Part 1
The following 3 months passed in a sea of bliss. My days were spent with Paul and Tim pleasing the media with interviews and TV appearances. Evenings were spent onstage, performing the routine we could almost recite in our sleep. But when the nights ended and we had peace, Paul and I would always return to each-other. We were like lovestruck teenagers - we were practically inseparable and anyone who posed a threat to our relationship would feel our wrath. Luckily, there was not one person who tried to stir up trouble. Everyone involved with the band and tour was very supportive and encouraging of us. I suppose, like us, they knew it was going to happen, and knew there was almost nothing that could spoil what we had.
I honestly can't recall any other time that I had felt more in love than I did then. When we were apart - which wasn't often - I would find myself pining for him, craving for the sweet taste of his kiss. He constantly occupied my mind when I was awake, and played a major role in my dreams when I was asleep. When we were together, we went into our own private, exclusive world, where there was nobody that mattered but us. It felt as though I wasn't complete without him. His very touch made my mind and my body respond in ways that nobody else could. When I was tired, irritated or sad, he would completely turn it around. He revitalised me and made feel the happiest i've felt in a long time.
And if all this wasn't enough, he made me feel incredibly special. The day before our final concert, he told me to shut my eyes as he led me out of our hotel door to an awaiting taxi.
"Paul, what are you getting me into?" I laughed as he guided me into my seat.
"Don't you worry your darling little head. I'm taking good care of you."
Paul made me sit there with his hand over my eyes, while the taxi navigated us all over town. Because I wasn't quite familiar yet with the streets, I couldn't work out where we were. I asked him where we were going along the way, but he simply kept on telling me that I had to wait, that it was a surprise.
After about fifteen minutes the taxi parked somewhere I couldn't identify. I strained my ears for any clues as to my whereabouts, but all I could hear were the breeze blowing gently and the crickets chirping. We were out in the open, that I was sure about, but apart from that, I had no idea.
Paul pulled me out of the taxi and took my hand in his spare, keeping his other hand over my eyes. He paid the driver and thanked him, then I heard the taxi driving away.
"Walk forward," he instructed. I did so, trying hard not to giggle. I knew how Paul's mind worked, I knew he had something out-of-the-ordinary and overwhelming planned. The problem was, he had such a wild imagination that it was hard to tell exactly what it was.
After a while he stopped walking, and I did the same. He wrapped his arms around me from behind and hugged me, readying his hand over my eyes for removal.
"Are you ready?" he asked, speaking softly in my ear.
"I'm not sure!" I joked.
"OK...voila!"
He pulled his hand away. When I saw where we were, I burst into amazed laughter. He had taken me to the top of a remote hill overlooking the town, an ocean of fresh green grass stretching out around us. There were no houses nearby, so the only persons there to see this stunning sight were Paul and I. Nearby, Paul had placed a small dinner table, with burning candles placed in the center, the flames slightly quivering in the calm wind. It was perfect, thoroughly and utterly perfect.
"Oh my God...Paul..." I was nearly at a loss for words - I was so touched at what he had done for me, for us.
"What do you think?" He looked sideways at me, a broad smile on his face. I held his face in my hands and gave him a warm and lingering kiss.
"I think, my darling, that you are the most incredible, amazing person that i've ever known," I said. I grinned playfully and extended my elbow out to him. "Shall we?"
"Yes, we shall," he replied in a mock-formal manner, linking his arm in mine and sticking his nose into the air as we walked towards the table. I looked over at him and began to laugh again. That was yet another thing about him that I loved - his sense of humour. Only he would've been able to come up with something so outrageous as what we were doing. Life with Paul was certainly never dull.
He pulled out a chair and bowed behind it, inviting me to sit down. Once I was seated, he walked around to the other side of the table and sat, with a wicked grin on his face.
"Oh, no, what else you have up your sleeve?" I asked. He reached over and took my hands in his, squeezing them affectionately.
"We didn't exactly start this relationship in the most romantic way," he began.
"How could it've been any more romantic?" I asked.
"That wasn't what I meant. You know how it goes in cheesy romantic movies. They do it all - a candlelight dinner, slow dancing, a bouquet of flowers, moonlit walks...We do our last concert tomorrow night. Before we went back home and got back to work, I wanted to woo you the way I should've in the first place. Don't get me wrong, sex on a first date can be very good, but-" I laughed, and he lifted my hand to kiss it. "But seriously...I wanted to make it special. I wanted to remind you of why I fell in love with you in the first place, and why i'll never stop loving you. So, without further adieu..."
He leant over and picked up something from amongst the grass. He produced a portable tape recorder and pressed a button. A familiar song began to play.
'I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes
Well, love is all around me, and so the feeling grows
It's written on the wind, it's everywhere I go
So if you really love me, come on and let it show...'
He stood up and outstretched his hand. I willingly took it and he led me out onto our dance floor beside our table. We wrapped our arms around our bodies, holding each-other close, and began swaying slowly to the music. I buried my head in his neck and closed my eyes.
'You know I love you, I always will
My mind's made up by the way that I feel
There's no beginning, there'll be no end
Cause on my love you can depend
I see your face before me as I lay on my bed
I kinda get to thinking of all the things you said
You gave your promise to me and I gave mine to you
I need someone beside me in everything I do
You know I love you, I always will
My mind's made up by the way that I feel
There's no beginning, there'll be no end
Cos on my love you can depend...'
By the time we reached the end of the second chorus, I pulled my head back and gazed into his eyes. He stroked my cheek with his finger. He mouthed those three words - I love you - and drew me in to a kiss, long and passionate, taking ourselves back into that private world we'd created for ourselves. Time seemed to stand still around us as we became lost in each-other.
We fell in love all over again.
Part 2