Be With Me

People say that time flies when you’re having fun, they couldn’t have been more precise. The more time I spent with Vanessa, the easier things seemed to become. Any problems that I came across seemed minor when I was with her. The paparazzi were no longer a nuisance to me. I paid them no mind when I was with Vanessa. In fact, I was beginning to ignore them when I wasn’t with her. I couldn’t imagine my life without her. She brought me such ease. Our relationship only seemed to grow with each passing day.

I couldn’t even remember the incident anymore. The images of that day had been buried deep inside my subconscious. I was no longer haunted by the images of her. I couldn’t remember ever meeting her. I had forgotten all about her. I couldn’t remember her no matter how hard I tried. Vanessa had the ability to make my problems disappear.

A cool fall breeze blew as I walked down the street with Vanessa. Her arm was linked with mine as we walked down the busy streets. I had made reservations for Vanessa and me for lunch. The restaurant wasn’t far from our apartment, so I decided that we should walk. The streets were crowded, the usual for New York, despite the cold.

“How much further babe?” Vanessa clung to my arm as she spoke. “I’m starting to get cold,”

A laugh escaped my lips as I looked down at her. She wore her wavy brown hair down so that it passed her shoulders. A few strands of hair blew in the wind. Her black trench coat blew in the wind as well as it hung on her body. I pulled my arm from her grasp, placing it over her shoulders. I held her close to me as we continued to walk down the street.

“It’s not far, but until then, I’ll just have to keep you warm,”

She giggled as she held herself closer to me. A smile formed on my lips as I listened to her laugh. “Well in that case, walking doesn’t seem so bad,”

We walked a few more blocks before I could see the restaurant in view. I hadn’t planned on anything fancy or expensive. I just wanted to spend the day with her. We may be living together now, but we don’t see each other every day.

Our roles seemed to become reversed while we were here. When we were in Atlanta, I was the one with the rigorous schedule. I hardly had time for Vanessa when we were home. Now that we were in New York, Vanessa was constantly working. When she wasn’t doing a photo shoot she had to meet with someone about her portfolio.

I understood how she felt now. I understood what she meant when she said that she wanted to spend more time with me. I knew how it felt to be sitting alone waiting for someone to come home. I knew how she felt, and know appreciated taking this time off now more than ever.

I whispered in Vanessa’s ear telling her that I could see the restaurant. She started giggling once more as she asked me where it was. I waited until we were three doors down to lean down towards her ear again. Just as we were about to stop, the door to the restaurant flew open.

A little boy ran out of the restaurant at top speed. He was looking behind him, making sure that someone wasn’t following him. Before I knew it he had run into my legs at full force. He was running too fast to turn around in time.

I stumbled slightly, causing Vanessa to do the same. We quickly regained our balance before looking down at the boy. He shook his head as he backed up. He held his head as he continued shaking it.

“Sorry man,” he looked up at us as he stopped shaking his head.

“It’s alright,” I spoke. I chuckled as I stared down at him. He looked familiar. I had seen him somewhere before. Those brown eyes reminded me of someone else’s eyes. They were both similar to each other.

He looked up at me, furrowing his brows in confusion. Suddenly his eyes winded in recognition. His face seemed to brighten as if a light bulb had gone off in his head. He started to back up as he stared at me. “I remember you,”

Vanessa craned her neck to look at me. “Where do you know him from babe?”

I was just as confused as her. The kid was familiar, but I couldn’t remember where I knew him from. I couldn’t place his face in my memory no matter how hard I tried. He may be able to recognize me, but I couldn’t recognize him.

It wasn’t until I heard his name, until I heard a familiar voice yell his name, that I recognized him. “Dante!!”

In the moment, all of the images of the incident came flooding back to me. It was as if the dam that was holding the images in my mind had just burst. I remembered everything now. I remembered Dante, and I remembered her.

My body immediately tensed up, just as it had that day. I was frozen in place. My mind was racing with too many thoughts to comprehend. I couldn’t decipher how I felt about the situation. I couldn’t figure anything out. I was shifting into autopilot. I wasn’t pulled back into reality until she walked into my view.

As she emerged from the crowd, my breath caught in my throat. She didn’t look the same as she had when I saw her at her apartment; she looked casual, yet fashionable. She held a sophisticated looked yet she still looked laid back. She looked like the Natalie that I use to know.

