The Magic of Love

Chapter seven

When we got high enough, the view took my breath away. It was so beautiful!

The view from up here was incredible! And the land looked like coated with powdered sugar. It was so magical, and so lovely as in a fairytale that I wouldn't be surprised if the snowflakes appear and start waltzing on the enchanting music that Tchaikovsky has written.

But the farther we were going, the more mesmerizing it got.

I gasped.

We moved slowly over a path surrounded on both sides by pine trees. They rose majestically tall in all their evergreen beauty. There was no snow on them, as if they had shaken it off so not to obscure their natural glory. They traced the path as peacefully lined up soldiers, with their chests bulging forward, and proudly performing their duties.

Oh, they looked so close that if I stretched out I might be able to touch the branches at the top. But I might as well fall off the seat, so I refrained and kept on admiring them meekly.

"Isn't it wonderful up here - the view from above, the snow slopes, the green pines, the sun, whose warmth is so pleasant and softens a bit the cold air. And it's so beautiful, isn't it!?", I said enthusiastically aloud.

"No, it's not!" Followed an answer I honestly didn't expect.

I opened my eyes and turned to him, but just to ask why he said that, I was startled. I didn't expect what I saw either.

He was clutching the handle on the side of the seat with both hands so hard that his knuckles had gotten white. His eyes were wide open, and his face was as pale as if he had seen a ghost.

I reached for him, and put my hand on his knee, but before my mouth could form the words "Are you okay?", the seat swayed slightly, and the lift stopped.

Oliver jiggled and the seat followed him in his move. He grabbed my hand as tightly as he probably had squeezed the seat handle. I moaned in pain but he didn't react.

"What happened?", he asked in panic.

I looked forward, then back, and replied calmly, "The lift has stopped."

In response, he squeezed my hand harder.

"Auch", I gasped, "Would you ..."

He didn't let me finish, "But it's gonna start moving again, isn't it?"

"Yes, for sure. Would you...", I tried again but he interrupted me once more.

"It has to go! NOW! Come on! MOVE...please!"

My hand hurt, but he wouldn't hear me because...

"You're afraid of heights", I said unnecessarily, and was rewarded with another hand squeeze.

"OOOkay", I said and plucked my hand out of his. Believe me, it was not easy at all. He has the grip of a coconut crab!

While I was massaging my hand so to be able to feel my fingers again, I spotted with the corner of my eye how he looked down, and instantly sticked his back to the lift seat. His eyes narrowed, and his chest rised and fell quickly, too quickly. Oliver was hyperventilating.

I forgot about my hand and focused on him.

I touched his knee and said, "Hey, hey! Look at me!"

He shook his head like a child being told it was his turn to go to the dentist.

I pulled my hand off of his knee, took off my glove, and touched his cheek. My cold fingers immediately caught his attention and he opened his eyes and looked at me. I stroked his cheek with my thumb trying to calm him down.

"It's all right! Calm down. Just breathe, take a slow breath through your nose and exhale even more slowly through your mouth."

He carried out my order and started breathing in and out as slowly as possible. And his gaze was fixed on me.

"Okay. That's right", I guided him.

My hand still was on his face, I tried to withdraw it, but Oliver took it into his own and drew it back to his cheek. His gaze was pleading, so I left my hand resting on his cheek covered by his. He nodded gratefully.

"Are you better now?", I asked after a while.

"Mmmhm", he nodded, "But please distract me with something until..."

He looked down, and when his eyes met mine again, I saw the panic rising inside of him.

"Okay, okay. Calm down", I caressed his cheek with my thumb, and he squeezed my hand slightly. Thankfully it really was a slight squeeze this time!

"To distract you, but how...", and then a thought appeared in my mind as a sunbeam through dense dark clouds, "Hey, why don't you tell me how you got involved in this ring-situation?"

He thought for a moment, and nodded resolutely.

"About a week ago my brother asked me to help him by coming up with an effective way to propose to his girlfriend Isabella. My brother is a lawyer and he's not one of the most creative people I know, well, unless we are talking about finding loopholes in the law, then he could be quite ingenious, but in all other respects... Anyway. The point is that he needed a creative way to propose to Bella, and he asked me for help. I always choose gifts for our parents, because "You're the son with imagination, not me", he apparently imitated his brother's voice, making his own lower and deeper, "as my brother likes to say. But the truth is I'm not more creative, I'm just good in reading people, and I do my research, and that's why I find the perfect gifts or almost the perfect ones", Oliver smiled for the first time at me, and I couldn't not smile him back. He was getting calmer, and more confident with every word, and that was another reason for my smile. 

"But my brother doesn't want to hear a word about it, for him I'm creative and that's it", he continued, a cute smile was still playing on his lips, "I love Edward, but sometimes he is pain in the..."

"Wait! Wait a minute!" I didn't let him finish. I stopped him because I can't, I just can't. "Your brother's name is Edward...", he nodded, "and the name of his fiancée...", I could barely hold my chuckle, "is Isabella, right?"

He nodded and looked at me questioningly. And I couldn't take it anymore, I burst into laughter.

"Are you serious!? Edward and Isabella!? Are you serious!!?", I continued laughing, in the matter of facts I was laughing so hard that I was on a verge of peeing myself. But I couldn't control it. This was hilarious, and with my tightened nerves, oh, that was exactly what I needed to relief the stress - a good stupid laugh. Well, to be honest, a good stupid hysterical laugh XD

Oliver looked bemused. I wouldn't blame him. He was absolutely right to look at me as if I was crazy, 'cause I definitely looked like I was XD

I tried to calm enough to give some explanation before he decided that he was trapped on a chairlift with a total loony, but that thought made me laugh even harder.

The moment I was able to talk again, I repeated, "Are you serious!? Bella and Edward!?", and added, "Tell me your last name is Cullen and that you shiiine in the sun and...", but the laughter burst out before I could finish my joke. This time for both of is, because Oliver had finally got it why I was hysterically laughing.

His deep loud hearty laughter joined mine cackle, and the lift seat shook as if it was laughing with us.

We grabbed the lift handles on the side, and our hands clung to each other so that none of us slipped out of the seat, because now both of us were laughing hysterically.

The lift finally started moving again, and we left behind a trail of laughter.