Nick rubbed my neck while I talked and I put my head on his shoulder.
“That's fantastic. I'm so thrilled that something wonderful came out of that terrible moment. I've been here to testify that you’re fantastic at cooking. I can't wait to see what happens in your culinary career. I just want you know I want to be with you. It’s that simple: I want to be with you for everything. Starting your business, whatever it takes, I want to be there. Honestly, I want to fuck you forever.” I couldn’t stifle a laugh.
“Nick, that kind of sounds like a proposal,” I smiled.
“I’m having so much fun with you in my life. We haven’t been able to do live our lives together. There's time for marriage, there's time for kids. I mean, I feel like I'm psychic: I can see the future and I just know it's going to work out for us. Right now it's just too soon after all the trauma that we've been through. Let’s focus on relocation, starting a new life.”
“I couldn’t agree more, Nick,” I said.
“Wherever we go, we’ll bring your mom because we need family support. You can see her whenever you want. I mean, she could even help you start your business. Every Sunday we could have dinner with her. Let's do this. Let's live our lives. We just have to push through these last few months when we get back to school.”
“That sounds fantastic,” I said as I pulled him up to a stand, “let's keep walking and just enjoy this day. I love that we can be together without worrying that somebody's going to take our picture or that a student is going to spot us. I want to just enjoy ourselves in this magical place this week.”
“There’s one last thing,” Nick said, removing something from his pocket. It was a velvet-covered box.
I put my hand to my mouth. Nick opened it, revealing diamond earrings. “These are for you.”
“Oh my, Nick, you shouldn’t have,” tears welling up in my eyes.
“All they are is a reminder that you are a jewel to me.”
Nick hugged me, picking me up off of the ground. He spun me around and I clung to him, laughing. He kissed me and put my softly back on my feet.
“Catch me, you bad teacher,” Nick said as he raced down the mountain. I started running after him, but then I stopped to put the earrings in my pocket. When I looked down to reach into my pocket, I saw a beautiful flower blooming on a cactus. Something was just coming into bloom, something that had found its footing in a harsh landscape.
“You’re the naughty one!” I yelled, jogging down the trail.
THE END
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One