Chapter 152: A Promise

That evening, Celine was playing a little game with Leo and Leah when the doorbell rang. When she answered the door, she wasn’t too surprised to see Julian there.

“Hey.” He beamed at her, his face showing a handsome radiance as he stared at her seemingly dazed. Celine smiled and ushered him in.

“These are for you.” He held out a bouquet of flowers to her and she casually took them, offering a quiet thanks.

Whenever he looked at her, Julian’s gaze was always so penetrating, the kind of gaze was something she had received before, but other than from the man who made her blush and her heart skip a beat, from others it only made her feel somewhat awkward.

“Would you like something to drink?” She offered him as an excuse to walk away from his intense stare.

“Actually, I came to take you somewhere…if you’re free that is.”

Before Celine could part her lips to speak, someone suddenly raced down the stairs.

“She is free, she was just looking after the kids but I’m here, there’s nothing to worry about.” Celine turned to see Natalia who seemed to still be breathing heavily as she’d literally raced down the stairs but she was trying to play casual.

“Actually, Leah, Leo and I were just playing, I don’t want to disappoint them by just leaving and…”

“I’ll play with the kids, other than work you barely go anywhere Celine, I think a little evening fresh air will do you some good. Right kids?” Natalia said then quickly dragged the little angels into the conversation.

Leah didn’t say much, merely giving a light nod. But to Celine’s surprise, Leo actually said, “Right, you should get some air Mommy.”

Having Leo’s approval was rare, so Celine felt genuinely shocked that he agreed. However, she still sent Natalia a discreet glare before turning back to Julian who was waiting for her answer with expectant eyes.

Natalia had done this on purpose, evidently saying she was free, so if she refused Julian it would be somewhat impolite.

Left with no choice she smiled softly and said, “I’ll go grab a jacket.”

Natalia naturally followed her upstairs.

“Before you say anything to scold me, I’m going to tell you that you might thank me later. One handsome prince charming came into your life and left, another one comes by, you grab him without letting go.”

“You don’t just grab people Nat, you have to fall in love with them first.” Celine said.

’…but you can’t fall in love when you already have someone else in your heart.’ she wanted to add but kept those words to herself.

“Well how do you expect yourself to fall in love when you aren’t even giving it a chance? You fall in love with someone by spending time with them and getting to know them, I’m sure that’s what he’s trying to do so be open, and don’t close off your heart, okay?” Natalia advised like a mother to her daughter before helping Celine grab a light colored jacket from her closet.

“Here, this always looks good on you, it brings out your eyes.”

Celine knew Natalia had the best intentions for her, so she didn’t argue, the truth was, she didn’t exactly know what was good for herself either. It felt like her heart and desires were warped in a situation that would end up hurting her…no, she was already hurt, she just tried not to feel the pain.

“Have fun.” Natalia added softly and saw her off as Julian held the car door open for her then eventually drove off.

Julian drove to a familiar spot in the city, a spot their mothers used to bring them to as kids. Celine stepped out of the car, feeling a rush of nostalgia welling up in her chest.

Several ice cream trucks could be seen lined up along the sides of Stateview square, playgrounds filled with children’s laughter along with their parents.

Stateview square was very beautiful in the day but more so at night, the lights lit up everywhere making one inexplicably feel abundantly happy being here.

“I haven’t been here in a long time too, I wanted to reminisce so I thought it’d be fun to come along with you, after all, my best memories here were with you.” Julian remarked standing next to her making her gaze sideways at him with a look of shock.

“What? I thought you hated it everytime we came here. You always used to go on and on about how you don’t want to come here again.”

“Hmm, let’s just say I was trying to hide how much I liked it here? Specifically, how happy it made me whenever you looked so happy to be here.”

Celine grasped the meaning in his words, she lowered her head saying nothing as they began to stroll across the square.

“Look, do you remember the last time we stood by this fountain?” He asked, pointing at a fountain in the middle of the square with beautiful figurines spurting out water that fell back into the main fountain. The lights making the water look like crystals shimmering in the dark.

