How do you build a love story?
You put a stack of books in the corner and then you set light to them. What books? Probably Herodotus, or maybe Shakespeare’s sonnets – something like that.
No, you buy a lot of candy for Valentine’s Day – that is the recipe. And a giant teddy bear, right? Right.
Except no. He shook her hand. And he stood there in the rain waiting for her. She saw him and she witnessed him actively waiting, investing in her and getting himself a chill deep in his bones.
But, nah, that wasn’t it. What was it?
He listened to her. Not like he sat there and eavesdropped. No -she told him that there were things about him that needed fixing and he went and did it.
Why? Well, shoot – that’s pretty damned obvious, right? He had fallen for her from pretty early on – and after he was done convincing himself that he wasn’t good enough, he decided that he was, and that whatever it took, he was going to go for it.
So, what you do is you build a friendship first, and love is like a cresting ribbon of white horses atop waves of friendship.
‘You’re my best friend, Ayla.’
‘I love you, Perry.’