Chapter 43 – Cinderella’s Slippers

“Where are you?” he texted.

“I’m here.” She responded having pulled over to the side of the road.  The day had been one to wonder.  In her rented vehicle, she hit the road with no intent to be anywhere but where the road would lead.  The road had brought her here.

“You’re not here, your there.”

“I am right here David, right where I am supposed to be.”  I sent him the photo. The one of the farm that I had just come around the corner and found.  The place that he said could be ours someday. I laughed at the thought and told him we should probably meet again before we started buying a home together. My wander across the province from Halifax had brought me here in this very moment. Not planned and yet somehow incredibly significant.

“Pfft”

“Look at the photo David, and imagine a for sale sign in front of it.”

“YOU SNEAK!”

“I am exactly where I am supposed to be.”

“You’re so close. You need to be here right now!”

“Give me an address and I will be there soon.” I got back in the car.  My nerves we on edge.  What if?????

Twenty minutes later I drove past the EMT base.  I saw him pacing in the front parking lot.  A few yards down the road and behind a tree, I managed to find a place to park.

“WHERE are YOU?” He had stopped texting and was now calling me from just outside the open bays.  It was shift change and the new crew was arriving as the finishing crews were stocking the ambulances for the next shift.

“I am here David.  Watching you.”

“No you’re not!”

“Yes I am, I can see you in the front parking lot.  You’re pacing.”

“You can’t see me and no, I am not pacing. Why aren’t you here?”

“I am here but you are still working and I don’t want to interfere.” I took the first steps toward him. The last of the 4750km was in sight.

“Get over here, I NEED TO SEE YOU!”

I hung up the phone.

“I’m right behind you David.”  I saw him twirl, searching, but I was still hidden behind the leaves of the tree.  David started heading around the corner towards the back of the building, I called out but the wind and the sound of the traffic muffled my voice.

I took in my breath.  There he was, tall, thin, exactly what I remembered from that first evening 8 months before.  My heart was pounding.  I was a mere 10 steps behind him.  Once more I called. “David….”

David turned took one look at me and was all grin. Ear to ear, all grin.  We met in the middle and I wrapped my arms around his neck.  He had his wrapped around my waist,  He lifted me off the ground and twirled.  It was better than I had imagined.  His grip was firm and he wasn’t letting go.  I whispered into his ear “I am EXACTLY where I am supposed to be.

David stopped and let my feet touch the ground.  “You’re taller than I remembered.  You’re perfect.”  He turned his face down to mine upturned.  It would be the time and place for our first kiss.

I had my new shoes.  My cute comfortable shoes!  The kind that you put on your feet in the morning and you know they will carry you through the day.  They can run up the stairs, compliment my perfect little black dress and spice up my jeans.  They don’t pinch, give me blisters or show up as the wrong colour.  They dance, they work and they never let me down.  They are perfect for me.  They make me feel beautiful, talented, and protected from the stones.  They can kick some ass if necessary or come off at the beach so I can feel the sand between my toes.  I have been given the chance to wear my perfect shoes and I was all in.

EPILOGUE

David took Samantha’s hand and lead her to the back deck of his home.  “I want to show you the milky way.”  The two walked out to the back deck.  There were clouds to the South and the sky wasn’t visible but as they turned to look north, a shooting star crossed the sky in a brief blaze of magic.

“Did you see that?” Samantha squealed with delight.

“I did. Make a wish,” his voice was calm, quiet and full of confidence.

Samantha closed her eyes and wished for her happily ever after.  She looked up to see David looking down at her.

“I found a poem today that I want to share with you…. I am ready to climb” He said.

“Let me reach out my hand and help you the rest of the way, so that we can sit here together at the top of the tree. You are my ONE David.”

“And you are my ONE,  my Samanth (ah) ….”

Girls

are like apples

on trees. The best ones

are at the top of the tree.

The boys don’t want to reach

for the good ones because they

are afraid of falling and getting hurt.

Instead,they just get the rotten apples

from the ground that aren’t as good, but

they are easy. So the apples at the top think

something is wrong with them, when in

reality, they’re amazing. They just

have to wait for the right boy to

come along, the ones

brave enough to

climb all

the way

to the top

of the tree.

Source: http://forums.familyfriendpoems.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=27153#ixzz3byBSCat7