Your Guardian Angel
Chapter 28: Dreams Can Come True After All
Everyone stood up as the judge entered the room.
“Will a member of the jury please hand me the verdict?”
A jury member walked up to the judge’s desk and handed him a piece of paper. I could feel my chest seize up as the judge opened it and read the following words:
“After careful consideration of all the presented evidence, the state of New York finds the defendant, Matthew Turner, to be guilty of first-degree murder. His sentence will be determined at a later date.”
I took a deep, relieved breath. Thank God, I thought. Jesse squeezed my hand and smiled at me. Matt was escorted out of the courtroom in handcuffs. The curious thing was that his expression was completely indifferent; almost as if he didn’t even care that the rest of his life was ruined. But then, as if he could feel my eyes on his back, he turned around, looked straight into my eyes and smiled at me evilly, as if to say, “Even though I’m in jail, I know I can still get inside your head.” I turned away quickly.
“Let’s go,” I said, taking Jesse’s hand and pulling him out of the courtroom as fast as I could. Amanda came running after us.
“Riley, what’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing, I just couldn’t stand to be in the same room with Matt any longer than I had to. Even though I know he’s going to jail, he still creeps me out a little bit.”
“Riles, everything is going to be fine now. Matt can’t touch you and if you let him into your mind, you are letting him win,” said Jesse.
“I know. I guess all that stuff about him stalking me just really freaked me out and I’m glad that I won’t have to worry about it anymore. This whole experience has definitely made me a whole lot more cautious when I’m alone, though.”
“You’re safe now, don’t worry. Nobody is going to let anything happen to you,” Jesse said hugging me close.
“I know. I think we should celebrate.”
“I don’t think I can. I already made plans to spend the day with Tyler and his family. I’m really sorry, Ri.”
“That’s ok. We’ll still celebrate; we’ll just miss you, that’s all.”
“So what did you have in mind for this celebration?” Jesse asked.
“I don’t know, but something romantic.”
“We should be completely spontaneous and just do whatever we want.”
“That sounds good to me.”
Jesse walked Amanda and I to her car and told me he would meet me at Amanda’s house in half an hour so that I could change into more comfortable clothing. Half an hour later, he did just that.
“So where do you want to go to celebrate first?” he asked as we got in the car.
“It doesn’t really matter to me.”
“No this is your celebration, so you get to pick where we go first.”
“Ok fine. Uhmmm how about 6Flags or some place like that? I haven’t been there in awhile and it’ll be kind of romantic going on all the rides with you.”
“Sounds great. Let’s go.”
He drove us to 6Flags and we went on Superman (I almost broke his arm on that one because I was holding on so tight. He made me come on with him.), Tilt-a-whirl, the scrambler, the dropper, and White Water Rapids. We stopped to get ice cream there and left after about 2 ½ hours.
“Ok your turn to pick now, since I picked the first place,” I said as we got back in the car.
“Hmmm how about going bowling? I haven’t done that in awhile.”
“No we can’t go bowling.”
“Why not?”
“Because I suck at bowling.”
“I’m sure you’re not that bad.”
“My highest score was like an 80. I’m lucky if I even get past 50 in one game. I need a bowling coach or something.”
“Well, if you bowl with me for at least one game, I will teach you,” Jesse said flirtatiously.
“Well, when you put it that way…I guess I could make this small sacrifice for you, but under one condition.”
“And what’s that?”
“You have to promise not to laugh at me if I still do really badly.”
“Done.”
“Ok then let’s go.”
Jesse drove to the nearest bowling alley and we bowled 2 games. At first, I was doing really badly, but he kept his promise and was a gentleman the whole time. He came up behind me and taught me how to roll the ball and then I actually got a strike! After that, I turned around and gave him a nice, long kiss. Once I got the hang of it, I became a lot better. An hour and a half later, we walked out of the bowling alley.
“That was so much fun!” I exclaimed. “And I can’t believe I actually beat you in the last game!”
“I just let you win.”
