City Dream
You've always talked about going to the city, getting out of this town, getting away, but I never thought
you were serious until he kicked you out. I saw you drive straight past me, black trickles of mascara
mixing with the colour of your softly sunkissed cheek. My breath stuck in my throat and I dropped her hand,
sprinting to my driveway where I jumped in the car, and nearly ran over the old woman coming down the
pavement with her Tesco shopping bags. I chuckled to myself, knowing that if you were here, we'd both laugh
at it - the main thing we had in common, our stupid sense of humour. I'd seen it coming, he told us how
the little immature things you did annoyed him and how he'd been seeing that other girl, but I just
couldn't pick up the courage to break your heart because I knew it would break mine when I would see how
much you loved him, not me.
I knew I'd got a speeding ticket when the camera flashed at me, but that just made me laugh even more. I
didn't have a care in the world because I knew that I was going to meet you at the airport and we were
going to leave everything behind. All of the people who didn't matter, all of the problems. I was tapping
my fingers on the steering wheel to a song on the radio and the sun was shining down. You'd never told me
you had any feelings for me, but I didn't care, I was going to tell you mine. I was going to do anything
to make you happy again.
I saw your car with the pink steering wheel cover that everyone mocked you for and smiled. I'd bought it you
for your 21st birthday and you had given me that hug that made me want to hold on forever. I slammed the car
door, locked it and walked over to the entrance, seeing your hair shine at me as you argued with the
woman at the ticket desk. I twirled my car keys in my hand and leaned on the desk next to you.
"I just want one fucking single ticket to New York today, I don't care how much it's going to cost. There's
got to be just one ticket, I don't care if you shove me in the bloody toilet," you said, your voice full of
frustration.
"Make that two tickets," I spoke up, and you quickly turned to look at me.
"Don't even try to stop me, I'm not staying with him and I'm not giving him his money back," you sighed
and turned back to the woman at the till. My heart sank as you didn't instantly jump into a hug.
"Don't even try to stop me. I'm not staying with her and I'm not giving her her money back,"
I smiled, not giving up.
", can you talk some sense? I'm not in a joking mood," you frowned, getting angry with me.
"We're going to New York and we're going to leave this town behind," I said as you turned with your
hand on your hip to face me and tried to search my face for the big joke. Instead I took the hands off
your hips and wrapped them around me, and I kissed you. You didn't struggle, and you didn't even twitch
when the woman at the desk told you that there were two first class seats to New York on a plane which boarded
in half an hour. Instead we both stood there in each others arms laughing.
"We'll take them," I said, handing her a credit card and showing her the passport I'd shoved in my back
pocket. It'd been waiting in my car for this day to happen. We walked off laughing with my arm around your
shoulders as she called after us about our baggage, knowing that the only baggage we'd need was each other.
My phone buzzed in my pocket and I answered it.
"This town is gonna miss us," I said simply to my now ex-girlfriend, hanging
up and walking onto the plane.