Andy's Plan

Chapter 16

 

A walk in the park... can life really be like a walk in the park?

Ambling through the paved sidewalk, putting one foot forward, and one step at a time... we didn’t feel the need to rush as we savoured each moment. Cold breeze through my hair, kissing the exposed skin producing goose bumps... reminders of the coming freezing winter days. I shivered in remembrance of those past chilly and lonely winter seasons but in the coming one, I knew I wouldn’t be lonesome. The miracle forming inside of me kept me moving forward despite the turmoil and uncertainties of the future.

Kids playing rambunctiously in the nearby pier stirred me from my reverie as well as the yapping of the dog passing through us with the couple holding the leash.

Nostalgia was in the air as the season holiday was coming. There’s serenity in the park as people kept in motion with the nature, enjoying the breezy afternoon.

Can things stay like this forever?   

I guess not as sooner than later people need to move forward... life needs to go on, to be in motion even without our conscious effort. We sometimes didn’t even notice that our life was in a roll already.

“You seem quiet this afternoon.”

“I’m just thinking about what tickled my senses.”

“Andrea...,” a hand gripped mine firmly halting me from taking another step.

“What?” I glanced briefly at him and averted my gaze around. I didn’t want him to see the swirling of raw emotions displayed on my eyes. I was still wrapping my head to what was unravelled to me this morning.

“Let’s sit.” He walked us to the nearby shady bench facing the streaming abundant body of water. A few pairs were happily kayaking in the expanse.

I didn’t protest. I just followed him. He sat closely to me with his thigh brushing against mine and I took with gratitude the shoulder he offered.

The chirping of few birds, the rustling of wind through the nearby trees, the uninhibited laugh of a child from a distance... all seemed to calm me. There’s tranquillity as I leaned on the broad and hard but comfortable shoulder of the man who turned my world upside-down. His sweet musky sandalwood scent wafting through the air was lulling me to relax the knots and the nerves I acquired. I closed my eyes to the peacefulness that tried to engulf me calming the raging emotions inside of me.

So much had happened in the short time today and I was trying to enfold my head around it.

How could I be so foolish? How could I let a man – a stranger I met in the park – get under my skin and crawl into my heart without me knowing?

I warned myself before with this kind of situation. I swore to not get cosier with a man for I was too vulnerable for that but look where I got myself into. Didn’t I only wanted and needed a baby? Where did that plan of mine now? At this moment, I didn’t know what to do... what to make of my situation. I didn’t know how to get out of this hole I dug myself into. I didn’t even know if I wanted to.

I glanced momentarily at the fetching aristocratic face of the man who’s making me reflective at this very moment and I couldn’t bring any lamentation to the surface, in fact it’s the complete opposite. I glanced away before he could catch me watching him. This was what I liked about him; his generosity when it comes to silence. His accommodating manners that warmed me to him the first time we met and made me confess some embarrassing things. I wondered what he really thought of me the first time we met. The thought had been nagging my mind ever since but I was just too hesitant to ask.