My Favourite Part

03: countdown

It's Thursday again, and I'm in my favourite place. I open my eyes and I'm here, on the first house atop the hill. Eric's at the kitchen counter, and when he looks me in the eyes, he comes over, and kisses me softly.

"You, my darling," he says in between kisses, "are in for a treat. Get ready." I lick my lips, tasting something sweet, and look at him quizzically.

"Ah - no questions," he knows me too well, "you will soon see, my love." He's excited and mischievous, and at times like this  I forget about what's beyond the little red door; what people would think about us.

I can picture us right here, forever. Young, and running off on surprise adventures. Old, and listening to old Prince and watching all the sunsets. But I look at him, looking at me as he laces his sneakers, with a big, goofy grin on his face, and I am satisfied with right now.

I let out a little yawn as I get up, and slink up behind him.

"But Eric..." My voice is low and I sound just a little whiny, and I know I'm not playing fair when I wrap my arms around his middle but I can't help it. "Where are we going?" I nip at the back of his neck. I feel the sound from deep in his stomach when he chuckles and says,

"My eager Evie." He starts to hum The Most Beautiful Girl again, and I have to smile as I put on my sweater.

When this first started, when we first started, we never left house. I couldn't face the thought of marching past my house or Barbara's house and having to explain hey guys, so I'm in love with my English TA...

So we stayed in — not that I minded.  It meant we did things like bake cookies while we watched reruns of The Great British Bake Off, and lay upside down on the couch deciding what we'd spend the money on if we won the lottery, and ... other things. Until one afternoon, he turned to me.

—"Do you want to do something?"

— "...Like yoga?"

—"Evie, I meant outside. As in go somewhere."

—"Oh. Oh! Really? A-are you sure?"

—"Evie, I wanna be with you. And do all the things people who want to be together do! Go out for dinner, go to concerts, go wine-tasting, I don't... fucking know, why are you looking at me like that?"

—"Let's go."

And just like that, we started. At first, we'd sneak out of the back of his house and drive for a good hour to a diner nobody knew, or a flower garden after hours. And our little world was all our own. I asked him if he'd ever get a fifth tattoo, and we drove to a parlour - he got a hand bell tatted in between his fingers. He asked me who my favourite old singer was, and we took a tram downtown to a vinyl store so we could start a collection.

Now, adventures and surprises and mini-trips like this were normal. When old ladies at mini-market counters told us we made a properly beautiful pair, I could smile, and Eric could wrap his arms around me, and we could say thank you.

"Open your eyes, Evie." We were driving for only about 10 minutes, if that, and now we've walked maybe half a mile with his hands over my eyes and his voice in my ear, watch your step, Evie.  When his hands drop from my eyes, they fall to my hips and we're outside the conservatory garden.

"Eric..." I say in awe, "oh my goodness." We've talked about this place before, but I've haven't outright asked. It's for real rich folk, like Eric's family, and I've never wanted to find out if he's ashamed of me or put us in jeopardy, so I've never asked. But now, we're here.

"Eric, what if we run into someone?" My heart drops a little, but I have to offer. "Should I say I'm a colleague?"

"Of course not, Evie," he says, and I can see in his eyes that he means it, "I will say you're my beautiful girlfriend and we'll tell them to bugger off if they have any more questions." He nuzzles his nose against mine, lowering his voice towards the end of his sentence. I laugh and breathe out, free of fear, and ready to enjoy my afternoon with him. I see a wicker basket in his hand, and he grins at me without elaborating, so I lace my hand with his free one as we head inside, towards a front desk. The grumpy-looking brunette behind it is sat in front of a glass wall, and I can see the garden - it's sprinkled with flowers of every colour. I'm in awe.