Chapter 50
‘Come on,’ Adam says as he drags me through the backstage area. It is very late and, apart from a few members of festival staff, everyone has gone home for the night.
The air still smells faintly of smoke and fried onions, and every now and then someone in a hi-vis jacket wanders past carrying a coil of cable or a bin bag full of rubbish.
Tonight was definitely a success. The show was fantastic – more so for me than anyone else, I’ll bet – and the firework display was epic. I really hope we get to do it again next year.
‘Where are we going?’ I ask.
‘To have make-up sex in our tree,’ Adam informs me.
I stop dead.
‘I’m kidding.’ Adam laughs, grabbing my hand again. ‘Now come on.’
‘Okay, fine,’ I say.
Adam does lead me to ‘our’ tree, the one in the park, next to the beach, where we carved our names.
‘Adam, it’s the middle of the night,’ I say with a giggle. ‘What are we doing here?’
‘I’m getting you your shoes back,’ he tells me. ‘I said I would, so, here we are.’
I can’t help but laugh. I mean, he did say he would…
Adam shines the light from his phone up into the tree and sure enough, there are my boots still wrapped around the branch by their laces.
‘You know what, I want to leave them there,’ I say.
‘You do?’ Adam replies, a combination of amused and disappointed because he isn’t going to get to climb the tree.
‘Yep. We can come and see them and be reminded of where it all began,’ I tell him. ‘You wanted to climb the tree, didn’t you?’
‘Yeah,’ he says with a pout.
‘Come on then, give me a leg up,’ I insist.
‘You want to go back up?’ he asks in amazement.
‘Yes, quick, before I change my mind.’
Adam happily obliges, and thankfully I’m wearing flat, sensible shoes so it’s much easier this time.
I perch on the same branch I sat on the day of the fundraiser – which feels like such a long time ago – and stroke the bark where we carved our names, while I wait for Adam to climb up next to me.
‘Just keep an eye out for bats,’ he warns me.
‘I didn’t think this through, did I?’ I admit.
Adam laughs and shakes his head.
‘Don’t worry, we can get down in a minute,’ he assures me. ‘And the drop isn’t as high from this side.’
‘What a shame,’ I admit, ‘because I quite enjoyed it when you caught me.’
Adam leans forward and kisses me.
‘I’m glad you spoke to Si, and that everything is sorted,’ he says. ‘But I’m sad that you don’t want to move back in.’
‘Me too,’ I say, ‘but, I don’t know, I just think it might be a bit awkward. Plus, now that I’ve accepted the job from Kerry, I can afford a place of my own soon.’
‘Well, I know you make a great housemate, so if it’s easier, if you share a place with someone, you know where I am,’ he tells me.
I raise my eyebrows at him but I can’t say I don’t like the sound of that.
‘I’m not trying to rush you into anything,’ Adam assures me, taking hold of my hand. ‘We could get a place with two bedrooms.’
I bring Adam’s hand up to my lips and kiss it.
‘You’re not rushing me into anything. I don’t care if we have two bedrooms, one bedroom – I don’t care if we live here in the tree. When I’m ready to find somewhere, well, I’ll let you know.’
Adam smiles.
‘We will be having two bedrooms though,’ he insists. ‘One for us and one for your posters. I’m not sure I can sleep in a room wallpapered with photos of a young Leonardo DiCaprio.’
I snort with laughter, which softens into a smile when a firework goes off nearby. We have a great view up here. The colours explode over the water, reflecting on the sea below, making the world look like a much better place. Maybe it is a better place now, for me, and for Adam.
It’s just so nice to have options, to know that this is only the very beginning of our love story, and that things can really go anywhere from here.
And, who knows, if they ever do make a movie of how we got together, well, I know the perfect actor to play the male lead…