Forever, For Always - Sabrina Quinn Page 0,3
grabs my hand as we run down the aisle together. With his other hand, he hits a button on his iPhone and the chorus begins to play right on cue.
“Cause there will be no sunlight, if I lose you baby.”
I’m now in a fit of giggles. “You really love this Bruno Mars guy, huh?”
“He just has all the right words, baby,” Dominic says as he pulls me into a tight embrace once we reach the outside of the chapel. He kisses me once again, but more passionately this time.
“Dominic, take me home,” I lustfully say to him, eager to spend my first night ever with him.
We listen to the new Bruno Mars cd on repeat the entire night, never getting any sleep as our first night as a married couple. By eight in the morning we force ourselves away from each other and out of bed. We have to get everything together to leave here by nine o’clock sharp to make it to the bus station in time.
Dominic slips out two driver’s licenses from the small front pocket of the black backpack and hands them to me.
“What are these?” I ask while examining them.
“We have to change our names if we don’t ever want him to find us. I paid a lot of money for these, they’re legit.”
“So I don’t ever get to be Adaline Rossi?” I ask, disappointed.
Dominic pushes a stray hair behind my ear from the up-all-night-in-bed look I have going on. “Don’t worry, I chose names that will be special to us.”
“Benedict and Vada Bruno?” I bite my lip to stall my laughter.
“I can’t really hide my heritage, babe. Bruno is an Italian last name.” He shrugs his shoulders. “It just worked.”
“Uh huh. “ I softly smile at him as I connect his new first name. “And Benedict, your favorite Saint?”
He grabs the gold Saint Benedict medal that he wears around his neck. “I wanted names with meaning. Remember, he protects from all evil. We need him on our side. Your name, Vada, it means ‘to go’ in Italian. Plus, it’s fitting because it sounds as beautiful as you look.”
I point to my messy, knotted, long auburn hair. “This is not beautiful.”
Dominic pulls me to him as he begins to kiss up my neck. “Oh but it is. That is the look of my one and only Adaline, and I’m the reason your hair is a mess in the first place. No one on this earth looks as gorgeous as you do right now.”
I push him away as I laugh. “I think your lack of sleep is messing with your brain.” I run my right hand through his thick, slightly curly, black hair. “I’m going to run around the corner and get us some coffee for the road while you finish packing. Okay?”
Dominic talks in between kisses, his lips never leaving mine. “Don’t. Be. Late. My. Love.”
“We have but for all of time.” I kiss him once more. ”Together.”
“Forever, for always. But don’t be late,” he says while winking at me and shutting the door, the lock clicking behind.
***
Two o’clock finally rolls around, ending my shift. The officer was right about one thing, I’m not an early bird. I’m most definitely not the friendliest to strangers at five in the morning either, especially today after I was up most of the night tending to a fever.
I fill in Javier, the evening barista, on what needs to be restocked before heading out the door to walk home. Luckily, there is a little Cuban grocery store between here and my apartment, because I need to pick up some more ibuprofen. I hope they have the kind I need. I grab my cell out of my purse to turn the ringer back on and feel that same crushing feeling every single time I look at the screen. Dominic had saved the picture he took of us lying in bed our last night together, as my screensaver. I don’t even recognize the girl in the photo anymore. She is overdramatically kissing his cheek. Even with her eyes closed, you can tell how incredibly happy she is at that moment. Dominic, with his black, perfectly disheveled hair, has his left hand entangled in the woman’s long, tangled, auburn hair with the cheesiest yet overjoyed smile on his face. We had to leave our old phones behind and get burner phones so that we could not be traced. This is the only picture I have left of him. As much as it hurts