The Exchange

Chapter 24- A Fresh Start

Change is inevitable. It should be welcomed with open arms and often it should even be encouraged. Because fighting against change means one day you'll wake up and realise you've wasted all your energy preoccupied with a losing battle.

Sasha was a victim of this. She felt as though she had been submerged in a deep slumber which prevented any form of reconfiguration occuring in her life. And she had only been awakened when Julien had stepped into her life. She'd finally unfurled from her curled position and stared back at change. Stared back right into its wide open eyes. 

So why retreat back into her cave and not jump off the edge of the cliff into the wider world below? Even if the cave's walls did hold a promise of safety and protection they also shut everything out. And people shouldn't be afraid to fall in and out of love, because falling means you fly. 

"I want to do something for you", Julien told Sasha, gently stroking a hand through her hair. It was hot from the sun, burning his fingertips.

She studied his face with soft eyes, and even though he appeared drained from his hangover and the intense conversation there was a glow starting from underneath his skin. As though this sudden understanding between them had given him a new, underlying charge of energy. 

"Let's go away from the house so it is just us", Julien continued, which caused Sasha to smile. A day with just them two? They hadn't even done that yet! When they were together it was always at strange hours or set with strange emotions. A day with the Julien that she liked sounded like heaven.

He grinned back at her, before his brows became creased, "You are going to have to show me a special place. If we were in France I would take you to mine but I don't know anywhere around here". 

Sasha licked her lips as she thought of somewhere they could go. Then it hit her, "I know somewhere".

----

The green, luscious field was empty. Each blade of glass glistened in the light and bobbed in the mild wind. It was a hot day and the sun scorched the earth making it dry and cracked. The poppies turned to face the sky, basking happily in the warmth, standing high on their thick stalks. 

It was the field that Sasha had jogged through before everything had happened. The field that would become her favourite place, and that she would now share with another. 

"I can see why this is you're special place", Julien said, taking in the charming view. His brown curly hair was slowly becoming lighter, as it bleached in the sun and his honey skin looked refreshed in the sun. Under his arm he carried a rolled up picnic blanket, and hanging in a bag at his side were a couple of bottles of beer and a punnet of strawberries- Sasha's essentials for a summer day trip. 

"I only found it the other day", Sasha admitted, breathing in a deep breath of fresh air, "but I could tell straight away that this would be somewhere I can come and feel safe".

Julien gazed at her for a moment, caressing Sasha with his tender gaze. She'd missed the way he looked at her, the way his stare tickled her skin and reached right to her core. How could she ever let something like this go?

Then suddenly Julien began to run. His heavy footfalls caused  the bag to bounce against his leg and his hair fell messily into his face. Sasha could hear the chuckles retreat into the distance as he ran causing her to grin. She watched from her fixed position as he became smaller and smaller, the further he moved away. When he was finally at the other side of the field he stopped and turned around, giving her a huge wave. 

Sasha waved back, beginning to follow his footsteps. As she approached him she could see that Julien had a huge beam on his face and that his shoulders were jiggling from excitement.