“No you didn’t!”
“You’re right; I didn’t. Don’t rub it in.”
“Sorry I’ll try not to. It’s just that I had such a good teacher. I swear that his touch must have put magic into my arms and that’s what made me do well.” I winked at him.
“That certainly could be. What time is it?”
“It’s around 5:30. I’m starting to get a little hungry. Do you want to go somewhere for dinner?”
“Sure. Where do you want to go?”
“How about an Italian place?”
“Do you want to go to the Macaroni Grill?”
“I love that place.”
He drove us to the Macaroni Grill where we had a candlelit dinner. It really was very romantic. I told Jesse that I had to go to the bathroom, but I really went to see the waitress to pay the bill; I felt so bad because I hadn’t gotten anything for him in awhile and he always paid for everything whenever we went out and that wasn’t fair to him.
“You ready to go?” I asked as I got back to the table.
“Yeah, but we need to get the bill.”
“Already done.”
“What do you mean? What did you do?”
“I already paid. I told you I was going to the bathroom, but I really went to go see the waitress and pay the bill. I know if I told you that I would pay straight out, you never would have let me and that’s not fair to you because you have been paying for me basically every time we have gone out and we go out a lot. That gets to be so expensive.”
“Riles, you didn’t have to do that.”
“Yes I did. You do so much for me. The least I could do is pay for you sometimes. Now let’s go.”
“Where do you want to go now? It’s only like 7:00,” he asked as soon as we got into the car.
“Let’s go to the beach.”
“Riley, it’s February and we live in New York.”
“What? Little Jessewessy can’t handle the cold?”
“No I can handle it, I just think you’re a little nuts, that’s all.”
“Hey!” I said, hitting him on the shoulder.
“Ouch,” he said laughing. “Ok we can go to the beach if that’s what your little heart desires.”
“Thank you.”
“When we got to the beach, we decided to keep our shoes on even though we knew they would get sandy because it was too cold. The beach was totally quiet and there was barely any light, so Jesse and I tried to see if we could make a small bonfire.
“Ok so I have to admit that I kind of had an ulterior motive for asking you to come here with me,” I said as we sat around our small fire.
“Why? Did you want to get me here so that we could do something dirty?”
“Ew, no! You are such a guy sometimes. I brought you here because I have a surprise for you.”
“What’s the surprise?”
“This is.” I pulled out a white envelope from my coat pocket and handed it to him. He looked at the return address and looked up at me completely shocked.
“Riley, this is from Buena Vista Records.”
“I know. Read it.”
He opened the envelope and read the following words:
Dear Ms. Riley Miller,
We have received the recording you sent in to us and would like to inform you that we were amazed at what we heard and would love to meet with the singer and very possibly give him a record contract. Thank you very much for sending this recording to us. We feel that we can turn Mr. McCartney into a hit singer who will go on to sell millions of records. We hope he will consider joining Buena Vista Records some time in the near future and we want to hear from him or you soon.
Sincerely,
Jane Johnson
CEO of Buena Vista Records
As soon as he was done reading, his mouth fell open.
“When we were first getting to know each other, I remember that you told me that your dream was to become a famous singer or actor because you loved it and you wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. Remember when you wrote me that song “Beautiful Soul” and then I asked you if you could record it for me so that I could listen to it whenever I wanted to? Well, I made a copy of it and sent it out to all different record companies. I figured it’s about time some of your dreams came true, since you made most of mine come true. So what do you say? Are you going to meet up with them to talk about a contract?”
“Hell yes!” he said, smiling so brightly that it lit up his whole face. “Riley, I can’t believe you. No one has ever done anything like this for me before. This feeling I have right now, it’s completely amazing. I have never been happier than right now this very moment. I don’t know what I would do without you. None of this would have happened if it weren’t for you. I love you so much it hurts and I know that one day, I’m going to marry you, Riley Miller because you’re it for me; you’re the one.”
“Let’s wait a little while on that marriage thing, but the only thing I have left to say is ditto.”
