“Yes, we can. In fact, we just did.” I remind her.
“No, I can’t do this.”
“Um, then who was I just kissing?”
“Sebastian!”
“Cadence, I’m serious. This dance we’re doing, has got to stop. I’m going to put a stop to it.”
“What?” She screeches, and I can’t tell if it’s out of fear or pent-up frustration.
I walk over to her and pull the envelope out of my pocket.
“This is for you.”
“What is it?”
“Well, read it.”
“It’s… it’s a $50k check.”
“Well, it’s a receipt. Yup.”
“For $50, 000.”
“Yes.”
“To me.”
“Well, to the school. That’s what this money was meant for, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, but.”
I press a finger to her lips.
“Just… just shush for a minute.” And I move a finger to her temple, “And shush up here, too, and just listen to me, hear me out. And then decide.”
She starts to say something, and then bites down on her tongue. And nods.
I lean over and press a gentle kiss to her lips and she sighs.
“You’re no longer tied to me for any reason. And the money is no longer contingent on any contract. I wanted to donate this money to the school, and it’s done. You couldn’t send it back if you tried. So now… we’re not bound by any contract. You don’t have to play in the band if you don’t want to, and I don’t have to keep my hands off you to make you stay. We can make decisions based on what we should’ve done this whole fucking time.”
“What’s that?”
“What we want.”
Her head whips up and her eyes lock on mine. I can see a sparkle coming to life deep in the deepest pit of her pupils.
“I never thought you wouldn’t come through with the money, Seb, it wasn’t about that, the contract. It was about… it was about… it was about not giving you the chance to break my heart.”
“I’m not going to do that, sweetheart. I promise you.” I grip her soft hand in mind, squeezing it with every word, hoping she’ll believe me.
She looks down at the cash receipt, and up at me. “Can we really do this?”
I tuck my finger under my chin, lifting her pure, sweet face to look at me. “Is it what you want?”
She nods and my heart does a backflip.
“Then yes, we can, just trust me.” And I lean in and kiss her softly.
I pull away and she shakes her head sadly. “I don’t know how.”
I smile and graze her cheek with the side of my finger.
“I’m going to show you.”
And before she can change her mind, I grab her hand and pull her to her feet.
“Come on!” I pull her out of the classroom. “Come on!”
“Where are we going?” She pants, trying to keep up with me.
“Does it matter?” I ask.
And her sweet laugh tells me it doesn’t.
***
“Are we there yet?” She asks for the tenth time, twisting around in her car seat, trying to figure out our destination.
“Where is ‘there’?”
“I don’t know!” She yells and faux glares at me.
“I know, so stop trying to get me to tell you!” I laugh.
She pouts and I lean over to kiss her and she melts against me. In the space of an hour, somehow kissing her has become like the most natural thing I’ve ever done. More natural than sleep, more natural than playing the cello. I was born to kiss her.
“Green light, asshole!” She pushes me away, laughing. And I’m glad that there’s no testing for being drunk on sound.
“Oops, SORRY,” I wave to the car behind me honking its horn.
They say you never really know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone, or that you don’t really know the best part of your life while you’re living it, but someone must’ve imbibed me with some sort of hindsight superpower, because I know, this last hour, sitting in this car and being in her presence, is easily the best hour of my life so far.
After she’d finally stopped fighting me and let me lead her to my car, we’d stopped for a moment, looking at each other, wondering if we were really going to do this. She’d reached up and touched my face, and I’d turned my cheek to press a kiss to her palm. Taking her palm and then pressing my kiss to her heart, and I knew what she was thinking, whatever happens, it’d be worth it for that moment.
“Sebbbbbbbbbbbbbb, where are we going?” She moans and I can’t help but chuckle at her childlike curiosity.
“You’ll see… in… about…. fifteen seconds,” I tell her.
We pass a sign and I see her head whip around, trying to read it.
“Bankkkkstownn… Airport… Wait. Airport? Where are WE GOING?!?!?!” Her excitement level gets turbocharged and she jumps up and down in her seat.
“Huh? Who said anything about the airport?” I say, trying to hide the excitement in my own voice.
“Oh.” She instantly deflates, and I have to turn my head away from her so she doesn’t see my grin. She goes quiet as she tries to hide her disappointment.
That is, until she sees me turn into the Bankstown Airport driveway.
“OMYGOD, we ARE going somewhere! WHERE?!”
I ignore her and drive down until we’re just outside the main entrance.
She jumps out of the car before I can get out and open the door for her. Her eyes are bright as she searches my face for answers. I wrap her up in my arms, pulling her jiggling body up against me, enjoying her softness, her warmth.
She stops her jumping for a moment and lifts her face to mine, kissing me softly, letting out a soft sigh. The she whispers, “Where are we going?” Her relentless curiosity is so sweet and I can’t help answering. “Anywhere you want.”
She pulls away, confused, “What? How?”