The Art of Letting Go

FOUR

THE ART OF LETTING GO
CHAPTER 4 – GHOST FROM THE PAST (LITERALLY)

"AMBER? ARE YOU really here?" Chris said after looking at her for minutes, she smiled "took you long enough" still couldn't believe his eyes, he stood up and walked towards where she's standing.

She sat at the cold and dry pavement, she wore the exact white and flowy dress when they had their first friendly date as a celebration for Amber's possible scholarship in Boston University. The memory sent shivers down his spine, the cold wind hits his face and it played right before his eyes.

SNAPSHOT:

January 12, 1996 – The first friendly date.

The Sta. Monica pier, famous for its wooden wharf and a good overlooking of the bay, is getting noisy as the sun starts to set, the pinging sound of the arcade games are continuous followed by the echoes of the announcer saying "and we have a winner" followed by never ending laughter and the rides are starting to fill up too. From a distant, he can hear singers and musicians playing upbeat and soothing tunes.

Chris waited for Amber in the long line for the ferries wheel, she thought that it was a little bit cliché since every first date of a new couple starts on the ferries wheel and they are not even a couple, but to Chris' defense, it would give them a proper time to talk without getting "the looks" and actually give the impression that they are, so Amber agreed with it if Chris accompanies her on the beach afterwards.

A moment later, she showed up wearing a lacy white sleeveless dress, the dress is flowy and it sways and follows her small motions, her chestnut brown hair falls past her chest and she's only wearing light make-up.

Chris looks at her from afar, and never even stopped himself from thinking that: she's beautiful.

Actually, beautiful is an understatement, she was drop dead gorgeous, young and innocent at the same time. She was turning 17 by April, and Chris could notice little changes from her because they met when she was 16.

She craned her neck and looked for Chris in the crowd of people lining up in the ferries wheel, when she spotted him, she grinned and waved her hand in the air. She walked towards him with the same smile on her face, when she got near enough, Chris could make out her familiar sweet-smelling Jasmine perfume.

"Hi" she said "did you wait long?" she stuffed her phone in her mini-sling bag.

Chris shook his head "nah, you got here a few minutes after I took a line."

"Really? I thought I was running late, I don't want you to think that I am actually ditching you."

He chuckled "actually, I never thought of that. But now that I do, that sounds traumatizing."

They both laughed and silently wished that it wouldn't happen to the two of them, at some other point in the future. When they are included at the next round of the ferries wheel, Amber couldn't help but feel a little giddy on the inside, but she promised herself to not let Chris think that she wants this date more than his, but she does think that this is a little cliché.

"So" she began "I'm a little bit afraid of heights" she could feel the familiar tingling sensation in her toes when she sees herself far from the ground, and she would imagine herself falling from that specific height, then she would wonder if she'll survive the fall.

Chris looked at her "you could have told me that before we actually went here!"

She let out a chuckle "yeah, that never actually came to me, all I've been thinking is that, I've seen a lot of movies that start their date in a ferries wheel, and this is not even THAT kind of date."