The Dream Isn't Done

I believe together we'll fly,
I believe in the power of you and I.



I had never expected, not in a million years, that my life would turn out like this. I never thought that I would be spending my days in the back of a beat up old van, traveling the world and seeing sights that I had ever only dreamed of as a young girl.

He was the reason I was able to do that.

His family had more than enough money to keep their close-knit family afloat. When his parents passed away from a tragic car accident, all money that the family had ever had went to their oldest child - him.

I was fresh out of college when I met him. More mature, a little wiser then when I had first started. We had barely known each other a month when he asked me to drop everything; to, leave my life behind and go with him. When I had asked him where, he had simply replied, “Who knows? We’ll figure it out as we go.”

I had never exactly been the most spontaneous of my friends. Sure, I liked a little risk every now and then, but I was never the wild and crazy one. But whatever it was that day, when he extended his hand to me, asking me to come with him, I agreed.

“Morning,” the voice I had come to know so well murmured from above me.

I allowed my eyes to open just a crack, to see the face of Alexandre, the man who had whisked me away from my home in Canada two years ago. He smiled as I opened my eyes, wrinkles appearing in the corner of his twinkling eyes. Loose chestnut brown hair spilled over his forehead as he looked down at me. “Morning.”

“Did you sleep well?” he asked, his Scottish accent becoming more pronounced with every word.

“Wonderful,” I told him, pulling myself up. “Thank you for springing for a hotel last night. A comfortable bed was exactly what I needed.”

“Well, you’re welcome,” Alex grinned. “I figured after three weeks non-stop in the back of that van couldn’t be good on your body.”

“My back is silently praising you,” I laughed. I ran a hand through my tangled espresso brown locks, pushing them out of my face. “So, what’s on the agenda for us today?”

Alex shrugged, glancing around the hotel room he had booked for us the night before. “I thought that maybe, we could just check out the city?"

“No long list of historic or note-worthy sights?” I mocked.

“Not today,” he chuckled. “Today it’s just going to be us.”

I grinned up at Alex. “Sounds perfect.”

“Get ready,” he instructed, giving my exposed thigh a quick slap before standing up from the bed. “I’m going to run downstairs and grab a few things from the hotel kitchen.”

I kicked back the blankets and dropped my legs over the edge of the bed. Alex was acting odd today. For the past few days actually. First, he had surprised me with an actual bed as opposed to blankets and pillows in the back of our van. Now, he was scraping his usual routine of visiting all the sights and museums that the city we were visiting had to offer.

Putting off Alex’s strange behavior, I decided to forget taking a shower, knowing that although Alex hadn’t planned any specific places to go, it wouldn’t exactly be a relaxing day. Pulling on a pair of cut-offs and a simple white tank top, I tossed the covers up over the bed before digging a hair brush out of a small bag.

When Alex came back into the hotel room, my hair was twisted into a French braid, and I was ready to go.

“Coffee.” He smiled, coming over to where I was sitting on the floor, stuffing the last of my clothes into my duffel bag. I looked up to see Alex with two mugs of coffee.

“My savior,” I joked, taking one of the cups, tipping the hot liquid to my lips. “Now I’m ready to go.” Alex helped me up from the floor and we finished our coffees while packing up our stuff, planning to check out of the hotel.

The hot sun beat down on the city of Athens and I flicked my aviators down onto the bridge of my nose as Alex and I loaded our bags into the back of our battered blue van. That vehicle had been over more bumps and potholes then any poor van should, but she was still kicking and was of perfect use to Alex and I.

Athens was alive and bustling this morning. Alex and I wandered the streets with no real destination in mind. It was nice to be able to enjoy the city without having to rush to the next big sight. It was nice to be able to enjoy Alex’s company.

A camera hanging from his neck, sunglasses perched on his nose, a hat laying carelessly on the mop he called hair, Alex seemed to be extremely relaxed today.

“What is up with you?” I asked, breaking the comfortable silence that had settled around us.

He pulled his eyebrows together, lowering his camera. “What do you mean?”

I appraised him for a moment before sighing. “You’re all… mellow today. I mean, more mellow than usual.”

Alex chuckled, walking over to a set of steps that lead up to one of the many buildings along the street, he sat down and patted the spot next to him. I sat down and looked at him, curious as to what he was going to say.

“Do you know that it’s been five years to the day that we left Montreal?” he said to me.

I couldn’t help but smile at the memory of our first meeting and all the times we had shared together since then. “I figured it was something like that. You know how I am with dates.”

Alex let out a chuckle. “Aye, that I do. You know, I never expected you to say yes.”

It was my turn to be confused. “What do you mean?”

His dark, chocolate brown eyes met my own light blue ones. “I was shocked when you agreed to go. As much as I hoped that you would, when I asked I never honestly thought you would agree to it.”

“Neither did I,” I told him honestly. “But I’m pretty glad I did.”

“So am I,” he smiled at me. “And there’s something that I want to give you.”

Shrugging his backpack off his shoulders, Alex began shuffling through its front pouch. It took him no longer then thirty seconds to find what he was looking for. He retracted his hand, holding in it, a simple silver band decorated with a single pear-cut diamond.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“I want you to have this,’ he said to me, taking my left hand in his own. “It’s not an engagement ring, not yet. Think of it more… as a promise. A promise of my commitment to you.”

Alex slipped this new symbol of our love onto my ring finger, bringing my hand to his lips and kissing it softly, before whispering, “I love you, Quinn. I truly do.”

Resting my hand on his rough cheek, I leaned forward, pressing my lips to his. “I love you too, Alexandre,” I promised. “Je t'aime trop.”