Always Summer (31 page)

I felt a
little better, even though I was still wobbly.
 
I quickly washed my hands in the bathwater, and walked out to the
kitchen; I grabbed a couple of energy drinks from the fridge, returning with
them to the bathroom.

Blake was
flushing the toilet while he was still seated on it.

“Babe!”
I
scolded.

He
grunted... shrugging his shoulders and offering me another huge grin.

He hopped
off, and crawled over to me.
 
I stopped
the bath water, and he crawled into the bath...

“I think
you’re overdoing the crawling.” I said sarcastically.

“No way!
 
I feel as though I was shattered and re-glued
together by a six-year-old with super glue!” he argued, sitting back and
motioning for me to get in the water.

Hopping
over the edge of the bath, and settling between his legs, I asked him, “Does
that mean I can drive?”

“No... It
means I’m gonna sit here and gather my strength till it’s time to go!” he
replied.
 
“Now, I thought I saw you bring
in a drink?”

I reached
over the edge and grabbed the energy drinks, lifting one of them to his hand.

*

We soaked
for half an hour, talking about my day, and what he was going to get up to this
weekend.

Blake
informed me of a slight change in plans.
 
Debbie and Max had rung and asked if we’d go to their place for an early
dinner.
 
I had hoped to go out in New
York with Blake, but it would be good to catch up with family.

Energy
restored, we hopped out of the bath all wrinkled, but refreshed.

“I laid out
your clothes for you.
 
And I packed your
bag.” Blake said as he dried my back.

I trusted
his judgment... he always had had good taste in clothes.

“Thanks
babe!” I said, moving in for a kiss, and getting a quick pash from him.

I shuffled
out the door naked, after hanging my towel over the rack.

On our bed
on my side, was a dark grey pair of skinny jeans I had years ago stolen from
Sally, my pre-loved green op shop t-shirt, with tulip sleeves and skulls... and
on the floor was a dark grey pair of DC skate shoes that Blake had recently
bought for me.

Coming in
behind me, Blake motioned toward the ensemble.

“Went for comfort... flights can be uncomfortable at the best of times.”
He said.

“Are we
still going to have time to do a spot of shopping?” I said
,
putting on the pale pink bra and panties he’d left on the bed beside the
clothes.

“Yeah, we
are... but I thought we’d hit some of the old thrift stores in Northport.
 
And since we’ll be there to see Debbie and
Max, it will all work out well!” He reasoned.

“Okay,” I
shrugged.
 
It sounded good to me.
 
So I started dressing in the clothes he’d
laid out.

Blake began
to dress as well.
 
He pulled up a pair of
his standard ‘
Calvin Klein
’ boxers,
before pulling on a pair of ‘
Diesel
’
grey/blue denim jeans.

“Have I
seen those before?” I asked, scrutinizing his jeans.

“These?” he
looked down... “No, I bought them on
eBay
two weeks ago; they came in the mail a couple of days ago.
 
Though, I have had
Diesel
jeans like these before.” He answered, smiling at me.

“Oh,
okay... that’ll be it then.” I chuckled.
 
He had good taste... his jeans were loose fitting, and hung low on his
hips, I was happy to see him in these sexy, buttoned up jeans.

He coupled
the jeans with a white, buttoned shirt, that was slightly crumpled, but looked
excellent like that.

I went and
sat down next to him on his side of the bed, and began to put on my DC’s.
 
He leant down and pulled out an old pair of
red
Converse
sneakers.

“You still
have those?” I asked him.
 
He’d initially
learned to skate in them.

“Sure I
do!” he said, smiling.
 
“They were a
little big for me back in the day, but they’re nicely worn and comfortable
these days.
 
Good for driving in
anyway.”
 
He reasoned.

“Cool... we
look as though we could step back in time into high school.” I said.

Blake
laughed out loud... “We were only in high school a few months ago!” he said.

“You know
what I mean.” I laughed.

“Sure I
do!” he replied jokingly.

Blake.

I couldn’t
believe I’d gotten away with it thus far... she hadn’t recognised the
outfits... no doubt she would definitely recognize them when the time came...
my nerves were working overtime.

We were out
of Hackettstown at the right time - 1pm, because
Summer
had wanted to get some shopping in before she left for Mexico on the
plane.
 
We drove without incident to
Northport.
 
She failed to notice anything
different, and seemed a little excited to be going home for a few hours.
 
She was giving me quizzical looks for more
than half an hour as we approached Northport though, since my nervousness was
beginning to show.
 
So I had to lie and
tell her I felt a little ‘off’ and tired.
 
Although I actually did feel a little 'off', but not for the reasons I
alluded to.

Blake.

We pulled
up at Fort Salonga Road
Starbucks
at
2:45 pm.

I was
absolutely packing it.
 
I was
shitting
myself!
 
Thank God for body spray and antiperspirant, otherwise I would’ve been
sweating a swimming pool!

“Blake!”
Summer was a little worried.
 
“What’s
going on?”

“I need a
coffee... someone really tired me out this morning.” I smirked.

That did
it; it got a smile out of her.

“Come on,
we’ll sit in...
 
