Songbird by Jamie Campbell

felt like ages but I’m sure it wasn’t that long. Forest stopped me and my next thought was that there was no noise anymore. Everything was deathly quiet. Where in the world were we?
    “Please tell me you haven’t kidnapped me and we’re standing in the middle of an abandoned warehouse,” I said bluntly, hoping I was only joking. If I opened my eyes and saw that’s where we were, I would probably freak out. Even if I did trust Forest.
    “Open your eyes and see for yourself.”
    I was afraid to, but curiosity got the best of me. I opened my eyes and took in our surroundings. It wasn’t a dank and depressing warehouse. Instead, we were standing in the middle of a perfect garden. Flowers cascaded down from archways, shrubs were clipped into perfect formation, and sculptures were beautifully placed amongst it all. I spun around, trying to take it all in.
    “Where is this?” I asked. I was sure we couldn’t have walked out of the city and yet this place was an oasis. Maybe it was a mirage?
    “We’re in the First Lady’s Garden,” Forest replied, smiling.
    “We’re in the White House?”
    He laughed, obviously at my ineptitude. “No, we’re just a block from the Smithsonian. This is her public garden where anyone can come and visit. It’s supposed to be a place of calm and relaxation.” Those two words described the place perfectly. It felt like a world away from the scrum of people in the museum. This was definitely a place where I could breathe.
    The colors of the flowers were amazing, so vibrant and bright. There was every type you could imagine from the happy snapdragons to the classic roses. “This place is beautiful.”
    “I thought you’d like it.”
    “How do you even know about it?”
    I couldn’t be sure, but he might have been blushing a little. “I brought my mom here once. She went nuts over the place.”
    Forest as a momma’s boy? I couldn’t quite see it. I started wandering, unable to stay in the one place when there was so much to see. We strolled through the paths, trying to take everything in along the way. I took out my iPhone and started snapping away. The photos couldn’t quite capture all the hues in the flowers, but it was enough to trigger my memory later on.
    In amongst the flowers and pathways was a checkerboard made out of pavers. A stack of wooden checkers were to one side.
    “Want to play?” I asked. I had always been good at checkers, I got enough practice on long flights and waiting around for media. I could even beat my computer.
    Forest had to think about it, his eyes twinkled with mischief by the time he actually replied. “Sure. But let’s make it interesting.” I raised an eyebrow at him, how could you make checkers interesting? He was going to have to explain. “The winner gets whatever they want.”
    “That’s a bit ambiguous.”
    “Okay, you go first then. What do you want if you win?”
    A flash of images filled my mind, all things I shouldn’t be thinking about. I was glad Forest couldn’t read my mind, otherwise he would see himself in several compromising positions.
    I needed an answer, one that didn’t have an R rating. I wished it wasn’t so hot in the garden, I needed something to cool me down and not foster those thoughts. “If I win, you can buy me dinner tonight.”
    “Okay,” Forest replied before a smirk spread across his face. I dreaded what he was going to put down as his prize. “If I win, I want a kiss. Not just any kiss, one of my choosing.”
    There were different types of kisses? Clearly I had been doing it wrong all those years. The chances of me winning was high and the chances of me not enjoying the kiss if Forest won were low. It was a win-win situation. “Agreed. Let’s play.”
    We flipped a coin to see who would go first – Forest. He moved the black checker on the board and I did the same with the red one.
    The game went for longer than I had expected. Forest was actually quite good, obviously he had spent a lot of