THE END...OF THE BEGINNING

It was only minutes past three in the morning when Jon finally walked through the door of the apartment after returning from the last show appointed for that year. He felt drained but on the other hand somewhat euphoric and excited on the face of the upcoming holidays and starting a new life with the woman that had helped him pick up all the pieces and made his life complete once again.

To his surprise, for he was hoping to find her asleep in bed so he could wrap her with his arms, he heard her sharp voice coming from the kitchen door. His first reaction was of concern: she hadn’t had nightmares for a few nights, maybe they were back. Then as he took off his boots, Jon deduced, by the rather business-like tone in her voice, that she was talking to someone at the office in Hong Kong.

After carefully placing the guitar place next to the couch, he threw his backpack on the sofa and walked towards the voice to find June standing barefoot with her back to the kitchen door, wearing that short champagne satin nightie that he liked so much. Out of habit, she kept her wounded leg slightly bent so her weight rested on the other leg. The rosy scar looked now like a delicate line that followed the swirl of her toned calf. The phone was pinned between her head and her shoulder, freeing her hands so she could handle the utensils in the traditional Chinese porcelain tea set, one of the few things apart from her clothes that she’d brought with her back from Hong Kong. Her glossy hair was draped over the opposite shoulder, revealing the enticing shapes of her shoulder-blades.

Jon leaned against the door frame with a wry smirk on his lips, arms crossed over his chest while he enjoyed the view and she continued stating her point, completely ignoring his presence.

When she finished her sentence there was a long pause as she listened to her interlocutor, indicating with small affirmative sounds that she was following. Then she laughed softly and her tone changed when she spoke.

“Yeah…I miss you, too”, she said, making Jon frown. “No…we agreed on deciding after the holidays, but I think I already know the answer…it’s gonna be a no”, she finished with a soft sigh and placed the teapot back on the tea tray, then held the phone with one hand.

Jon felt a sting of guilt for eavesdropping on June’s conversation, seasoned with a fair amount of curiosity and jealousy. Never one to worship at the altar of patience (particularly when he’d had a bit too much to drink during an after party), he approached her and let his hands snake around her waist, making her gasp in surprise and turn her head.

“It’s Jon, he’s back”, she answered the question that came from the other end of the line, with a loving smile as she looked into Jon’s tired blue eyes and placed a smooch on his puckered lips that still tasted vaguely of beer. Putting the phone against her shoulder, she whispered: “It’s Marco, he says hi”. Swallowing his unfounded jealousy, Jon raised a manly voice so he could be heard through the telephone line. “Hey Marco, everything alright?”. The shows at smaller venues of his solo tour were much less demanding than the huge stadium gigs he was used to with the band, but took their toll on his voice nonetheless. And damn it was hard to be nice to a man that seemed to be always trying to seduce his woman, even though Jon was well aware that it wasn’t the case with Marco.

“He says tutto a posto”, grinned June, knowing that Jon’s knowledge of the Italian language was quite limited for all the boasting about his origins he usually did.  “I need to focus on my own writing right now. You know what they say about inspiration-...exactly”, she chuckled softly when Marco finished her sentence, then it morphed into a giggle when Jon nibbled on her neck. He had placed his hands on the kitchen counter, caging her between his arms. “Look, sweetie…I need to go…”, she laughed amusedly, apparently at a comment Marco had just made, “…yeah, talk to you soon…Ciao”. She was still laughing and shaking her head when she hung the phone on the receiver on the wall to her right. She swirled inside the enclosed space of Jon’s arms and faced him, circling his neck with her arms. They kissed deeply for a long moment.

“Hi”, she greeted softly.

“Hey, baby”, he greeted back with an extra-raspy voice and hugged her tightly. “How are you feeling?”, he asked against her hair.

“Much better, actually”

“Nightmares gone?”

“Uh-huh…I thought I’d heard you were coming back tomorrow noon”, she teased, reminding him of what he’d told her during the conversation they’d had earlier that night after the show.

