I race down the open road on my motorcycle with Jessie clinging to my torso. I chuckle because she has her claws dug deep into my jacket as though she's holding on for dear life. I have to admit, it sure felt nice having her arms wrapped tightly around me even if she was shredding through my favorite black leather jacket. I got it autographed by Prince when I was alive so if I were giving anyone else a ride and they destroyed my jacket, I would have had to drop them off on the side of the road somewhere. But I love this woman so much, I swear she could probably murder someone tomorrow and get away with it.
She's the first person other than my little sister that was the center of my world. Everything it seems, revolved around her and I know that in a heartbeat I would do anything for her and the only thing I wanted in return was just to see her warm, sweet smile. I feel her nuzzle her head into my back as she gradually begins to relax, trusting that I will keep her safe. I purr under my breath feeling grateful that the engine from my motorcycle drowned the sound out. I pull into the parking lot at the Italian restaurant where Carlton works and place my feet on the ground and lowered my kickstand with one of my feet and place a hand on Jessie's, "okay, so to get off, you just have to do the same thing you did to get on earlier but in reverse.
Seeming to understand my instructions, she nods her head and hops off. I climb off after her. "Do you need help with your helmet or do you got it?" "I got honey, thank you for asking though," she says unbuckling the helmet and pulling it off over her head. My eyes grew large, "whoa..."
She looks at me with a confused expression, "what?" I walk up to her and wrap my arms around her waist, "you looked pretty damn hot when you were pulling that helmet off." She laughs before I lean over and give her a kiss. I then take her helmet from her and lock it up to my motorcycle and take my gloves off and put them in one of the compartments I have on the back of my bike. I lock it up and take Jessie by the hand and lead her inside.
We get inside and are met with the hostess. She grabs a couple of menus and leads us to a table set for two. We sit down and she takes our drink orders. She writes everything down and walks away to go put our drink orders in. Carlton walks up to our table and sees us smiling and holding hands. He instantly squeals, "oh my gosh!!!
You guys are officially dating now?"Jessie gazes at me and then turns her head to look at him, "yeah for a few days now." He cups his cheeks with his hands, "awww!! Still in the honey moon phase!" He lets out a sigh and stares off in the distance with a dreamy look on his face, "ahh, young love, my favorite phase of any relationship!"
He then gasps and touches Jessie's hair, "oh, look at you, Queen! Rockin' a new hair style I see. It looks absolutely fabulous on you! It's about time you did something to get those bangs out of those gorgeous eyes of yours!" She scratches the back of her head awkwardly,"he he, yeah, it was actually D's idea.
He drove us here on his motorcycle and bought me my own helmet and well, when I put it on I couldn't see anything so he actually was prepared with all of these hair accessories." Carlton places a hand on one of his hips and snaps his fingers with the other hand, "mmm... you got any single gay friends, Sugar?" I blush shyly, "uhhh..." He quickly cuts me off, "oh,I'm just teasing you, honey! I'm actually spoken for."
He puts his left hand out and we see a blue and gold ring on his ring finger. Jessie squeals and jumps to her feet. They both scream and wrap their arms around each other in an embrace. I shrink down into my seat feeling uncomfortable with the stares our table were getting from other random guests. "Oh my God, Carly!! You're engaged?!
When in the hell did this happen?" "Oh just a few days ago, Love." Jessie's eyes are literally huge and sparkling like an anime character. It was a bit shocking because I had never seen her this excited about anything. "Ooo, Carly you absolutely have to text me all of the details later, girl!"
He snaps his fingers excitedly, "you know that's right, Sugar cakes!" "So, do you guys know what you want to order yet?" "I think I'll get the Chicken Parmesan please." "Alright, and what can I get for you today, handsome?" "I think I'll have the same thing, please."
"Alright, so I'll go ahead and get those two chicken parms in the system for you guys." We both smile at him and he walks away with our orders. I take Jessie by the hand and she rests her other hand on top of mine. "So, how was your first motorcycle ride?" She chuckles, "well to be honest, it was terrifying at first but then after a while, it felt... exhilarating!!
Like, being free for the first time." I smile at her, "yeah, that's the beauty of being out on the open road. Oh man, when I was alive, I drove from California all the way to North Carolina and then back again to Las Vegas, Nevada. That was some trip..." I say eventually staring off into space. Everything is great until a sad thought crosses my mind and ruins the moment.
She gives my hand a tight squeeze. "What's wrong?" I let out a sigh, "I missed out on so much in life. I had so many goals! So many dreams, but... I wasted my life and took it for granted.
Now I can't help but to feel all of this regret." She lets out a sigh, "yeah I know how you feel. I missed out on a lot of life experiences, even the seemingly simple and normal milestones all because I spent most of my life in a wheelchair constantly believing that I was chronically ill with all of these life threatening conditions. I never even knew how old I truly was until I broke free from the dog kennel my mother had put me in and found some documents that she had kept hidden in her office area. I was completely mortified when I found out that she had lied to me about everything."
A single tear falls from her eyes. I flattened my ears and lowered my wings before taking her hand and placing it up to my lips for a kiss. "I'm so sorry, Jess. Here I am complaining about my life regrets when you actually suffered the most out of the both of us. I was really inconsiderate of your feelings."
She shakes her head, "no, don't be so hard on yourself. We all have our own struggles in life so just because my situation seems more extreme than most, it doesn't mean that your feelings are invalid. You have every right to express your own feelings." I smile and gaze into her eyes until she looks off to the side, "actually, I'm kind of glad that I missed out on all of those experiences in life." I raise an eyebrow in confusion , "really?
Why?" She smiles and leans across the table and pecks a kiss to my lips, "because if I had experienced everything for the first time in life, then I never would have shared those first moments with you in my afterlife."