When the Bus Stopped

Chapter 28

As the bus reached the outskirts of town Lucy Falkwell pressed the accelerator down firmly. The surrounding scenery became a blur. Rolling gold tinged hills mottled with wild thyme in a magnificent shade of mauve. It was almost as if she were driving full speed through a trinket box.

Lucy felt her heart constrict at the overwhelming beauty. If she had to see this same image for the next twenty years day in and day out it would no longer be beautiful to her.

Up ahead she noticed a large billboard. It hadn't been there on her ride into town. She slowed down a little to read it. One lonely word jumped off the billboard, "Compromise?" A suit was hung over the corner of the sign. Lucy wondered if the wearer had decided to plunge into the bitterly cold alpine river beside the road for a skinny dip and was now suffering from a severe case of pneumonia or frostbite to his extremities. She wondered if she should stop and see if his heart was still beating. And then risk looking like a peeping Tom? After everything she'd been through lately she wasn't brave enough to put herself up for it. She drove on.

She was still contemplating the fate of the badly afflicted office worker when she found another billboard twelve meters on "I love you Lucy."

"Oh!" Lucy breathed. It was a common name but the memory of the gray suit hanging from the first billboard gave her goosebumps. Her stomach knotted up until it was almost unbearable to breathe. She kept her eyes peeled on the horizon searching for any more billboards... any more clues. There wasn't one. Instead a lone man stood beside the road wearing a pair of lime green fisherman's pants holding up a piece of cardboard which read, "Take me with you."

Her heart constricted. Tears catching in her throat.

Open Sesame.

She'd never had anyone do anything so romantic. Her foot pressed the accelerator as she glided the bus up the hill past him.

#

"Have you changed your mind already?" Lucy asked, jogging to keep up with him.

Alessandro lurched around in shock. "You drove on past," he said. His face hardened, "I have to be honest I wasn't expecting that kind of reaction. I know you well enough to not expect a 'yes' but I thought you would at least stop the truck and let me make a half-hearted attempt to change your mind. Is it really so impossible to be polite?"

"I'm here aren't I?" She laughed. "You are talking as though I've gone already. But here I am."

"Did you come back to come back to see how Alessandro Magno looks when he's had his heart broken? If you were here you would have heard it."

"Stop acting like an idiot. I'm here. I read the sign. Yes, I do want to take you with me. I just had to park on the hill. Old habits die hard."

"Oh." He stared at her in astonishment. "Jesus Christ, Lucy! You ripped my heart out and did an Irish river dance on it. I don't think I'll ever be able to trust you again."

"So you don't want to come along with me then?"

"Are you kidding? You've infected me. Look at what I'm wearing!"

She looked at his adorable attire and giggled. "You look so handsome." He was wearing an organic white cotton fisherman's shirt and a large beanie covering his hair. "This would have to be my favorite disguise Detective." Stepping closer she circled her arms around his waist, "Now what were you planning on doing when I stopped the truck?"

A flush crept into his cheeks. "This." Taking a deep breath he held her head delicately in his hands drawing her forward until her lips met his. She could feel her lips zinging from the contact. Her lungs were knotted up until it was almost unbearable to breathe. His lips were covering hers with tiny kisses. Becoming deeper and longer until she was swaying against him drunk on love. As he pulled away from her Lucy felt her knees buckle. "Have I told you that I love you?"

"I read the sign."

"This was the last thing I expected from my journey here."

"And what will you do with your career?"

"I've been hating it for awhile," he admitted. "I was just boarding the plane to go home and the reality just came crashing down... it isn't just you that is keeping me here. This is where I want to be... of course you are a big drawing card. But it is really lonely being famous. You can't trust anyone. I didn't think I could stop because I don't have the qualifications to do anything else. But I have money which I have moved into investments... I'm taking the year off to find myself. And write music for other musicians."

"And when you find yourself you'll head back to conformity?"

"When I find myself I will link Wifi to the bus and start studying from there so in the future I can have a viable business run from our truck."

"To my bus? Wifi?"

"Well... that is part of the compromise to be honest. If I'm coming with you we can't live in a house bus that looks held together by blue tack. We are going to have to buy a bigger one. And you have to update your passport... We never need to stay in motels, but the odd "All the Hits" world tour would help with any uninsured bus crashes that come our way."

Lucy shrugged. "OK. But what about all the stalkers chasing you from town to town?"

"I'll show you something magical." He lifted his hat off and there was a head of tidily crocheted dreadlocks. "They really are like a cloak of invisibility, Lucy. Whenever people see me with these they look the other way! I slathered them with eucalyptus oil but despite that everyone blames any bad body odor in the vicinity on me!"

"Those dreads are going to change your perception of people."

"I'll never be the same again."

"Aren't they the coolest? You really suit them!" In a moment he'd changed from a swooning World Famous Latin lover to a chiseled bohemian god.

"Lucy, in the last week you've become the closest thing I've ever had to a best friend. I promise that I will always appreciate you, I'll always listen to every story you carp on about even ten years down the track and I'll always love you. Just take me with you. Life without you is like eating porridge without sugar for every single meal. It's just meh."

Not to be outdone Lucy gave him a kiss on the lips. "Daniello or Alessandro or whatever... I might not be rich but I promise that you will always be able to trust me. I shan't go spreading gossip about you in all of those sordid magazines. And you never have to worry about your image. Just as long as you're not an asshole."

"These are a bit like marriage vows."

"Well they are sort of. You are getting married to the road."

With an enthusiastic smile he took her hand and placed his beanie back on his head. "Then let us be off into the horizon, my love. The world is out there waiting for us!"

********

The smoke billowing out of the house bus' exhaust was like ribbons from a newly wed's car. And as they disappeared over the hill Alessandro Magno magically disappeared from the world's stage.

Even though the two knew that they were at the beginning of a wild adventure they couldn't know right then how exciting it would be. That they would soon be traveling about the world with their best friend in a whole gaggle of mobile homes. That their lives would become richer in content - if a little less luxurious in superficial things.

Of course - not everything worked out so well... Daniello's family was more than a little miffed with their son's new lifestyle choice and Lucy's father was horrified with the amount of "mumbo jumbo corporate slang" his daughter's new love interest understood. But really - as Lucy reminded her best friend constantly - she was the one who chose him... not her father.

And when they finally did marry it was a cool Summer's day on the side of the river in Arrowtown. Surrounded by the wild riot of lupins. Just like that beautiful day that they met.

***