Julian was momentarily lost staring at her under the reflection of the lights, the water seemed to dance inside her blue orbs giving them a beautiful sheen, and when she smiled in reminiscence he had to tamp down the strong urge to kiss her.

Celine stared at the fountain recalling childhood memories. She could see herself running around here happily as if the memory had just happened yesterday. She watched the memory unfold before her eyes like an old movie.

“Hey, that’s my ice cream.” The little girl had shimmering blue eyes, her golden blonde hair wrapped up in a ponytail, she yelled angrily at a boy.

The boy was unremorseful even as the girl cried, he happily licked the ice cream in front of the girl and retorted, “So what, I took your ice cream what are you gonna do about it?”

“I… I’m going to… I’m going to…” The girl seemed to try hard to find a threat but nothing came out, her cheeks were puffed up, pink and rosy from anger.

Little did she know the boy liked to make her angry, just to see this very adorable look on her face. But he suddenly panicked when she suddenly started crying, bursting into tears.

Seeing her cry like that, the boy looked visibly at a loss, he seemed to want to console her but didn’t know how. The crying girl was so engrossed in her tears, she didn’t notice how remorseful he looked.

“Hey, stop crying, I’ll get you another ice cream.” He hadn’t meant to steal her ice cream to upset her, he had just been looking for her attention, he had just wanted her to look at him.

The girl stopped crying and extended her hand asking him to give it back to her.

“I can’t give this to you, it’s already mine now, I’ll go buy you a new one.”

“You’re just lying to me, you’re not going to get me another ice cream.”

“I’m not, I’ll get you a huge cone, as many as you want, you can choose as many flavors as you like.”

Hearing that promise, the girl beamed, her smile incredibly adorable. “Really?”

“Yes, really, but on one condition. You have to make me a promise too.”

“What promise?” She queried, tilting her head to the side.

The boy looked a bit hesitant to say it, but after a few seconds he blurted, “When we grow up, you’re going to be my wife.”

Hearing the boy’s words, the girl was stumped, she looked at him and blinked for some time before she asked, “What’s a wife?”

The boy laughed at the clueless look in her eyes then he said, “It’s just like Mommy and Daddy, if we have children, you’ll be their Mommy and I will be their Daddy.” He explained.

The little girl seemed to understand then quickly shook her head, “No, I’m not going to be Mommy and Daddy with you.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re so mean, you bully me and take my ice cream.”

“Alright, I won’t bully you anymore and in the future when you become my wife, I’ll be really good to you and I’ll get you all the ice cream you can eat.” The boy said, trying to convince her.

She seemed to think about it, looking tempted by the ice cream, “Will I really get lots of ice cream?”

“Of course, as much as you want.”

“Okay, I agree.”

The boy beamed seeming incredibly happy, “Remember you already promised, you can’t go back on it.” The boy reminded.

Thinking of that much ice cream, the girl was very willing, “I won’t go back on it, I never break my promises. When we grow up, I’m going to be your wife.”

Celine’s mind returned to the present, the distant scene fading away. She realized she had completely forgotten about this small interaction, it had happened way before their mothers made the silly pact of getting their children married to each other someday.

Recalling aunt Miranda’s words saying Julian had liked her for a long time, it all seemed to make sense. Perhaps the reason he had been making fun of her back then was just to get her attention. She was quite surprised he could still remember this little detail about the fountain when it happened a very long time ago.

“It’s been such a long time, I almost forgot about it.”

“But I didn’t…” He said, with a serious look in his eyes. “I’ve been holding onto that promise ever since, it was what kept me going even while I left the country to go study, when I searched for you years later and couldn’t find you.” He chuckled self deprecatingly then continued,

“I never expected to hold onto such a promise, in fact I never expected you’d still be single by the time I’d find you. It might sound insensitive but I’m glad you don’t have a man in your life, I’m glad I might have a chance to realize my lifelong dream of making you my wife.”

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