“I don’t usually get the chance to surprise you”, his tone was a half-triumphant. “And I just couldn’t wait to come home to you”, he said, almost in a whisper, rubbing his nose with hers as his hands glided over the incredibly smooth fabric to settle on her belly. “And finding you here is just…you have no idea how happy it makes me”.

“That makes three of us, then”, she whispered with a lovely smile, and a small whimper rumbled in her throat when Jon kissed her once again. Her extreme sensitiveness made it possible for Jon to turn her completely on with the same easiness it took him to flick a switch.  “Will I at least be able to finish my tea?”, she teased seductively when she noticed that she wasn’t the only one that was beginning to become affected by the steamy kiss, making Jon chuckle softly.

“Nuh-huh…if you wanted me to behave you shouldn’t have put this on. You know it’s my favorite”, he whispered as his hands travelled down to the lacey white hem of the short nightie and pulled it slightly up, uncovering her thigh, which he brushed with his calloused fingertips. “My body needs you, baby…so bad”, he managed to voice as he licked her lips. “Does it still hurt?”. he asked, and June had to stifle a giggle at his poorly disguised impatience. He’d been extra sweet and considerate about her wounds these past couple of weeks, but his tone now held a slight, more aggressive tone than made June’s knees quaver. And hell if she herself wasn’t ready for something less tender.

“No…”, she said against his ear with a sultry tone, then placed a hand on his tight fly. “…I want it…hard”.

For Jon, to hear June speak in that provocative tone was a welcome shock and he responded by nibbling on her earlobe, making her moan when her nipples tightened, aching for the release only his hands and lips could provide.

…

Hours later, some steps approaching her woke June up. She thought it was Jon squatting next to her, but how was it possible? Her mouth was dry and she tried to speak but couldn’t. The person next to her put a glass of water next to her mouth and held her head while she wet her lips. It was then that she noticed it wasn’t exactly Jon, even though he bore his features. It was when he looked into his green eyes that she realized who it was, and the shock made her wake up, this time for real.

It took her a second to realize what the dream meant: she’d decreed that her concerns about what Jon’s view on the pregnancy were had no base in reality whatsoever, but she’d always had a good sense of what was the right thing to do, and it was now telling her that she had to open up to him, so she decided that the time had come. She’d do it that very same day.

But he was gone and, again on his side of the bed, a note.

3 p.m. at the café

And it was already almost 2 p.m. They’d agreed on staying in bed until late, then take a walk around the park in the afternoon but, as usual, Jon had managed to do some last-minute adjustments to their plans.

It was almost 3.30 when June finally made it through the café’s door. A little delay wouldn’t hurt, and a quick glance around the room told her that she wasn’t that late after all: Jon was nowhere to be seen. Realizing what Jon might be up to almost made June giggle: could it be that that was what he meant with all the “starting all over again” thing? It made her stomach flutter with renewed anticipation and affection: it was yet another one of those sweet, oh-so-romantic little details that Jon just couldn’t help having, regardless whether the spotlight was on or off.

Instinctively, she peered outside through the window before turning her gaze back to the room: everything looked quite normal, except for the acrylic sign on “her” table that read “Reserved”.

“When did you start reserving tables?”, June asked the attendant casually after ordering her usual Café alla Panna, no sugar. She hadn’t been to the café in months, but the girl seemed to still remember her.

The brunette laughed politely as if June had just made a joke, and suggested: “Why don’t you sit down? I’ll take the coffee to your table”. June appreciated the unusual gesture, but the “Reserved” table seemed to be the only free table in the whole room. What a predicament. June stretched her neck to have a better look at the back of the room, but got the same result.

“Excuse me”, the attendant called June’s attention and she turned her head. “Maybe I took you for somebody else but…aren’t you June Cohen?”, the girl smiled nervously, doubting her own judgment.

June had been recognized in a number of occasions, but this girl had seen her a bunch of times, why was this happening now?

