Chapter 199 - A Date After Class (2)

Scarlet enjoyed herself immensely during the ice skating session. Just before the hour ended, Scarlet shyly asked if she could take a picture of their feet in skates. The picture was adorable because of how different their foot sizes were and to make things sweeter, Edward used the tow pick to draw out a heart shape so that Scarlet could capture it in the frame.

Scarlet didn't know if Edward used social media but she decided against tagging him even if he did. Hence, when the teen was returning the skates for them, Scarlet uploaded that picture to her social media account with the tags of "ice skating" and "first date". Needless to say, her fans who thought that Scarlet would lay low ever since her scandal was pleasantly surprised by the unexpectedly sweet picture.

[OMG WHO IS DAT LUCKY BOI?!]

[OUR QUEEN CAN DO ANYTHING]

[PROTECC OUR ANGEL!!! If he breaks her heart I'm getting my pitchfork.]

[:heart_emoji::heart_emoji::heart_emoji::heart_emoji::heart_emoji::heart_emoji:]

As the comments came flooding in, Scarlet forcefully closed the app and blushed heatedly. That was just one picture. She was now living with Edward too. What will her fans think if she posted a picture of the couple mug that Beatrice gifted them?

Before Edward could return, Scarlet's phone rang. She checked the number and cringed. She should have asked Alex first before she posted it.

"H-hello?"

"Sis! Why didn't you tell me you were going on a date? I should've prettied you up for it so that you can take a picture of your pretty face and not just some rental skates!"

Scarlet laughed as Alex whined over the call. She was still stuck in school but it was lunch now. Edward returned to see his girlfriend on the phone and wondered who that was. From Scarlet's side of the conversation, she seemed to be telling the other party that make-up wasn't necessary. Knowing that there was only one such person in Scarlet's life who was obsessed over beauty, that had to be Alex.

When the writer saw that Edward had returned, she cut the call short and apologised to Alex who got hung up on quickly.

"You could have talked for a little longer," he smiled and Scarlet shook her head, grabbing their bags. "It's fine. Alex can talk for hours. Where to next? Should we grab something to eat? I'll pay for lunch because you paid for ice skating."

Edward wanted to refuse but Scarlet was insistent so he accepted it. Still, he decided to choose somewhere less crowded so that he could enjoy some quality time with Scarlet. At the same time, he wanted to avoid crowded places because it would be difficult for Scarlet's guards to keep an eye on her. This was his way of being generous and cooperative with Claire.

Scarlet was surprised by Edward's pick for lunch. They were heading to an Indonesian restaurant. As Scarlet had never tried Indonesian cuisine, she wondered if it was spicy. Knowing south-east asian food, most of them are very spicy and Scarlet wasn't very good with spice.

Edward was surprised to know that Scarlet wasn't a fan of spice and reconsidered their options. IN the end, they settled for Thai food because Scarlet was curious about green curry and mango sticky rice.

The meal was rather humble and Scarlet enjoyed the odd taste from the combination of mango and rice. Edward stuck to the green curry more because he didn't think mango and rice was a good combination. However, they did agree that Pad Thai was still the best among everything that they've tried.

Now that they've settled their stomachs, Edward suggested that they took a walk around the area. Scarlet didn't mind and agreed right away after making payment. They held hands and strolled down the quiet neighbourhood full of old shops. Scarlet enjoyed the uniqueness of the quiet streets in a bustling city like New York. Ever since she moved here, she hadn't actually been out to explore the city. It was usually heading to the Wilde estate, heading to the apartment or heading to the university. The only other time that Scarlet didn't go to these places would be either with CEO Zhu or Edward.

The teen caught sight of the guards moving discreetly and sighed inwardly. It was going to be hard to do more than hold her hand now. He was thinking of hugging her and kissing her if she was ready for it but these men tailing them would surely report back to the scary 'older sister'. Edward didn't know if he was ready for consequences. In fact, he already knew that Claire bugged his apartment. He found hearing bugs in Scarlet's room and one in the living room while he was replacing his own bugs. The spy didn't disable them but he had to be careful about what he was doing around the house. Thankfully, Scarlet usually spent her time in her room alone, working on something she wouldn't let him see.

