Life in a letter

An agreement

"Hey" I watched her come out of the cafe. I smiled "hey!" I said a bit more alive than last time. "Oh, I'm Harper by the way! But you can call me Pep" she said as we walked towards her car. I looked at her confused "Pep?" I asked. "Urg it's a long story. It's short for Pepper." She mentioned rolling her eye with a smile. "I have time" I winked. We sat in her car. "It was a dare. My cousin decided to have a competition to see who could eat the most chilli peppers and I won. The only thing I won though was a nickname." She laughed pulling up to a small street surrounded by trees. She looked at me "come on" she smiled and got out. Following suit, I caught up with her as we walked in the direction of the trees. "This is my favourite place. I always come here when I just need some peace." She said. I smiled watching her talk. We reached a small walkway at the edge of the trees. I looked around as we made our way through, I could hear birds chirping and trees rustling as the wind made its way between leaves. I was curious as to where she was taking me. As we turned the corner we made our way to an opening where we were faced with a river. I smiled " wow this is beautiful. How did you find this place?" I looked around me, we were the only people there that I could see. "Well I used to come here with my father, we lived only a couple of streets away from here. My father and I would come here on walks after school. But that was a long time ago now." She states as she directed us to a dock. Made our way down the stairs then sat ourselves down on to the pontoon.

" you know, I've told you my name. What about yours?" She asked turning to face me. "Oh sorry love, I forgot I'm Gary. But you can just call me Gary." I smirked making her giggle as she took my stretched out hand to shake. "It's a pleasure to meet you just Gary"

...

We've been chatting now for what felt like a few short hours. She was so easy to talk too. It was as if I had known her for much longer than I have. She was a special girl. I looked down to check the time, it was 3:20pm. I was shocked. Time had gone so quickly. "Gary? Are you ok?" Pep asked when I sighed. "To be honest" I looked at her "I'm terrified" I said feeling the nervousness in my body start to double. "What are you terrified of?" She asked placing her hand on mine that was resting on the floating timber beneath me. "I think a bunch of things. I'm scared of what I will see when I get there. I'm scared of what they will expect me to do. I am afraid that I'll never see my parents again and to be honest I am scared I'll never get the chance to be in a relationship with a beautiful woman. Just things that I always thought I would have in my life just seem to far beyond my reach now." I blurted it out all at once. I looked up into her eyes and was met with sadness. She could feel my sorrow. "Oh Gary, I'm so sorry that this is happening. But all we can do is pray and hope you will come back to us still in one peace." I nodded. For some reason that answer just didn't bring me the encouragement I needed.

"Pep?" I asked sceptically. "Mmm?" She replied staring out over the water. "I-I don't know if you have a boyfriend. Actually I don't really care about him to be honest. I was just wondering if we could keep in contact while I'm away? Yesterday I was given an notepad and it made me think about who I can send letters to. Could you be that person?" I asked not ready for her reaction. She just looked at me as if she was thinking.  She reached up and placed her hand on my face. "Gary" she spoke softly. "It would be an honour to be here for you." She said smiling a beautiful reassuring smile. I couldn't help but return it. I grabbed her hand on my face and rubbed my thumb over it. She was something else. "Your so beautiful" I said and she continued to look at me. I caught sight of the slight reddening of her cheeks as she shies away. I reached my thumb under her chin and brought her back to look at me. "I mean it Pep, your truly beautiful. Inside and out." I said again a bit softer.

My smile turned a bit once she starts to move away from me. I watched concerned as she started to get up. I was startled when she straddled me and held my face in her hands. "And your so handsome Gary" she said before she leant in slowly and placed her lips onto mine. Pulling her into me as I recover my stance and kissed her back. It was a slow and dare I say it so soon but loving kiss. She slipped her tongue into my mouth as I slid my hands down over her bum down to her thighs. I leant my back down on the timber a She leant her elbows either side of my head. After a couple of minutes she drew back and looked at me. "I really wish I met you in different circumstances Pep." I said out of breath. She smiled. "Me too Gary. But I would love to be your girl." She said surprising me. I never asked her to be my girl. But I'm happy she said it. I leant up to kiss her again. This is going to be better than I thought now.

...

It was now time for me to meet everyone at the bus stop. Pep drove me and here we are just sitting in the car. No words were spoken, holding hands waiting for the time before I had to leave. "Gary?" I looked over to her. " I don't know you very well yet, but I am looking forward to getting to know you as a person. I will always reply to your letters, I will never let you down. I will promise you I will be here for when you return home. Just please, please try to come home. I will wait forever." When she had finished talking we were both in tears. Pep unclipped her seatbelt and straddled me, she cried into my shoulder as we held each other. "I've never felt so touched Pep, I will return to you, I promise." I tried to reassure her and myself. We were both sentimental as I watched the group of cadets gathering for our departure. I looked at Pep and she knew as well. We hopped out of the car and walked to the bus that was waiting for us. I took Pep's hand in my own and gave it a squeeze, "I promise I will see you again." I said welling up. I kissed her one last time. So passionately and so lovingly, this is what I will be coming back too and I was thrilled. "Goodbye baby" is said walking away and onto the bus. Once everyone was on, the doors closed and we started to move. I just watched Pep out the window waving goodbye as we drove off, ready for 9 years until we see each other again.

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AUTHORS NOTE

Hey guys' thanks so much for reading. I hope you are enjoying it so far. I know this chapter was a little cliché and all but who doesn't like a bit of that aye:P I will be trying to post as often as I can to get this story up and running💚💚