“Yes…you know my name?”, the writer’s reply was a hesitant half-question, still not sure what was the attendant’s point.

“Of course I do, I love your books”, the girl’s brown eyes twinkled when she grinned, but she seemed a little confused now, as if they were having two different conversations. “Somebody called…”, as soon as the girl hinted, June chuckled and shook her head at the realization. Of course. Having two brains in one body was not making her any smarter. The fact that Jon remembered the exact table caused June to feel moved and amused at the same time.

“I’m so sorry”, June laughed and slapped her forehead. “I guess I must have forgotten”, she explained in a chuckle while the girl strode towards the table, removing the acrylic and pulling the armchair out for June to sit. “Thank you”, June finally said with a gentle smile after sitting down.

“Sure. Just ask if you need anything else”

“Wait”, June exclaimed and fished her purse from inside her camel totter bag, “I haven’t…”

“It’s covered, ma’am”, the petite brunette’s tone was now amusedly patient, and June gave her a sheepish grin. No matter how devoted Jon was to reproducing the original details, there were other things about which he couldn’t help himself.

It was an unusually cold day for the beginning of November and June’s toes already felt like cold pebbles inside her boots. You want exactly the same? You got it, she thought while she unzipped her short, black leather boots. She sighed at the wonderful sensation of resting her stockinged feet on the warm surface of the radiator. That was one of the things she loved the most about that place. That and Billie Holiday playing on a loop in the background.

As soon as her coffee arrived, June slouched on the armchair, her fingers curled around the warm cup, and let her mind follow its natural ramblings. 

The conversation she’d had with Martin the previous afternoon was the first thing to rise. He was back in Germany, still determined to keep his job at the publishing house in Hong Kong, though he wouldn’t be able to actually return to the city. He had his mind already set on Japan, instead, a location exotic enough to satisfy his culturally avid nature and close enough to Hong Kong to make the logistic aspect easier for everyone at the office. June’s affection for her “partner in crime”, as they now called each other, had done nothing but grow after their adventure, though not in the direction that Martin would have preferred.  “I just need to put an ocean between me and you first”, he said the when they’d talked on the phone. His tone was half-playful but sincere, and June could tell that his intention was only to let her know that he was honoring not only their friendship, but also her relationship with Jon, relationship he’d come to respect after June explained to him how they’d evolved from being unlikely friends to accidental lovers to a serious relationship. The number of people June would trust her life with could be counted with the fingers in one hand, and Martin had become one of them.

Another of these people was Lipeng, what brought her to her house. June felt the tug of attachment, but immediately brushed it off. It was the right thing to do. Her living in Jon’s apartment was more the result of a conjuncture rather than of a conscious decision. At least on her part, though she held the suspicion that from the get-go Jon had intended for her to stay at the apartment indefinitely, but then it was only natural that they shared the same roof if they were expecting a child, so she’d come to terms with it. Lipeng and his family, on the other hand, had nothing…and everything she ever wanted was…now walking through the door.

A whiff of passion touched her from his mere presence in the room. His blue eyes scanned the room quickly and caught her eyes, but she turned her head to hide a small smile. He turned his as well, smiling with a certain humor before addressing the attendant and ordering his coffee.

If there was something Jon was unsuccessful at, was trying to go unnoticed, and his efforts to do so were as equally sweet as they were naïve: regardless of his high-profile career, Jon’s overwhelming male beauty effortlessly summoned the attention of everyone around him.  His wonderful blue eyes, his firm lips, his strong chin the perfectly chiseled nose not even Michelangelo would have been able to reproduce.

His attire was quite similar to the one June remembered he was wearing the first time they met there: light sweater, thigh-length leather jacket, blue jeans and worn-out boots, but then that was his usual, every day street-wear. Only his hair was shorter now, completely tucked underneath the black baseball cap, except for a few fugitive strands that stuck out on his nape. June couldn’t help but flashback to probably two years before, and Jon not only looked as if he hadn’t aged a day, he also managed to look as if time was moving backwards for him. Any normal person would look a little lived in a few months away from their 36^th birthday, but not Jon.

