The Road Trip

Chapter 11 : Mutual Understanding

Hey folks, here's another update for Travis and Jackie's love story. Quite short but I hope you like it. And since I've been listening to Michelle Branch the whole afternoon, the track for this chapter is "Desperately". Enjoy! VOTE and COMMENT!

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I can say that our relationship has gone from strangers to a bit friendlier than the first time that I met him. I thought that Travis was this arrogant dork who didn't know anything else other than to love himself. But I was wrong. He was forthcoming without a hint of being so intimidating. He was accepting of the way that I was without any reservations at all. We've just been together for a week and I can say that the tables turned quite quicker than I thought. 

On our last day in Sumilon, we spent the day swimming in the infinity pool in the morning and kayaking in the afternoon. In the evening, we took a rest and stayed in our room. Of course I remained in my spot on the sofa while he took the bed. After dinner, we started to pack our belongings. We had this comfortable silence. He wasn't trying to force some things out of me which I was thankful for. I guess he respected my reasons, if ever he knew them. 

When sleeping time came, our talking resumed. I lied down on the sofa with the blanket covering me up to the waist. It wasn't that cold but it was cool enough to make me feel cold. I stared at the ceiling with my arm behind my head. 

"Are you still awake?" he asked. The lights were turned off a couple of minutes ago. 

"Yeah..."

"Don't you want to come here and talk?"

Okay. This is strange. Why would he want me to go there just to talk? I am fine here. There was silence in the air until heard something shuffling from his bed. I sat up only to find him bringing his comforter and pillow towards the sofa. Dropping everything on the floor, he moved the coffee table aside and laid the comforter down and he and his pillow followed.

"I figured you wouldn't want to go there so I decided to stay down here."

"Are you kidding me? The floor is cold. You'll be sick tomorrow morning."

"If this is what it takes to get you near and talking to me, then I'd happily get that cold anytime, hon." 

What was this guy thinking? I was already talking to him. I wasn't ready to have some pillow talk with him. But then I didn't want him to suffer much. Being the kind-hearted gal that I am, I called the front desk to have another blanket delivered right away. When the staff came, I took it and thanked him. I immediately gave it to him.

"Fold the comforter once and lay on it. Here's a blanket. I don't want you to get sick." He was just smiling at me. He looked a little bit crazy but then I couldn't help but smile.

"You care for me. Thanks. I like that in a girl."

"I just don't want my Mom to think that I wasn't really paying attention to every single thing that you do. She might think that I am ignoring you."

He did as he was told and when he was settled, he shifted to the side to look at me. The sofa wasn't really that high but we weren't really on eye level either. There was just enough distance for him to reach out and grab my hand. 

"Your hands are small and nice. It's so smooth." His fingers felt different and my heart started to go berserk. God! He's only caressing your skin. Jeez... get a grip Jackie.

"Thanks."

"I can't wait to spend more time with you. I only got two weeks left."

And then I realized that we only had roughly 14 days left to be together. I somehow felt happy yet the feeling of despair loomed somewhere in my gut. I spared him in a glance and he was looking at me. Unconsciously, my body shifted to face him. Our fingers were already tangled. Why was I feeling a bit down when he mentioned about how short he was with time. 

"We are already spending a lot of time together."

"I want to do something with you. Something that can show you what my world is like."

"What? Like building a mini studio at our backyard?""

"Why not? I'd like that. Wouldn't you?"

I shrugged. I glanced at our joined hands and smiled at it. I brought it higher so that in the little light that we had from the moon outside, I could see his hand closely. His hand was rough, a clear embodiment how much manual labor was involved in his job. He got little scars on the back of his hand. I touched them and he just looked at me the whole time. 

"Let me in" he suddenly said. 

"I don't know...I- I" Great! Now I am stuttering. Jackie, you're such a fool!

 "Just give me time to mend your broken heart Jackie. Let me in." 

I lowered our hands together and brought it to my heart. There was something telling me that it was okay to let him in. It was okay to try to move on and try to look forward to what someone like him could do for me and my broken heart. There was no denying how attracted I was to him and he was clearly showing how much he likes me. Do it Jackie. This will certainly be a big change for you. 

I nodded my reply and he sat up and leaned closer to me. His eyes glimmered of happiness and satisfaction. 

"Say it, Jackie."

"I'm giving you a chance... but if you hurt me, then that'll be the end of it. As of now, we're technically what?" As the saying goes, label is everything. At least it lets us know where we both stand.

"There's something between the two of us...and I think we have mutual understanding."

"M.U. then?" I smiled. 

"M.U.?"

"Mutual Understanding..." I chuckled. I was grateful that he didn't push that we were really a couple. My Dad would really kill him right now. "Thanks."

"For what?" 

"For understanding."

"Take your time, babe. I'm going to wait no matter how long it takes to get me to your heart."

He then leaned close to put a kiss on my forehead. Even if it felt good, I had this urge to kiss him back. When he started to back away from me to lie down when I sat up and pulled him back up to kiss him chastely on the lips.  There wasn't much movement coming from the both of us. It was just a plain lip-locking thing with both of our lips closed. But it meant something to me and I hope that it meant something to him, too.

"I can sleep well now," he joked as he cupped my face and brought our foreheads together. 

"Let's just take it slow, okay?"

He nodded and kissed me one more time chastely on the lips. We both laid down with our hands tangled.