Memories Are Wonderful

So maybe I didn’t have my life figured out just yet but I did have a lot to be thankful for and my job at the museum was one of them. It gave me freedom enough so that the prospect of writing that book actually felt like it was within the realm of possibility. I went to work and spent time with James and when he was gone I scavenged every library in the city to start the initial research for the book.

Kate was frantically working to finish her last semester and my sister frantically working to plan her wedding. I didn’t see much of Samantha or Elizabeth and hadn’t mentioned James and my relationship to either of them. I’m sure Samantha had ideas of it when James and I bumped into her but she never mentioned it. She had her own relationship to think about. She was dating a law student who took up most of her time and concentration. Even Elizabeth seemed to be doing well. Perhaps things had finally settled for not just me, but those around me.

“I’m glad your roommate has early classes,” James said as I re-entered my room, dripping wet from my shower, holding up my thick towel.

“That is quite convenient when you stay over.”

As I grabbed a set of clean clothes he got out of bed to head for the shower. It had become so routine, almost like we were living together but in reality we only stayed at each others places and that was only when James was home.

The sound of the shower running was dull in the background as I got dressed and made the bed. The sheets were crumpled and warm inviting me to crawl back into them but I had work to get to. As I placed the last corner of the comforter in its spot I nearly knocked the alarm clock off the bedside table. It was this small action that led James’s wallet beside it to come to my attention. I would never snoop through his stuff for no reason but this morning there was a small piece of thick paper protruding from the soft brown leather. The urge to pull it out was too great. I don’t know what I expected it to be. The paper looked like photo paper but it could have been a business card or something. But as I picked up the wallet and pulled from it the paper I knew immediately my first assumption had been right. The photo was folded into a small enough square to fit in the small confines of the wallet. Unfolding it revealed a picture it took me a moment to figure out. What was it? I turned it sideways and then again and I realized it was my shoulder and the dark bits at the edge were my hair. It must have been one of the pictures he had taken in bed what felt like forever ago.

My initial reaction was to think that James was the weirdest person I had ever met, but oddly enough that only made me smile.

“Nosey?” James’s voice interrupted my flighty thoughts. His voice was soft and warm and carried with his breath to the crook of my neck. I could feel him standing behind me and could feel his arms around me even before he actually touched me.

I blushed a little, feeling guilty. “Sorry. This was coming out of the wallet a little and I guess curiosity got the best of me.”

James’s arm reached in front of me and took the picture of my hands. He examined it over my shoulder without a word. I wondered what was in those thoughts of his.

“It’s an odd picture to carry around.”

“Why is that?” James frowned.

“I don’t know. You’d think you might carry a picture of your girlfriend but my shoulder? Really?”

The photo was placed on the table before James pushed my hair to one side. The feeling of air came dancing on my freshly exposed skin.

“I like that picture. It reminds me of the first time I met you—”

“You remember that?”

“I do. And I remember trying to find a secluded place to just think. I was walking down this path and found a beautiful spot by the water. But I wasn’t the only one. There was this silhouette standing alone.” He ran his finger down the side of my neck and shoulder, “All I could see was the outline of this person but I knew she was beautiful by the contour of her neck and shoulders.”

He trailed kisses in the path his finger had taken, moving the strap of my sleeveless shirt over the side of my shoulder. There was no stopping my smile.

“Sometimes I wish I could be like you.” I breathed as James nuzzled his face into me and pulled me closer.

“How?”

The thought was hard to put into words, “You just seem to find happiness in the smallest things. It must be a very pleasant existence to be able to find love in something like the picture of a shoulder.”

He rested his chin on my shoulder, “ah, but not just any shoulder. Your shoulder. There is a difference.”

I laughed and turned to face him. “Yes, well, my shoulder has to go to work.”

James went back to trailing little kisses on my shoulder, “no it doesn’t. It can stay here with me.”

I was sent into a fit of giggles at the rapid kisses, eventually leaning back on his arms behind me. “Seriously, James I have to go.”

He sighed, “I know, I’ve got a meeting to go to today.”

I smiled at him, placing a kiss on his lips, “I’ll see you for dinner tonight, okay?”

“I’ll meet you outside the museum.”

“Sounds good.”

Only it wasn’t really good because as fun as working at the museum could be it was a slow day and I just wanted dinner to come. But when it did, and James was waiting outside the museum, he didn’t look happy. Something was bothering him. There wasn’t the same cheerful smile as there had been that morning and we ended up walking back to his place without much conversation.

“What’s going on?” I asked as we entered his apartment.

“I got some news today about my next film.” He tossed his jacket down on the chair and aggressively let himself down on the couch.

It was obvious the news had not been good and my mind mulled over possibilities. Regardless of what it was I was ready to comfort him. Cautiously I approached the couch and took a seat beside him. “What is it?”
At first his presence on the couch was uninviting but as soon as he looked at me he smiled, and immediately softened. But there was still uneasiness in his expression.

“We’re going to be filming in Ireland.”

It was an anticlimactic answer, “You’ve filmed overseas before.”

He nodded, a slow, drawn out nod, “yes, but they only have 6 weeks to shoot so I’m going to be over there most of that time.”

“But my sister’s wedding is in a month, are you going to be able to make it?”

It was bad enough he’s be gone for so long but I really wanted him there at the wedding. I couldn’t be too angry with him though, he obviously wasn’t happy about it either.

“I don’t know. I will try my best Daize. I can promise that much.”

In an act of comfort he pulled me towards him and we sat quietly for a moment on the couch before my stomach growled.

Both of our hectic days had left us too tired and lazy for cooking or leaving the confines of the apartment so we ordered in some food and after eating spent time in front of the face fireplace talking mostly. James had been doing some more writing and was willing to let me hear some of it. His voice was always so articulate and even when he read aloud. I wondered if he had always been so good at it, or it came from all the practice he got. His writing was maturing; it was evident from what he read. A part of me wished I could be a better writer but my dream of finishing that book felt further and further from manageable when I heard James’s prose.

“So what do you think?” His brown eyes eagerly awaited my reaction.

“It was really good James.”

“I’ve sent it through a couple of my editors so it’s be reworked a few times. How is your book coming?”

“It’s non-fiction, it’s boring. Plus, I’m not so sure I’m cut out for writing. But I don’t want to talk about that right now.”

“What do you want to talk about?”

I smirked playfully, “I want to have some fun before you’re dragged overseas.”

“You can’t drag someone overseas.”

The remark was of no consequence, I ignored it as I went for a kiss. Both our bodies feel into rhythm and we spent the night in front of the fireplace.

“I’m going to miss this.” I sighed, thinking of what so much time apart might feel like.

“Me too.”

“I guess that’s what I signed up for in that cab.”

“Regretting it yet?”

“Not yet.”