Coraline, don’t look back! I begged myself as I grabbed on to the door handle of my car.
“Coraline!”
I turned back and he grinned only a few feet away from me.
“That’s cheating!”
“According to who? The rule was don’t look back, I never said I wouldn’t call out to you. Do people really give up so easily in your world?”
Yes. And I couldn’t deny the part of me that was happy that he’d called out to me.
“Are people always this stubborn in your world?”
“Sweetheart, I’m Irish. They don’t come any more stubborn than that.” He pushed my car door closed, preventing me from getting in. “And since you looked back, let’s go somewhere.”
“I’m busy.”
“That was your excuse for not calling yesterday. Besides it’s Sunday, you shouldn’t be working. You just came back to Chicago, I should show you everything you’ve missed out on.”
“Chicago hasn’t changed that much.”
“That’s where you are wrong. Chicago changes every night.”
I bit my lip hard, unsure of what I should do…or at least my mind was unsure, my body however, turned towards him.
“It’s not a date,” I clarified.
He nodded. “Sure. It’s not a date.”
“Then I’ll drive myself—”
“Waste of gas. Come on.” He took me by the hand and dragged me towards his dark gray Aston Martin. I held on to his hand just as tightly as he held on to mine. When he opened the door for me, I slid into the passenger seat and dropped my bag next to my feet. He spoke to someone next to the Audi for a brief moment before he stepped inside.
“Is everything okay?” I glanced back at the young man with messy dark brown hair and green eyes who stood staring at the car.
“Don’t worry. My brother, Liam, just wanted to go out,” he replied as he reversed out of the parking lot.
“You shouldn’t ditch him—”
“He wants to go a fashion show and pick up models. Why would I do that when you’re sitting right next to me?”
I didn’t answer as I looked out the window. What was I doing in his car?
“Who was he?” he asked.
“What?”
He didn’t look at me, but focused on the road ahead.
“The guy who hurt you? Who was he?”
“No one.”
There was silence for a moment before he spoke. “Just so you know, you are horrible at lying.”
I know.
He pulled to a stop at Millennium Park.
“If there’s anything in Chicago that hasn’t changed, it’s Millennium Park.” It was the biggest tourist attraction in Chicago.
“Trust me,” he stated as he stepped out and around to my side, but I opened the door for myself much to his disappointment. He took of his tie and suit jacket, and threw them into the car. After he’d rolled up his sleeves, he held my hand like it was the most natural thing in the world; like he had done it a thousand times before and would do it a thousand times again. He led us into the park, and surprisingly, it wasn’t as crowded as I thought it would be.
He kept going until we were standing at Cloud Gate, or the Bean as everyone called the steel bean-shaped sculpture in the park. When we got there, a small crowd had gathered around a band.
“Three, two, one!” they yelled as they started to clap along with the crowd. The best way to describe it would have be ‘80s or ‘90s funk, and soon, everyone started dancing.
“Are we in flash mob?!” I gasped, looking to him.
He bobbed his head, dancing as well, then he pulled us closer to the front.
“I don’t know what I’m doing!” I laughed.
“Then do anything!” he yelled back.
Not dancing would have only made me stick out more. Giving in, I jumped around him. He didn’t let go of me, as he spun me around.
“I can’t hear you!” the lead singer yelled.
I screamed as loud as I could until I was afraid my voice would crack. Then, with a broad smile, I threw my hands up and swayed to the beat of the music.
“You look even more beautiful when you smile,” he said to me, and I froze in the midst of the crowd. “No. Keep dancing, keep smiling or screaming, whichever suits you best. Be this happy all the time, Coraline.”
I didn’t believe in magic, or in happily ever after. Life to me didn’t work that way, and yet as I watched him dance around me, I couldn’t help but believe in it just a little. It was like time had slowed down for me so that I could just enjoy this one moment. I had spent my entire life wishing for something like this, wishing to be whisked away, and to simply live life as I felt it should be lived. So why then did I feel the compulsion to run away from what I always wanted? Why was I fighting my own happiness?
“Declan?”
“Yeah—?”
I kissed him. Hoping to kiss him just like he’d kissed me. He stilled for a moment before he wrapped his arms around me and deepened the kiss while the music continued blaring in the background. I leaned into it enjoying the moment…enjoying him. I was still unsure if he was merely a figment of my imagination. If he was it didn’t matter. I would believe in magic…if only for today.
DECLAN
In one minute—
Roughly 1,800 stars explode.
Lightning strikes the earth 360 times.
Two hundred and fifty people are born.
One hundred and seventy people die.
And then I realized, without knowing anything else besides the fact that she was beautiful, that she had a breathtaking smile, and that her kisses felt like fresh rain in the desert, I knew that Coraline Wilson would be in my life for a long time.
It was insane. But I just knew that that was how it had to be.
“Declan?” she whispered when she broke away from me. I hadn’t realized that I was staring at her, but I could see my reflection in her eyes.
“Sorry. I was lost in thought.”
“About what?”
Luckily, I didn’t have to answer since the police suddenly rushed into the park and began grabbing people as they tried to run away.
“Until next time, guys!” The band laughed as they rushed to grab their things and make a run for it.
I held on to her, making sure she didn’t get pushed around as the crowd broke up as well.
“Why are they breaking them up?” She frowned. “I really liked them.”
“Musicians can’t play here, it’s against the law. Don’t worry though, they’ll be back,” I reassured her.
She turned to see that they were all still running and she screamed, “Free the music! Keep going!”
She laughed as she brushed her hair behind her ear. Then her beautiful eyes drifted back to me. Neither of us spoke. We simply stood there holding on to each other as everyone else went back to their own reality. I was worried that the spell, or whatever it was that was happening between us, would stop. Every one of my senses were aware of her. She smelled like lavender, looked more beautiful than the beginning of spring at the end of harsh a winter…she made me think of a dozen other cheesy things all within those few moments.
I spun her around to face me, and I leaned forward and kissed her once again and never wanted to stop.