"I’d really like you to come with me," Steven said, straightening his tie in the full-length mirror of their suite. "And you never did tell me what you did yesterday. Did you have a nice time?"
"I did a little shopping, saw a movie," she lied and hoped he wouldn’t ask to see her purchases or for the name of the movie. She was betting on the fact that he usually didn’t. She made a mental note to see what was playing before she went to meet Jonathan. If she had time, maybe she’d stop in the shop on the corner and make a couple quick purchases, just in case.
"Why don’t you get ready and come with me. We’re meeting at a restaurant so we can have some lunch before we head to the airport. I’d love them to meet my beautiful daughter."
Usually so willing to please her father, she hated to disappoint him. But she just had to see Jonathan before she left. "You would be terribly disappointed if I didn’t? I really wanted to go pick up a couple of things I saw yesterday while I was shopping. I saw them early in the day yesterday and I didn’t get a chance to go back for them. I found this pair of shoes that would be just perfect for the blue outfit I got a couple weeks ago. You remember the one with the gold buttons and…"
"Have fun." He knew not to get in the way of a woman on a mission, even if that woman was his teenage daughter. "Do you have enough money?"
"Yes, I have plenty." She hopped up from the chair in front of the television and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you, Daddy." She tried to hide her exuberance.
"Just be back here by 3:00, we have a plane to catch."
"I will, I promise," she said, gleefully.
As promised, Jonathan arrived just as Jennifer’s father exited the hotel. He had borrowed Max’s car, as well as a tiny bit of Max’s ‘lady killing’ cologne—he didn’t want to overdo it. He was wearing his nicest clothes and hoped that Jennifer wouldn’t be too embarrassed to be seen with him. As Max had told him, "You clean up pretty good, kid." Feeling confident, he fingered the box in his pocket. He hoped Jennifer would be pleased with its contents.
Seeing her emerge from the hotel, he felt his heart flip-flop. What was happening to him? He honked the horn to signal her and she looked around before running up to the car. Hopefully her father was long gone.
She jumped into the car. "Wow, Max let you borrow his car? That’s neat."
"Yep, I just have to have it back by 5. I think he’s going to the track."
"Max at the track? Who would have figured?" she joked.
"See, you’ve got him figured out already!"
"It wasn’t really that hard. So, where are we going?"
"You really aren’t good with surprises, are you?"
"Jonathan! Tell me!"
"You’ll know soon enough." He put the car in gear and drove away.
"Jonathan, you really didn’t have to do this," Jennifer gushed as she took in her surroundings. "This is really expensive."
"You’re worth it," he explained. "And I promised you a real meal. Besides, since you wouldn’t take any of the reward money, I thought I could at least spend some of it on you."
Jonathan felt out of place in the grand elegance of the restaurant he had chosen for Jennifer’s surprise. Max had recommended it to him and had called to make the reservation for him through his "connections." Max had also suggested a fancy French restaurant but Jonathan felt that a restaurant with a menu printed in English would be a less embarrassing alternative.
The dining room was spacious, with sparkling chandeliers hanging from the ceiling providing the only lighting other than candles adorning each table. Waiters and waitresses circulated around the room, attentive yet not intrusive. Everyone seemed to be having a good time and Jonathan hoped they wouldn’t be the exception.
They were seated at a small table in a far corner of the restaurant, secluded from the rest of the diners by a partition. Jonathan knew he would have to thank Max when he got home as their seating arrangement was certainly his doing. Max had mentioned that the restaurant owner was a poker buddy of his and Jonathan laughed to himself as he wondered how much Max had lost to the man.
"Is something funny?" Jennifer asked, noting the expression on his face.
"Nah, I was just thinking about something. Is this place okay?"
"It’s wonderful, Jonathan. I love it!"
"I just wanted us to have a nice lunch since you’re leaving later." He had tried to deny it but there was no way to avoid that fact.
"Let’s not talk about that now."
"Sounds good to me," he agreed as the waiter arrived to take their drink order.
They dined on foods that Jonathan had never tried before. He felt like he had stepped through a door into another world, a world that had been previously closed to him. It was Jennifer, she had opened the door for him. He knew that it would never be closed again. It wasn’t just the restaurant either. In the few days that he had known her she had expanded his horizons. He had glimpsed into her world and he liked what he saw. He wanted to fit into her world, to be the kind of man who could fit into her world. He hoped with all of his heart that they would meet again and when they did he would be the kind of man that her father would think worthy of his daughter.
"So," he said, breaking the silence, "We still have about an hour before you have to meet your Dad. Do you think I could convince you to go one more place with me?"
"Where?"
"Do you ever answer a question without another question?"
She laughed. "Of course I’ll go with you. What are we waiting for?"
Having already taken care of the check, Jonathan came around and pulled the chair out for her, a gesture he had seen Max make for many of his lady friends. She rose slowly and then, much more quickly, dropped back into the chair. A look of panic flooded her face.
"What’s the matter?" He couldn’t keep the concern out of his voice.
"I can’t believe this," she explained. "It’s my Dad. He’s here. Right over there by the door. What are we going to do?"
