“What’s that you’ve got?” Alexander asks, twisting backward to retrieve the box from the back. A little tug-of-war breaks out. I know he’s stronger than me and could easily pull it away, but he concedes.
“Patience, Alex. Patience.”
I’ve only seen a picture of what Kelly did to Daniel’s old skateboard, and though I think it looks great, I’m not sure if he’ll like it.
His puppy dog eyes stare at me, guilt-tripping me into relenting. “Okay fine,” I say, handing back the package to him. He tears off the bow and pulls open the box.
My heart races as he opens it.
What if he thinks it’s shit?
What if he doesn’t get the design?
I close my eyes as he lifts it out, unable to look at him.
“Do you like it?” I slowly open my eyes and watch him. His eyes are locked onto the skateboard, studying every detail Kelly painted onto it. They’re all references to the stories Carla had shared with me last night.
The palm trees that line their street. A man holding a surfboard. A half-pipe, and the expression emblazoned across the middle:You can call me Al.
“How did you…” The puzzlement in his eyes as he turns to me quickly gives way to realization. “My mum told you, didn’t she.”
“Yeah, how you were convinced a Paul Simon song was about you,” I say, and laugh.
“Well, I guess that makes you my Betty then,” he laughs back, and leans in to kiss me.
Betty?
Guess I should have listened to the song.
The skatepark seems relatively quiet for a Thursday afternoon. There’s just a couple of guys in grunge-style clothing flipping their boards, skating and grinding on the pipes around the sides. I imagine it will get busier when the kids get out of school, but it still gives us roughly an hour for Alexander to let loose on the skateboard.
“You want a go first?” he asks, waving the skateboard at me.
“I’m good being Avril Lavigne in this situation,” I say, making myself comfortable on top of a graffiti-covered wall. Alexander drops the skateboard and heads off, going up and down the ramps.
The look of sheer joy on his face as he works his way round the skatepark, completing tricks with relative ease, settles my stomach. All the planning, all the hard work to get him out of the hotel, getting Kelly to design the skateboard and Daniel to let us borrow the car—it was all worth it to see him be free like this.
My heart skips a beat when I see one of the guys approach him. But then I hear them talk about some random skate terminology that I have no idea about, and my heart resumes beating once more. Alexander’s British accent is surprisingly convincing.
Maybeheshould be the dialect coach.
It’s amazing how I take things like this for granted. I havethe ability to do pretty much what I want, when I want. Yet for Alexander, it’s so rare that he gets to do things like this. With that perspective, I can now appreciate how fortunate I am. How life on the other side isn’t always greener.
My phone pings, and I retrieve it from my pocket. It’s an email from Pietro with the subject line: URGENT. I’m torn on whether to open the email or not, especially since I’ve put my Out of Office on and he knows I’m going to be in wedding mode, but curiosity gets the better of me.
I scan through the email. Pietro says the Brewed team wants to talk through my proposal ASAP, and would I be free at six my time to jump on a Zoom with them.
With what we’ve got planned for the day, I feel like I should just ignore it, but a read receipt notification pops up.Fuck. A flicker of irritation runs through me. Now Pietro will know I’ve read it, and I need to at least acknowledge it.
I guess I could do it in Kelly’s apartment when we get back, while they’re all out for the BBQ she has planned.
I draft a reply.
Hi Pietro.
Any chance we could make it after 7 p.m. UK time? I’m out with my family arranging the last few bits and won’t be available before then.
Best,
