Forever Is Over (36 page)

I paused, looking around, taking everything in again, as childhood
memories came flooding back.

“
I loved coming here though. My Dad used to call this place
‘
The
Sunny Road
’
because we only ever came here on sunny days. He told us
whatever the weather was on the other side of Aughton, it was always
sunny here. It took me a few years to realise he was lying!

On a lovely summer
’
s day, he
’
d just sit here, with a flask of coffee
and a paper and we would just play in the fields and run up and down
the lane before stuffing our faces full of sandwiches and Wagon Wheels!
I
’
ve a lot of happy childhood memories of this place. Kelly put her arms
around my neck and kissed me.

“
We should keep coming here then!
”
Kelly decided.
“
Then you
’
ll
have happy adult memories of this place too. On a Saturday or Sunday in the summer, if its sunny, we should do what we
’
ve done today, make
a picnic and then say,
‘
Right! Let
’
s go to the Sunny Road
’
!
”

“
OK, let
’
s do that!
”
I agreed.
“
It can become our place then, rather
than just my childhood place.
”

“
Then,
”
Kelly added,
“
if we ever split up, when you drive past here
in your Volvo with your wife and three kids, you
’
ll think,
‘
I used to go there with that girl. What was her name again?
’
”

I didn
’
t like the way this conversation was going. A few seconds
earlier, I was having six kids with Kelly, now Kelly and I were splitting
up and I was being allocated a Volvo, a random wife and three kids. We
hadn
’
t ever talked about splitting up before. Every conversation about
the future was about our future together.

“
What makes you think we
’
ll split up?
”
I asked in a sullen fashion.

“
I
’
m not saying we will split up, I
’
m just saying
‘
if we ever split up
’
.
Hopefully we won
’
t.
”

“
We won
’
t!
”
I stated firmly.
“
Unless you finish with me!
”

Perhaps I wore my heart on my sleeve too often but I couldn
’
t help
it. That was me.

Kelly ran her hand through her hair and then fixed me with an
intense look. A serious look rather than an annoyed one.

“
Richie, I don
’
t know whether I will ever finish with you and
…
.
”

             
I was about to butt in with
‘
I know I
’
ll never finish with you!
’
but
sensing that, Kelly verbally marched on, acknowledging my interruption
as she went.

“
Let me finish, Richie! I don
’
t know whether I will ever finish with
you and I don
’
t know whether you will ever finish with me. Saying we
won
’
t is basically promising things will stay exactly as they are now
and we will stay exactly as we are now. Things change, Richie! People
change. Who knows how you will feel when you go to Uni? You may
meet someone on your course or you might study miles away and we
may try everything in our powers to stay together but the distance may
intervene. We just don
’
t know! We just have to make the most of our
time together and hope fate is on our s
ide and we stay together for a
very long time.
”

“
Or forever.
”
I suggested.

I was beginning to notice that my determination to stay with Kelly
may be interpreted by her as desperation. This was not good. Caroline
once said in one of her more profound moments that it takes two people
to drive a relationship, one to steer and the other to change the gears and
work the pedals. If either person wants to do all the driving, the other
will just go and buy another car! Although I loved Kelly and wanted us
to stay together, I would never become a doormat and hoped she realised
this, despite my statements of everlasting love! Just to be on the safe side,
I warned myself to ease off a little!

Kelly reached over and kissed me again. She was very tactile, I could
be too but sometimes I would debate, inside my head, whether it was the
right moment whilst Kelly would just do whatever she wanted to do!

“
Let
’
s just keep making the most of our time together, that
’
s all I
’
m
saying!
”

Kelly was smarter than me. She talked about things on a level I
didn
’
t. My natural tendency was to worry about simple things and
problems that existed in the moment, like whether it was a good time to
kiss or whether I should put my hand down her top or what we should
do for the rest of the day, whilst Kelly would naturally think about the
meaning of life and whether there is a God or not and how a lifetime
is a short time and we should do and see as much as we can whilst we
are here. We were different animals but I could throw myself into her
world and she could slot into mine. Kelly knew though that her little
speech had dampened my spirits, derailed my emotions, so she tried to
get things back on track.