He took me in his arms and we shared a sweet kiss under the stars.
“Will a member of the jury please hand me the verdict?”
A jury member walked up to the judge’s desk and handed him a piece of paper. I could feel my chest seize up as the judge opened it and read the following words:
“After careful consideration of all the presented evidence, the state of New York finds the defendant, Matthew Turner, to be guilty of first-degree murder. His sentence will be determined at a later date.”
I took a deep, relieved breath. Thank God, I thought. Jesse squeezed my hand and smiled at me. Matt was escorted out of the courtroom in handcuffs. The curious thing was that his expression was completely indifferent; almost as if he didn’t even care that the rest of his life was ruined. But then, as if he could feel my eyes on his back, he turned around, looked straight into my eyes and smiled at me evilly, as if to say, “Even though I’m in jail, I know I can still get inside your head.” I turned away quickly.
“Let’s go,” I said, taking Jesse’s hand and pulling him out of the courtroom as fast as I could. Amanda came running after us.
“Riley, what’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing, I just couldn’t stand to be in the same room with Matt any longer than I had to. Even though I know he’s going to jail, he still creeps me out a little bit.”
“Riles, everything is going to be fine now. Matt can’t touch you and if you let him into your mind, you are letting him win,” said Jesse.
“I know. I guess all that stuff about him stalking me just really freaked me out and I’m glad that I won’t have to worry about it anymore. This whole experience has definitely made me a whole lot more cautious when I’m alone, though.”
“You’re safe now, don’t worry. Nobody is going to let anything happen to you,” Jesse said hugging me close.
“I know. I think we should celebrate.”
“I don’t think I can. I already made plans to spend the day with Tyler and his family. I’m really sorry, Ri.”
“That’s ok. We’ll still celebrate; we’ll just miss you, that’s all.”
“So what did you have in mind for this celebration?” Jesse asked.
“I don’t know, but something romantic.”
“We should be completely spontaneous and just do whatever we want.”
“That sounds good to me.”
Jesse walked Amanda and I to her car and told me he would meet me at Amanda’s house in half an hour so that I could change into more comfortable clothing. Half an hour later, he did just that.
“So where do you want to go to celebrate first?” he asked as we got in the car.
“It doesn’t really matter to me.”
“No this is your celebration, so you get to pick where we go first.”
“Ok fine. Uhmmm how about 6Flags or some place like that? I haven’t been there in awhile and it’ll be kind of romantic going on all the rides with you.”
“Sounds great. Let’s go.”
He drove us to 6Flags and we went on Superman (I almost broke his arm on that one because I was holding on so tight. He made me come on with him.), Tilt-a-whirl, the scrambler, the dropper, and White Water Rapids. We stopped to get ice cream there and left after about 2 ½ hours.
“Ok your turn to pick now, since I picked the first place,” I said as we got back in the car.
“Hmmm how about going bowling? I haven’t done that in awhile.”
“No we can’t go bowling.”
“Why not?”
“Because I suck at bowling.”
“I’m sure you’re not that bad.”
“My highest score was like an 80. I’m lucky if I even get past 50 in one game. I need a bowling coach or something.”
“Well, if you bowl with me for at least one game, I will teach you,” Jesse said flirtatiously.
“Well, when you put it that way…I guess I could make this small sacrifice for you, but under one condition.”
“And what’s that?”
“You have to promise not to laugh at me if I still do really badly.”
“Done.”
“Ok then let’s go.”
Jesse drove to the nearest bowling alley and we bowled 2 games. At first, I was doing really badly, but he kept his promise and was a gentleman the whole time. He came up behind me and taught me how to roll the ball and then I actually got a strike! After that, I turned around and gave him a nice, long kiss. Once I got the hang of it, I became a lot better. An hour and a half later, we walked out of the bowling alley.
“That was so much fun!” I exclaimed. “And I can’t believe I actually beat you in the last game!”
“I just let you win.”
“No you didn’t!”
“You’re right; I didn’t. Don’t rub it in.”