Jonathan peered around the corner of the five foot high partition that separated them from the other diners to see where her father was seated.
She pulled him back forcefully. "Don’t! He might see you!"
"So what? It’s not like he knows who I am, remember?" Someday he would though, he thought to himself.
"Is that the only exit?" She asked, her limbs trembling.
"I think so." He surveyed their situation carefully. "Actually, I think there is one other way out. Follow me."
Without questioning, she took his outstretched hand and allowed him to lead her. They wove through some tables in the opposite direction from where her father sat, never looking in his direction. When the finally reached a set of swinging doors with circular glass windows at eye level, he pushed through them, never pausing until the doors swung shut behind them.
"Jonathan! We shouldn’t be in here. What if we get caught? We don’t exactly look like the kitchen staff."
"C’mon," he tugged at her hand. "Let’s go."
They moved briskly through the kitchen area, attracting little attention as the employees busied themselves with the various food preparation tasks.
"Hey!" a deep, husky voice called from behind them.
Stopping and turning to face the man, Jennifer clung to Jonathan’s hand.
In broken English, the tall man wearing a chef’s hat and a soiled apron, yelled at them. "No one sneaks through my kitchen to run out on their check!" He immediately began moving quickly in the direction of Jennifer and Jonathan, his right hand wielding a large wooden spoon.
For a moment Jonathan considered attempting to explain their situation to the large man but he didn’t look like the reasonable type. And Jonathan didn’t want to risk causing a scene that could attract Jennifer’s father’s attention. So that left him with one alternative. "Run," he shouted to Jennifer.
Doing as was commanded without thinking, Jennifer headed for the exit with Jonathan right behind her. Jonathan paused only once, to roll a metal cart filled with salads into the path of the man. The crashing of the cart’s contents onto the tile floor was only slightly less deafening than the sound of the security alarm as Jonathan pushed their way through the door leading outside. Once outside, he grabbed her hand again and they broke into a sprint across the parking lot and down the street to the parking area where they had left Max’s car. He was glad he had decided against paying for the valet parking.
They jumped into the car and fell back into the seats. After catching their breath, they turned to face each other, only to break into uncontrollable laughter.
"Is it just me or do we always seem to get into trouble?" She giggled.
"Yeah, we do seem to have a knack for it. But at least you’re not bored!"
She leaned toward him flirtatiously. "I have a feeling that bored is something I could never be with you."
He leaned in to meet her lips and kissed her softly. Not wanting to pull too far away, they just stared into each other eyes, savoring the moment.
"We probably should get going," Jonathan said grudgingly. "We don’t want the restaurant security to come looking for us."
"Do you think they would?"
"I don’t know," he said honestly. "But I don’t want to stick around to find out." He started the car and pulled into traffic.
"What do you suppose he would have done with that spoon?" Jennifer laughed.
"One of my earliest childhood memories is of one of the nun’s threatening to spank me with a wooden paddle," he joked. "When I saw that thing my first instinct was to run!"
"Whatever would you have done to deserve a spanking?" She sensed that before Max’s intervention the boy might have been a handful.
"Me? Why I was a perfect angel." He winked at her with a flash of the devil gleaming in his eyes.
Their final destination brought them back to the park where they had first spoken so candidly about their lives. As they sat once again on the hilltop in the sun, neither one of them spoke. Their arms were tightly wrapped around each other. They attempted to absorb everything about each other. Jonathan breathed in the scent of her hair and knew it would be etched in his memory forever. His blue eyes were forever burned into her consciousness.
"I wanted to bring you here because it feels like our place. I wanted to have one more memory of us here together."
"I know what you mean. I’m glad you decided to share it with me."
"Me too." He squeezed her tighter. "I wish you could stay. There are so many other things I want to share with you." So many things, so many places, so many feelings.
"I wish I could too. Maybe I can come with my Dad again soon." Her voiced trailed off. "I hope."
"Do you think that might happen?" He was slightly encouraged.
"I don’t know."
Jonathan pulled away. He reached into his pocket and retrieved a small box wrapped in a gold foil paper.
"What is that?" Jennifer asked.
"It’s something I wanted you to have." He handed it to her, closing her fingers around the box with his own.
"I love surprises," she exclaimed.
"But you can’t open it now."
"Why not?" She said, a pouty look settling in on her lips.
"I want you to open it later, after you get home."
"I really can’t open it now?" she pleaded.
"Nope…sorry." He took the package from her and tucked it into her purse. "I don’t want to waste time opening gifts when there are so many things I’d rather be doing."
"Like what?"
"Like this," he said, taking her face into his hands and pulling her toward him. She felt his warm breath on her face before the softness of his lips brushed against hers. The intensity grew as they explored each other’s mouths with their lips and tongues. He caressed her back with his hands and gently pulled her over onto him in the tall grass. The warmth of their bodies pressed together created a desire unlike anything either of them had ever known before. For a few minutes, nothing else in the world mattered. Neither of them noticed the passing of time or the roar of the jets overhead.
As much as he wanted her, Jonathan knew that it had to end. Very gently, he pushed her off of him and sat up, gaining his composure. He breathed in deeply, his lungs feeling like they couldn’t get enough air.
