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The Car failed.
He was headed towards a vista near a cliff where the view of the Pacific was lush with wild green grass, warm sand, salty ocean air, and a soft warm breeze just how she liked it.
"It was a surprise," he said. "You're gonna love it". Not so much anymore. His car was fuming, they barely made it off the road. It was almost going to be twilight and all there was to show for it was the dry, dusty, desert road. She was calling for help on two bars of signal and the breeze became chillier and chillier. What a failure of a night.
As she hung up the call with a "thanks, take care" she walked up to him and patted his arched back as he held his hands in his head and wept.
"Are you okay?" her voice was warm and tender as she asked.
All he could mutter was "The car broke down."
"It's okay. Look, it's not smoking anymore. The doors are opened, it's airing out and it's off. There's help coming in a few minutes". She helped him sit down. He knew his frozen hand must have made her warm one flinch even as its grip tightened on his.
"The car broke down."
"But we'll be fine".
The wind swept away the smell and the night air took over the sky. As the stars became visible you could almost smell the sea that was so close yet so far. As she gripped his shoulder he bawled.
Twiddling fingers met the crisp night sky as it bled into the underside of a colander, where the stars became holes underneath a covered sky. As he caught his breath the sobs became hiccups became whispered mumbling.
"I'm sorry"
"Sorry for what? you did nothing wrong" her body pressed against him. Stable and firm.
"Well obviously I must have, since the car-"
"Shut up about the stupid car. We'll figure that out later. Just talk to me" her soft voice said.
"About what?"
"About anything. Anything to take your mind off the stupid car. That's all I ask for".
He put his head in her lap to see her familiar face smiling down at him. He hummed as the pleasant feeling of her hand fled his to brush his hair out of his face.
"Tell me what's your favorite memory. Maybe that will take your mind off of things."
"My favorite memory?"
His mind fizzed out from the feeling of the skin of her lap into a scene reminiscent of the one he was in now. Where the air was just as crisp as it was that night.
It wasn't warm that night though. It was winter at her family's house. They went to the city by themselves with her as the tour guide on her phone figuring out where they were supposed to go. The snow around the lit city lights felt surreal as seen from the virgin eyes of a snowless city. It was just as the stories made it appear. Surreal yet realistic as his sneakers sloshed around the grey stepped snow on the ground. But to her, it was nothing more than another trip to the city on a cold day where you just couldn't help but take a picture to prove you were there to see it.
The taste of warm cheap pizza still lined his lips in a smile as they walked in tandem to the nearby station her sister always took to work that she was unfamiliar with. She liked to call herself a bad local, but it made him burst into warm almost-drunken laughter saying:
"Well, I'm glad that makes two of us then".
She paused for a moment. Then thinking turned into soft laughter. That twinkling laughter bleeding into the city ambiance as people talked amongst each other, conversations turning into blended sound, the way the wind whooshed, food crunched, a cyclist passed by with the faith on the ice that a priest at a stone cold church could only pray for and yet with all of the world placed at his doorstep at that moment the cherry on top was how her world became part of his.
The walk back was slow as they huddled for warmth while stopping at every window to see the holiday decorations that lined expensive shops that were never made for them. And as they found that Pennsylvania station, they took the elevator down to the sound of clacking shoes, street musicians, and warmth that came closer the deeper into the station they went.
They waited outside of the upcoming station where she couldn't stop explaining how much she loved the way they pronounced Ronkonkoma on the train.
Ronkonkoma, Ronkonkoma, Ronkonkoma.
She repeated it until the train came. Without even drinking it was as if they had become children discovering a word for the first time.
And from there he almost passed out. She offered her lap.
"Are you sure? I'm sure the train will be fine."
"I insist. You can if you want".
He looked at her jeans and back to the beige of the walls with his tired eyes. "Is it going to be weird?"
"I have two pairs of pants on. It's only weird if you decide to make it weird" she promised him as she patted her own lap with a sadistically funny look on her face as she looked at him.
"Alright, but I'm trusting you," he said with a yawn. As someone came to check on their tickets he came to realize he couldn't care less. Drowsiness took over as the train rocked them back and forth like a child in a cradle.
He awoke to the warm feeling of her hand on his shoulder.
"Hey we're here now, this is our stop," She said pointing at the window where the blur slowed into an almost remote sub-urban station. She grabbed his hand to pull him up as he followed her out of the train into the station hearing the door close and the train rush on behind them.
"Are we home now?" he said opening his eyes a little as she dragged him.
"I'd say we are". They entered the door to their flat. As she dragged him into the bed like it was nothing.
"Did we make it back to your mom's house?"
"Not exactly, but calling our place that sure is a compliment. You should head to bed, it's been a long night."
The world shook and spun around him. How did he get here? Where did his car go? When did they get back into their flat? When had he taken off his shoes? Did his face always feel so grimy or was it just now?
But it didn't matter. The lights were turned low and he heard a click come from the door as she checked it once, then twice to make sure it was locked. Next, the footsteps to the window curtains being pulled to the rattling sound of their hooks and the sound of her entering their rustling sheets.
"Are you almost asleep?"
He didn't have the energy to give a response. Her body close to his was all he could ask for as he finally gave out amongst the strong feelings of the day and the warmth of their memories as his hand instinctually tried to return to hers if just to fiddle with them. He could almost feel her smile.
"That's good. I put your ring next to your nightstand, so you know you didn't lose it on the Uber back".
That's right. There was another tomorrow to try again he thought as he snuggled closer to the love of his life in the warm beige sheets of warmth and comfort.