While he waited, he continued to act as if he hadn’t noticed her, but the slight smirk on his lips told her that that wasn’t precisely the case, even a blind mind could have seen the bond that joined them. June turned her gaze to the window, tightening her lips to hold back a smirk.

She combed a strand of amber hair back into place with her fingers and adjusted one of the opal pins that held her hair loosely up, then fidgeted with the golden necklace with little emeralds that hung down to her breasts over the form-hugging gray sweater she was wearing. She placed a hand on her belly: she wasn’t evidently showing yet, but she knew her body, and how it was changing.

“Well…If it isn’t my brother’s boss…”, she said with an obviously ill-disguised indifference as she felt him approach the table. She was tapping her foot against the radiator to a rhythm that Jon recognized. “You’re late”.

A little smile, half a grin, flickered on Jon’s face. He was glad that she’d picked up on the game he proposed, and she was so good at playing this kind of games. He smiled again when he saw her feet on the radiator and instinctively gave her a smooch on the cheek, forgetting for a second the game they were playing. “I see you still like to play Cinderella…not tired of fairy tales yet?”, he asked breezily with a lopsided smirk after sitting down on the armchair on the opposite side of the table.

“I am, in fact…thinking about moving away from fiction”, June leaned forward with an equally amused smirk as she spoke secretively, finally confronting his aquamarine eyes with her emerald ones: “Real life is way more interesting”.

Jon chuckled: nothing could beat June’s optimism. “That’s a lot to say for a novelist”, he replied with a blindingly white smile.

“Well, you know…you meet people that make you believe in real life”, she reflected. June was certain that not even in a moment of divine inspiration could she have thought up a man like the one sitting in front of her right now.

Her words struck a chord in Jon’s heart, and it took him a moment to recover.

“And this ‘people’…”, he air-quoted, “…do you love him?”, he asked, bright blue mischievous eyes looking up from the rim of his coffee cup.

June chuckled at his well-founded confidence. “I’m crazy about him”.

“Lucky bastard”

June chuckled again and raised an eyebrow. “Are you hitting on me?”

“I just might be”, he raised one of his, making June smirk.

“I don’t think my brother would approve of that”

“I’m sure he’s well aware of my intentions”

“Is he now?”, June faked suspicion. “And what did he say?”

“That I don’t know what I’m gettin’ into…that you’re a pain in the ass”, he teased, making June chortle. “But I think he was just tryin’ to discourage me”

“That sounds like him”, June agreed with a wide, affectionate smile and took a sip from her cup. “He doesn’t seem to have succeeded, though”, she added.

“Not even close”, Jon grinned, unable to prevent self-satisfaction from tainting his tone.

They both cracked up simultaneously at the imaginary conversation between Jon and June’s brother that had happened nowhere but inside Jon’s head. An alternative course of events had that conversation actually taken place briefly flashed through their minds.

June was the first to speak, decided to carry on with the charade. “So how’s life? Busy lately?”

“It doesn’t suck…it doesn’t suck at all”, he answered with genuine self-satisfaction and set his cup back on the table. “But…”, he leant forward, making sure he spoke low enough not to be overheard. “Whadda ya say I get those pretty feet back in those cute little boots o’yours and invite you to dinner? We could catch up…I might need your opinion on something…”.

“Are you asking me out on a date?”, June feigned surprise and sat back on her armchair.

“You can call it that if you want, yeah”

“I dunno…Don’t you think this is moving a little too fast?”, she teased, making Jon chuckle throatily.

“Well…”, he paused for dramatic effect, “…I’ve kept you waiting long enough I think. And you should be aware that patience is not precisely one of my virtues”, he said, tightening a smile as he placed his hands on her thighs under the table. “Say yes and I’ll let it go as fast…or as slow as you want to”, the sensual undertone in Jon’s husky low voice produced a warm rush to run through June’s veins.

