im sad, the story is nearing the end! not quite yet, but eventually!
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Janet picked up the phone on the third ring.
'Hello? Yes, he's here, just a minute.'
She covered the phone with one hand and spoke quietly so the caller wouldn't hear.
'Damian!'
'Mhmm???'
'It's Mr. McCarthy, Jessica's father. He wants to talk to you.'
She tossed him the phone, and everyone seemed to be trying to hear what was being said.
'Hello? Yes, of course, Mr.McCarthy. Yes, I am excited for tomorrow night also. Oh, really? Well, alright then. Right, sorted. Goodbye.'
He hung up the phone, and before he could say what had just happened, Keith, Paul, and Emmet broke the silence.
'WHAT DID HE SAY?? WHAT'S GOING ON?' they all half yelled, half asked all at the same time.
I laughed. Ah, the lads were such craic!
'Aye, calm down Harkin! That goes for ye as well, Paul and Emmet! Well, he said that he is coming to the last rehearsal before the show, which is tonight. He said he was looking forward to seeing Jessica and I, erm.. together again.'
Damian said the last sentence so low that it was almost a whisper, no doubt not wanting her to affect me any more than she already had. He quickly changed the topic, clearly as uncomfortable with it as I was.
'Well, now I can sleep at night knowing you are alright.' he said to me.
Right after he finished talking, a chorus of awe's broke out, and then a single 'what ye waitin' fer Damo?' courtesy of who else, Conor.
'What am I waiting for, Conor? Absolutely nothing!'
He smiled, wiggled his eyebrows at me, and swooped me up off the couch into a dip with a kiss. I felt myself go fifteen shades of red! Conor must have noticed, because he said,
'She still blushes everytime you kiss her!'
Well, that certainly didn't help, and I just went redder!
'Craic!' yelled Damian.
'ANYWAY, Damian isn't there something you were going to ask Kathy?' said my mum.
'I know you're not 100% yet, but would you be willing to try and sing for the show? I know that I'm asking a lot of you.' asked Damian.
I pictured the scene in my head. The crowd staring, expecting the baritone that they were so proud of, accompanied by... a girl in a wheelchair?
I got nervous just thinking about it!
I shook my head quickly.
'Is it because of the wheelchair? Are you afraid they won't like you?' he asked gently.
'I... I just.. I'm scared... of what they'll think... There's you, all perfect looking, then there's me...' I struggled to put it all into words.
'I don't know about everyone else, but you're perfect to me!'
I smiled. I needed his reassurance now. He always knew just what to say.
"I'll try, but not promising anything!' I said.
Even though it was just noon, we had to be off for final rehearsal now, since it was the day before the show. Like before, Damian once again carried me outside. I clung to him, scared of falling, even though I knew he'd never let me fall. He gently set me in my chair, and it made an awkward squeak as we set off down the street. It was just us two, since our mum's were running a quick errand, then meeting up with us at the venue. I saw people turning to look at me, heard a few whispers, I even heard somebody say 'poor lassie, crippled like that!' I fumed, I knew that I wasn't crippled, Damian knew, everyone else knew, but the random stranger on the street didn't know any better than what they saw.
'Don't mind them, they've no notion of anything concerning you.' said Damian.
Still, I felt my cheeks go red as fire. Too soon, we were at the Forum. We went into the theatre, where crewpeople were busy setting lights, speakers, checking mic placements. i was trying to take it all in when a voice shrieked over to us.
'No, that goes over there by the curtain.. Yes, that's right----- DAMIAN! We've things to do, how are ye?'
Of course, it was none other than Jessica. We made our way down to the stage, and made small talk.
'I'm fine, Jessica. So your father is coming here? When about?' asked Damian politely. I could see that he was trying very hard to maintain a polite tone.
'Ah, half an hour or so. Kathy, are you better?'
I was taken aback at her niceness toward me, and instantly knew why she was acting like this. She was trying, in vain to get back into Damian's good books.
'I'm not bad, thanks for asking.' I replied, also struggling to not yell at her.
Our mums arrived, and rehearsal was underway. I distanced myself from it all, knowing it was just an act, on his part, anyway. After about forty minutes, Jessica excused herself to go call her dad and see what was keeping him.
'So, do you want to give it a go? Just once?' asked Damian.
'Ah, it couldn't hurt.'
He pushed me up the side ramp onto the stage, and the music started. He sang beautifully, as always. I tried as hard as I could, and didn't sound my best, but not horrid, either. He smiled encouragement at me. Just as the song was almost over, a booming voice stopped me short.
'What is this? Who is this, Damian? I believe you are to be performing with my daughter, not some, er, girl that you've taken pity on.'
Great, it was Jessica's father. Now I knew where she gets it from, I thought to myself. Mr.McCarthy was now right beside Damian, waiting for an answer.
'Mr.McCarthy, I am performing with Jessica, she was just calling you. The lass here is not just some girl I pity, she's my girlfriend, Kathleen.'
'Ah, you've a lass then, Damian? Good for you, lad. My apoligies for the misunderstanding, Miss.'
Well, he was more polite than his daughter had been so far, I had to give him that. Jessica returned, and practice resumed. Once, I saw her shoot me a snooty look when she and Damian were especially close at one point in the performance. By the end, Jessica had made it so they were face to face, palms touching. Damian looked awkward, but went along with it anyway, he'd no other choice, he'd said so himself. Mercifully, it was over twenty minutes later.
'Bye Damian, can't wait for tomorrow!' said Jessica with a wink as she and her father were leaving. He said a quick goodbye.
Unfortunately for me, my mum made me go back home, to get some sleep. She did let Damian stay for awhile, though. We talked about everything, footy, our friends, places we'd been to, and it went on and on.
'You know, you are my first lad that I've ever had.' I admitted.
'Well, I'm glad, I get to show you how a gentleman should treat his girl.'
'You just seeme to gettte meee.' I yawned, tired from the day's events.
'I think you're in need of some sleep.'
'No... not tired, really.'
But he was right, I was falling asleep on him, which wasn't a first for me by now. He let me rest my head on his shoulder, and hummed a soft tune. I felt my eyelids slip shut, I was too exhausted to try and fight sleep at this point. This, I thought to myself, is what love is really like, having someone stay with you through it all, not giving up when everything looks bleak. That was my last thought before I slipped away into dreamland.
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There it is, an update! Hope you all like it!
Comments, predictions, questions, etc. As always, thanks a million for reading and commenting!