The Eternity that Follows (18 page)

Back at home, Gabriella was putting on the finishing
touches to her makeup, waiting for Joey to arrive. Gabriella
decided to wear, short white shorts with a semi-dressy, black tank
top, with the dressy flip flops she wore to the party. Joey said cute
and comfortable, and to sit outside in, so she didn’t put much
thought into her outfit, figuring he was taking her to Cascades to
eat outside on the deck.

Joey called Gabriella as he was pulling onto her road,
because he didn’t want to miss the sunset. Gabriella came outside
at Joey's request, and then saw everything packed in Joey’s work
truck.
“You have a bike?” Gabriella asked.
“Yes I have a bike.” Joey said, not seeing the big deal.
“I love boys with bikes.”
“Oh really?” Joey said, not shocked.
“Yes. They’re so hot, you’re so hot.” Gabriella said, then giving
Joey a big hug and a kiss hello. “You smell so good and you look
so clean. Hey did you work today?”
“Well no. Actually yes for an hour or two, but I had a very
productive day, I promise.” Joey said, hoping Gabriella wouldn’t
get motherly on him
“Whatever.”
“You’re mad?”
“I’m not mad.”
“Come on hunnie lets go. I’ll tell you all about my day later, I
promise.” Joey said, leading Gabriella over to his mustang in the
driveway, while his truck was parked on the road.
“You’re just going to leave all of your stuff in the truck?”
“Where’s it going?” Joey asked, there wasn’t a high theft rate in
Mandala.
“Joey, you can’t leave it all here.”
“Gabriella please let’s just go.” Joey said, persistent, for he didn’t
want to miss the sunset.
“Fine, but can we take the bike?” Gabriella asked, playing with
the bottom of Joey’s right sleeve, while looking at her feet, and
then back to Joey’s eyes.
“Fine.” Joey said, feeling he couldn’t say no.

Joey rolled the bike off the back of his truck, and then
handed Gabriella a pink helmet he had over one of the handles.
“Who wore this before me?”
“Diana.” Joey said, in an ‘if you didn’t want to know, don’t ask’
tone.
“Ok.” Gabriella said, noting that Joey would be buying her, her
own helmet very soon.
“I didn’t buy it for her.”
“Oh.”
“I didn’t buy it for some other girl either.” Joey noted. “It was
Sadie’s, and when I bought the bike from Gavin after he rode it
once and fell, and didn’t want it anymore, she gave it to me. Diana
wore it like three times, if that.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You didn’t have to.” Joey said, putting on his electric blue helmet
and hopping onto the bike. Gabriella put on the pink helmet and
hopped on to.
“Have you ever been on a bike before?” Joey asked, in jealousy as
Gabriella held onto his stomach with her private area pushed up
against his back.
“Nope. I never trusted a guy before to get on one.”
“But you love boys on a bike?”
“I love you on a bike.”
“Oh?”
“Yup. You’re my hot bike guy. It’s the bike, it’s the helmet, it’s
you Joey.”
“What?” Joey asked, confused.
“Well I’ve passed you before and you have a hot body. That’s all.”
Gabriella said, now realizing she had a crush on a guy on a bike for
years, and was now aware it happened to be Joey.

Joey didn’t have the time to fully understand what
Gabriella was trying to tell him. He started the bike, revved the
throttle, and was off with Gabriella holding him tightly behind.
They didn’t ride far, the ride was just seven minutes long. Joey
pulled up to his friends dock and parked the bike. Gabriella
hopped off, and raced to get in front of Joey, for she wanted to see
how hot he looked when he took off his helmet.
“What are you doing silly?” Joey asked her, after his helmet was
off.
“I just wanted to see what you looked like under the helmet.”
Gabriella said. Joey then realized what she had been talking about
before.
“Hey, did you use to drive a civic?”
“Yeah”
“Oh! So you’re my hot civic girl then.” Joey said, pulling
Gabriella into his arms and kissing the girl of his dreams.
“I guess so.” Gabriella giggled, remembering how many times
their eyes had met passing each other on the road.
“Why haven’t I seen you on your bike since I’ve had my WRX?”
“I stopped riding when I stopped seeing my civic girl.”
“Really?” Gabriella asked. “Hey where are we?” Gabriella then
asked.