“Apparently it’s your lucky day, then…I´m in fast and furious mode today”, she winked before sipping what was left of her coffee and intently licking the thin layer of cream that covered her upper lip, making Jon’s groin tighten inside his jeans.

“Nice cane”, he commented after he finished zipping up her boots and offered his hand to help June stand from the armchair, then held her long brown woolen coat as she slipped it over her tight gray sweater.

“Yes it is…but as much as I like it I hope I won’t have to use it for too long”, June’s comment was truthful as she hooked her arm in the crooked arm Jon was offering.

“You’ve been gettin’ yourself into trouble, I see”, he remarked, unable to hide a slightly scolding tone that made June roll her eyes, Jon would probably never let her off the hook with that. “You sure you wanna hear that story?”, she challenged, seriously, knowing that Jon would want to keep that subject out of the little game they were playing.

“As good a story teller as you are, I think I’m gonna pass on that one today”, he grimaced.

“You look good”, he turned to June after giving the cabbie the address, as if they hadn’t seen each other in months, but he really meant it as a compliment. She looked gorgeous. Most of the scratches on her pretty face were gone, leaving a few barely noticeable rosy lines crisscrossing her right cheek, except for one half-inch scar in her forehead next to her hairline that seemed to be there to stay as a reminder of the danger she’d exposed herself to. A reminder, as if she needed any more.

“Well, you know…I was waiting for someone at the café, but you showed up instead”, she teased.

“Lucky me”, he grinned.

During the ride, Jon noticed the cabbie’s incredulous look on the rearview mirror and wondered what he might be making of their conversation, so he decided it was better to keep quiet until the end of their trip.

Just listening to the address had given June the hint about where they were headed, but she only confirmed it when they finally arrived. “Jean-Georges?”, she said, recognizing the restaurant where June had attended a lunch Jon had organized the previous year. Her voice had that air of worldly knowledge that had always attracted him.

“You like Asian, I like French”, he explained with a shrug and a firm-lipped self-satisfied smile that was quite appealing, trying to give a reasonable explanation for his choice, though he knew June remembered. “I thought it could work”.

“Interesting”, she added, trying to sound unimpressed but touched by the amount of thought Jon had put in every little detail. As it was turning out, their meeting was quickly diverting from the original course of events, which made June’s stomach flutter with expectation.

Once inside, they were received by a neatly dressed red-haired tall woman, but after leaving their coats, they weren’t lead towards the back of the room next to the garden like the previous time, they were taken along a short hallway that led to a private garden with a glass roof under which lay a profusion of perfectly arranged flowers and trees in planters. It smelled and felt like spring inside the space, even when it was cold outside. In the center lay a round table with an apricot tablecloth and dishware in the same color palette. There was a short vase with tulips and wheatgrass at the center of the table, next to which was a mysterious little white box with a silver silk ribbon tied around it.  Two elegant cream-velvet-upholstered chairs were placed side by side facing the floor-to-ceiling window that looked onto another private garden outside. A subtle light set made the atmosphere even warmer and welcoming.

“The drinks are on the side table as you requested, sir”, the red-hair indicated professionally. “And here is the remote. Just press the button whenever you need us”, she said and Jon smiled appreciatively. What he’d planned for the rest of the evening was not something he was ready to share with anybody else, especially not with strangers.

Jon pressed play on the remote control and Carly Simon’s Loving you is the right thing to do immediately started flowing from the hidden speakers. June couldn’t help but mouth the first words.

“I see you’ve done your homework”, she complimented, though well aware that there were no secrets to her musical taste, which had even filtered through in the characters of her novels.

“Guilty as charged”, Jon grinned. “Now let me guess…”, Jon took his index to his temple and squeeze his eyes as if trying to read June’s mind, then opened one eye. “Tea? No, no, lime water?”

June chuckled at the fact that he didn’t offer alcohol, as he would have normally. “Lime water sounds good”, she said, and gave her head a soft, graceful toss as he poured the drink in a tall glass.

