Perfect disguise by Elizabeth A (speld decodable readers .txt) 📗

Dominic's POV.

I've been so busy throughout the previous week that I didn't have time to spend with Annie. Today was my day off, so I took Zoe to an amusement park. Zoe has been disturbing Annie to take her to the amusement park ever since she watched Wonder Park, a funny animation. She was thrilled by the size and height of the ferris wheel and insisted she wanted to take a ride in it. Well, Annie wasn't in total support of it because she was very protective of Zoe, but I had managed to convince her she would be safe with me.

"Yes!" Zoe squeaked the moment we entered the amusement park. The park was very spacious and had a lot of fun activities and rides. 

She dashed toward dashing merry go round, jumping and smiling along the way. I was glad she loved itbhere, I was also worried she might get lost. "Zoe!' I called her as she ran towards the merry go round. My voice was muffled by the sound of other people' squeaks and voices. I ran after her when I noticed that Zoe didn't hear me or didn't want to listen to me. I caught up with her and grabbed her arms.  

She wiggled and giggled.

 I sat her on my shoulder and she embraced my head. "You stay right here until I'm convinced you won't run off again."

"Huh uh, I want a ride on that!" She grumbled and pointed at the merry-go -round.

I looked up at her and brought up my bottom lip in a teasing manner. "I thought you wanted a ride in the ferris wheel." I joked.

She shook her head. "I don't want it anymore. This one looks so pretty!"

I nodded and looked at the merry-go -round. "Alright, let's get you a ticket."

We went to the ticket room and Zoe ended up playing a video game. It was a bike race game in which one will sit on a plastic bike that was connected to the action of the game on the screen. She sat firmly on the bike and held the handle. The video game started and she tilted the blue bike when she wanted to turn into another direction in the game. 

"Whoa, look! I'm ahead of the others!" Zoe squeaked and tilted the bike again. It was almost touching the floor, so I held it. 

"Zoe, be careful. You will fall if you keep moving like that." I advised her. I doubted if she heard me in the midst of her excitement. 

I looked sideways and saw Diana walking towards me. I averted my eyes and looked at my hand. I haven't spoken to her ever since the date. I knew I shouldn't have stormed off without telling her my mind that night and I was still questioning why I was angry at her that night. It shouldn't hurt me if she was ashamed of who I was. 

The game ended and Zoe tried to get down. Diana stopped before me and Zoe smiled at her. "Hello, I'm Zoe."

I assisted her in getting down from the plastic bike and Diana squatted to Zoe's height and smiled at her. "It's nice to meet you, Zoe. I'm Diana."

They spoke for a while and Diana stood up and looked at me. I brushed the nape of my neck and averted my eyes from hers. I felt sort of guilty for not calling and avoiding her ever since the first date. I shouldn't have taken it seriously.

 "I didn't expect to see you here," Diana said.

I nodded. "Yeah, today is my free day so I decided to take Zoe out."

"She is adorable. I'm sure she looks exactly like Annie," she observed Zoe.

"Yeah, she does. You know what, if Zoe wasn't so young, you would think they were twins." I joked, trying to lighten up the tension between us.

 Zoe looked up at me. "Uncle Dominic, is mom still coming?"

I glanced at Diana before looking down at Zoe. She tightened her hold on her handbag when Zoe asked about her mom. "Em.. Your mom said she will meet us later, okay?"

She looked at the exit door like she wanted to give me space by leaving. "Em… I just remember, I gotta go somewhere." She said and turned to leave, but I grabbed her arm. I just didn't want her to leave like that. She looked kind of hurt and something told me it had to do with me.

 Was it because I left her alone after the date?

She stopped walking and looked at me, confused and hopeful. "What?"

"Where are you going? Are… Are you in a hurry?" 

I didn't want it to be obvious that I wanted her to stay, but I hoped she would stay. 

Her eyes lingered on my hand which was still holding hers. Then, she asked a question that made me doubt my intentions.

"You want me to stay?" 

Her question sounded like she was actually asking for the reasons. I didn't know why I wanted her to stay with me, but I wanted her to be with me. I mentally shook my head. I'm sure I'm not making any sense. 

Who knew feelings could be so complicated?

I nodded. "Yeah, I want you to stay."