Stay with me

Chapter II

Our official day together started like a dream, we would cook, play, sing and dance, we weren’t just existing, we were living life as if there were no moments left to live; those imaginary scenes that we would only see in movies and read in books, those ideal love stories we would hear in bars and clubs, we surpassed all that, we planned our days and nights, nights that would cost million days and million nights. We knew we had one life, but we had found it better to live it as many times as possible throughout the years.
_ “so” I sat on the couch and looked at her “what have you been doing all that period?”
_ “I stayed home waiting for this time to come”.
_ “what about the museum you told me about?” I asked.
_ “I didn’t go, I wasn’t in the mood for it, all I was thinking about was to come back here!”
I stayed silent for a moment, then I rushed to my room to get my keys and stood next to the exit door.
_ “come on” I addressed.
_ “what? Where are we going? I need to...” she excused.
_ “not at all” I insisted “just come. All that can wait”.
She smiled with confusion not knowing what was happening.

_ “Two ticket to the city centre please”.
The train station was empty, only the two of us were on train, we sat on the first seats next to the door waiting for our destination. It took us an hour to get there, she fell asleep as the train was going fast and it felt as if it wasn’t moving at all. I kept my palm on her head to avoid waking her up in case of brakes, until the announcement informed us about our arrival.
On the way, heading to “Van Gogh’s” museum, she was questioning a lot about where we were going, and every time she did, I switched to another subject in a fun way. She would seduce me in a cute way to break that surprise, but I went on resisting.
Approximately after ten minutes of walking, she saw the “starry nights” on a poster and turned to me saying: “look! It’s the starry night by Van Gogh!” she focused on my smile for a while bringing to light what i was hiding..
_ “get in” I said with a timid smile.
_ “AAA!” she shouted that everyone heard us, and there It began. We entered and saw those mind-blowing expositions, paintings and rooms decorated just like Vincent’s works. She couldn’t leave that place. We stayed for hours there, escaping from the securities who noticed our overtime. We quit with heavy breath, which could tell how pleasant it was in that place. We couldn’t take enough pictures together, but I took a lot of her staring at those artworks. Those were the best pictures I have ever taken of her.
In the evening, when we returned home, Laura took off her jacket and joined me in the living room. She started to bite her nails, sat next to me, but there was something strange about her. I looked at her glancing at me too much as if she were about to speak.
“You alright darling? You look nervous”.
“I’m fine. There is just something that bothers me, and I really intend to say it”.
‘What is it?’
She left the couch and knelt towards me looking at my face with her eyes fixed on mine. I held her cold hands, caressed them with gentle, hopeful to take off that nervousness that she just adopted.
‘Do you mind if I share the same bed as you?” she demanded “it would feel better than alone in a bedroom”.
‘I-I don’t mind at all” i responded randomly, feeling hesitant towards what I heard “I’m comfortable with it if it would make you feel good”.
‘Are you sure about that? I didn’t mean to embarrass you’.
‘Absolutely. Not at all'
‘Thank you so much dream boy, thank you!'.
‘Anything else I can do for you?’ Said I with a calm voice.
‘Would you like to see my new designed room? Or shall I say our room’.
‘I would love to!’
We walked upstairs, holding each other’s hand about to discover that fictional world inside my mysterious room. I led the way and showed her my things such as Formula 1 posters, mugs, T-shirts and caps. On the walls I had a lot of portraits of several figures: artists, politicians, scientists, tennis players as well. Trophies I won throughout my lifetime competitions, my bookshelves, and even music albums on the desk chair. She checked a book after another; titles, covers, content, she couldn’t stop searching, she seemed like she was seeking for some treasure. Painting materials next to the window were probably the thing she adored the most. She could feel paint on her hand before even touching it.
The candles on the desk, the empty notebook, and the different style of pens on the window side, a typewriter near the door kept as a souvenir of my uncle. The bookshelves were full of books, the closet full of letters, and curtains with endless pockets having uncountable poetry. She turned around checking every corner of the room, feeling just like in a museum of antiques, admiring those simple things on the walls: paintings, posters, quotes. She would get close to check all the details, whether colours, letters, or even shapes. She loved those things.
That day was all spent in the room, she painted while I was writing on my typewriter, she was concentrated so much that she could miss no detail on her masterpiece, she used only a few colours to create a colourful painting with sharp brushes, medium sized ones, and even the heads of her fingers. She could make hard things look effortless.
‘Your bedroom looks fantastic!’
‘Correction; our bedroom looks fantastic’.
Like every night, Laura and I would watch a movie before we sleep, we try to make the best of our nights more than of our days regarding it full of tasks; we usually go to the rooftop to watch the stars then play a movie during bedtime.
“what would you like to watch?”
“What about...Hacksaw Ridge?” she suggested.
“War movie!”
“You like it?”
“Absolutely!” I replied, “I’ll bring something to eat...I will be right back”.
“Okay!”
I ran to the kitchen, I grabbed a bunch of things, then returned to the bedroom with my hands full of sweets to eat while watching the film.
I turned off the lights, took off my sandals and laid beside her facing the screen.
I put the snacks between us and started to unpack one after another, passed her a few or rather put them in her mouth with my proper hands as she was peacefully relaxed in my arms, but I had to seek for her face whose teeth would often bite my fingers when receiving food.
When Laura fell asleep, I covered her with the blanket, I turned off the TV, then I finally slept.