I do not own the rights to any part of the Mediator series. End disclosure.
I felt giddy the rest of the evening. Sad about losing my father again. And yet happy that he was able to move on to something real. A place he was meant to be. And of course happy to be with Jesse for real. I felt as if emotion just poured out of me every time I laughed or smiled at Jesse. So the night passed quickly as we danced away under the evening stars and strings of twinkle lights strung up over the Mission courtyard.
I must admit that it also felt great to see the glances and, in the case of Kelly, openly astonished faces of my schoolmates as they set their eyes on little old me with my absurdly good looking guy. Jesse. Just thinking his name made me feel all aglow again. And finally being able to introduce him to my friends, CeeCee and Adam and my parents…and everyone else I have ever met even in the most casual and passing way. I wanted to yell and scream with joy.
Jesse, ever the gentleman to the tee, just had to point out the quickly approaching midnight hour. I was due back home in less than an hour. Damn, this night was passing by like sand through my fingers. I wanted some time alone with Jesse before he took me back. I whispered into his ear as we slow danced that perhaps we could spare some time at the beach together before our carriage turned into a pumpkin.
The Disney reference was lost on him resulting in a quizzical look on that glorious tanned face, the eyebrow with the scar raised in question. This in turn made me envision a mandatory video night in which we cuddled together on the couch to watch hour upon hour of sugary sweet Disney flicks. Little Mermaid, Peter pan, Aladdin. Ah, good times ahead.
Eventually we managed to say our goodbyes to everyone and even escape unnoticed by Father Dominic who I knew would also raise an eyebrow at me if he saw me rushing off before the end of the dance. Father Dom, still after it was all said and done, did not have complete faith in me. Maybe it was all teenagers he distrusted, those of us in the throes of hormonally turmoil years in a world of lax parenting and racy television. Probably it was just me though. If he only knew what an innocent I was. Right.
So off we drove down to a desolate Carmel beach. Thankfully the wind was virtually zilch lest my perfectly blownout hair stray an inch and perchance become glued to my gleaming lip gloss. The water lapped at the shore as I took a deep breath. Jessie put an arm around me and we walked out toward the shore. I wanted to remember this night and how I felt.
"Jesse," I began rather huskily. I suddenly felt a tear roll down my cheek.
"Todo esta bien Querida. Yo se. Yo se," he murmured into my hair as he pulled me tightly into his warm arms.
"I'm so happy," I managed to say breathily as I burrowed deeper against his chest and the crook of his neck.
And I was.
Spanish Translation:
Todo esta bien Querida. Yo se. Yo se.
Everything's ok dear. I know. I know.