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CHAPTER 9 - AN EXCHANGE OF GIFTS
Nicky and I didn't sit on the parks wooden bench as we normally did. Instead, we sat at the lakes edge. The lake was calm. I looked at Nickys reflection in the water, and noticed he was looking at me. I threw a pebble in to the lake, and watched our reflections ripple, as the pebble hit the water. Then I looked at Nicky, and smiled. He returned the smile, and spoke. He spoke, this time, with his usual cheekiness, and glint in his eyes - the glint I'd become so fond of.
"So, what's our plan of action going to be?, if we'll need one that is."
"I don't know - I haven't had time to think. You only told me you might be moving a couple of hours ago!!"
We laughed, but deep down we both knew it was no laughing matter - this was serious.
As the conversation continued, we arrived at the decision to wait until tomorrow to plan, as Nicky would know if his Dad had accepted the job then. Nicky and I agreed to try and forget the 'possible move' and to spend the day as if nothing had changed. We knew it would be difficult, and as we talked, Nicky noticed I still seemed worried; "Charlotte, don't be worried - things will work out for the best, you'll see."
"Will they? Things have a tendancy to go horribly wrong with me." "You've got to think positive - I don't want our family to move anymore than than you........"The irish accent trailed off, and Nickys right hand began to search his right jean pocket. He eventually found what he was looking for, and his left hand grasped mine. "Listen Charlotte. I was going to wait until I knew if I was definately moving house, but, well, this seems as appropriate a time as any."
I gazed at him, my face showing a puzzled expression; "A good time for what?"
"I want you to close your eyes" he said softly, "I've got something for you." I did as instructed, and felt Nicky place the contents of his right hand in to mine. "You can open your eyes now." Nicky watched, as I studied the object in my hand. "It's a pendant that belonged to my grandmother" he explained, "she passed it on to me when she died, and now I want you to have it. I know you will look after it, and be able to wear it.""Oh Nicky" were the only words able to exit my mouth at that time."It's beautiful, I don't know what to say."
I stared at the pendant. It was slightly smaller than a two pence piece, and was a circular shape. The pendant was a shamrock embedded between what must have been two separate circular pieces of glass. The rim of the pendant was edged with gold, that glistened in the sun light as I viewed it. The gold rim held the entire pendant together, and made way for a hole to run a chain of some sort through.
"I can't accept this Nicky - it was your grandmothers, you should keep it."
"No, I want you to have it. My granny always told me it would bring luck to whoever wore it. We need all the luck we can get right now, and you can wear it. At least if I do have to move away, I'll know a piece of me will always be close to your heart."
I smiled, and began to feel all sentimental.
"Keep it as a reminder of me."
"How could I ever forget you?" I asked. "This means a lot to me Nicky. I promise I'll wear it, and never take it off - ever."As I said these words, I undid the gold chain from around my neck, and slid the pendant on to it with great ease.I then re-fastened it around my neck.
"It looks beautiful on you Charlotte."
I smiled once more, and felt I needed to give Nicky something in return. I then thought of the perfect thing;
"Nicky, I want you to have this." I slid my gold ring off of my left hand, and handed it to Nicky. He looked up at me, his eyes glistening more than ever. "But.....you never take this ring off..I can't accept this."
"Yes you can. I want you to have it, as a keepsake, and a reminder of me. You can put your chain through it, and wear it around your neck."I watched as Nicky did this. He then re-focused on me, after re-fastening his chain. "Thank you." He leant over and kissed me. I could feel the sincerity of his kiss, as his lips touched mine.
"What are we like!! It's as if I am definately moving away!" Nicky laughed, taking time to look at the ring again.
"Even if you're not, I'd still want you to have my ring. You're special to me, and I can't imagine a better person to give it to."It was as if we were in a little world of our own. We both knew there was a strong possibility of Nicky moving.
"But......what if you are going to move to Boston.....what then?"
"I hope it won't come to that, I really don't, but we'll cross that bridge when or if we come to it."
Nickys irish voice reassured me, and I felt warm inside.
"I know you're right." "Well Charlotte, what I say is live for the moment!"
As Nicky said this he kissed me once more. My troubles all seemed to dissappear, as Nicky held me in his arms.
CHAPTER 10 - Lets Dance!
Nicky and I met early the next morning, at his house, mainly for the reason it would be empty for the morning.
As I entered Nickys house, and sat in the living room, Nicky explained his parents were both out, and discussing the possible job oppertunity with the company offering the job to his father. Nickys sister had taken his brother to the cinema. "When will you know about your Dad taking the job?"
"He'll phone later, we discussed it last night. Neither of us want to move again. Especially not to Boston. I mean we have just settled here and although our relations live in Dublin, moving to Boston will mean us seeing them even less than we do living here. Plus, there is one other important reason for not moving."
"And what's that?" I asked, intrigued, not in preparation for the answer I was about to receive.
"You of course. You're very special to me Charlotte."Nicky reached out, and held my hand."I mean it."
I blushed, and smiled. Blushing and smiling shyly had become a habit when in Nickys company.
I asked Nicky to put the radio on, to lighten the atmosphere. He did, and for a short while we sat, and listened to the various songs being played, and occasionaly glancing at each other, and then the phone - we were both anxious.
"I see you're still wearing your shamrock." Nicky stated, studying the pendant around my neck. "Of course I am - I told you I'd never take it off." "I'll never take my chain off either." Nicky touched the ring on his chain, as if to reassure me. Then suddenly, Nicky stood up, and pulled me to my feet, bearing a huge grin. "Its no good us being all gloomy - lets dance!" As Nicky said this, a dance tune began to play on the radio.
"What, you're mad!" I said, not knowing what to do.
"C'mon, lets dance!" I watched Nicky dancing in the living room - he looked so funny, even though he was a good dancer. He kept pulling funny faces, and trying out unsucessful dance moves. He even tried the moonwalk at one point, and nearly fell flat on his back. He grabbed my hand, and began pulling me about the room with him. It was as if he'd been taken over - he seemed to have a never ending supply of energy.
I began to dance to, feeling foolish at first, but then I just didn't care - after all, only Nicky and I were in the house. "See Charlotte, told you it would cheer us up!" Nicky shouted, grabbing me round the waist, and twirling me. "Yeh, It has!" I was laughing, and dancing, forgetting all our worries.
We danced for a while, and then were interrupted by the phone ringing.
Although we were having such a good time, Nicky and I stopped immediately when the phone began to ring. Nicky pounced on the phone.
I sat down, waiting for Nicky to come back through, and tell me if he was moving or not.
Eventually, after what seemed like ages, he did, with a sad look on his face - I thought I knew what Nicky was going to tell me. He sat down beside me, after turning off the radio.
"Well.......you are moving aren't you." I looked at him, staring at me. He held both my hands, and as I looked at him, he found it impossible to keep a straight face - he started to smile, and laugh. "I'm not moving!!" He said.
These three words were the best words I'd ever heard - I started shouting, and so did he. We were so happy, things would get an oppertunity to happen between us. I gave Nicky a huge hug, and couldn't stop myself from smiling. Neither could he. Both of us had permanent grins on our faces. Then Nicky kissed me, but this time the kiss was different. It symbolised the feelings we felt for each other, and never thought we'd have the chance to express. As we kissed, I knew this was only the beginning for Nicky and I - I was so happy. I could have stayed in his arms forever.