"A letter he must have slipped into my bag at some time."
"Well are you going to read it?"
"No I'm afraid. Will you read it for me?"
Chapter 11
"Sure." So I opened the letter and gave it to Rose.
She unfolded it and started reading it aloud.
My dearest Bella,
You will find this letter Monday or Tuesday depending on how tired you are. I am glad I convinced you to come to California with me and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I know you wanted to believe that this weekend was all a fantasy but let me tell you it was real and over the next days, weeks and months, you are not going to get what happened out of your mind. I will admit that I don't believe in love at first sight but spending all that time with you, I really enjoyed getting to know you both physically and emotionally….
Very truly yours, now and forever,
Edward
Rose folded the letter back up and gave it to me. "Well?" she said.
"I don't know what to think."
Rose asked, "If this was Sam doing all this stuff for you excluding the new car how would you feel?"
"This would be a lot easier for me to handle."
"Can you honestly say you didn't have a good time?"
"No, I can't. I felt like I was Cinderella. But who's to say that a long distance relationship would even work or how would I feel if I wasn't treated like Cinderella. He could be doing all this just to try and get me to record an album; although I don't think he would do that. Rose, if you were me what would you do?"
"I'd live the dream as long as it lasted and deal with the torment of rebuilding myself afterwards."
"Well, I won't make the first move; it'll have to be up to him. Well let's find something for dinner." After we rummaged through the fridge and cupboards, I said, "It looks like Chicken Caesar salads."
"That sounds like a plan." We threw all the ingredients together and Rose suggested we put in a movie. We did and ate our salads as we watched a romantic drama and when it ended, Rose said, "They all lived happily ever after."
"That was a movie."
"No that movie is based on true life."
"Great. Alright, I get your point. Like I said though, the first move has to be his."
"Fine, but what are you going to do if he does call?"
"I'll listen and go from there."
"Remember you've got vacation coming up soon. But just for kicks you might want to get your passport application started."
"Rose, what time do you need to be in tomorrow?"
"7:00 okay?"
"I'll set my alarm for 5:00. I'm exhausted so I'm going to go get some sleep." I brought out sheets, blankets, and a pillow for Rose. I was soon off to dreamland and the alarm went off way too early.
I got up and told Rose to go take her shower first. We got ready and on the way in we stopped at McDonald's. I had yet another busy day and had to calm down one customer because I didn't have his Cadillac ready. "I'll make you a deal. I'll knock the rate down by $15 if you give me 15 minutes."
"Okay."
"And while we're waiting, can I ask you a hypothetical question?"
"Sure."
"If a famous pop singer bought you a new car and took you to California, heard you sing and wanted you to record an album, spent a weekend being romanced by him, and developed feelings for them, what would you do?"
"Well, I would say be cautious, but enjoy the pleasure it brings. However, if you are afraid of being hurt, chalk everything that happened up as a weekend of joy. Let him make the next move and then decide what to do. But if you leave here, you better find a great replacement for yourself."
"If he called me?"
"I would give it a shot. You only live once."
"As the saying goes, live and learn." Then there was a horn sounding at the door and I said, "There is your car and in twelve minutes, too."
"Thank you; see you in two days."
"Great and good luck."
I finished out another busy day and headed home alone today. I went up to Midway and tracked down Doug. When he came out to meet me, I asked, "What happened last Thursday?"
"Well, I saw your Cavalier pull in the parking lot and I knew it was yours because of the detailing on it, I approached to say hi. As I approached the door, Edward got out of the car. I recognized him and said, "Masen, I know this car isn't yours; but I'm sure there's a logical explanation for this. Edward told me what you had done; I knew he was talking about you and that you would do something like that. Edward told me about what happened to the bumper and what he wanted to do. I went to work finding your dream car all over the valley and I found it in Mesa. I know you'll have your bills paid off at Christmas; so call me and I'll hook you up with a detailer to put the pink and purple on it."
"Where is my car? Actually one of our shuttle guys bought it after we finished fixing it since he knew you'd taken such good care of it. Well do you like it?"
"Of course."
"Quite a guy, plus we loved the cash transaction. Easiest sale we ever made but also one of the latest. Well have fun and be careful."
"I will," and headed home.
Actually, Thursday at work one plane came in and off of it came Wyland carrying something. As Wyland approached me, he said, "Edward was right; you are easy to find. I brought you something." He lifted the cover off the canvas.
I gasped and Wyland continued, "Remember when you were talking at the park and your vision of the sail boat in the background with a whale swimming and dolphins in the surf? Well I made a watercolor for you."
"Wyland, I can't accept this; it's worth a small fortune."
"Please accept it, hearing the way you talked about the sea while you were in the park helped me to finish the painting which I had been working on for two weeks. Yes before you ask, I have given paintings to other people that have helped me get over my artist's block. Though they normally like one of the pictures that's already in the gallery, instead of having me create a one of a kind one."
"It's so beautiful, I know where I want to hang it. But tell me something how can you lose your inspiration? I've seen your work and I don't think I could ever lose my inspiration."
"It hasn't happened a lot; but everyone gets into a rut once in a while. And seeing it in someone else's eyes is always a plus."
