I was sitting outside, watching the sunset, guitar in lap, glass of wine on a table and imagining that everything was normal. Normal. Was anything ever normal? Okay, I suppose I was just imagining that I was able to walk on my own, that I could fast forward to the future and be okay or rewind the past and not be in the spot when the light fell. If I changed the past thought, it may have been one of the other fellas. Hmm, okay, I’d do it all again and fast forward.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Allayna was sitting next to me, reading a book, sipping on her glass of red. A couple of weeks had passed and the longing to be next to her was something I couldn’t explain.
“Just thinking.”
“I know. That’s why I said penny for your thoughts,” she laughed lightly and took another sip.
“You say everything happens for a reason but I still haven’t found this reason yet.”
“You will, when you’re not expecting it.” She smiled, now gazing out into the horizon with me. She had the boot off her ankle, but still had to wear a smaller brace to help stability. She still did work with Jonathan when I went to my therapy to help strengthen it back up.
“Hmm,” I strummed a few lazy chords.
“You going to sing for me?” She asked, now looking over at me. I looked at her and rose an eye brow. “I haven’t heard you sing since before the accident.”
“I’m just not feeling it.” I shrugged and put the guitar down and picked up my wine. “Let’s go out.”
“Go out?”
“Yeah, it’s a Saturday night. It’s warm. We’re young and beautiful. Let’s go out. I’ll call a cab, we’ll get some drinks, some dancing.”
“Oh we will?”
“Yes. Now go get ready. I am taking you on a date.”
An hour later, we were sitting outside this bar and grill, which was actually fancier than it sounds. There were white lights strewn across trees, people were walking around outside, wearing nice clothes.
“This was a good idea Nick,” Allayna smiled taking a sip of her now white wine.
“I know.” I smirked and took a sip of my wine. “You look amazing tonight,” I complemented her and meant it. She had a black silk romper, wore a pair of flat sandals, complained about having to wear flats because of her ankle, but she looked beautiful. Her hair was down and there was a light wave to it. Her skin was tan from being outside a lot, and there was a bronze glow to her cheeks.
“Well Carter, I must say you clean up yourself.” She held her glass up to click with mine. I had on a pair of black slacks, a short sleeve black V neck shirt and I put light gel in my hair to keep it from falling in my eyes all night.
“Why don’t we do this more often?”
“Because it’s a lot of work.” She spat out and then put her hand over her mouth. “Eh, I didn’t mean it like that Nick. I’m sorry.”
I chuckled and took a sip. Leave it Allayna to always be blunt an honest. “It’s true.” I agreed. “Hopefully soon enough. I can now stand in that standing thing at PT without passing out, I can move feet and hopefully soon enough, I’ll be walking.”
“Let’s drink to that,” She held her glass up again. We continued to talk about little things and how we had plans to go visit Brian in Georgia next week. That would be a good mix to my boring routine. Our first bottle of wine emptied fast and were half way through our second by the time we finished our meal.
Salsa music was playing in the background, there were couples dancing outside and I saw Allayna’s eyes dance along.
“Want to dance?” I asked.
“Would love to,” she finished the wine in her glass and stood up. Her cheeks were flushed, and I could tell she was feeling the alcohol. She seemed more relax and a smile stayed put on her full lips.
I wheeled out to the floor, she took my hand and we somehow mimicked some salsa. Half way through the song as she stepped forward, she let out a small cry and was in my lap the next thing I knew. Our faces were inches apart, I could smell the sweet wine on lips with a mix of her perfume.
“Sorry,” she whispered, breathing heavily. “My ankle gave out on me.”
“Are you okay?” I whispered back. I wasn’t sure why we were whispering or why my heartbeat had picked up when she spoke.
“Yeah. Maybe I should’ve worn the brace.” Our eyes stayed locked with each other.
“See now that’s love,” I heard a random woman tell her husband as they danced passed us.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Enjoy this short sweet chapter.
