All I Want

10

You know how you can tell through certain sounds, whether it's shoes clicking on the floor, or the sound of the car engine, or a knock on a door; who's behind the sound. This time the knock on my bedroom door sounded a lot like my mother.

"Come in." I said, as I stared blankly at the window. I heard the way her heels clicked on the floor. I turned to face her. I wasn't wrong.

"Darling, we are going to Mrs. Thomas birthday celebration, I'm not quite sure at what hour we will arrive, but I hope you stay out of trouble."

"Trouble?" I asked, trying to figure out if she meant what I thought.

"Harold, just," She let a sigh come out of her lips. "We want what's best for this family. We ordered Conor to give you some time to think about it." She started walking closer to the bed. I crossed my arms against my chest and pressed my lips together, with no desire to even look at her.

"Okay, it's whatever you say mother. I think I'm going to do some shopping, so I can do that...think. Okay?" 

"Don't max the card this time." She warned. I nodded as she walked out of the room. Shopping wasn't in my plans at all. I waited for them to get out of the house, and as I heard the car at a distance, I knew it was time. I took the biggest bag I could find in my closet, then opened the drawer and took a pair of panties and another pair of bras. I removed from the hanger a few shirts, jeans and a sweater. For this unfortunate event, no heels. Converse and Keds were the best choice. I also packed a deodorant, hair brush, tooth brush and my tooth paste. I took my cell phone and threw it inside. I rushed to get out of the room, without even taking a shower or changing into decent clothes. I walked downstairs, trying to be as quiet as possible. I didn't want Alondra or anyone else to notice my lack of presence around the house. I put the bags on the back of the car and then, I got inside. I started the engine and drove down the driveway. I tried to drive as fast as I could, for I didn't want to give anyone the chance to see the entire situation happening. In less than ten minutes I was already staring at Harold, from the insides of my car. I had news for him. I had a proposal for him. I also had a nervous feeling scattered all over my body. And I also had fear... mostly fear. As I tried to fathom my thought into coherent sentences, I noticed I had a few seconds to do the task. Harold was walking towards the car, with his furrowed eye brows and probably a million questions going around his mind. Or not, maybe he was just wondering if it really was me or someone else from the house. I got out of the car and immediately, his lips shaped into his perfect smile. 

"What a surprise." He said, as he wrapped me in his arms to get a kiss out of my lips.

"I have something to say," I smiled. "I hope you're okay with it and if you're not, I think I'm still going to go through with it on my own." He looked confused after I said those words to him. It seemed to me like he thought I was about to drop some terrible news or anything close to that, but it wasn't the case. Not even close.

"Okay, tell me then. Did something happen again with Conor?" He looked concerned, but I shook my head in denial. 

"Let's run away together. Anywhere, I don't care." I gave him a cheeky smile. My hand was griping on his jumpsuit and the fact it was dirty didn't matter at all.

"Wait, what?" He looked confused, furrowing his eyebrows. I pressed my lips together, trying to find the right words to convince him about the plan.

"My parents are literally forcing me to marry Conor. I can't tell you why, but things are not happening the way I planned. And I can't stay here. If I do I'll end up marrying him and I despise him and I-"

"Okay," He interrupted. He cupped my cheeks with his hands. "Let me ask for a few days off and we'll head to my place and grab some stuff. I have money for both of us. Okay?" I nodded. 

"I'll wait for you inside the car." I mentioned. He placed a kiss on my forehead, leaving me on my own. I was actually fearing my parents or Conor. I didn't want any of them to find me right now, or ever, to be honest. I wanted to get away from here as fast as I could. As I played with the tips of my hair, I noticed from the insides of the car, Harold was already walking towards it with no working jumpsuit in sight.

"So, are you ready?" He asked, as he got inside of the car. He placed the seat belt strap right across his chest, after hearing the clicking sound I looked up at him. 

"I am." I smiled and drove away from his work place. After minutes of complete silence, we got to his place. I noticed kids were playing outside. He unbuckled his seat belt and opened the door, but he was still inside, as if he wanted to mention something before entering. I could easily tell he was hesitating. 

"I know you're ready to run away and I'm sort of ready for it too," I slightly chuckled. "But, I'm not ready for you to meet my family. Not right now, not like this."

"Yeah, I have to keep an eye open either way. I'll wait for you here." I wasn't ready to meet his family either, I mean, the truth is we were absolutely nothing. We were just floating trying to find something to hold on to... at least I was. Besides, you can't take a step forward if you are barely getting to know this person. You can't take a step forward if the ground isn't steady. There were lots of hurdles, like a million of them. 

"You are not mad?"

"You're being honest," I answered. "I can't ever be mad with honest words. I just hope we keep it that way. I hate being lied to." I confessed. 

"Good to know." He kissed my lips before stepping outside. It felt different. A good kind of different. I watched as he walked towards his house and before entering, he hugged the kids. It hit me that those kids were probably his little brothers and it's not like we're running away forever, but I'm not planning on returning anytime soon. After a few long minutes, he was back. I needed to ask him if he was okay with this situation. I was afraid of his answer, though.

"Hey, so," I pressed my lips together. "Are you sure about this?" He looked at me, serious. And then after two seconds his lips curved into a smile.

"I am game if you are." And that was all I needed to hear.