold, tilting her head upwards to look directly at his  eyes. Zen parts his lips, exhaling softly as he leans his head down,  completely drawn to the other's lips. He kisses her gently and  tentatively, the moment far too pure for anything more than that.  Reluctantly, the actor moves to pull away, but Vivi allows herself to  lean forward just to let the kiss linger for a bit longer.

"I love  you," Vivi finds herself voicing her feelings towards the young man  once more even though she doesn't need to. But she felt like saying it.

Zen blinks in surprise but eventually brings his hand up to stroke against her cheek as he answers, "I love you too."

The  couple resume their journey, walking much slower than usual, wanting to  drag this moment out for as long as they can. Eventually, they're  finally back at Vivi's apartment, and Zen tells her to close her eyes  and wait a little. She's curious but does as she's asked. She hears him  move around a bit.

"Okay, you can open your eyes!" Zen sounds excited which in turn made Vivi excited as well.

Painted  lips parted to let out a small gasp. Her hand goes to cover her mouth,  but there's no denying the absolute joy in her eyes. Zen beams at her  reaction as he holds out the bouquet of roses he has in his hands  towards her, and Vivi accepts it graciously. The actor admires the way  she gazes at them, a sense of pride filling him that he was the reason for that expression.

"They're beautiful," Vivi comments as she strokes some of the petals. They're completely soft to the touch. "Thank you..."

"I  wanted to surprise you, but I thought it might be awkward for you to  hold them throughout the whole evening, so I hid them beforehand," Zen  explains.

"What if somebody had stolen it while we were gone?"

Zen hums; he had considered that possibility. "Then I would've kissed you double the amount of roses there."

Vivi chuckles, "Maybe somebody should have stolen it then."

The  actor laughs at her response before taking a step forward and crashes  his lips against hers. There's so much passion in this one kiss that  Vivi feels her legs grow weak. She leans against Zen for support, and he  easily helps her maintain her footing by wrapping an arm around her  waist. The two momentarily part for air, staring into each other's  half-lidded eyes before locking their lips together once more.

"W-We  should stop now before it goes any further than this," Zen says as he  finally pulls away, his eyes subconsciously flickering down to gaze at  Vivi's ring around her neck.

The actor remembers what Vivi told  him about her past relationship. He doesn't want to rush anything and  make her uncomfortable. Sensing this, Vivi gently tilts Zen's head with  her fingers so that he would look at her eyes. She smiles softly at him  and kisses his cheek. "Thank you."

A few more words and one final  kiss later, and Vivi is finally back inside her apartment, leaning back  against the locked door. She brings her head down to admire the roses in  her hands once more before she moves to find a place to put them.