She looked around realizing they were just a few feet away
from a dock on Lake Mandala.
“We’re going for a boat ride to watch the sunset.”
“Oh Joey.” Gabriella said, then she was speechless.

Joey grabbed the backpack he set around the front handle
bars and led Gabriella to the boat. It was around seven thirty, and
the sun would be setting in around an hour. Joey thought his day,
and his timing was starting to become perfect.
“Joey, have you ever driven a boat before?” Gabriella asked, once
Joey grabbed her hand to step on.
“Yes. Once. I’ve been taught.”
“Okay just making sure.”
“You trust me to get on the back of a bike with, but you don’t trust
me to drive a boat?” Joey asked Gabriella, pointing out how she
made no sense sometimes.
“Well.” Gabriella tired, she couldn’t answer that, and Joey just
laughed at her.

Joey took Gabriella for a fifteen minute ride around the
lake, while Gabriella enjoyed the view and scenery. Joey then
stopped the boat, went over to his back pack, and sat down on one
of the two seats in the back of the boat. Gabriella followed sitting
next to him. Joey handed Gabriella her sandwich and her ice tea
that was still cold.
“Oh Joey, you didn’t.” Gabriella said, surprised Joey had
remembered her favorite sandwich.
“You don’t even know what it is yet.” Joey said, pointing out that
she hadn’t opened the sandwich up yet. Joey set out extra pickles.
“It is what I think it is cause you even got extra pickles. I didn’t
even think you were listening to me.” Gabriella said, remembering
back to how she was trying to tell Joey about her favorite deli and
sandwich, but he wouldn’t stop tickling her feet at the time.
“Of course I listened.” Joey said, thinking Gabriella must know
him better than that. He then remembered how he was pretending
not to listen as he was trying to annoy her by tickling her feet.
“Tickly feet.” He commented. Gabriella blushed. “I even got one
for myself. I promised to try it.” Joey said, looking into
Gabriella’s eyes.
“Just like you promised not to cheat?”
“Yup.”
Joey said, confidentally. They both opened their
sandwiches, and Gabriella waited for Joey to take and swallow his
first bite, wanting to see his face to make sure he liked it. Joey
took his first bite and then said,
“yum. It is good.”
“Do you say yum to everything?”
“Nope, only when I like something.” Joey said, giving Gabriella a
kiss on her lips. “Yum.”

After Joey and Gabriella finished their sandwiches, Joey
got out a bottle of red wine. He poured it into two plastic wine
cups he had picked up from the liquor store on his way over to pick
up Gabriella. Joey and Gabriella sat and drank the wine, while
giggling and laughing, Joey was trying to tickle her feet. Joey
noticed that the sun was about to set.
“I wanted to take you to see the sunset.” Joey told Gabriella,
standing her up and walking her to the edge of the boat where the
sun was setting.
“Aww Joey, you’re too sweet.”
“I try.”

Joey held Gabriella from behind as they watched the
sunset, at times giving Gabriella sweet kisses on the back of her
neck. Gabriella felt as though she were in heaven. The sunset was
so beautiful, the sky was setting in pink and orange tones as it
glowed, and mirrored over the water.
“Joey, look how beautiful it is.”
“Not as beautiful as you.”
“Really you think so?” Gabriella asked, turning around to meet
Joey’s eyes.

Joey took a step back, and knelt down on one knee with the
ring box already behind his back. Without giving Gabriella a
moment to ask what he was doing, he took the ring box from
behind his back, and opened it. Gabriella’s eyes didn’t leave
Joey’s.
“Gabriella, my sweetheart, will you please marry me?” Joey said,
in a kind, soft tone, then making a ‘please puppy dog face.’

Gabriella looked down at the ring as the end of the sunset
caught the diamond. The ring lit up in orange and pink as
Gabriella replied,
“wow.” Gabriella was stunned by the ring.

