Free Letters of Love (Lessons in Love) by Clarissa Carlyle

“We’d best hurry up, or we’ll miss the movie.”
    Alex would have been angry , but he then reached out for her hand and held it for the remainder of their walk.
     
    ****
     
    “Where exactly are we going?” Alex asked dubiously as Oscar led her up the stairwell of his dorm building.
    “You’ll see,” he replied mysteriously.
    “I’m missing the Kappa Primadonna party for this, so whatever you want to show me had better be good!” Alex teasingly threatened him.
    “I’m sorry to have pulled you away from all the feather boas and fakery , but I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what I’m going to show you.”
    “I better be.”
    Alex continued to follow Oscar up the stairs, internally bursting with excitement to see the previously mentioned surprise.
    Oscar Deloitte was many things , but he was not in the least bit romantic, or so Alex believed. During their brief courtship of three weeks, which had included several cinema dates, they’d made out and held hands but nothing more to suggest that they were getting serious. Oscar just didn’t seem like a romantic sort of guy. He resented chick flicks and their apparent perpetuation of an unobtainable fairy-tale myth.
    Alex liked his honest opinions , but she was embarrassed to tell him that, like all girls, deep down she yearned to be a princess, if only for a moment, but she feared that if he knew that, he’d think her weak and ordinary.
    “We’re almost there .” Oscar reached the top of the stairwell and paused.
    “You’ve taken me to the roof of your dorm building?” Alex noted flatly.
    “Oh ye of little faith,” Oscar scoffed before pushing against the door, which reluctantly opened, letting in some of the refreshing coolness of the evening air.
    Oscar stepped out purposefully on to the open rooftop with Alex gingerly following behind. She glanced around, wondering why he’d b rought her to the roof. There was nothing but tarmac and darkness, but then her heart froze in her chest in elated glee.
    In the center of the roof a blanket had carefully been placed out, surrounded by candles , which flickered in the faint breeze. On the blanket were two pillows, upon which lay a solitary rose.
    “Oh , Oscar,” Alex gasped, barely able to speak.
    “Don’t get all girly on me,” Oscar warned, unable to completely drop his tough exterior. He took Alex by the hand and led her over to the blanket, instructing her to lie down next to him, both their heads resting upon a pillow. She instinctively nuzzled in close to him , and Oscar planted a soft kiss upon her forehead.
    “I b rought you here because I want you to look up,” he whispered.
    Immediately Alex cast her eyes towards the heavens and le t out a soft breath in awe.
    “It’s beautiful.”
    It was a clear night, and above them there was nothing but stars. It was like a magical tapestry hanging above their makeshift bed.
    “I come up here sometimes to think,” Oscar explained in a rare revealing moment. “Looking up at the stars helps me focus, helps me understand things.”
    “They seem so close,” Alex uttered, bewitched by their beauty.
    “They seem even closer from the roof of a twenty -seven-story high-rise,” Oscar mused.
    “Is that where you live at home, in a high -rise?” Alex turned briefly to look at Oscar, who was still gazing upward. His mouth tightened when he heard her question. He was always cagey whenever she asked him about home. It was clearly a topic he didn’t enjoy discussing.
    “I thought you’d enjoy seeing them,” he said after a long pause, ignoring her question. “I wanted to share this spot with you because it reminds me that there is beauty and good in the world. That’s how I feel about you.”
    Oscar turned to look at Alex, his gaze intense.
    “Am I going to sound like a complete tool if I say that I’m falling for you?” Oscar asked, his openness making him seem irresistible to Alex. The starlight shone down favorabl y on his features,