We’ve got time. We don’t
need to leave here till 6:30 tonight.”

“Okay... I
could use a shot of coffee too.” She agreed.

We made our
way into
Starbucks
.
 
It was perfect... the self same booth was
vacant... another sign!
 
I made my way
toward it... it had been our booth more often than not, throughout our high
school years.

Summer sat
down on what used to be our side of the booth.
 
I rapped my knuckles on the table...

“What do
you want?” I asked.

“I think
I’ll go a Cinnamon Latte today.”
 
She
replied.

“Excellent choice madam!”
I said in an English accent.

She
laughed.

I went to
the counter and ordered her Cinnamon Latte, alongside a Macchiato for myself,
and paid for them.

I subtly
felt in my pocket for the little box that would change my life one way or
another, as I awaited the coffees.

The last
time
Summer
went to New York for the weekend to do a
shoot, Sally and I went shopping for engagement rings.
 
I wanted something that was going to last
forever.
 
It needed to be good quality...
but of course I wasn’t made of money, so I had to access my college fund...
with my parents help, so that I could buy it.
 
I’d have to find a job before I finished my three year college degree in
order to replace that money, but she was worth it.

It was a
diamond solitaire engagement ring; white gold with six prongs holding a beautiful
1 carat diamond.

Sally was
my partner in crime, trying on the rings to make sure and get the right size.

Sally had
been engaged to Henry for over four years... I had no intention on waiting that
long to marry
Summer
; I wasn’t sure how I’d manage a wedding
while at college; however, since our friend pool was pretty small, I was
certain we could manage a small wedding sooner rather than later.

The coffees
were ready... and my stomach was in my throat as I made my way to the booth.

My parents
knew what I was doing... plus, I’d asked Max permission to ask
Summer
to marry me; and of course Debbie was beside herself
with excitement over the whole thing.
 
They would all be at an early dinner tonight, all four of them, in order
to either console me or congratulate us.

“Here you
go babe!” I said, moving around the booth in order to sit in the exact same
seat that we had been in when we kissed four years ago, and placed her coffee
in front of her.

She smiled
at me and leant in to give me an appreciative kiss.

I sat there
for what felt like years... plucking up the last bit of courage I needed before
I failed to go through with it.
 
We
talked about non-consequential bullshit.

“Summer!”
I requested her attention from whatever she was currently yammering on about.
 
I couldn’t concentrate on her words at that
moment anyway... not till I got this over with.

“Blake!”
she returned, smiling.

“You know I
love you... and I’m going to miss you like hell this weekend.” I started.

“
Aww
...” she crooned, and moved into me.

I breathed
deep...

“Summer...
four years ago, we sat here in this very spot and I kissed you for the first
time.
 
It confirmed for me that I would
never love anyone else... that it would always be you.” I swallowed... she went
to say something... but I gave her a look that nonverbally asked her not to
talk.
 
She stopped before she really
started.

I got up
out of the seat, and walked around to her other side.
 
My legs felt like jelly, my throat felt like
I’d eaten razor blades, and my chest felt like I was in the clutches of a Boa
constrictor.

I got down
on one knee in front of everyone there, and pulled the pretty little box out of
my pocket, holding it unopened in front of her.
 
The entire cafe began to silence, as one after another, the patrons
noticed me on one knee and looking up into
Summer’s
beautiful eyes... Summer had covered her mouth with both her hands after a
sharp intake of breath.
 
I’d taken her
completely by surprise.
 
I cleared my
throat...
 
I had practiced this for days;
surely I could do it by rote by now.

“I know
we’re both young... and we’ve been together legitimately for only a short
while... but for all intents and purposes, we’ve had an eleven year
relationship.
 
We’ve been madly in love
with each other for four years, despite both of us being too stubborn to
recognize it before the summer break.
 
I
love you immensely, and I’ll quite literally fail in life if you aren’t by my
side.
 
I can’t imagine how I’ll be able
to breathe when you’re away from me this weekend, without knowing that you are
legitimately mine and I am yours!” I took a breath; she was crying... a squeak
escaped her, but her mouth remained covered, and I hadn’t finished my speech
yet.
 

The cafe
behind me was by now completely quiet... not a pin drop... even the music was
turned off or down.
 
I swallowed
again.
 
My eyes never left hers.

“I promise
to take care of you... to love you unconditionally... to share the bullshit in
addition to the amazing.
 
I promise to
listen to you and put your needs first at all times.
 
I love you so much, it consumes me.
 
Summer Lilly Rogerson... will you do me the
honor and be my wife?”
 
I asked, opening
the box to show her the ring I had chosen for her.

Summer.

I was
frozen... no, not quite frozen, my breathing was making my chest rise and fall
dramatically.
 
He was kneeling on one
knee... at my feet.
 
He’d pulled a small
navy blue and silver velvet box out of his pocket and held it up in front of
me.

I
blanched... all the blood drained from my face, and then I began to cry... so I
covered my mouth with my hands to prevent my crying from escalating.

Blake
poured his heart out to me... I heard every word and knew it was honest... that
he truly meant every single word.