Serendipity & the Sequel

Six Years Later

You did more than just catch up with Johnny that night, six years ago.

In fact, you fell in love with him all over again.

Reflecting on that touching moment, you drove away from the very spot you had reunited with him. You pulled onto the road, leaving Mr. Miyagi's grave as Bohemian Rhapsody flowed melodiously out of the speakers in your car. You tapped your fingers on the steering wheel, humming along to the tune. The crisp fall air filled your senses, warming your skin in only a way your comfort season could. Although it was still relatively warm in California, the time still meant something to you.

You had met Johnny Lawrence in the fall.

You had gotten married to him in the autumn as well.

As you pulled your car into the strip mall parking lot, your heart did a flip. Even after all these years, you still got so flustered around him. He made you ecstatic. He made you fall in love all over again, every single day. You knew when you met him back in 1984, he would be in your life forever. And after being separated on opposite sides of the country for decades, you somehow managed to pick up right where you left off. Two years of marriage later, and you still had so much love to give each other.

And no, he didn't propose.

You did.

It was something that the two of you joked about occasionally, how you got down on one knee when he came home from work on a random Tuesday evening. You were cleaning up the apartment earlier on that day, you couldn't stand his constant mess. In doing so, you stumbled across a ring he had stashed under the corner of the fridge. Why it was there of all places, you didn't understand. You didn't know when he planned on proposing, but your fluttering heart and suddenly sweaty palms caused you to drop the ring. It rolled under the fridge, a gasp escaping your chest. The door of the apartment creaked open in that moment. In a panic, you threw yourself into the entry way and plopped down on one knee before he could see the now missing ring.

He was upset in the moment, not that you had lost the ring, but that you had foiled his elaborate plan of proposing. Almost immediately, the two of you started laughing at the awkward situation. But when you went to stand, you found yourself glued to that floor. Johnny thought you were joking about the proposal, and honestly you thought you were too. But in that moment, time stopped.

You weren't getting up until he said yes.

And even now, just the thought of that moment made your heart burst. He said yes, of course, and the two of you lived happily ever after.

You put your car into park, stepping out onto the pavement below. With a warm smile, you pulled open the glass door and stepped inside. Shouts from students echoed off the walls, their sensei shouting more instructions to follow.

You made yourself comfortable in the back of the dojo, where your husband taught a new generation of cobras.

The right way.

Full of light, you pulled your journal and a pen from your purse. Sliding down the wall, you flipped it open to a blank page.

You had been writing a list of songs for a very long time, ones that you hoped would one day make it onto an album. Glancing up to your husband, you saw the sunlight bounce off of his wedding ring. The wink he directed toward you was like some sort of communication, the title of your next song flowing effortlessly from the tip of your pen.