Take My Breath Away

Wesley nodded and said, "Then I'll head downstairs to get a box."

They didn't have a water dispenser yet in this new apartment, so they had been buying mineral water.

Seeing that he had turned around to buy water, Blair panicked. She grabbed his arm and said, "No...don't..."

Wesley had only to look at her to know what was going on. He gently moved her hand away and walked into the kitchen. Several 500 ml bottles of water along with a five liter bottle of water stood where they usually stored bottled mineral water.

He then opened the freezer to find that apart from food, there were also several kinds of beverages.

When he returned to the living room, Blair had already locked herself in her bedroom, too embarrassed to face him. He stared at the door to her bedroom for a bit, then smiled and walked inside his own bedroom.

The next morning, Blair was woken up by some sharp knocks on her door.

She turned in bed with annoyance, wondering if she'd dreamed it. Then she put the covers over her head, determined to get more sleep.

"Blair," Wesley called from outside the door.

Hearing his voice, she sat up abruptly.

"Blair," he called again.

Blair jumped out of bed, slipped into her slippers and trotted to open the door. Wesley was fully dressed, sporting a gray long-sleeved shirt (unbuttoned) over a white V-necked T-shirt and black jeans.

This was the first time she had seen him in something else other than his uniform and pajamas.

She looked at him in surprise, as if he had turned into a different person. Even his hair was a little messier than usual.

"7 a.m. Time to get up," he reminded her.

"It's too early." She was sleepy. Besides, she didn't even have to go to work. She needed her beauty sleep, and was determined to get it. That was what days off were for.

"Happy Valley," Wesley replied simply.

Oh, right. They talked about that yesterday. "I'm not going," she announced.

"Okay. Why not?" The happy look in his eyes dimmed.

"If Megan's going, I'm staying. I don't want to be the third wheel between you two." The thought of Megan ruined her day. She turned around sullenly, walked back into her room leaving the door open and climbed into bed again, pulling the covers over her head to hide from the world.

"She's not going." He was just teasing when he mentioned Megan.

Blair turned around in bed, exposing more of her than she might want normally. Wesley, ever the gentleman, averted his gaze.

'Really?' "So you asked her along and she turned you down? And you're taking me instead?" Blair asked sadly. Wesley felt she was being impossible.

She was the one who wanted to go to the Happy Valley amusement park. He was only going there to make her happy. Now she was implying that he was the one who wanted to go. He was a guy. Why would he go there? "I'm giving you 20 minutes to get dressed. Any longer and I'll dress you myself, wash your face, and brush your teeth. And make you climb the stairs every day. No elevator. The timer starts...now." He pushed a button on his watch.

'Wow, I really know how to pick 'em, don't I?' She started to doubt her taste.

She sat up and asked, "Anyone ever told you that you're a jerk?"

"Yes," he replied.

She was relieved. She wasn't the only one who believed that. 'Who told him that, I wonder? What did he do? He's actually a good guy, ' she wondered.

"Hundreds of days ago, a girl in the cafeteria of Y City Language and Culture University said the same thing," Wesley continued.

'Hundreds of days ago? At Y City Language and Culture University?' Blair thought about what he said. 'Could it be me?' It probably was her. That time she got scalded.

She clutched a pillow and threw it at him. Wesley caught it and said, "You have 17 minutes, 26 seconds left."

"You are such a bully! Ahhhhhh!" she screamed hysterically. Her voice echoed through the apartment.

With less than 10 seconds to go, Blair raced into the living room as soon as she finished applying toner to her face. "I made it. But just bear with me. I have a couple more things to do."

Wesley was speechless. Her excuse was far-fetched. But Wesley waited for her anyway.

Having bought herself more time, Blair slowed down to a more normal pace, which for her was slow.

Half an hour ticked by. She finally walked out of her bedroom with her backpack. She looked at Wesley, who sat on the couch, and said, "One more minute."

She turned around, walked back into her bedroom, found the perfume he bought her and sprayed some on her neck and wrists and dabbed at both spots with a tissue. She didn't like to overpower anyone with her scent. She almost never used perfume. So she had a tendency to forget to put any on before leaving the house.

Sitting in the black Hummer, Blair asked, "Can we stop somewhere for breakfast?" It wasn't even 8 a.m. yet.

"Yeah. I'll find us a place to eat." He turned the car around.

After breakfast, they headed for Happy Valley. It was a one-hour drive. Blair felt sleepy as the sameness of the roads and the vibration of the engine started to lull her. But she fought the urge. She was afraid that if it got too quiet, Wesley would get sleepy too. He was up earlier than her, after all.

"Ever been to Happy Valley before?" she asked him, trying to stay awake.

"Sort of."

"Huh?" 'Sort of? Either you've been somewhere or you haven't. What did "sort of" mean?'

"To catch a bad guy there, I got on a Ferris wheel once."

"Huh? Chasing a bad guy through Happy Valley? Tell me about it."

Blair sat straight, intrigued. Wesley looked at her and began recounting what happened back then.

Besides the routine training, Wesley was assigned dangerous missions.

A few years ago, Wesley found out that a criminal had escaped to Happy Valley, so he and some of his fellow soldiers went there to catch the guy. The criminal and his girlfriend were riding on a Ferris wheel. Somehow the bad guy spotted him and freaked out. Despite being high in the air, he opened the door and tried to run.

The guy was a felon. Wesley had spent months tracking him down. He wouldn't let him run away. So he climbed onto the spinning Ferris wheel without a second thought.

The crowd saw this, and began squealing in terror. The staff stopped the Ferris wheel, and Wesley started chasing the bad guy, leaping from bar to bar, 30 stories up.

The guy would turn around to kick Wesley from time to time. There was one time, the soldier dodged to his right and almost fell off the wheel.

Luckily, he grabbed the wheel in time and climbed back up.

Half an hour later, Wesley and his coworkers caught the guy on the wheel. And he earned a merit citation and a medal thanks to this.

Wesley's account was brief. His tone was calm. But Blair was thrilled. She knew how dangerous it had been for him.

She wouldn't have been able to move a finger being that high up, not to mention climbing and giving chase.

"So was that the only time you've been there?" she asked casually.

"No."

"Was the other time for fun?" Her mind was still on the story he had just told her.

Wesley chose to tell her the truth. "I drove Megan and her classmates there once. But I didn't go in. When they got through the turnstile, I left."

"Oh. Wait, what? Megan?" She finally realized what he was saying. "Are you going to take care of her for the rest of your life?"