Chapter 25
Sebastian
Ara said she loved me. I couldn’t believe she had actually said those words. It was as unbelievable as her coming up to me and kissing me and everything that happened after.
She hadn’t reacted to my confessions. At times, I wasn’t even sure if she had heard me. I tried to be understanding. It was a lot to take in. It was a lot for me to admit but I knew it was the right thing to do. I hadn’t told her before because I thought she hadn’t wanted to hear it. I thought I wasn’t ready to tell her. But in the cabin, in the place we first fell in love, after the time we shared, I was. I hadn’t regretted doing it. Still, it was nerve-wracking waiting for her to do something, I worried she was going to hate me or never talk to me again. But even if she did, I would let her go, knowing I had done everything I could to try and get her to understand why I did what I did.
Her reaction, her admission, our making love was more than I ever could have hoped for or expected. In her words and actions, she was showing me that she believed me, that she loved me, and that she wanted everything that I did. I wanted to go singing into the forest and tell the whole world that Aracely Thomas loved me.
The closeness between us was even stronger as we got dressed and then made dinner. We moved as a unit. I boiled the water for the pasta and she got the salad and bread ready. We didn’t talk much but I didn’t think we needed to.
When the pasta was cooking in the water, Ara opened a bottle of wine, poured us both a glass, and went and sat down across from me at the island. I looked over at her and it seemed like the most magnificent and natural thing in the world. Part of me was shocked she was sitting there with me, that she loved me, but another part of me thought I always was supposed to have this. It was a strange mixture of shock and contentment.
“This might be too late to ask, but are you a good cook?” Ara asked.
“I’ll have you know that besides being an excellent cook, I am also an excellent dancer,” I said and Ara laughed.
“You are not,” she replied incredulously.
“Really. I learned it years ago. Being on set can be boring. It helps to find something to do. I made friends with one of my co-stars and it turned out she was a professional dancer. She taught me a few moves.”
“Oh, I bet she did,” Ara said.
“Not in that way. Her girlfriend would have kicked my ass if I had done anything inappropriate and she was about twenty years older than me.”
“I have so many questions,” Ara said.
“Ask away,” I said and chopped up some onions.
“Do you miss being on set? What was it like? Is it hard to memorize all your lines and to get into character?”
“I miss the friends I made on set. You’re with everyone in a very intense setting for long hours but only for a short period of time. They become like family but then when they are gone, you really don’t stay in contact.”
“Why is that?” Ara took a sip of her wine.
“People move onto other projects, get involved with other people. They’re so busy with that next project, there isn’t time. I did the same thing. I went from one movie to the next, not really caring where they were. It was busy and exciting but it didn’t allow me to make many friends.”
“It sounds isolating.”
“Sort of, but I made the best of it.”
“But you were ready for a change,” Ara supplied.
“What makes you say that?” I asked and mixed up the sauce.
“You came to New York. You’re going to be in a play. I would say that was a bit of a change.”
“Well, you were here. It was kind of a no-brainer. I met Isla on a movie set years ago and she was one of the few people I stayed close with. She was the first person I called when I was considering coming to New York. It helped that she had a play she wanted to produce and the lead was perfect for me.”
“How is it going?” Ara asked.
It was a loaded question, and one I wasn’t ready to answer. I had specifically not talked to Isla or even looked at my phone. She said there wasn’t going to be any news, plus I wanted this time with Ara and me. It had worked out perfectly and we had connected in the way I had always wanted. But what if I came back to the city and I didn’t have a job? What if Isla couldn’t secure the funding? What would happen then? A feeling of dread filled me and I pushed it down. I didn’t want to think about that, nor what Cassie was going to do if it did.
“Slow, and not without its ups and downs. We’re taking a break for a few days while some issues get worked out. Which worked out well for us. And you, how is the residency? How much longer do you have?”
If Ara noticed that I changed the subject a little too quickly, she didn’t say anything. She took a sip of her wine and got a soft smile on her face and said, “It’s going really good.”
“I can tell by the smile on your face.” I pointed my knife at her.
“Really?”
“Yes. You get this soft, sweet smile on your face when you talk about work. It shows you not only love doing it but you like doing it. That is rare.”
“Do you think so?”
“Yes. Think of how many people just go to their job every day and do it because they have to. Not because they like it or love it. Being able to do that is a rare and wonderful gift. Most people don’t find out what they really are good at or want to do in life ever. You have. You should be proud and happy. It’s wonderful.”
Ara leaned back in her stool and thought about my comment. “I guess. I never thought about it one way or the other. Being a doctor was just always something I wanted to do. Like when you are in kindergarten and they ask you. I said doctor. Other kids might have changed their minds, but I never did. It just was.
“It made sense to me to go to school in New York to then go to medical school here, too. It was where I wanted to be. It was where I thought I should go to school. It was just the way it was. I never thought that it wasn’t going to work out or what I was going to do if it didn’t.”
“You would have figured it out.” I put the pasta and sauce on two dishes.
Ara stood up and took the salad and the bottle of wine and brought it over to the table. She had already set it up and even put two candles out. It was a perfect romantic meal. I hoped it would be the first of many. It wasn’t just the setting but the woman that made it so special. It was how we had been when we were making dinner that I wanted to have. It was the simple moments, the day to day that I knew I would cherish as much as the big moments. And I wanted to share all of them with Ara.
“Have you figured out where you’re going to go when your residency is done?” I asked as we ate.
“I’ve been offered a job at my current hospital and I think I’m going to take it. It’s a good place to start.”
“But it isn’t where you want to be?”
“It’s good. I’m learning a lot but I would like to work in a county hospital at some point.”
“That’s magnanimous of you,” I said as I ate.
“It’s where I think I can do the most good. Also, it’s a lot busier and fast-paced, which I like.” Ara nodded her approval at the pasta. “This is really good.”
“You sound surprised,” I said.
“I am.” Ara smiled at me.
“Hidden skills, I tell you. Why not go there now?” I asked, bringing us back to the original subject.
“I want to get as much experience and knowledge from my current hospital before I move on. I might not even go to a county hospital next. I might try and see what else I can learn at another place.”
“You’ll just use all the other hospitals to get what you can out of them and then move on?” I teased.
“Wouldn’t they be doing the same thing with me?” she asked.
“Fair enough. I admire your ambition and goals.”
“Don’t you have goals and ambitions?” She gave me a knowing look as she took a sip of her wine.
I smiled and took a sip of wine. “I hadn’t thought of what would happen next. The only thing I cared about was getting you back. I figured everything else would fall into place.”
Ara gave me a look like she didn’t know how to comprehend that information. I reached over and took her hand in mine. She let me but I could see the uncertainty in her eyes. I squeezed her hand and said, “This, what we have, is the most important thing to me. No matter what happens next, all I know is that I want to be with you.”
“I want to be with you, too,” Ara said.
“Good.” There was so much more that we needed to discuss but the biggest hurdle was out of the way. We wanted each other, we loved each other. Everything would work out, it had to.
I looked outside and saw that it had stopped raining. I squeezed Ara’s hand again and said, “The rain has stopped. What do you say to taking a night hike with me?”