They looked at each other conspiratorially as he poured himself a glass of white wine.

“So…”, he began with an amused smirk, making the amber liquid swirl inside his cup before taking a sip.

“So…”, was all she said. “What was it you wanted to ask me about? You said you needed my opinion on something?”, she asked so casually it was scary.

He drew in a short breath. He’d planned on bringing the subject up later, but once again, June had beaten him to it.  “Alright”, he chuckled and changed his tone. “I know this girl who’s thinking about giving her house to a controversial Chinese writer so he and his family can settle down in the States…”, his voice quavered a bit, as it had when June had informed him of her decision only a few days before. He propped his elbow on the armrest of the chair and leaned towards her. “Some time ago I bought this land by the river bank in Jersey…I was thinking about building a house there and asking her to move in with me”. Jon couldn’t help but a smirk to curl the left corner of his plump lips when he saw June fighting to hide her surprised reaction.

But June was able to recover. “That’s so…charitable of you”, her tone was slightly playful, but her capacity for keeping up with the ruse was growing weaker with each one of Jon’s words. “You sound like you might be in love with her”, she challenged, their faces only inches apart.

“Head over heels”, he breathed, his eyes like liquid blue flame falling to her rosy parted lips. “Whadda ya say?”, he asked, seriously this time, with convincingly puckered lips.

She remained silent, and it surely looked like one of June’s long silences that finished in a burst of fast talking. She finally replied with a gaze that said yes as clearly as words could have said it, and with a tenderness that words couldn’t have been able to express. They held each other’s gaze for a long minute, both fighting the urge to attack the other’s lips, but not wanting to spoil the magic of the moment at the same time.

“I still don’t know why you want my opinion…”, she began seriously. “…I’m not an interior designer”, she whispered her clarification tightening a smile.

Jon chuckled and bit his lower lip. “That’s ‘cause the house is not what I wanted your opinion about…”, he explained, “…what I want your opinion about is this”. He fetched the mysterious white box and placed it on the table in front of June. It immediately sunk in what he was doing. No, no, no. June’s jaw dropped. “Take it”, he ordered with a slight smirk of satisfaction at finally being able to astonish her. 

“Cat got your tongue?”, he asked after a long minute.

“Have you gone mad?” He can’t be serious. Too soon. Way too soon, he wasn’t even divorced yet, for Christ’s sake. She swallowed, but decided that given the fact that she couldn’t trust her own body right now, including her brain, it would be wiser to double-check. “What is it supposed to mean?”

“Open it”

“No”, she said dryly, placing her glass on the table. “You can’t be serious”, she chortled with a genuinely bewildered frown and stood up as if she were ready to run out the door.

“What are you saying?”, he frowned, standing up and wrapping his fingers around her wrists as if trying to prevent her from running away. Not that he was overconfident, but that was certainly not the reaction he had envisioned.

Jon’s madness justified stopping pretending, and June stammered her words: “But you…we   can’t-“

“Baby, I know we still…can’t, but still…it just feels right that you wear it. It’s a symbol, a symbol of my commitment to you and our baby”. He paused to gauge June’s reaction and noticed that she unconsciously released her hand to place it on her stomach at the mention of their unborn child. Moment of truth.

“You don’t have to do this, Jon”, she began with an ironic, self-deprecating soft chuckle. “The baby…I…I got sick and I could have done something and I didn’t…I shouldn’t have made the decision on my own. I don’t know what I was thinking, I don’t know what got into me and now this…What are we doing here? Tell me, we need to talk about this before we wake up and ask ourselves the exact same question, only it will be too late by then”.

“June”, he chuckled incredulously and cupped June’s chin with his hand, motioning for her to face to him. “Are you...? This is insane…look at me, LOOK at me: when your brother told me I was gonna become a daddy again was one of the scariest and most wonderful moment of my life and I couldn’t be happier that it’s with you that it’s happening, you got that? And baby, I’m so grateful for you not doing anything to prevent it”, he encouraged, his blue eyes almost popping out of his face. “Just ‘cause things happen that you don’t plan for doesn’t mean they’re not good…I love you and you love me and I’m not gonna let you back out on that, ya hear me?”, his husky, deep voice was packed with faux-threatening tone.