“Sorry I’ll try not to. It’s just that I had such a good teacher. I swear that his touch must have put magic into my arms and that’s what made me do well.” I winked at him.
“That certainly could be. What time is it?”
“It’s around 5:30. I’m starting to get a little hungry. Do you want to go somewhere for dinner?”
“Sure. Where do you want to go?”
“How about an Italian place?”
“Do you want to go to the Macaroni Grill?”
“I love that place.”
He drove us to the Macaroni Grill where we had a candlelit dinner. It really was very romantic. I told Jesse that I had to go to the bathroom, but I really went to see the waitress to pay the bill; I felt so bad because I hadn’t gotten anything for him in awhile and he always paid for everything whenever we went out and that wasn’t fair to him.
“You ready to go?” I asked as I got back to the table.
“Yeah, but we need to get the bill.”
“Already done.”
“What do you mean? What did you do?”
“I already paid. I told you I was going to the bathroom, but I really went to go see the waitress and pay the bill. I know if I told you that I would pay straight out, you never would have let me and that’s not fair to you because you have been paying for me basically every time we have gone out and we go out a lot. That gets to be so expensive.”
“Riles, you didn’t have to do that.”
“Yes I did. You do so much for me. The least I could do is pay for you sometimes. Now let’s go.”
“Where do you want to go now? It’s only like 7:00,” he asked as soon as we got into the car.
“Let’s go to the beach.”
“Riley, it’s February and we live in New York.”
“What? Little Jessewessy can’t handle the cold?”
“No I can handle it, I just think you’re a little nuts, that’s all.”
“Hey!” I said, hitting him on the shoulder.
“Ouch,” he said laughing. “Ok we can go to the beach if that’s what your little heart desires.”
“Thank you.”
“When we got to the beach, we decided to keep our shoes on even though we knew they would get sandy because it was too cold. The beach was totally quiet and there was barely any light, so Jesse and I tried to see if we could make a small bonfire.
“Ok so I have to admit that I kind of had an ulterior motive for asking you to come here with me,” I said as we sat around our small fire.
“Why? Did you want to get me here so that we could do something dirty?”
“Ew, no! You are such a guy sometimes. I brought you here because I have a surprise for you.”
“What’s the surprise?”
“This is.” I pulled out a white envelope from my coat pocket and handed it to him. He looked at the return address and looked up at me completely shocked.
“Riley, this is from Buena Vista Records.”
“I know. Read it.”
He opened the envelope and read the following words:
Dear Ms. Riley Miller,
We have received the recording you sent in to us and would like to inform you that we were amazed at what we heard and would love to meet with the singer and very possibly give him a record contract. Thank you very much for sending this recording to us. We feel that we can turn Mr. McCartney into a hit singer who will go on to sell millions of records. We hope he will consider joining Buena Vista Records some time in the near future and we want to hear from him or you soon.
Sincerely,
Jane Johnson
CEO of Buena Vista Records
As soon as he was done reading, his mouth fell open.
“When we were first getting to know each other, I remember that you told me that your dream was to become a famous singer or actor because you loved it and you wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. Remember when you wrote me that song “Beautiful Soul” and then I asked you if you could record it for me so that I could listen to it whenever I wanted to? Well, I made a copy of it and sent it out to all different record companies. I figured it’s about time some of your dreams came true, since you made most of mine come true. So what do you say? Are you going to meet up with them to talk about a contract?”
“Hell yes!” he said, smiling so brightly that it lit up his whole face. “Riley, I can’t believe you. No one has ever done anything like this for me before. This feeling I have right now, it’s completely amazing. I have never been happier than right now this very moment. I don’t know what I would do without you. None of this would have happened if it weren’t for you. I love you so much it hurts and I know that one day, I’m going to marry you, Riley Miller because you’re it for me; you’re the one.”
“Let’s wait a little while on that marriage thing, but the only thing I have left to say is ditto.”
He took me in his arms and we shared a sweet kiss under the stars.