A second chance: Sequel of Against all odds (22 page)

“
Oh
my God, David this is beautiful.”I exclaimed.

  “
Yeah,
actually I'm impressed, when they told me that they were going to
reserve me a room for the day, I never thought it was going to be
like this. Cas, will you come with me for the rehearsal or you prefer
to stay here? Maybe sleep a little and..”

“
No,
I'll come with you. I want to hear you playing the piano, I'm so
curious.”

His face brightened. “I'm
glad, then we have to leave now.”

“
OK,
then let's go.”

When we arrived at the place
where the concert was going to be held I was stunned. It was like a
big arena with a big stage in the middle. Oh my God, it was like
being at a place where famous singers would perform. David looked at
me and smiled.

  “
It's
wonderful isn't it?”

“
Oh
David, you'll perform there in front of thousands of people?”

“
Apparently,
yes. I feel a little tensed. Hope everything goes well. But I'm happy
you're here with me. It gives me courage. You know Cassidy, tonight
there will be important people, famous singers performing and I'll be
with them. I still can't believe it.” He said running his
fingers into his hair.

“
You'll
be great, stay calm and enjoy it. I'll be right here looking at you.
I'll take a seat. I'll be your first spectator.”

He smiled and went on stage.
There was a beautiful black grand piano. It looked wonderful. David
stopped to speak with some people, probably the coordinators before
finally sitting down on the stool. He looked at me one last time and
then he began to play. The melody was so beautiful. I felt its
sadness seeping into my body and spreading slowly through my veins.
My eyes were fixed on him, his graceful hands danced on the keys. I
closed my eyes enjoying that wonderful sound and then all of a sudden
something happened to me. I felt strange as images flashed in my
mind. What was happening. I felt as if this had already happened. In
that flash back I saw him on the stage, dressed in a black suit
playing the piano and I was there like today watching him. Even the
music, seemed familiar. I had already heard it, but where? This was
his composition and I had never seen him playing the piano before. My
heart rate increased, the world spun around and I felt dizzy. I was
sweating as the heat engulfed my body. My God, what was happening to
me? Another imaged flashed in my mind; this time, I saw him getting
up and having a bow as people were clapping their hands. Then
everything disappeared. I felt sweat running down my temple. Were I
going to pass out? It took me a few minutes to feel better. I grabbed
the bottle of water I had with me and took a sip. This heat was
killing me. Suddenly David stopped and ran down the stage.

 “
Cassidy!”
He shouted taking me in his arms. “Are you OK?”

“
What?”
I asked confused.

“
I
saw you from the stage, what is it? You're feeling sick? Maybe it's
too early for you to stay out so long. I shouldn't have brought you.
I-” He shouted in agitation.

  “
Oh
David. It's nothing, just some dizziness and...”

  “
And
what?”

  “
Your
song. I already heard it somewhere. How can this be possible?”
He looked at me stunned but then his lips stretched into a sweet
smile.

“
Well,
probably you heard it in hospital. I made a CD for you and I used to
play it every day for you, hoping you wake up.”

My heart began to beat fast
as I kept staring in his face. My mind seemed blank. I was trying
really hard to remember but in vain. He caressed my face, I just
wanted to kiss him. He was so gentle and caring. We looked in each
others eyes, it was a magical moment, Then I saw his head descending
and his lips parting. I knew what was going to follow..a kiss..which
I really wanted. I closed my eyes and parted my lips. I was ready, I
had been ready for the from the first time I saw him. My heart was
pounding wildly in my chest, every breath I took was an effort. And
when finally our mouths had almost met one of the organisers called
him from the stage. David stopped and groaned under his breath. He
nuzzled his cheek with mine and then turned around to face him.

“
Everything
all right?” The man asked.

“
Yeah
sure, I'm coming. I'm sorry Cassidy I have to go and continue with my
rehearsal. Do you want me to ask someone to take you to the hotel?”

“
No,
I'm fine really, I'll wait for you here. Maybe I just go in the shade
OK?” I replied. I was feeling dizzier than before and it wasn't
because of the sun. My heart hadn't found his normal pace yet .

“
OK,
See you later.” He went back up and I went in the shade. I was
still trembling. Wow that was close. I thought happily. I was feeling
a mixture of different emotions and all this because we were going to
kiss? I wondered what I would have felt if things had to go further.
Probably I would have died. During the following hour I kept day
dreaming about him. I loved to look at his beautiful face, at his
serious expression as he tried to concentrate. I watched his hands
and fingers as they moved so gracefully on the keys. I felt my face
burning as I imagined them  moving on my body.

Sometimes he looked up at me
and smiled. Each time he did that my heart leaped. Now I was sure
that however my life was before the accident it must have not been
good. Probably the accident was a blessing, a second chance for me to
be happy. I had been lucky that I was given the possibility to start
again, to get to terms with my life. When David finished we left and
returned to the hotel. I washed my face and we went in the restaurant
to eat something.

“
So
Cassidy where would you like to go?” he asked when we finished.

“
Well,
don't laugh, but there is somewhere that I would like to go.”

“
Why
would I laugh? What place you have in mind?” He asked.

“
The
Luna park.”

He smiled.“That's a
great idea, it's been years since I've been to one. OK Luna park it
is.”

“
Do
you think I'm childish?”

“
No,
I like the way you are. I like everything about you.”He moved a
hand upward, I thought he was going to touch my face but he only
pushed my hair from my face. For the first time David seemed happy.
Maybe with my help he'd forget Kylie's mum. I thought a lot about her
, I wondered how she was. Was she more beautiful and sexier than me?
I felt my stomach constricting as my mind gave way to another
upsetting surge of thoughts. Thoughts about him with her. I almost
felt nauseated at the thought that he had slept with her. But what
bothered me most was the fact that she had given him a child. I was
jealous, irrationally jealous of a woman I had never seen.