“But truth is that people can back out on it”, she said, seriously, reminding Jon that promises of forever and ever belonged only in the pages of fairy tales. “I believe we both have plenty of proofs of that.”

“Not if I can prevent it, and I’m determined to get it right this time. I’m gonna be here for as long as you need me…whether you want it or not. And you know I can be as stubborn as I have to be”. He pulled her close to him and held her tightly, his chin on her crown.

Still on the verge of tears but with a much lighter heart, June added against his chest: “It’s so...bizarre, so overwhelming. If I’d been feeling like this there’s no reason to think you weren’t going through the same thing.”

Jon chuckled with a tight-lipped smile and pulled away to look down into her eyes, she responded by lifting her face up. “Baby, you’ve known me for long enough to know that if there’s something bothering me I can do nothing to conceal it”, he reminded.

She smiled softly. “But I didn’t know you… like this, everything’s changed…and I have changed, too” 

“Yeah…but for the better, don’t you think?”, his overwhelmingly honest tone washed away what was left of June’s doubt.

The little smile she gave him seemed to satisfy him, but he continued. “I can’t say what’s gonna happen, but I love you SO much, I know that for sure”, he finished and captured her lips with his. They held each other tight for a few moments until June let out a deep sigh of relief.

“Now will you do me a favor and open the fucking box?”. Jon’s faux-whine and impatient tone made June chortle. “It doesn’t mean you have to sign any papers…for now”, he finished with a raised eyebrow.

June couldn’t help a small laugh to escape her lips at Jon’s mild threat, but remained pensive for a long moment as undid the ribbon and pulled the black box that was contained inside the white one. After opening the black box, she examined the delicate sparkling rock of the ring for a moment before putting it back inside the box, then put it back inside the white one and tied the ribbon around it. With a finger she pushed it to the center of the table again. “I’m sure she’ll love it, Jon, and that she’ll be proud to wear it”, she said, a warm smile splitting her face in half as she resumed their playful ruse and sat down.

By the end of the dinner, the illusion was almost complete, and Jon had, once again, succeeded. It did feel like a fresh start. It just felt…right, to finally see an open road laying ahead of them, one they’d be walking shoulder to shoulder.

“Let me raise a toast”, Jon finally suggested, raising his unfinished glass of wine.

“What to?”, June encouraged, raising her own glass.

“To those people who no matter how late they arrive…”, he paused to grin and wink, “…make it feel like the right moment. And most of all…make every moment feel like the right one”.

Suddenly all those years they’d known each other felt like an instant and a century at the same time. June smiled and bit her lower lip. “Here’s to finding the person we rhyme with”, she finally said with a wide smile.

Jon swallowed when his heart throbbed at June’s choice of words. “I couldn’t have said it better, beautiful…Cheers to that”, he said before their glasses met in the air.

After they placed their glasses on the table, he silently fetched the white box once again and recovered the diamond ring from its velvet nest. He took her hand in his and buried his stare in the green depths of her eyes as he slid the ring on her finger. Once he secured it at the base of her finger, he placed a soft kiss on the ring and raised his gaze back up to meet June’s misty eyes. He smiled warmly and placed another soft kiss, this time on her lips.

“I love you”, she was the first to break the silence, and he replied with the same words and warmness in his voice.

A while later, Jon put his arms around June to protect her from the chilly wind that hit them as soon as they walked out of the restaurant. It was time to go home, but the ruse was too much fun to let it go to waste.

“So what’s next?”, she asked, with a little smirk tugging at the corners of her lips, as if they were just a couple in one of their first dates.

As they usually did in every defining moment in Jon’s life, Sinatra’s words came to his mind:

“I dunno…What are you doing the rest of your life?”