Page 74 of Lucy Loves Him Not
We exited on the street that took us back toward City Hall, back to my own car. I never felt sad to return home, but today I wanted to tell Adam to pump the brakes, toplease slow down. I was at the tip top of a roller coaster waiting for the crash landing, where my heart fell to pieces after the long drop.
He parked the car, looking over at me. “I’ve got to run inside to check on some stuff,” he said, looking toward City Hall sadly. “You should get home, get some rest. We’re days out from the festival and it’ll be busy.”
“Really busy,” I said, unbuckling my seatbelt.Back to reality.
“See you tomorrow?” he asked as we both climbed out of the car.
“Yeah, see you tomorrow.” I closed my door.
We looked at each other across the car. A question in the air. A conversation ending mid-sentence.
I opened my mouth to say something when Victor ran up. “Thank God, you’re back!” He was out of breath. “I have a list of people who need to talk to you!”
Adam was listening to Victor, but his eyes kept bouncing back to me.
I gave him a tiny wave goodbye.
He shrugged apologetically, then mouthed,See you later.
“Oh, and we have a conference call…” Victor continued, dragging Adam along with him as he walked toward the office.
Later that evening, I found myself in my art room. Something about Adam made me want to paint in blues and gold like the stars twinkling over the pool water when we first kissed.
First kissedbecause we’d now had multiple kisses. Kissing Adam was something I now did. This fact felt achingly right.
It also made me feel protective over the relationship developing between us like the first few strokes of paint on paper. I liked mine and Adam’s colors. I liked how they looked even better together.
Stevie played by my feet while I swept the paintbrush over the canvas for hours until it was dark outside with the street lights flickering on.
I didn’t wonder if I was an artist or not, I simply painted. Because that’s what I did.
“This painting, I’ll call First Kiss,” I said to Stevie, admiring it. “And this one’s just for me.”
Twenty-Seven
Adam
did you get some sleep this afternoon?
Me
Yes, I feel roaring and ready for the festival madness.
Did you rest at all?
Adam
zero.
zero rest.
zero sleep.
Me
Oh no. Adam, you need to get some sleep. Go to bed right now!
I’m sorry I stole so much of your time.