“
I know what we should do!
”
she announced.

“
What?
”
I replied, not quite snappily but certainly moodily.

“
Whatever happens we should meet on the
‘
Sunny Road
’
for the rest
of our lives. Once a year, every year, on New Year
’
s Eve, we should make
a pact to meet up, irrespective of whether we are together or not!
”

This was one of those rare occasions that Kelly was in such a rush
to make me feel better, she had not properly thought through her
suggestion. I started to laugh a little.

“
Kelly! If you and I weren
’
t together, soon enough you would have
a new boyfriend and I would have a new girlfriend. Eventually you
would get married and have a husband and I would get married and
have a wife. Do you not think they would get a little suspicious if we
kept disappearing on New Year
’
s Eve? Anyway, it wouldn
’
t even be a
‘
Sunny Road
’
at the end of December!
”

Kelly was ruffled! I was not used to seeing her ruffled!

“
Don
’
t laugh at me! It doesn
’
t have to be New Year
’
s Eve, I was
just thinking aloud! We could meet any day of the year you wanted.
If it had to be sunny, we can say we will meet every 4
th
July, American
Independence Day, for the rest of our days, but if we get close to
‘
Sunny
Road
’
and it is not a sunny day, we will leave it for another year.
”

I liked this now. It was becoming a big romantic gesture.

“
That
’
s a better suggestion! What would we do when we got here?
Kiss, cuddle, bonk?
”

I was half-joking, but half-serious, I was trying to picture the scene
a few years down the line and wanted to know whether Kelly would be
clambering into the back of my car for a quickie or whether we would
just formally shake hands or share a peck on the cheek. I was almost
eighteen, I was dictated to by testosterone, any thoughts always came
back to sex!
Kelly
’
s brain was as sharp as a politician
’
s, she was ready with an
immediate response.

“
It would depend on what our circumstances were. If we were both
happily married, it would just be an opportunity to catch up on each
other
’
s lives. We would probably give each other a tender, informal
hug or perhaps a pleasant kiss on the lips, but then just sit here in
the sunshine and talk.
Talk about how are children are doing or air
frustrations that maybe we couldn
’
t talk about to our husband and
wife. I might moan that my husband never changes the babies nappies
or that he pees on the floor around the toilet and you might moan that
your wife is always out buying designer shoes or has a headache every
time you want sex! We wouldn
’
t tell anyone we were going, only you
and I would know and this would carry on as we got older and older until one day we are sitting there with our walking sticks, plastic hips
and false teeth!
”

The idea was continuing to grow on me.

“
What if we were both single?
”
I enquired.

“
As long as we were both single and neither of us was cheating on
anyone, then we would just sneak off to that hay field over there and
screw each other
’
s brains out!
”

Kelly had this amazing ability to shock me and she had done it in
fine style here! We were not sexually active and I had no idea when we
would be, but here she was talking about random sexual encounters for
the rest of our lives! The mood clouds that had been lingering above my
head, immediately blew away.

“
What time on 4
th
July?
”
I needed to know this now!

“
Midday.
”

“
OK.
”
I said.
“
I
’
ll see you here, on this very spot, at midday on 4
th
July, for the rest of our lives. Deal?
”

“
Deal.
”
We both spat into our hands and shook like two kids out of
an American kids TV programme.

“
Only if it
’
s a sunny day though, remember!
”
Kelly reminded me.

“
Fine. No point shagging in that hay field if it
’
s peeing down!
”

“
That
’
s true.
”
Kelly agreed.
“
Muddy bums aren
’
t very attractive!
”

“
I beg to differ, Kelly Watkinson!
”

I am sure Kelly
’
s bum would look fantastic whether it was muddy or not!

“
Well I hate to disappoint you but it doesn
’
t do it for me! Let
’
s hope
for some good summers for the rest of our days!
”
Kelly concluded.