Take My Breath Away

Sheffield ignored her and put one of the two bubble wands into his pocket. He tore open the other one, dipped the stick in the bubble mixture and handed it to Evelyn. "Come on, give it a try! Check out that little boy. Look at the size of those bubbles! Blow a bigger one than his. You can do it!"

Evelyn wasn't impressed. She couldn't help but ask, "Do I look like a kid who might like blowing bubbles? Scratch that—do I look like a kid?"

Sheffield smiled. "Yes! Evelyn, let your hair down every once in awhile. You might actually like it."

She rolled her eyes at him. What a load of crap! She wanted to be carefree too. Who wouldn't? But carefree didn't mean acting like a kid.

"Don't tell me you don't know how to blow bubbles," Sheffield challenged her when she just stood there, staring at him. In order not to waste the soapy solution, he casually blew on the round circle at the end of the stick, and several big, round bubbles flew out, one after another.

Evelyn immediately denied, "Don't know how? Now you're just taunting me. I used to love these toys as a kid." She was telling the truth. She always had to have one when they went somewhere. But she was almost thirty now and it would be weird for her to play with kids' toys.

Hearing her, Sheffield handed her the wand. "Come on, prove it to me. I double-dog dare you!" He hadn't said that in a long time, but he figured it was appropriate now.

Evelyn knew he was deliberately trying to tick her off, but she still played along. She also couldn't help smiling at what he just said. Taking the toy from him, she retorted, "See for yourself. If I can blow a bubble, a big, round one, you'll have to do whatever I say tonight, and you can't say no!"

"No problem!" It was not what he wanted to say, which was, "Sounds kinky!" But he didn't want to push it.

Evelyn dipped the stick in the liquid and blew it. Under the dazzling lights of the city, several bubbles that reflected the colors of night floated in the air.

Sheffield gave her a thumbs-up and exclaimed dramatically, "Evelyn, you're awesome! You make quite a fetching kid! I declare Little Evelyn got first place this round."

Part of Evelyn couldn't stand it when Sheffield treated her like a kid, but the other part was happy and she couldn't help but grin. "Enough! Sheffield! Don't treat me like a kid," she said with a pout.

Ignoring her protest, he added, "You can blow big bubbles, but how about a lot of them? Let me teach you..." He stood behind her and gave her a back hug. "It's all about breath control," he said. "I will show you. Blow hard, then softly." He then held her hands, raised her right hand to his mouth and blew on the loop at the end of the bubble wand. Then countless bubbles of different sizes appeared in front of them.

Evelyn turned around and saw Sheffield blowing bubbles beside her. She kissed him on the cheek and said in the same dramatic tone as his, "Great job, Little Sheffield! You won the grand prize!"

Sheffield wore a surprised face. "Wow! The grand prize? So what's my reward?"

"What do you want?"

"I want a lot of things. I'll choose the easiest one." He let go of her hands and wrapped his arms around her waist.

They were greeted with smiles as people passed. The two looked like a couple deep in love.

Once she started blowing bubbles again, Evelyn found herself enjoying herself a lot. She kept blowing the bubbles as she asked casually, "The easiest? Tell me."

"I want all of your time tonight. Is that okay?" He deliberately blew air in her ear, making her double over in giggles.

"Let go of me! That itches! Stop!" She struggled in his arms, and as a result, her long hair was disheveled.

Sheffield stopped his mischief and helped her up. With tenderness in his eyes, he tucked her long hair behind her ear. "You haven't answered my question yet."

Evelyn laughed mischievously. All of a sudden, she lifted the bubble stick and blew the soapy mixture in his face.

Dozens of bubbles flew out, hit his face, and exploded in silence. His face was all sticky now.

Wiping his face helplessly, Sheffield protested, "Hey, you're bullying me!"

"Yeah. Got a problem with it?" Evelyn asked arrogantly.

Shaking his head, he smiled and hugged her. "No, no. Anything for my wife! If you're happy, so am I."

"Good. Bullying you makes me happy." Evelyn took out a wet tissue from her bag and handed it to him. "Here. Wipe your face."

"No need. Just a few bubbles. Not a big deal."

Ignoring his words, Evelyn grabbed his arm and wiped his face with the tissue. "You don't want any of that in your mouth. It's toxic. You might get diarrhea."

"Why didn't you think of that before you did that, then?" Sheffield sighed and let her wipe his face.

"What? You have a problem again?"

"No, forget what I said! Please blow bubbles in my face again!" "Sheffield, do you enjoy being tortured?"

"Like I said, even if you torture me a hundred times, I'll still treat you like my first love."

Wiping her hands with another tissue, Evelyn suddenly remembered something. After a little consideration, she asked,

"So who is your first love, anyway?"

How Sheffield wished he could zip his mouth shut. He regretted bringing it up. "She's nobody. We were only together a few days. Let's go. I'm starving, and I bet you could use a beer."

"You still keep in touch?" Evelyn was really curious about his first love. Although Sheffield hung around quite a few women, he had never been seriously publicly linked to any of them.

"Yeah. She sent me a message a while ago. But don't worry, Evelyn. I didn't text back," he told her honestly, though he wasn't sure if it would make Evelyn unhappy. Yet, he didn't want to lie to her.

"What did she want to talk about?"

"Evelyn, please drop it. She's not important." They were going on a date tonight. Bringing up old girlfriends would spoil the mood.

"What are you hiding?" Evelyn pressed the question.

Sheffield sighed helplessly. "She sent me a message asking me why I quit racing cars."

"And?" Evelyn continued to ask.

"And I didn't answer back. Why would I do that when I already have you?" He pretended to be aloof.

With a smile, Evelyn said, "Why don't you reply to her? You're hurting the poor girl."

"But wouldn't that hurt you?"

Evelyn had to admit that he had a perfect answer.

They stopped at a sidewalk restaurant and found a table to sit down. "Ever been to a place like this?"

Evelyn looked around and saw that it was quite crowded. And noisy. They had to raise their voices to be heard. She shook her head and answered, "No."

They were overdressed for a venue like this, drawing curious stares.

"I know it's not what you're used to. Just give it a chance. If you don't like the food, we'll leave." Then he took out a tissue, wiped her chair and helped her sit down.

"Okay."

"What do you want to eat?" A waiter came over with the menu.

Sheffield put the menu in front of Evelyn and said, "Pick anything you want." Then he told the waiter, "Four Snow Beers, please."

"Okay! I'll be right back!"

The waiter left. Evelyn put the menu back in front of Sheffield and said, "You order. I don't know what's good here." The menu looked sumptuous. Those photos certainly had her mouth watering, but she didn't know how the food actually tasted.

"Okay." Sheffield ordered several seafood platters and barbecue skewers.

In the end, he said to the waiter, "Two sets of disposable tableware, thanks!"

"Yes, sir."