Keep Calm and Hug Me

Chapter Three

We went to see the platypuses, which were amazing, by the way, and of which Chris took lots of pictures and then we followed an alternative trail to see the wallabies, pelicans and kookaburras. I could not believe how many exceptional animals lived in this continent. By the time we had left the kookaburras area, we were both quite hungry so we returned to the main trail where there were bathrooms and cafés.

“I’m starving!” Chris proclaimed.

“Me too.”

“Look Jay! There’s a picnic area!” he pointed out excitedly to the large area of grass where families and couples were sharing sandwiches and hot dogs.

I wasn’t very thrilled, I loved nature but it was damn hot now that the sun shone right above us and I was hoping to sit at a table on a comfortable chair in the shade.

“Umm…how about we go to the café for lunch and then we purchase something to go for tea and have that one outside?”

“Oh, Jonny!” he moaned.

“Please, then we’ll have coffee and a muffin outside, I promise.”

"I don't want coffee, I want some juice or a milkshake," he sulked.

"Of course, whatever you like. Please?"

“Mmm…”

“Please,” I searched his eyes with mine.

He stood there deciding, although I thought he was just being melodramatic about it just for the sake of joking.

I quickly scanned the people around us, everyone was minding their own business so I leaped forwards and gave him a quick peck on his mouth. Despite his serious expression, his lips began to curve until he was fully smiling.

“Fine, let’s go to that café…,” he bit his lip before uttering, “You always know what to do to make me do as you please,” he stated shaking his head.

Actually, I was truly convinced it was the other way around.

*flashback*

“That’s it Chris, I think it’s fine the way it is!”

“It is good, but I know you can make it better, come on Jonny boy, come on! Give it another try!”

I just wanted to go home, I was tired and hungry, but the prospect of spending precious time with Chris was enough to make me want to stay at the studio a bit longer, even if I really thought the song was fine and there was absolutely nothing more I could do for it.

“Come on, Jay!”

My bed, I needed my bed. I yawned, what time was it? Two? Three in the morning? Then again, my bed would be empty and cold, my flat would be too boring now, there was no one to keep me company. Not even the cat, it had been her cat after all. The fat furry ball had moved out when she had a year ago but he would come back to the flat to visit every once in a while, I always kept some tins of cat food for him in my kitchen cupboard. However, she had found out about his escapades two months ago and had not liked it one bit and so poor Arthur had been confined to her house ever since. I did not miss her, I missed Arthur, I missed Arthur and I missed having someone to share my life with, someone who would care about me and love me. Someone who would come over to my flat and lie with me on the bed, talking, hugging, kissing, telling jokes. My flat was empty now, there was no warmth, no love and no him. I did not fancy going to the flat if Chris was here.  Here I was happy, here I had my guitars, here I had company and understanding. Here, here I had Chris.

“Jon!” he touched my cheek and I realised I had started to nod off. I was too tired, I needed to sleep, but I couldn’t just sleep here.

“Jonny,” he insisted.

“Uggg,” I protested.

“Come on, honey, I know you can outdo yourself in this one,” he told me, his hand was still on my cheek, I glanced up and my eyes met his. He had called me “honey”. Had he really called me honey or had my hopeful and sleep-deprived mind come up with it? No, I concluded, he had indeed called me “honey”. My insides tingled, his eyes were piercing into mine and his thumb was caressing my face now. I bet he could see my love for him clearly in my eyes. Could it be that he also…? Maybe…?

“I know you can do it Jay,” he repeated and at that moment I would have believed him anything he told me.  His fingers left my face and I just wished for them to come back. I wanted to feel the comfort they brought to me. I held my guitar firmly in my hands and swallowed. I could do it, I could try again. “Alright,” I said.

His smile was impossibly wide and he signaled our sound engineer, who had almost dozed off behind the window, to get ready to record. I took a deep breath, shook myself as awake as I could and played the song again. I played it two more times, Chris’ eyes shone brighter with every take. The third time was the one in which his eyes could not get any brighter without becoming stars. That take was the one that was included on the album, that take was the one I was to this day congratulated for. He had got his way, and in the process I had got mine, for that night I had not been alone in my flat. That night I had succumbed to slumber by his side. I would not be alone anymore.

*End of Flashback*