The ring Joey designed for Gabriella was the heart of a
rose. From the heart of the rose came the band of the ring, that
was swirled vines on each side of the band with two thorns
opposite one another. The band in the back was solid white gold,
the vines dyed out around the sides of her finger and grew thicker
around the back. In the heart of the rose lied a diamond. Joey
didn’t want to cheap out on the diamond, but actually designed the
ring to have a tiny diamond, finding it looked well in it’s setting.
Since the diamond wasn’t as big of a rock Joey had always
dreamed of giving his wife, he had four ruby’s placed on each of
the thorns, to keep the color of a rose in check with the design.
Joey was still waiting for an answer. Gabriella caught Joey’s eyes
and then spoke, “oh yes Joey. Of course I’ll marry you. Forever
and the eternity that follows, I’ll be yours.” she said,. Joey had
slipped the ring on her finger in the middle of her words, he then
stood to his feet.
“You promise the eternity that follows?” He asked, not waiting for
an answer, and bringing Gabriella into his arms. Gabriella gave
Joey a kiss, vowing eternity to answer to his question. When the
kiss was over, Joey held on tight to Gabriella with his arms
wrapped around her hips. Gabriella took a look at her ring,
holding her hand up behind Joey’s shoulder, and saw blue and
yellow sparkles beaming off the lights of a passing boat.
“I bet I could see the whole rainbow in this diamond.” Gabriella
said, complementing the diamond Joeypicked out.
“Its custom made.” Joey said. “Every last detail. I drew it up
myself.”
“Oh Joe.”
“Oh Joe?” Joey said, with a sigh.
“You like that?” .
“I do Gabriella, only you though.”
“K.” Gabriella said, with a kiss afterward sealing another vow
between them.

Joey turned Gabriella around to catch the last of the sunset,
holding her tightly behind, while watching himself. He nestled his
face into her neck, then resting his chin there. “I can’t wait to get
you home.” Joey confessed, whispering in Gabriella’s ear,
insinuating he wanted to make love. “Let’s finish this wine and
watch the stars for awhile.” Joey said, wanting Gabriella to know
she meant a lot more to him then sex.
“I’d like that.”

Joey and Gabriella sat back down on the chairs on the back
of the boat. Joey wrapped his arms around Gabriella as she
snuggled into his chest for a moment and said,
“I wish I could spend forever like this with you.” Gabriella then
grabbed Joey’s arm from around her, put his hand in hers, and held
it in her lap. They both looked out above the boat and gazed at the
stars. Gabriella looked up and saw the Virgo constellation.
“That’s my favorite constellation you know.” Gabriella said. “I
can’t always find it, but when I do, I can’t help but feel there’s
something powerful out there.”
“Like heaven?”
“Yes, like heaven.”
“For the eternity that follows?” Joey asked Gabriella, giving her a
sweet kiss.
“For the eternity that follows and whatever else there is after that.”
“There is nothing after that Gab. Eternity goes on forever.”
“Well, then.” Gabriella acted stumped. “Then I’ll love you in the
next lifetime too.”
“Do you believe we live on earth again?”
“Sometimes. I think so, don’t we have a bloodline?”
“We sure do.”
“So?”
“So, well I’ll love you in my next lifetime too.”
“Will you be faithful till then?”
“I sure hope my next life will lead me to be.”

Joey's kind words, was enough for Gabriella to know he
truly loved her. Gabriella got comfortable in Joey’s arms again,
she had brought new thoughts and philosophies to Joey’s mind
from her thoughts she shared with him.
“Hey Gab, just in case I’m going to leave something behind with
our kids, that they can pass down to their kids, and their kids, and
their kids, and so on. That way we know our exact family tree
since the last time we lived on earth, and I’ll make a note for my
parents when I’m born that I’m to be faithful because in my
destiny, awaits the most beautiful girl on earth that deserves me to
be.”

Gabriella found sweetness in his words, while he got
Gabriella thinking about his parents, and if they would fall in love
and have him again in the next lifetime, she couldn’t help but say
something.
“Do you think your parents will meet again in the next lifetime?
Do you think we’ll meet in the next lifetime?”
“Gabriella, you and I are soul mates. If we do indeed get a next
lifetime, it will be together. I promise you that.”
“But how can you promise that?”
“Well, I’ll tell God I don’t want to be born again, and I won’t
leave heaven without you. And you must do the same if my
parents don’t fall back in love, okay?” Joey said, with tears in his
eyes over the thoughts of his parents and how they weren’t
together anymore.
“Okay Joey. I promise I won’t be born without you.” Gabriella
said, with tears swelled up in her eyes too.

Joey sat in silence for a moment.
“Do you know why my dad left?” Joey finally said.
“No.” Gabriella said, without moving.