She immediately ran over to Dante despite the heels on her boots. She grabbed his arm and turned him around to face her as she kneeled down to his level. Instead of pulling him into a loving embrace, she grabbed him by his collar.

Her features were twisted with anger as she stared him down. Fear was evident on Dante’s face. His eyes were wide as he gulped. He knew that he was in trouble. Whatever it was that he had done, he knew that he was going to pay for it.

“Are you insane?” she began to rant. “What have I told you about doing stuff like this? You know what Dante, forget it, because this isn’t going to happen again, isn’t that right?” Dante quickly nodded his head as he continued to stare at Natalie with fear.

“That’s what I thought. And to make sure that this doesn’t happen again, you’re on punishment when you get home. In fact you’re going home, I’m calling Summer—”

“No,” he interrupted.

She held his collar tighter and pulled him closer to her. She whispered in his ear as she continued to hold him. A part of me was glad that she wasn’t speaking out loud. The way that Dante cringed at her words told me that I didn’t want to be him. I winced at the thought of what she was saying to him.

She let go of him, handing him the jacket that was hanging on her arm. “Now put on your jacket,” she spoke through clenched teeth as she stood up.

I watched as Dante quickly put on his jacket and zipped it closed. His face was contorted in anger, but his eyes were beginning to water. He tried to wipe away the tears without anyone noticing, but he wasn’t succeeding. His only accomplishment was catching the tears before they slid down his cheek.

Natalie stood up and straightened her shirt as she looked down at Dante. She let out an exasperated breath before she looked forward. It wasn’t until then that she noticed I was standing there.

Her eyes landed on me, causing them to fill with shock. As her brown eyes bore into mine, it was as if the world had stopped. Everything around me seemed to disappear as she stared at me. I wasn’t sure if I had blinked since my eyes had locked with hers.

She hadn’t once attempted to look away from me, and neither did I. her eyes were so familiar to me, like a safe house. They were so warm and inviting. They instantly comforted you; at least they did when she didn’t close them off.

I wasn’t surprised that she didn’t close them off this time. She was instantly caught off guard when she saw me. She may have been caught off guard last time, but this time Dante was involved. The only thing that was on her mind was Dante. Natalie always cared about her little brother. It was nice to see that this hadn’t changed.

Vanessa calling my name brought me back to reality. I instantly looked away from Natalie and down at Vanessa. Her lips were in a straight line as she stared up at me. Her eyes then began to dart back and forth between me and Natalie. She wanted an explanation. I knew that if we weren’t in public she would be demanding an explanation right now. That was her personality.

I cleared my throat before looking back at Natalie. She was fixing Dante’s jacket, although there wasn’t anything wrong with it. I could tell that she was busying herself to avoid the awkward situation.

“Long time no see huh,” I spoke. I said the first thing that came into my head. I couldn’t let myself walk away without saying anything, again. It was obvious that fate wasn’t going to leave us alone until one of us spoke to the other.

She nodded her head as she stood up. She ran a hand through her head as she looked at me. “About 3 years…I guess that’s a long time,”

I nodded my head in response. Natalie bit her lip as she began to look off to the side. She shifted her weight onto her right leg.

“Well I’m Vanessa,” she stuck her hand out to Natalie. “Justin’s girlfriend,”

Natalie shook her hand, a small false smile on her lips. “I’m Natalie; it’s nice to meet you,”

Vanessa’s eyes winded slightly for a second before she maintained her composure. Once she stopped shaking her hand, she placed it on my arm. She sent me a look that said that I was going to explain this once we were out of this situation.

Vanessa knew exactly who Natalie was. I had told her about Natalie many times before. She knew the entire story about me and Natalie. She knows about how we started and how we ended. She knows about how much I loved her and the heartbreak I went through once we were over. There was no way that I was going to walk away from this without explaining this to Vanessa.

“Well it was nice meeting you,” Vanessa spoke flashing Natalie a fake smile as well.

Natalie nodded before grabbing Dante’s hand. “You too,” she began to walk in the direction that we had just came from as we continued to walk forward.

Vanessa waited until we were standing inside of the restaurant to unlink her arms from mine. She turned around to face me while putting her hands on her hips. She started tapping her foot as she stared at me.

“Explain,”