"I probably should get you back to the hotel," he explained.
"Yeah, you’re probably right." She straightened her blouse and brushed the stray grass out of her shiny hair. "Oh Jonathan," she cried suddenly, flinging herself into his arms. "I don’t want to go. This isn’t fair!"
He drew her face into his hands and looked deep into her eyes. "I wish there was some other way…but there isn’t. You just have to believe that we will be together again one day."
"I still don’t understand how you can be so sure of that." She wished her faith in the future was as strong as Jonathan’s.
"I can’t explain it. I just know." He smiled….and hoped. Perhaps if she believed it too it would really come true.
The car rolled to a stop in the alley alongside the hotel. He hadn’t wanted to risk running into her father at the front entrance. He removed the keys from the ignition and for a few moments they sat there in silence, their intertwined fingers resting between them on the seat.
"I guess I should go in."
He pulled her hand to his mouth and kissed it lightly. The faint smell of her perfume on her delicate wrists nearly sent him into sensory overload. How would he ever live without her again?
She smiled as a tear slid down her face. "What are you going to do after you leave here?" She hated the thought of them continuing on with separate lives.
"Well, I think I am going to go back to the park for a little bit. Might stick around and watch your plane take off. Then I have to get Max’s car back to him. I wouldn’t want him to be late for his date with the horses."
"Be sure to tell him I said goodbye, ok?"
"I will. He really likes you."
"I like him too." But not as much as I like you, she thought.
He pulled her into his arms and pressed his lips to hers, the taste permanently ingrained in his mind. Her lips were softer than anything he had ever experienced and he longed to spend eternity kissing her. It was a kiss filled with so much promise.
She longed to stay like this forever. Jonathan was so different from any of the boys she had dated at home. She knew she would never feel this way about anyone else. Maybe he was right, something that felt like this couldn’t just end, could it? Perhaps they were meant to meet again. And maybe next time would be forever.
The bells in a church down the street chimed three times alerting them to the time.
"Well, I guess I better get going," she said without letting go. She buried her face in his shoulder, making no attempt to leave.
"So, I guess this is goodbye." The lump in his throat threatened to strangle him as he struggled to get the words out. She pulled away and looked him in the eyes.
"No," she said adamantly. "It’s until we meet again."
He grinned and laughed out loud. But he knew she was right.
"What is so funny?" she asked, totally confused.
"You’ll find out," he explained, a mysterious look in his eyes.
"When? I’m leaving!" She sounded panicked.
"There you go, asking a million questions again." Her inquisitive nature was probably the thing he loved most about her. He flashed her a smile that she feared would melt her heart. She knew it was a smile meant only for her.
"Ok then, I’m gonna go. My dad will be waiting."
"Until we meet again, Jennifer." He had never been more serious about anything in his life.
She leaned over and kissed him one more time before reaching for the door handle and exiting the car. Without looking back she quickly walked down the alley and rounded the corner before pausing to breathe. Leaning against the brick front of the hotel and closing her eyes, she swore she could feel her heart ripping in two.
The plane rose into the sky like a giant bird flying off across the horizon. Jonathan watched it from their spot in the park. He had been alone for most of his life but he had never felt as empty and lonely as he did at that moment. As the distance between them grew he could feel his heart aching. He watched until he could no longer see a trace of the plane in the sky before retreating down the hill to Max’s waiting car.
She scanned the area from the air, hoping for a glance of something that she could recognize on the ground. Just knowing that he was out there somewhere made her feel a little better. Even though she couldn’t see him, she couldn’t bring herself to tear her eyes away from the window until they were way above the clouds.
In the privacy of her own room later that night, Jennifer finally withdrew the small gold wrapped box from her purse. She hadn’t wanted to open it on the plane or in the car on the way home from the airport under her father’s watchful eye. She sat down on her bed and looked out into the night sky through the open window. "Oh Jonathan," she said softly, "I miss you already."
Impatient by nature, Jennifer had never been one to postpone gratification. She always tore into her presents, and even her mail, curious about their contents. But for some reason this time it was different. She passed the box back and forth between her hands and even set it down on her bedside table with the intention of waiting until morning. Somehow she felt that as long as the present remained unopened, Jonathan was there with her. As soon as she opened it, the connection would be over. Or would it be? Could Jonathan really be right about destiny? Would they meet again?
Throwing caution to the wind, she picked up the box and walked over to sit on the window seat overlooking the water that bordered their Maryland estate. She carefully unwrapped the box, leaving the paper intact. She hesitated before finally removing the top to the box. Inside she found a velvet-covered jewelry box. The sensation of the velvet on her fingertips caused her to shake with anticipation. Finally, she opened the velvet box and gasped at its contents. A heart-shaped locket, more beautiful than anything she had ever seen, glimmered in the moonlight. She took the locket out of its box and wound the thin gold chain between her fingers. Opening the locket brought an instant smile to her face. On one side was a picture of Destiny—Destiny’s Angel. And the other side bore the inscription "Until we meet again."
In that moment she felt the same sureness that Jonathan felt about their future. "Until we meet again, Jonathan," she whispered into the night.
