Roads That Cross...

... With Ghosts From The Past

As they enjoyed their drinks, Simón told her a bunch of stories about him.

Ámbar was amused by the idea that any outsider would probably look at her and think 'poor girl, stuck with that guy that won't stop talking about himself.' In truth, she knew he was doing it for her. After what she had told him just before leaving the mansion, Simón probably felt like she had shared a lot and needed to take her mind out of it; hence the enthusiastic chatter from his part, working as a distraction.

What anyone would've interpreted as selfishness, she knew it was a gesture of kindness.

She could've told him that it wasn't necessary, that she was fine and he didn't need to go out of his way to make her feel better, but she really loved learning more about him.

She loved to hear about his family (which was huge), about where he grew up (just a regular house near the beach of Cancún), how he did at school (not so good, but also not bad), and every other little thing. Maybe it was too much, but she felt like she wanted to know everything about him. The smallest of things marveled her, like how he had tried skateboarding before rollerskates when he was twelve because he thought it'd make him look cool (turns out it only got him a concussion), or how he used to make homemade ice creams putting juice in the icemaker of the freezer during the summer.

She said she'd like to try one of those sometime. He smiled widely and said 'deal' with a wink.

They ordered real ice cream cones to go and enjoyed them as they walked. Since Ámbar was holding her gift in one hand and the cone in the other, she reached for Simón's arm instead, and he gladly moved it to link their arms together.

While they walked, Ámbar started to share little memories with him too. She didn't have as many crazy or funny stories as he did but, just as she wanted to know more about him, she wanted Simón to know more about her too. She never thought she'd be willing to share memories of her life that weren't about her excelling at something, but unlike how she used to do before with everyone, she didn't want to impress him. She just wanted him to know her. Not Ámbar Smith the Queen of the Roller; just Ámbar. And it was such a freeing thought.

That was how she felt with Simón: freer than she'd ever been.

From his part, Simón was fascinated listening to her.

He heard raptly as Ámbar told him about how she had started rollerskating at seven, determined to be as good as an older girl she had seen training in a park (and better), about how excited she had been the first time she had ordered something online and the package had arrived (something he could relate with, although in his case it had been at sixteen with his first pay-check; she had done it at eleven with a credit card), about how she had started writing songs when she was thirteen but her first pieces were so ridiculously bad she cringed thinking about them.

He asked if he could read one of those lyrics someday. She said she had thrown them all away so they could never embarrass her. He pouted and she laughed.

Through it all, Simón tried not to get distracted staring at her lips. It felt like a disrespect when she was willingly sharing bits of her life with him, and he really loved to hear her talk about her childhood and joke around, don't take him wrong, but the way her tongue came out to lick her ice cream and wipe her lips from time to time was... very distracting.

At one point, she asked for a taste of his ice cream cone, looked him in the eye as she took a mouthful of it, and then smiled.

Was she aware of what she was doing to his poor, stupid heart?

She'd probably laugh if she knew.

Anyway, seeing her happy made him feel lighter inside than anything else did. He swore not even playing music felt as good as being with her and hearing her laugh; that was his favorite sound in the world, especially when he was the reason behind it.