The Journal of Beatrice Grace Parker

For The First Time

By the time I wiped my eyes, I knew he was there. So I couldn’t read it further. I heard him before I saw him, but he just came and sat beside me, keeping the journal in the middle. It was this journal which had brought us together in the first place that now separated us. It was like a metaphor, this journal, sitting right there between us. Keeping us linked to each other, but not close.

I tentatively stretched out my hand to pick up the journal. He put out his hand at the same time. Our hands brushed past each other, and the journal fell into the grass. Swiftly, he caught hold of my outstretched hand and pulled me closer. We leaned in, unaware of the scene we were creating in the park. There was just the journal, and there was us. Nothing else existed in the universe. Slowly, his forehead touched mine. Nose to nose, we stared into each other’s eyes, till he broke the spell of silence, and took my free hand in his other hand. Now we were completely turned towards each other, even the journal forgotten. His note fluttered weakly in our combined hold, but I didn’t care. He spoke – “Beatrice Grace Parker, you’re the best thing that ever happened to me. And I can never ever hate you for that. So stop being stupid. I –” but before he could complete the sentence, I had given out a yelp-sob sound, and before we knew it, our lips met and we kissed for an eternity. I don’t know which one of us had to come up for air first. But then we just sat there, looking into each other’s eyes. I hadn’t even known such feelings could exist in me. I felt I would spontaneously combust, if it weren’t for Theo. My Theo.