The couple passed by an old arcade that was empty. The machines were noisy and Scarlet became attracted by the flashing lights. The curious writer pulled Edward along unconsciously for a closer look and the boy grinned. He didn't know if his mother's opinion about girls liking sparkly stuff was accurate but it certainly was accurate enough for Scarlet who was entranced.

It was one of the old arcades that Edward remembered was a popular thing about ten years ago. He didn't really play any of those games but the one game he did try was the pinball machine that the headquarters had. It was fun and according to his knowledge, arcades offered you tickets when you played games to exchange for prizes. He checked his wallet and wondered how much he should spend on tokens. The little boy in him was as excited as Scarlet was and without asking her, he pulled her inside.

"Welcome," the man at the counter greeted with a grin. "Are both of you on a date? I don't see a lot of couples coming to arcades for dates anymore."

Scarlet blushed and Edward grinned. "We were just walking aimlessly and this looked interesting. I've never played at an arcade before and I don't think my girlfriend has either. Won't you give us a tour and demonstration? How much should I change for tokens?"

The man was very helpful and told them to buy about ten dollars worth of tokens each for a start. "You can buy more if you still want to continue after you've used them up. Each game is about one to two tokens and each token is worth a dollar."

Edward paid for them and Scarlet examined the silver tokens. They were very light and the writer wondered briefly what kind of metal they were forged from. The thought was soon forgotten when the arcade owner gave them explanations about the different types of games they could try.

The classic shoot the basketball in a hoop game scared Scarlet. She was never good with basketball and her height was a huge disadvantage. Edward considered it but they moved on for now and looked at the racing arcade games. Edward grinned. This would be in the bag for him because he had a driving license. When Scarlet heard that, she sulked. Due to her job and travelling, she wasn't able to get one yet. Besides, Claire had always driven her around so she never once considered the need for it.

"It's not the same as driving a car," the arcade owner laughed when Edward looked smug about it. "The race game doesn't follow the logic of driving a car. If anything, it's all about reflexes and reaction timing."

Scarlet cracked her knuckles playfully. "Then this will be in my bag. I have better reflexes than most people."

Edward snorted. "We're competing in a racing game later. I don't think you can beat me with such scrawny arms. You might not be able to reach the gas pedal control either."

The arcade owner pretended to see nothing and moved on to explain how shooter games worked. Edward found it very odd that they had to press the pedal to dodge and press the gun trigger twice to reload. When he handled guns, it was never this easy. Also, it was hard to know who was shot on the screen because there wasn't any red laser light to indicate their aim. Scarlet was intrigued by the shooting game and they agreed to give it a go later.

"This is a claw machine where many people throw their money at. It is the only game that you can get a prize from without needing to earn tickets. Of course, it isn't easy and that claw is very flimsy. You won't be able to catch the big ones even with luck, I've never seen anyone succeed."

Scarlet took a look at the claw machine and studied the prizes. The elephant toy looked adorable but she really couldn't imagine either of them bringing that back.

"We'll pass," she smiled and Edward raised a brow. "Are you sure you don't want to try? Some of them look rather adorable."

Scarlet shook her head. "I don't have a habit of collecting what I don't need."

Hearing that, the parade owner nodded. This couple might be young but they were rather different from the other couples that came by. In any case, he continued the tour and introduced the whack-a-mole machines, punch machines and joystick fighter games.

"That's all we have but you can spend a good hour or so here if you're good. Games allow time extension if you clear the levels before the time is up so you don't need to pay new tokens to proceed or restart. We have special prizes for those who set new high scores so do let me know if you manage to break any!"

They thanked the owner and Scarlet gave Edward a mischievous grin. "What's it going to be first? Say, the loser has to grant the winner one thing over the next three days. Fair?"

Not one to pass up a challenge, Edward grinned. "Deal. Ladies first, your pick."

Scarlet looked around and thought for a while before pointing to her choice. "I choose that!"