CHAPTER FIVE
"Suze, I had no idea you had such a fear of flying!" My fiancé, Jack said.
I smiled weakly. "I don't."
"Oh, so you're worried about your parents and I meeting? Don't worry, baby, it'll be fine."
Truthfully, I wasn't at all worried about Jack meeting my parents. I had more important things to worry about. Like, how for the next week I would be sleeping in the room where Jesse and I met, in the very bed where he loved me all those years ago. I'd come so far moving on and making something of my life. I couldn't–wouldn't–throw it all away for some rekindled memories.
I leaned my head on Jack's shoulder, hoping to fall asleep instead of having to suffer for three more hours of flying. He kissed the top of my head and murmered, "It will be alright."
But really, what did he know about any of it?
Three hours later...
"Oh, look. There's the Big Sur."
I stirred from the peaceful slumber which I had been in for the last hours of the flight, and looked out the window. There it was. We were in sunny California, alright. Memories flooded over me like waves. I remembered seeing this exact scene for the first time when I was sixteen. I remembered the airport, and how unnerved I was by everyone's friendliness. I remembered the car ride home, and hearing that our house was built over a century and a half ago...I remembered going into my new bedroom, only to find it already occupied. I blinked, and returned to reality.
"Yeah, that's the Big Sur, alright."
Soon enough, we were exiting our plane, and at the Carmel Airport.
Palm trees. They were everywhere. When I first moved to California, I was so shocked to find Palm trees, considering that it was Northern California that we were moving to. This oddly made me want to laugh and brought tears to my eyes at the same time. Now, normally, I'm not much of a sentimental person, but this...this was different.
And that's when I saw them. My mom and stepdad. I just stood there, staring for a second. My eyes were seeing it, but my brain couldn't quite process what I was seeing. My mother looked basically the same, still as beautiful as ever. But she had quite a few more wrinkles than the last time I saw her. They were more like laugh-lines actually. Her hair–it used to be as dark as mine– was sprinkled with salt-and-pepper grays. But she was still beautiful, and she was still my mom.
Andy had put on a pound or two, and apparently, his hair had been through some serious grayage, but it was still the same Andy I had always known.
"MMMMMOOOOMMM!" I screeched, and ran into my mother's arms.
"Oh, Susie, honey, its so good to see you, angel." She pulled away and examined me. "Oh, you've gotten so beautiful, you're a grown woman now!"
I smiled, and wrapped my arms around her again.
"Hey, what about me?" I heard Andy ask. I turned to him, and gave him a bear hug.
"Nice to have you back, kiddo."
Then I realized that poor Jack had just been standing there in silence for the last five minutes.
"Mom, Andy. This is Jack DiCaprio...my fiancé."
"Nice to meet you, sir." Jack said, politely shaking Andy's hand. But it was my mom who actually pulled him into a hug, and kissed his cheek.
"You've made my daughter very happy." she said with a wink, and he laughed.
"Come on, lets get going. We've got a lot of catching up to do," Andy said.
The ride home was uneventful. My mom, Andy, and Jack, discussed things like what he does for a living, his plans for the future, that kind of stuff.
I, however, did not participate in this conversation.
The ocean. I forgot how mesmerized I was by it. This particular day, the Pacific seemed to be a seafoam green, the Carmel sun reflecting over it, giving it the appearance of diamonds floating around in the water, sparkling and winking at me. I stared at the ocean the whole way home, without uttering a word. I don't know what it was about that body of water that put me in such a trance, but somehow, it just did.
Finally, we arrived at 99 Pine Crest. I don't know what was going through my mind. Seeing the house after so long, memories rushed over me yet again. I could almost taste them. I got this horribly prickly feeling in my nose. I had changed so much, but this house stayed the same. The only way I can describe it is like a time machine, and once I set my eyes on it, it was like I was being transported to another time. My junior year of high school. I saw the window to my old bedroom. The bay window. I quickly looked away.
"Come on, Suze. Come inside."
Everyone else was already in the house. I hurried to catch up to them. For about a half an hour, we gave Jack the grand tour of the house. A half an hour is a little long to show one floor, you think? This IS Andy we're talking about.
Later, we were all sitting down having coffee and my mom said, "Suze, why don't you go put your stuff up into your room?" I froze. "No," I said, my blood suddenly freezing in my veins.
"Well, why not?" mom asked.
"Its ok, I'll get them for her," Jack offered.
"NO! I mean, no its ok. I'll do it."
Although my old bedroom was just about the last place on the planet I ever wanted to revisit, I couldn't let Jack up there.
I grabbed hold of my two heavily packed suitcases and began heaving them up the winding staircase. And let me tell you, those things were HEAVY!
At last, I reached my bedroom door. Without hesitation, I turned the knob and swung the door open.
There was a ghost sitting on my windowsill.
"Hello," Jesse said.
END OF CHAPTER FIVE
Notes: Alas, Jesse is back in the picture, and FINALLY the story can get moving!
love,
linds
