So Just Fly With Me

I was sick and tired of keeping this relationship a secret. Sick and tired of hiding and going behind my parents' backs. If they found out, well my mom probably wouldn't care. It was my dad what was the problem. He wouldn't do anything to me except maybe a slap on the wrist, but Craig, well, he would be six feet under. For the sake of the life of the man I loved, I knew I had to endure it for a while. I never knew what my father did for a living, nor did I really care. I just knew he was well-known, and people were afraid of him. We had it all. Money, nice cars, and a huge house. Where does Craig come into this? Since our property is so big, my father has people working year-round around the house and in the yard, and Craig is part of that small group of people. The hired help were people that just wanted to make a living. They weren't necessarily the best people around, but it was one of very few good qualities my father possessed: he'd help some people he deemed worthy of help. Me? I was daddy's princess, an only child, and he didn't want me getting mixed up with these people. Most people would be jealous of the life I had, but I despised it.

“Lisa, honey, go bring Mr. Owens some water, it's hot outside,” my mom said as I was passing through the kitchen heading for the yard. “Tell him he can take a break too, if he wants.”

“Aye-aye captain,” I said, grabbing two bottles. I headed outside into the humid Chicago summer air and went to the pool where Craig was just starting to clean it. I saw the beads of sweat dripping down his bare back, and down his tattooed arms. My breath escaped me for a moment until I cleared my throat. “Here, it's hot out.” I handed him a bottle.

“Thanks.” He grabbed the bottle and continued working while I sat in my lawn chair that was close by.

“You can take a break too. My mom told me to tell you since it's so hot outside,” I said, motioning to the chair next to me.

Without a word he sat on the edge of the chair next to mine, staring into the pool. “So they're here?”

“Just my mom.”

He still wouldn't look at me, and I knew why. He knew better than to give any signs or any type of hint, and I didn't blame him. He kept his back to the house, looking as if he was staring into the distance silently while I just laid in my chair and looked like I was listening to music while getting some sun. “Oh.”

“I know, this really sucks,” I said as my head started to hang.

“Yeah, but our time will come, baby.”

I smiled as I always did when he called me any sort of pet name, but my head still hung. “I know we will.”

Alone time for us was a rarity. My parents hardly ever left the house when he was working, and I didn't know if it was because they didn't trust me, or didn't trust him. By my father's rules, I wasn't allowed to talk to Craig unless it was me passing a message from one of them for another job, to take a break, or call it a day. The very few times they both would leave though, I'd take advantage of the short amount of time I would get alone with him. It was never relaxing time though. It was full of anxiety and paranoia that we would be caught. Although it was nice to have a few moments where we got to hold each other and share a kiss, I just wanted to be able to do it all the time. I wanted to be able to hold him everyday, to kiss him everyday, to sleep next to him at night. I loved this man with every fiber of my being.

I raised my head, looking at his back that was still turned to me. “I don't know how much longer I can go with keeping this secret though,” I said. “It's starting to really stress me out.”

“I know, me too, baby.” He finally looked at me, capturing me with his icy blue eyes that I loved so much.

“So let's go away then,” I said.

“You know I'd give anything to just up and run away with you. Right now I'm just worried about how we can. You can't just up and disappear on your parents. I just need time to plan, and maybe I can try talking to your father to try and prove to him that I'm not as bad as he thinks I am.”

“Craig, my dad is the one preventing me from having the one thing I want. I honestly don't care if I disappear on them.” I paused in a moment of thought. “Where would we go though?”

A smile spread across his face. “That'll be the fun part. We'll just go until we find a place to stay. I have friends that can help us out, they know places.”

“But then I'd be taking you away from your friends.”

“They'll come with us. They got my back, and they'll gladly join us. We will get out of here and live our lives together soon enough.”

“You promise?”

“Baby, you have my word,” he said with a smile.

I lost myself in his glance, but hearing my dad's voice behind me snapped me back into reality. With no words, he went back to work and I sighed before I went inside.

“You shouldn't be talking to him,” my dad said, just as he said every time I was within a ten foot radius of Craig.

“I was giving him water and telling him to rest. Dad, it's hot out there.”

“Okay, but just remember what I said when I hired him.”

“I remember, dad,” I mumbled with a sigh, hearing them repeat over in my head. “Lisa, you're my only daughter. You're my princess. He is a low-life who's barely making a living, and I'm sure he has a criminal background. I don't want you trying to create a friendship with him. He doesn't deserve you, and you deserve only the best.”

“Okay. I'm just looking out for you. You're my only daughter, and you only deserve the best.”

“I know, dad. I know,” I grumbled again, trying to leave the kitchen.

“He doesn't deserve you, he's a loser, a-”

“Dad! I know,” I said, cutting him off. “You remind me everyday that you think I'm within a ten foot radius of him. Even if I do talk to him, it's just civil conversation. Am I not allowed to make civilized conversation with anybody?” I snapped, not even sticking around to hear his response.

Hearing him talk like that about Craig hurt me badly. I hated hearing it. I've heard the words so many times, and by now, I knew he was just testing me. Testing to see if I would listen to him. He still thinks I'm passing the test, but I wasn't. I was failing miserably. I was convinced my mom knew what was going on, but she never actually came out and said anything. One day after I had an exchange of words with my dad, I locked myself in my room until he left and she came knocking. I let her in before burying my face into my bed again. Her words always replayed in my head.

“You can't help who you fall in love with. You're a grown woman, and you can't stop what your heart wants. I don't have a problem with anything that happens, and I'm sure one day your father will feel the same,” she said once with a wink.

Craig had mentioned a few times that he'd come take me away. I couldn't wait for that day to come. I couldn't wait till I could be open about how madly in love with him I was. He treated me right. Not like any of the assholes my dad would introduce me to. My dad wanted me to marry a rich man so I didn't have to work. I wanted to work, and I wanted to fall in love on my own. The love part I had down, and now I just had to get away so I could live the life I want.