Life's like an elevator; you have to stop to let people off on your way up. You can't always control who comes in and out of your life - and you lose some and gain some.
I want to forget that Stephanie and Arthur ever boarded the elevator. I certainly don't want to pick them back up on another level. But Chris has invited them to come with us to wherever he's planned. We're in the car right now, with Chris driving, Arthur in the front passenger seat and Stephanie and I in the back. Chris had insisted on Arthur sitting next to him. Probably because he wants Stephanie and I to bond more.
I wish I could be somewhere else. Just Chris and I on a road trip or something. I don't want to be sat next to a hideous brute disguised by bows and frills. I don't even want to breathe the same air as her. But she's just another disgusting character I've come across in my life that I shouldn't pay any attention to, even if that means completely ignoring her when I'm in the same car as her. I don't care what she thinks of me because I don't care about her.
"Looking forward to our outing, Faye?" she says in the cheeriest expression I have ever heard.
Oh, has nothing happened between us, you stupid bitch? Acting like everything's cool?
I bite my lip until it starts to hurt.
Then I bite my tongue.
I really feel like telling her what I'm thinking but I don't want to show that she's got to me. So, after biting my lip and tongue, I distract myself by talking to Chris.
"Where are we going?" I ask him, looking in the wing mirror at him. I can still never quite believe that I'm actually going out with Chris. He's so handsome; so beautiful. I skim his tattooed arms and smile when I come across my favourite tattoo.
"It's a surprise," he grins, returning a look back to me via the wing mirror.
"I don't like surprises," I tell him, pouting.
"Too bad. It's staying a surprise."
"Surprises are the best. The unknown always leaves me excited," Stephanie says.
I look out of the window at the setting sun. Its orange, warm glow reminds me of the view from Michael's office the other day - apart from there are no skyscrapers here. It's still pretty, though. The sky is beginning to darken and the trees are slowly becoming silhouettes, giving the scene a movie feel.
And having the tension between Stephanie and I would be so good in a movie, don't you think?
"Faye, how's work going?" Arthur asks me.
"Fine, thanks," I grunt. "Chris, are we nearly there? We've been driving forever."
Chris doesn't reply and I groan in my head when Arthur continues conversing with me.
"What projects are you doing?"
"This and that," I inform him dismissively. "Chris?"
"About ten minutes, Faye."
I sit in silence for the rest of the journey. I can feel Stephanie's eyes glance piercingly at me every now and again. Stupid bitch.
"We're here," Chris says fifteen minutes later. I hadn't realised until now that I'd had my eyes closed and I open them quickly as the car engine stops. "Well, what do you think, Faye?"
Wow. WOW.
A hot air balloon ride?!
It looks incredible. There are so many hot air balloons here, all fastened to the ground currently, and the now pink sky towers over them in an endearing kind of way... like a huge, beautiful safety blanket. It looks so romantic.
I get out of the car and open Chris' door. He's so thoughtful - and although I am still seething slightly that Arthur and Stephanie are here, I'm not going to let either of them ruin tonight for us.
Tonight is our night.
I position myself on his lap and kiss him. "I love you."
"I love you more."
He kisses me back and we transport ourselves into our own little paradise. A paradise which Arthur and Stephanie are banned from entering and are legally bound to comply with the prohibition.
They can go fuck themselves as far as I'm concerned.
I rest my head on Chris' chest. "Are we actually going on one of those hot air balloons?"
"Yeah," he whispers as he looks down at me. "You scared?"
"No. Because I'll be with you."
He kisses my head.
If we die, we die together. Ha.
Chris gently pushes me off. "Let's go."
I get up and I instantly feel Stephanie's eyes on me.
Whatever.
She takes Arthur's hand in hers and begins to walk over to the hot air balloons. I wait for Chris to get out of the car and we then follow them.
As we approach the balloons, they seem to be enlarging every second. They're so big and I wouldn't be surprised if they had difficulty taking off. The fields that they're stationary in are surrounded by really tall trees, making me wonder if the balloons have ever got stuck in them before.
"I'm sorry I invited them," Chris says to me. "I thought it would be fun but I guess I was wrong."
"Don't worry about them. It's not like they'll be in the same one as us."
"Yeah, I only booked one hot air balloon. I've had it booked for a while."
"What? They're riding with us?!" I ask, horrified. I can't bare to think of Stephanie glaring at me for that long. And she'll throw me off the basket.
"Yep," Chris smiles sympathetically. "I didn't realise you weren't friendly with Arthur anymore."
I nod. "He's a dick."
"I wouldn't go that far," Chris defends him. "And I booked it before Stephanie turned into a bitch. I had it booked while you were still in hospital - and I'd even talked to the nurses about taking you out in your wheelchair if you were still admitted."
Now that's cute.
I take Chris' hand and we quicken our pace to catch up with Stephanie and Arthur, who are already stood underneath all of the balloons.
"Faye, this is amazing! It's so beautiful!" Stephanie squeals.
Shut up.
Chris talks to the member of staff and then gestures for us to get on one of the balloons. Chris and I get into the basket with ease. However, Stephanie starts apparently having a 'panic attack' (which, for the record, is absolute bullshit because I started getting them when I was 16 and I know what a real panic attack looks like) because she's scared of heights and Arthur doesn't know what to do with her.
"Stephanie -"
"No, Arthur! I'm scared! I don't want to go on!"
"But -"
"Just give me a minute, Arthur. Then I'll find some courage from somewhere."
Chris and I glance at each other. He can tell that it's just an act as well.
Suddenly, Stephanie is fine and they both, as well as the hot air balloon operator, get into the basket.
"It's going up already!" Stephanie screams like a child.
I really don't know how Arthur manages to put up with her.
Chris wraps one arm around me as the balloon slowly leaves the ground and swings slightly and gently into the night sky. We move to the other side of the basket in order to get away from Stephanie and Arthur and, when we become motionless, I feel his lips against mine.
"I love you," I whisper, kissing him back.
"I love you too."
"Chris, I need to tell you something," I admit. "It's not exactly bad - but you need to know about it."
"What is it?" he inquires, concerned.
"I'm beginning the divorce process with James. Jonah's a lawyer so I was talking to him yesterday. He's going to be representing me in court."
I can't see Chris' face, because the night's pitch black now, but I can tell there's some kind of expression on it. It could be a grin - or it could be a frown. All I see is his silhouette nod.
I change the subject. "It's beautiful up here."
"Agreed."
The balloon's flames pick up and I can see Chris' face now. He's observing the starry sky and has his free arm resting on the basket's edge in a very calm way.
He coughs. "Do you think we'll get married one day?"
I smile. "I don't think we should rush into it. But I can see it happening, yeah."
"How come you and James never had kids?"
Well, James never wanted any. He thought having kids was pointless and that they would only add to 'Earth's surplus population'. We had a bit of a scare when we were nineteen and we thought that I was pregnant - but it was a false alarm. James' parents used to always ask me if I was pregnant whenever I saw them; they were so desperate to be grandparents. I just used to smile and shake my head.
"James didn't want any."
"Did you want kids?"
"To be honest, not with James. I could never picture him being a good father."
"Mm, me neither," Chris sniggers. "He would just be the sperm donor."
"Can we stop with this conversation, please? I really don't want to talk about James' sperm," I laugh.