Roses in the Sand (10 page)

Hang on, Jo. We’ll be together again before you know it.
She thought.
Just wait and see. I’ll be with you yet.
 

Chapter 15

Johanna was missing Lily every night that she played in a new country. She would keep looking out in the audience and hoped that Lily would show up there. She wanted to believe that Lily would surprise her by coming out here. However, she was always disappointed. She would see so many people, but no Lily. She had to understand that Lily had a life of her own. She worked hard back at home and didn’t really have time for talking on the phone. She didn’t even Skype because she came back too late to talk. It was hard to be on two different ends of the world.

The band was being supportive as usual. They could tell that Johanna was feeling low and tried to cheer her up. They gave her the space when she needed it and did what they could to help her. Johanna was grateful to them and appreciated everything they offered. They were great friends, but they weren’t Lily. The one she was missing the most right now was Lily. She had tried to write her a letter but kept getting stalled on it. She didn’t know what she could say other than things were going great and that she was having a blast. It would probably make Lily feel bad that she wasn’t around to enjoy all this.

“Oh, Lily,” she murmured to no one in particular. “Lily, Lily, Lily. I wish you were here with me right now. I’d show you so much stuff.”

She wanted to run her fingers through Lily’s hair and hold her close. She wanted to breathe her in and never let her go. She wanted to explore the whole world with Lily. That was what she was dreaming of, day and night. She wanted to marry her at that moment and wanted to get her an engagement ring. Unfortunately, Lily was too far away to do anything with.

Still, there was a chance she could propose to her. If she just got her letter written out, she could do it right now. So far, the paper in the hotel was being used to write song lyrics. She had the perfect heartbreak song in her head. She just needed to get it down on the pages.

Taking her pen, she began to write some of the words down.

You

You and I

We're like the ocean

We're caught in the waves

We were drawing lines in the sand

You were holding my hand

We were lost in this dream together

And you said we'd last forever

We are timeless

We are eternity

You are everything

That I will ever need

That was all she had at the moment. It wasn’t enough to create anything, but it was going to have to do. Right now, it didn’t flow very well so she needed to add some more to it. She had to fluff the song up so it sounded like a real heartbreak song. Right now, they were just words. She needed to write more than some words. She needed pain in here. Crumpling up the paper, she threw it in the wastebasket and decided to try writing the lyrics again.

She pictured what they had been doing on the beach. Lily had tried to draw roses with her finger, but they were more like swirls than flowers. Still, the attempt was made and it was a nice attempt. What Johanna had done was make holes in the sand. Those didn’t look anything close to flowers. Still, Lily appreciated them and that was all that mattered. Seeing Lily smile and laugh lit up her world. That was all she cared about now. That was the only thing she wanted to see. She had to see her again.

I wonder if I can surprise her with a short visit.
Johanna thought, wanting to go to Lily’s hometown and show up at the restaurant that she worked in. Lily would probably drop everything that she was holding and run over to her. Johanna would lift her off the ground and spin her around a few times. Then they would talk about how things went this week and ask all kinds of questions. If they had time, Johanna would take Lily to the jewelry store and help her pick out an engagement ring. Then they could make the plans for their wedding and it would be a lot of fun.

Wedding. Johanna was dead set on making Lily her wife. That was the only person she wanted to spend all eternity with. She didn’t know if they were going to invite their family members to it yet. However, they were going to have a nice little ceremony and it would be enough for them to seal their vows. Once they got together, no one was going to tear them apart. No one could do that.

It was certainly helping her more with her songwriting. She soon had lyrics that everyone else could agree on. They all liked what they saw and were coming up with the music for it. They agreed that Johanna’s next song would definitely make it on the album. After all, it was dedicated to the one woman that she loved.

We are an act of love

The way love should be

I give it all to you

And you surrender to me

I want to feel you now

Taste you on my skin

Let it all come out

And let me breathe you in

There! That was the kind of song that she wanted to write. All she had to do was picture Lily’s perfect face and the words flowed with no problem. It was much better than the song that she had been writing. It may not be top 100 material, but it would work for the album.

She showed the lyrics to her bandmates and they all approved of it.

“You still need to tell us who the lucky girl is, Jo!”

“You were inspired by her, weren’t you?”

“God, this girl is lucky. I wish someone would write a song for me that was half as romantic.”

She loved their comments, but it wasn’t the same as getting a comment from Lily. Lily’s words were the ones that she wanted. Lily’s opinion was the one that she was waiting on. However, there was no Lily to look over her shoulder and tell her what was going on. She wanted Lily’s opinions on how good or bad the song was. Lily claimed she didn’t know how to write a song, but she could judge one. Above all else, she wanted Lily to hear the song.

The one thing she could do was go to Lily’s hometown and surprise her. That would be fun to do. Lily would never see it coming and they would be together. The band would be supportive of her. In fact, they were the ones that we encouraging her to go.

“Our next show won’t be till next week. Go and see her.”

“You shouldn’t stop true love.”

“If it’s meant to be, then it’s meant to be. No one’s going to keep you from each other.”