Joey grabbed Gabriella’s chin, causing her to look up, she
was relieved because she wanted to look into Joey’s eyes.
“Me either.” Joey admitted.
“Oh.” Was all Gabriella could say. Joey smiled lightly at
Gabriella as she smiled lightly back.
“Forever, girl?”
“Forever.” Gabriella said, knowing she had become the closest
thing on earth to Joey. “Can we go make sweet, sweet love now?”
Gabriella asked. Joey had no protest to that.

After Joey and Gabriella had made sweet love to each
other, Gabriella got out of bed and turned on the light. She then
went over to her computer desk to grab a piece of blank paper from
the printer. Gabriella also grabbed a pencil and a book for Joey to
lean on. Gabriella laid on Joey’s body, describing her dream dress
to him.
“I want it to form around my hips.” Gabriella began, while she
laid in Joey’s lap, with him holding the book with the paper on it
on the palm of his right hand as he drew with his left. Joey drew
the form of Gabriella’s hips. “I want it to stay tight until it reaches
my knees. When it reaches my knees, I want the sides to puff in
and out, half an inch all the way to the bottom.” Gabriella said as
Joey drew wiggly lines down her body, drawing tight where she
wanted it, and then letting go, for an eyeball half an inch, then
making it tight again, to draw the puffs she was speaking of. “Are
you getting all this?” Gabriella asked, trying to look at the paper,
Joey pushed her off. “Okay so on the way up from the hips, I want
it to be all tight and form to my body, clingy tight.” Gabriella
described, so Joey drew up from her hips. “And when it gets to my
boobs, I want it to swoop down in a V with a cris cross tie
between.”
“How low?”
“To right in between the center of my boobs.”
“Gabriella?”
“What Joey? I want the lace to cris cross up until where the v-neck
started”
“Fine.” Joey said, agreeing, and drawing a low v-neck with a cris
cross lace between.
“I want there to be two long skinny straps at the top of each side
where the v starts on top that will cris cross around my neck once
and tie in the back.”
“Separate from the lace in the middle of your boobs or do you
want it to be the same lace?” Joey asked, still not approving such a
low-cut dress.
“I want the lace in the v-neck to tie in a bow at top, in the back.
Yes different lace.”
“Okay.”
“And then for the back I want a big bow above my tail bone.”
“So the dress is going to be tight in the back correct?” Joey asked,
in disapproval.
“Yes Joey. I want to show off all my good features.”
“What happened to long, flowing gowns with trains?”
“Joey, did you, draw it the way I said or not?”
“Yes. I'm just drawing your backside now separate, and adding
your bow. How long did you want the strands of the bow?” Joey
asked. “And did you want it red?”
“Joey that’s not funny! I’m not a whore.”
“I didn’t say you were.”
“Did you finish yet?”
“How long did you want the strands of the bow?” Joey asked,
again but without the rude comment.
“Oh till the end of the dress.”
“Ok. We’ll I’m done.” Joey said, showing Gabriella the paper.
“Joey.” Gabriella screamed. Joey had shown her the back side of
the paper where he had written ‘no way.’
“Just flip it over Gab.” Joey said. Gabriella flipped over the paper.
“Oh Joey.” Gabriella’s heart beamed. “It’s just what I wanted.”
Gabriella said, in delight.
“Good I’m glad.”
“You don’t like it?”
“I’m not supposed to see it before the wedding.” .
“Oh.” Gabriella said, feeling they were sworn to bad luck.
“But don’t, worry I tend to forget things that excite me until they
come up again.” Joey said, remembering the check he got today.
“So you do like it?”
“I can’t wait to see you in it and punch everyone else that does.”
“Joey, you’re such a bad boy.” Gabriella said, in a sexy tone.
“Nope. I just have one sexy lady.”
“What did you mean by things that excite you, you don’t
remember?”
“I got a royalty check today in the mail from Tie’s dad for my
blueprint.” Joey said, acting as though the money he received
today was no big deal.
“And you weren’t expecting it?”
“Nope. I forgot that I’d be making ten grand for every house he
built using my blueprint.”
“That must have been a huge shock. How many houses did he
build?”
“I guess fifteen in the last year and a half.”
“Wow.”
“Yup.”