I went in for another kiss, picking right up where we left off.
My mind counted the seconds, waiting…
One…
Two…
Three…
Her right hand slid up my body with speed and she pushed at my chest.
I backed off with one extra kiss.
“That’s how I mean what I fucking say,” I whispered to her. Her eyes melted into mine. “I had a decision to make, love. Run for good. Or stay and end up like the others. So I left. I bounced around, trying to find my way through it all. And just as I was on the edge of falling for good, I was pulled back. That woman I was at the restaurant with. I was slipping. I went from drinking to something else. She pulled me back. And the second I realized what was waiting on the other side, everything changed. I did what I wanted. And it worked.”
Amelia swallowed hard. “Was that woman your… anything?”
“Not what you’re thinking,” I whispered.
“You were right, Josh. I was jealous. And I still am.”
“Of what?”
“She’s been in here,” Amelia said. “I know it. And I’ve…”
“There’s a lot you don’t know, love,” I said. “The mystery of me. The truth. And if that’s the real story, then it’ll never be told.”
“Why? You show yourself in your paintings and pictures. But not in life.”
“You do the same.”
“No. Those are talking animals in a made-up kid’s book.”
“No, it’s not. It’s your comfort. From what happened. From what your father used to do. For the life you were forced to live.”
Amelia quickly shook her head. She swung her right foot and turned just enough to slide off the counter and get out of my reach.
“You’re looking too deep into it, Josh,” she said. She touched her lips. “We can’t do this kind of thing.”
“And what’s that?” I asked.
“Whatever this is. Trying to relive the past or whatever. You can’t just kiss me, thinking it’s okay because you did it once before.”
I laughed. “That’s what you think?”
“I don’t know, Josh.”
“You’re the one who came after me, love. You were sent to talk to me, remember? And you keep coming for more. What about my story is so important to you?”
Amelia didn’t answer. I watched her eyes move to her bag. She grabbed it in a hurry as though I was going to take it first and keep her hostage.
Before she said she had to leave, I walked to the door and opened it.
“I’m sorry for asking anything,” she said. “I didn’t know what would happen when I saw you again. That night… the chance to write again. Talk to you. Something I found… it’s a mess right now.”
I touched her hand as she walked out the door. “What did you find, love?”
She laughed. “Nothing. That’s the problem. I find nothing and turn it into something.”
“To protect yourself from the truth.”
She looked back at me. “You still know me all too well, Josh.”
“Is that a problem?”
“It was then. And I don’t want it to be now.”
“Why?”
Amelia turned her hand and interlocked her fingers with mine. Her fingers were short. Her nails all uneven. Not a hint of nail polish or anything like that.
She squeezed once and broke the hold.
I caught her blinking fast.
“Josh… I think I was in love with you back then.”
“You can always fly. You just have to close your eyes and think really hard about it.”
“But what if I fall?” the little pig asked its mother.
“What if you don’t?”
“You need wings to fly.”
“Look over your shoulder, precious.”
The little pig looked over her round shoulder and let out a yell.
There were wings! Real wings!
They were perfectly positioned and looked perfect. They were white, the edges thick with what looked like maybe feathers. And the little pig was suddenly able to move those wings. They weren’t there a moment ago! Now they were. And they were moving.
“How…?” the little pig asked.
“You’ve always had them,” the mother said to the little pig.
“I did?”
“Of course you did. You just have to believe you can fly and you will.”
The ground shook under them.
A heavy thud sounded.
They both knew what it was.
Who it was.
The monster. The dragon. The scary beast.
Big teeth. Bigger claws. Able to eat anything with one big gulp.
“You have to fly too,” the little pig said.
“No. I’ll stay. It’s your time.”
“No!” the little pig yelled. “You can fly too! LOOK!”
The ground shook harder.
The little pig’s mother turned her head and she had wings too!
The little pig put her hand out and the mother took her hand.