56

Amina

Ivan found a good spot to park his car and I didn't wait for him to come open the car for me like he usually did, I just unlocked the door manually and left the car, I was so excited.

I wonder what took him so long to leave the car because I had to wait for him before we could approach the park's entrance.

"Oh, it's beautiful." I commended the welcoming aura of the place.

"It is," Ivan agreed but he wasn't smiling like I was. He was probably not as excited as I was because he had been here before.

We walked through the entrance and I couldn't help but admire every fun shop we passed by. There were different canopies with different types of games. I couldn't wait to play one.

I was about to tell Ivan which of the games I wanted to try first but someone bumped into me.

"O my gosh, I'm so sorry." I apologized for not looking where I was going. You wouldn't blame me, the place was beautiful enough to have me looking elsewhere other than in front of me.

"Give me your hand," Ivan instructed when the person walked past me. I did like he asked as he held my hand tight."Please, be careful and look where you are going."

"Okay," I nodded."Ivan, I want to try and win one of those toys," I pointed to one if the canopies where people were playing games.

"Why? Are you a child?"

"What do you mean? Look, there are adults playing games, it won't be just me." I made him look around. He sighed and took me to where I pointed. I smiled happily.

"Can we get two tickets," Ivan requested and the person behind the counter raised both his eyebrows.

"Can't you see there's a line? Join the line." Ivan was told and I could see the distress on his face. He didn't look like he wanted to stand in the line.

"I will pay double for the tickets," Ivan tried to bribe the young man.

"I'm sorry sir, I can't accept you doing that, please get in line and wait for your turn. Thank you." The man replied very politely but you could hear the mockery in his voice.

Ivan turned to me and shook his head."We are not going to play the game you want, Jewel, I'm sorry."

"But..."

"I'm not going to stand in line to play some silly game." He cut my words short.

"It's not silly." I thought I should point out to him.

"It is. Do you know when last I threw little decorated arrows at balloons?"

"It's fun. Maybe you just don't know how to play it and win and that's why you don't want to even try it."

"It's not like it's a hard game, I could win in just one throw."

"Really? Prove it." I challenged him and watched him run his hands through his hair.

He turned back to the young man behind the counter and spoke to him in Russian."Сколько вы хотите от меня, прежде чем я смогу получить билеты? Я не хочу стоять в очереди."

"I got us tickets," Ivan waved two tickets in front of me.

"Yaayy," I said and took one from him and went to where we could play the game. The tickets were exchanged for five little arrows each.

"I will start," I told him and tried to get a good angle for my aim.

"If you hit maximum of just two balloons, you get a balloon." The woman at the game center smiled."If you can hit five balloons with your five arrows successfully, you get one of the teddy bears you can see here," she pointed to where they were some pretty teddies lying arranged on a shelf.

"Wish me luck," I told Ivan and heard him chuckle.

"You don't need luck, it's simple, just throw the arrow and win." He told me so confidently like it was that easy. Now, I couldn't wait to see him throw his and not win so I can laugh at him for the rest of the day.

I took in some air and held my breath before throwing the arrow. It hit a balloon so I opened my nostrils and screamed at the same time.

"O my god, Ivan! Did you see?!" I turned to him and rejoiced. He had a smile on his face but it didn't look like a congratulatory smile; it was more of a proud one.

"You've hit just one, don't rejoiced yet." He laughed.

"Watch me hit the others," I stuck my tongue out and made faces at him before holding my breath in and trying to aim for another balloon. I threw the arrow like I did the first one but it hit the board in which the balloons were hanged but not the balloon.

Ivan burst out in laughter. I stopped holding my breath and stared at the board and how close it was for me to hit the balloon. I could cry. Ivan wasn't even helping with my situation right now because he was laughing. I turned to him with an angry face and he stopped laughing.

"You jinxed this with your bad mouth." I squinted my eyes at him as I spoke.

"No. You just didn't throw in the right direction. Do I play now, or do you want to try and win a balloon?" He smirked. I didn't give him a verbal answer, I just took my position and aimed at another balloon. I suddenly didn't like this game anymore.

My arrow didn't even get close enough to the board this time and I couldn't believe it. I angrily aimed with my fourth arrow and it hit a spot on the board below one of the balloons.

"Urggh," I groaned out in frustration.

"Hey relax, it's just a game." Ivan came and stood behind me to say.

"Oh now, you want to be comforting?" I snarled at him and he just smiled.

"It's just one arrow left for you, should I help?" Ivan asked and I shook my head.

"No. I can't do it myself." I said and threw the arrow after. The arrow hit the board, again. I almost sobbed because now, even could mock me. I turned back slowly to look at him but he wasn't smiling mockingly like I expected.

"Don't worry, I will one of the bears for you." He told me and I made way for him to come play the game.

He laid out all of his arrows on the counter top and squinted his eyes at the board holding the balloons. I got tired of watching him stare at the balloons with focus and looked away but at that moment, I heard a pop sound.

My eyes immediately went to the board and I saw that he just popped a balloon. Another arrow of his hit another balloon so I turned to look at him in surprise. He threw another arrow and it made the pop sound again.

The lady behind the counter started to clap for him and I felt jealous. It would have felt good to hear her clap for me like that. He threw his fourth arrow and my eyes followed it till it hit a balloon.

At this point some of the persons to play after us were watching him intensely and with so much interest. I hope he doesn't embarrass himself because he had gotten some attention by hitting the balloons perfectly at quick intervals.

He looked at me with a proud smirk on his lips then winked at me before throwing the last arrow. It pinned a balloon and people around us started to clap like the lady behind the counter did. I rolled my eyes and folded my arms.