"You're right."
"I couldn't stand a nine to five job for anything on this planet."
"Well, where do you go from here?"
"Actually, I'm on my way to Mexico.
"Have a safe trip and thank you very much. I'll never part with this. If you are ever back in Laguna Beach or Hawaii, look up my galleries and see if I'm there."
"Well, I hope it's a long time before you ever suffer artist's block again."
"By the way, when are you going to see Edward again?"
"I'm not sure. Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure. If you were me and the situation allowed itself, would you continue the relationship with a star like him or you?"
"You know my answer is yes and I'll tell you why, because one day you may turn around and regret not trying even though you may have to get over the hurt. Heck if he doesn't want to date you, I will. Well, I've got to go so I can get to my appointment on time in Mexico."
"Alright," I stood up and said, "Thank you," and hugged him.
That night, I hung the picture up over my dresser across from my bed. On Friday, Rose called and asked me to go out with her that night. "Who is going?"
"Kathie, Donna, Sam…"
"Where do you want to go?"
"Over to the Zyota Bar."
"Sure what time?"
"How about 8:00?"
"Alright I'll see you there. Hey what are you doing this weekend?"
"Sunday, I have a lunch date with my family and need to get some homework done, but besides that nothing."
"Well how about Saturday we run the Camaro up to Sedona or down to Tucson and do some horseback riding."
"Cool, let's go to Tucson."
"Hey, I'll pick you up to go to the bar."
"Great see you at 7:30."
I got home and there was a message on my machine from Edward telling me he must have just missed me at work and told me he was thinking of me. I went to get my mail and there was a card. He must have made it himself because it looked like a perfect beach scene but with only one person in one of two beach chairs. Wish I had someone to share the sunset with. Inside he wrote a note. It mentioned he was working on the last song of his new album and that he missed me. I quickly got out pen and paper and wrote him a note, telling him about Wyland's visit and that if life was a real fantasy world I might be there in that lawn chair but it wasn't like that because I had debt to pay off first. On my way to get Rose, I went to a card store and created my own card, addressed it, and mailed it. I went and picked up Rose and told her what had happened.
"See, he does care."
"Alright we'll see but a long distance affair, who knows."
"Did you know the Grammys are coming up in about six weeks?"
"I know he is up for two awards, but he leaves for his European tour around that time."
"Well are you ready to karaoke?"
"You did this on purpose didn't you?"
"No, of course not."
"Well, don't even ask me to sing one of his songs because I'll refuse."
"Deal."
We all had a few drinks. I had one margarita and then stuck with sodas and everyone took a turn or two at the microphone. A band went on the stage at about eleven. We stayed and danced for about half an hour more before heading home to bed. We got up at about eight and got dressed in jeans, boots and sleeveless blouses. We stopped for some breakfast and hit the road to Tucson. When we got to the dude ranch, we went on a three hour trail ride, had lunch, and got back to Phoenix at about seven that evening. My camaro was a dream. We stopped and got steaks and ate on Rose's patio. I went home at about 9:30 and headed off to bed after a good shower to clean all the horse dust and sweat off. I got up the next day at about nine and was sitting around doing a crossword puzzle when my phone rang. 'Hello?" I said.
"Well, good morning beautiful."
"Edward, is that you?"
"Yes, how are you today?"
"Good and you?"
"Fine. So what do you have on the drawing board for today?"
"Well right now, I'm working on the Sunday crossword, then I think I'll be going over to the college to work on my computer class, and finally some laundry. How about, pierre's eye? 3 letters." Then there was a knock at my door. "Hold on, Edward," I got up and went to the door, looked through the peephole and there stood Edward. I held the phone back up to my ear and said, "What are you doing here?"
"Well I thought I would fly over and help you with a crossword puzzle. Plus I missed you after not seeing you for a week. Are you going to ask me in or leave me out here all day?"
"Oh sure, I'm just surprised to see you," I said as I opened the door to let him in.
"Okay, let's oh wait a minute." He turned around, walked back over to me, pushed the door shut, took the phone from me and put it on the floor. Then he stood back and swept me into his arms and kissed me. When we were both a little out of breath, Edward let go of me and said, "You didn't forget how to kiss in a week. Thank God."
"By the way, come here I want to show you something."
I pulled him down the hall and into my bedroom and showed him my painting. "Oh , it's so beautiful. Wyland called me and, I told him he didn't have to do what he was doing; but he insisted and said he was on his way to Mexico and just needed to detour through Phoenix. Well do you want to go finish the crossword puzzle or what?"
"Yes I do. Then we can discuss what we are going to do with the rest of the day." So we put our heads together and finished it in about 30 minutes. As we sat back on the couch, Edward asked, "What shall we do with the next eight hours before I go home? You said something about going over to school."
"That's okay; it can wait. I have an idea; let's go to my parent's house and get 2 of their bikes and ride through the mountain preserve. I need to work out my horseback riding kinks from yesterday."
"That sounds great. Let me get my shorts from the car while you do get dressed. I'll get to meet your parents?"
"Nope, they're at a NASCAR race this weekend."
"Oh well, some other time."