“
Shall
we go?” He asked pulling me out of my thoughts. 

 “
Yes.”
I stood up and we headed to the reception where David asked
directions for the Luna park. He was given a map and then we left.
The ride on his motorcycle was long, but I didn't mind at all, it
gave me a good excuse to stay hugged to his body. I was getting used
to all of this. I loved to lean my head against his back and brush my
face against his shirt while I closed my eyes and relaxed. I was
getting addicted to his scent, to everything that had to do with him.
I enjoyed being pulled away from reality and getting sucked in a
world of fantasy. Yeah, I daydreamed that he was my husband and that
Kylie was our daughter, the fruit of our love. Oh, David if only I
had met you before her. I would never have left you.. never. I was so
absorbed in my thoughts and dreams that I hadn't realised that we had
arrived and that David had stopped the motorcycle. I was still
holding him tight...

“
Cassidy...are
you sleeping?” He questioned. I opened my eyes and let go of
him..

“
What?
Oh.. no no. I was just..just thinking I guess.” I replied
before jumping off. He took off the crash helmet and turned around to
meet my gaze.

“
I
liked the way you held me, although next time try not to caress my
chest, it felt so good that I was afraid that I would relax too much
and cause an accident.”He said softly.

I blushed furiously. “I
hadn't realised I was doing it.” I stammered as I averted his
gaze.

He smiled. “Come on
let's go in.”

I walked by his side. I
wished to grab his hand but I didn't have the courage to do it. He
did. My heart thudded as he caught my hand and entwined our fingers.
We walked towards the entrance and then David bought the tickets. The
place was amazing, I felt like Alice in wonderland. It was like being
a kid again.

“
Oh
David... this is wonderful. You know I just feel sorry for Kylie. She
would have loved this.” 

The corners of his mouth
tipped up. “Yes she would have. Maybe next time we bring here
with us.”

Next time? I was so glad he
said it. I wanted a next time, and another and another. I wanted to
stay with him forever.

I had the time of my life in
there. We went on the roller coaster and I thought I would die of
fear, I found out that I was terrified of heights. I squeezed David's
hand as we went down. I couldn't contain myself and screamed so much
that I almost lost my voice, but it was fun. After we rode the bumper
cars and then we visited the castle of horror which was really
terrifying and which gave me a good excuse to keep hugging myself to
him. After that David took part in the shooting game and managed to
win a price for me, a big me-to-you teddy bear which had the word
love on it. We had nearly visited every place except for two. The
house of mirrors and the house of the fortune teller.

“
Would
you like to give the house of mirrors a try?” David asked when
we passed in front of it.

 “
Sure
why not?”

“
But
you have to be careful, it's not easy to find the way out, all those
mirror are there to confuse you, would you take the challenge?”

  “
A
challenge.. yes but how?”

“
We’ll
see who of us will reach the end first? What do you think?”

I laughed and nodded. We
were too grown up to do these things but I loved this childish part
of him. He went in first and took  the path on the right while I
took the one on the left. It was a sort of a labyrinth with mirrors.
I kept seeing myself everywhere. I looked around and couldn't figure
where to pass from. Perhaps I shouldn't have accepted this challenge.
I kept walking in circles, all the corridors looked the same. I was
starting to panic, I felt claustrophobic.. 

“
David?”
I shouted.“David where are you? I can't get out.”I
exclaimed in fear.

I kept walking but there
seemed to be no exit. I was getting enough of my image everywhere and
I was beginning to feel sick again. Oh God.

 “
David!”
I shouted again. I knew it was stupid to take it this seriously, but
I was frightened. Tears were flooding my eyes and I was finding it
difficult to breathe. I felt as if I was going to have a panic
attack. I fidgeted in my handbag in agitation trying to find my
mobile but I trembled so much that I couldn't find it. I began to sob
like a child. I felt lost and dizzy. It was then that I felt someone
grabbing me from behind. I screamed in fear.

“
Hey...
it's me calm down.”

Hearing his voice made me
feel better, I I turned around to see his face as tears streamed down
my face.

“
I...
I got lost.. I..” I stammered.

“
Oh
Cassidy.. you have tears in your eyes. What happened?” He asked
concerned as he wiped a tear with his thumb.

“
I'm
just a stupid little girl,” I cried dropping my head to hide
the tears that kept spilling over. I felt so ashamed, so embarrassed.
What was wrong with me? Why was I so fragile?

“
No,
you're wonderful.” He cupped my face with his hand forcing me
to tip my chin up and look at him. He was watching me with intensity.
I stared at him wordlessly. He splayed his other hand to my spine,
pulling me closer to him. Then he brought his mouth to mine. He
brushed his soft lips with mine hesitantly at first And then finally
his mouth caught mine. My heart stopped, my breath was taken away as
I trembled in his arms. My fingers speared into his thick blonde hair
as I kissed him back. Initially he kissed me slowly, almost timidly.
He teased my lips gently until it was I who wanted more. I parted his
my lips and he took this as an invitation to deepen the kiss and he
did. Suddenly the kiss changed, he took my mouth with shuddering
force and I found myself engulfed in his hunger.  His hands
tightened around my waist. His tongue mated with mine in a wild dance
which made every nerve-ending in my body sing with pleasure. I felt
my body heating up, a sensation which shot in all my veins. A
sensation which was leaving me breathless yet was making me feel so
good. It was a bliss, something I couldn't describe. I felt as if I
belonged to him, he was the better part of me. He was just kissing me
and the world had stopped turning, my mind had ceased to function and
my heart desired to stay like this for eternity. Now I was sure that
I could never look back, I was totally in love with David.