Time Is Nothing (John Frusciante)

Chapter 23

"Well, look at you looking over your new fancy premises," Cecilia laughed as she stepped into John's balcony and eyed him leaning against the railing, smoking his morning cigarette and sipping some coffee.

"Oh, you're up?" John turned around and smiled at his girlfriend, then put off his cigarette and placed his coffee cup on the tiny table he had just recently installed onto the balcony of his brand new house.

"Started to feel a bit lonely in that huge bed all by myself," she smiled and cuddled into John as he gently wrapped his hands around her and gave her a soft kiss.

"Feelin' better now?" he kissed her again and rested his forehead onto her's.

"Uhuh," Cecilia nodded and closed her eyes, enjoying the presence of her boyfriend and the morning air that felt unusually crisp and confirmed that fall time had indeed arrived.

It was an early morning in the end of October and already more than a month had passed from John and Cecilia's dramatic, yet blissful reunion. It didn't remain a secret for long that the couple had found common ground again, especially after one particular occasion when Flea showed up at John's door, completely unexpected, worried about his friend's sudden absence from his daily life, when the person greeting him on the doorstep ended up being Cecilia instead of his best buddy John. Utterly surprised by the sight in front of him, Flea only stared at her for a couple of seconds at first, then burst out hysterically laughing. Seeing Cecilia on John's doorstep seemed to make no sense at all, yet all the sense in the world. "You two really are made for each other," he then only mumbled mid-grinning as he stepped inside, shaking his head and taking Cecilia into a hug. He was more than happy to see his best friend with his girl again. He knew very well that even as John tried to hide his hurt and true feelings as much as he could, he still loved Cecilia. And beyond all, he was impressed with the fact that for once, John had finally manned up and cleaned up his own mess.

After that, it didn't take too long for things to get back into a familiar routine for the group of friends. All the tension that had been suffocating John and the band for months was suddenly gone and things had fallen back into place. In fact, the musical chemistry that the band shared was at its all time high with John's creative juices flowing more than ever. Almost every rehearsal they had, he presented a new idea or a new melody for the guys and that represented a whole new musical direction that they absolutely loved. For John, it was all Cecilia and nothing else that got him back on track with his music and everything else, almost making him feel the same way as he did when he first met her. She just always had a way of making John see the big picture, making him focus his energy in the right way and into the right place. She kept John together like nothing else and he himself knew that better than anyone.

The magic effect Cecilia had on John worked in both ways, though, with John becoming a source of endless inspiration for Cecilia as well. Ever since her and John's break up and the drama that went down in New York, she had reached her hand towards her camera less and less, taking almost no photos during her time in Oklahoma. Of course, she had played around with it here and there every now and then, but most of her recent photos were taken on either rainy and cold days, for reasons Cecilia didn't even know herself, or just mechanically for the sake of taking photos like she did during the process of preparing her exhibition. It was more about feeling like she had to take photos rather than actually wanting to take photos and that was a feeling of creative crisis that Cecilia hated more than anything. Luckily, things had changed dramatically after her and John's reconciliation, and the way he absolutely showered her with love had woken her from such a hopeless state.

And as of now, she had made John's big move into his new house her most recent project. After months and months of waiting, the house John bought after returning from the tour was finally finished with remodeling and ready to welcome its new owner. The house was huge, more of a mansion really, and was separated into two wings. There were multiple balconies, a terrace along with a pool and larger than life windows providing loads of natural light. Cecilia loved it and thought that it fit John perfectly. There was more than enough room for all of his guitars and music gear and art supplies and Cecilia could just see how proud and excited John was about his first house and it made her happy. So, she tried her best to capture as many moments as possible from this whole moving process in order to have something to look back at.