It was spring and Louise was keen to buy herself a new cycle. She needed money as her piggy bank did not have enough. Her parents could not spare much either. So Louise decided to use her pets. And guess what was so special about them? Living in the countryside, Louise’s pets comprised kittens, puppies, ducks, chickens and rabbits, which were well behaved, and friendly. She decided to use her pets as a traveling zoo and guess what? It turned out to be a big hit at birthday parties and local events.

Louise had enough now for the cycle, but little did she know what else was in store for her.

She was getting dressed in her favorite jeans, boots, and a pretty top before leaving for the local fair. It was important to look smart so that people did not take you for granted. But she needed to be comfortable too. She braided her thick brown hair into pigtails and with a straw hat on her head, she headed out to the fair.

Louise had just unloaded her pets into their pens, when she noticed her friend Rima with her boyfriend Penn. There was someone else too. Penn had brought his friend Davy. Louise had never met Davy before, so she was polite, and then got back to work leaving the rest. There was no point in hanging around. Rima was busy with Penn and she wasn’t interested in Davy.

She had work to do, and hoped that the guy, she had a crush on, Ned, would change his mind about her and be there at her eighteenth birthday party with red roses may be. Louise really liked him and felt he too was interested in her, but he hadn’t asked her out, either. A little strange!

Rima wanted Louise to spend some time with them as well. So in spite of not being too keen, she took a break and joined them. She also had to talk a little to Davy cause Rima got busy with Penn again.

Well, it was not really love at first sight, but Davy quite liked Louise, her braids, the way her fringes covered a good deal of her forehead, the manner in which she cringed her nose….. – little did she realise how appealing it made her look. Not a bit of make-up and yet she looked so carelessly beautiful. At first she did not know what to talk to him about. So, Davy simply asked her about her pets, how she had conceived the idea of the zoo, her hobbies and so on.

Louise did not mind that either. In fact, she stopped being on her guard and opened up to him. Davy was quite a good listener and a girl usually loves that. Now, Davy had his own reasons too. He just wanted her to go on talking in her sing-a-song voice. And Louise never noticed how his eyes were constantly on her. She just wanted this to get over. But what really made Davy keen on her was her supreme confidence in herself as she told him about her business – that of the traveling zoo.

“Not bad,” thought Davy, “so proud and independent, yet so compassionate towards these animals. She’s the one for me,” However, Louise did not pay him much attention, and she thought he wasn’t keen on her either. How wrong was she!

After the fair, she packed up her animals and returned home, and that was the end of that, she thought. As for Davy, he knew he had finally met his girl.

And it turned out to be the beginning. A few days later Rima called and said, “Lou, do you remember Davy?”

Louise thought and remembered him. He was cute, well-mannered, and seemed very decent. “Of course, I do. Why?” she asked.

“Well, he has been asking me for your number. He keeps talking about the girl with the braids? I know he means you.” Rima giggled. “Should I give him your number?”

Davy was nice, and Louise was flattered indeed, but she didn’t want to date him. Besides, why should she lead him on when she was waiting for Ned to be interested in her. That wouldn’t be fair. “No Rima, that’s not a good idea,” Louise said, and moved on to other things.

The next time they talked, Rima said how Davy still wanted her number. And this happened so many times that Louise couldn’t believe a guy she had met only once and hadn’t even flirted with was being so persistent. Why was he after her?

“Why is he so hung up on me?” she asked Rima once. “I think he likes your braids.”

A few months later it was Louise’s eighteenth birthday party. She invited Ned, hoping he would propose to her. Alas! He didn’t bother to turn up. Louise was disappointed for a few days, and then she wondered if he really deserved her.

There were things she didn’t like about him – the way he became a different person with his friends around, and also seemed arrogant at times. Why had she never thought of this before? Her parents had told her he wasn’t worth her. Maybe they were right after all.

A few weeks later, Rima called her again. “Louise, he still wants your number?” she said.

“Ok,” Louise said. “I guess it couldn’t hurt to talk to him.”

The next week Davy called. Louise had thought they would not have much to talk about, but how wrong she was! They chatted on for an hour – about different things. Once she hung up, she realized how easy he was to talk to. She was surprised to see that she had spent over an hour on the phone with him.

They kept talking after that, and never ran out of things to talk about. There was always something or the other to talk about – college, friends, parties etc. She learnt a lot about him, his family, his friends, his likes and his dislikes too. Gradually she realised how much brighter her day was when she heard from him and how much happier she was around him than she ever was otherwise. In fact, she told Davy about her crush too and the two would have a good laugh about it.

As time passed, the bond between them became stronger. Davy introduced her to his family and it was the same with Louise. They went out on dates, family parties and also hung out with each others friends.

And no matter where they were, Davy was always the same person. There was no attitude, no arrogance, he was just himself. And no matter how sweaty Louise looked, Davy still wanted to show her off to his friends. He was never ashamed of her.

Louise realized she had fallen in love with him, long time back. It had been six months from when they had met that she had gone out on a date with him. And six months from their first date, Davy asked her to marry him – “Lou do you think you can bear me for the rest of our lives?”.

And did Louise agree? Of course! Once she had found out what real love was, could she possibly let him go? Do you have a unique love story to share with us? If our editors find your love story interesting then it could be the next story on shortstorybook.net