At their pressuring, Johanna finally caved in and decided to buy a ticket to Lily’s hometown. She didn’t mention a thing about it to Lily. She had Lily’s number and social media names but she opted to keep quiet for now. Love was more fun when there were surprises within it. This was the kind of relationship she wanted. Even though it was a long distant relationship, it was the most meaningful one that she had had in ages.

Once her tickets were booked, her band helped her pack everything up. One week away from them would be fine. It was plenty of time for her to get used to the jet lag and spend every moment with Lily. She couldn’t wait to see Lily’s face when she showed up at her doorstep. Her jaw would drop in awe and then the two of them would begin kissing each other.

The other reason Johanna wanted to go see her was to ask her hand in marriage. She was getting to that point that living without Lily was impossible. She couldn’t bear to spend any more time away from her. She was infatuated with Lily. She wanted to breathe her in at every moment of her life. She could still picture Lily’s maroon hair and how badly she wanted to run her fingers through it. She wanted to look into Lily’s deep brown eyes and tell her that she loved her. Then she would get on her knees and pop the question. It was high time that the two of them ended up together forever.

Once more, her band was supportive of this. While Johanna didn’t have enough money to buy a ring yet, she vowed that she would get one soon. Lily was worth more than just a simple diamond. She deserved something special. She deserved something that said that she was the one. She was the only one for Johanna.

And Johanna was going to make sure that she knew that.

Chapter 16

Lily decided that she needed to see Johanna again, regardless of the cost. She wanted her girlfriend back. She wanted to hold her, feel her, and just be with her. Life didn’t make sense when Johanna wasn’t around. It didn’t have meaning without her. The only thing she could do was go and surprise Johanna over in Paris. She could show up at the show and wait in the front row with all the other screaming fans. She would catch Johanna’s eye and the two of them would sneak off later to have a little fun of their own. It would be the best present she could give both of them.

Once she was at home, she got on the computer and began searching for tickets to Paris. She was able to get them in no time and was soon booked to leave the next afternoon. It wouldn’t be a very long trip for her. She would be there for a week and spend time with Johanna. She would tell Johanna that she had finally made up her mind and decided to follow her everywhere. It wouldn’t be the life she wanted, but she would be with the one she loved. That had to count for something. She wanted to be the inspiration that Johanna was looking for and vice versa.

Waiting tables was not her life. Johanna was. In the short time that she got to know Johanna, she came to know what she truly wanted in the end. She knew who she wanted to be with and who was the one meant for her.

She packed her bags quickly and headed to the airport that evening. It was a sudden trip, but she had her passport and visa ready to go. She walked through security and was getting everything together at the gate when she saw something. Those pink streaks were not hard to miss. She had to blink a few times to make sure this was who she was looking at. Yes, it was. It was the only person that she ever wanted. It was the only person who could make her feel something deep down. It was her Johanna Villanueva, her rock star, her everything in the world. Lily’s heart was leaping for joy when she saw Jo in all her leather and pink-streaked glory.

“Jo?” She began, walking up to the figure. “Jo, is that you?”

“Lily?” Johanna ran over to her. “Oh my God, what are you doing here?!”

“What am I doing here? What are you doing here?!” Lily demanded, dropping her things on the ground. “I was coming to Paris to see you!”

“Weird. I was coming back here to see you,” Johanna said, looking down at the flowers in her hands. “I was going to surprise you.”

“I was going to surprise you,” Lily laughed. “I made the plans and everything last night. I wanted to show up at your show and tell you how much I missed you. I remember everything about you. I still remember all those shitty roses we drew in the sand. I know the waves washed them all away, but I couldn’t stop thinking about what you wrote. I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

“I know you couldn’t. I had a hard time trying to forget you,” Johanna handed her the roses. “These are for you, beautiful. I was going to give them to you when I went to your house but since you’re here_”

“They’re beautiful,” Lily cut her off, taking a sniff. “They smell great too.”

“I just got them from the store over here.”

“They are beautiful.”

“They weren’t drawn in sand but…they’re way better looking, aren’t they?”

“Any roses you give me are good,” Lily assured her. “So what do we do now? I’m supposed to board a flight to Paris in about two hours. However, you’re here. I don’t know what I need to do.”

“I think we could use another vacation. How about you?”

“I did take a few days off just to see you. I might as well go and enjoy Paris,” she decided. “Are you free to come with me?”

“I’m free to go anywhere you want to go,” Johanna said. “Let me just see if I can change tickets and we can be on our way. By the way, I finally finished my song.”

“Really? When will I get a chance to hear it?”

“Soon enough,” she promised. “The whole band enjoyed it. I think I’ll play it for you when we get to our destination. It’s a song that I hope you like,” she began to sing parts of it at that moment. “You and I, we are timeless. We are forever. We are everything. And I know that tomorrow will be perfect now that you’re here with me.”

“Shh,” Lily silenced her. “Save the song for later. I can’t wait to hear the whole thing!”

Together, they decided to go on their dream vacation together. Lily felt good to have Johanna next to her. Even if they couldn’t go to Paris, they were together. They would always have each other at every place they went. No one was going to be able to pull them apart now.