And I fell for her.
I fell hard.
Unfortunately, sometimes life gets in the way.
Life definitely got in my way.
It got all up in my damn way,
Life blocked the door with a stack of wooden 2x4's
nailed together and attached to a fifteen inch concrete wall
behind a row of solid steel bars, bolted to a titanium frame that
no matter how hard I shoved against it-
It
wouldn't
budge.
Sometimes life doesn't budge.
It just gets all up in your damn way.
It blocked my plans, my dreams, my desires, my wishes,
my wants, my needs.
It blocked out that beautiful girl
That I fell so hard for.
Life tries to tell you what's best for you
What should be most important to you
What should come in first
Or second
Or third.
I tried so hard to keep it all organized, alphabetized,
stacked in chronological order, everything in its perfect space,
its perfect place.
I thought that's what life wanted me to do.
This is what life needed for me to do.
Right?
Keep it all in sequence?
Sometimes, life gets in your way.
It gets all up in your damn way.
But it doesn't get all up in your damn way because it
wants you to just give up and let it take control. Life doesn't get
all up in your damn way because it just wants you to hand it all
over and be carried along.
Life wants you to fight it.
It wants you to grab an axe and hack through the wood.
It wants you to get a sledgehammer and break through
the concrete.
It wants you to grab a torch and burn through the metal
and steel until you can reach through and grab it.
Life wants you to grab all the organized, the
alphabetized, the chronological, the sequenced. It wants you to
mix it all together,
stir it up,
blend it.
Life doesn't want you to let it tell you that your little
brother should be the only thing that comes first.
Life doesn't want you to let it tell you that your career
and your education should be the only thing that comes in
second.
And life definitely doesn't want me
To just let it tell me
that the girl I met,
The beautiful, strong, amazing, resilient girl
That I fell so hard for
Should only come in third.
Life knows.
Life is trying to tell me
That the girl I love,
The girl I fell
So hard for?
There's room for her in first.
I'm putting her first.
Chapter Eighteen
The confession
Sophie was rocking with laughter, sitting with Adam on the bus. She couldn’t stop giggling now it was the end of the party.
“Sandalwood actually thought that you were Adam Attenborough!” she cackled. “Oh, he was acting like it was a brilliant chance! Boy is this the first time I’ve actually burst into hysterics! You should have seen his face, all chuffed and pleased! And you’re not even Adam Attenborough, you’re Mitchell Anderson!”
Adam made the best attempt to laugh along with her, but he couldn’t control the feelings that were spinning about in his mind.
Sophie continued to giggle. Adam put his head in his hands, and then looked up to face Sophie, who was still laughing to her heart’s content. Adam looked deep into her eyes, and then plucked up the courage to start speaking to her again, to keep her mind off laughing.
“I – I love you,” Adam confessed.
Sophie didn’t say anything, but she’d stopped laughing for sure.
“I love you,” Adam repeated, with more confidence and surety in his voice.
“You do?” Sophie whispered.
People looked in there direction, staring. Adam gave them a disapproving look and they turned back to whatever they were doing. He didn’t care anymore, for once in his life, he had never been so sure about what he’d said, and what he wanted.
“Yes, I do love you,” Adam said once more. “Positively. And – and …”
“And what?” Sophie asked, her voice still just as quiet.
“I want to marry you.” Adam couldn’t stop the words slipping out of his mouth.
Adam knew how soppy he must have looked and sounded. In his life, he had never been much of a romantic. But he couldn’t help it. He did love Sophie, there was no doubt about it. It seemed so right.
“Will you marry me?” Adam asked.
“I – I’ll think about it,” Sophie said slowly. The bus came to an abrupt stop. It was Sophie’s time to leave.
“Bye,” Sophie said. “Oh, and one more thing. Happy New Year.”
Chapter Nineteen
Bursting into song
Adam and Sophie met up the next day.
“Well, did you think about it?” Adam asked, hopeful and eager, but still worried.
“Well the thing is, Mitchell,” Sophie began, sounding like she didn’t want to agree to this proposal, “the thing is … I love you too. So – I’ll marry you, definitely.”
“Oh that’s great!” Adam exclaimed, and flung his arms around her. Sophie gave him a hug, before pulling away. Adam broke into song:
“Oh Sophie,
You’re gorgeous,
Everybody knows that!
Oh Sophie,
You’re gorgeous,
Everybody knows that!
I’ve known you for a long time now,
And I love you after this relationship
And now you’ve agreed
I feel the greatest I’ve ever been!
Oh Sophie
You’re gorgeous,
Everybody knows that!
Oh Sophie,
You’re gorgeous,
Everybody knows that!
You’ve just made my day!
By agreeing to my proposal!
I thank you ever so much
For being my life partner!
Oh Sophie,
You’re gorgeous,
Everybody knows that!
Oh Sophie,
You’re gorgeous,
Everybody knows that!
Now that we’re about to get married,
We can stay together,
Forever and a day,
‘Cos we’re becoming sweethearts!
Oh Sophie,
You’re gorgeous,
Everybody knows that!
Oh Sophie,
You’re gorgeous,
Everybody knows that!”
Adam finished his song. Sophie clapped, but he didn’t think it was that good. It didn’t even rhyme, and it sounded like a gushy love song. Hey, wait, it was a gushy love song, that he’d made up as he went along. He was a business man, singing like he was a man with a bad hairdo.
The only problems left in their relationship were that Sophie thought his name was Mitchell Anderson. She didn’t know the fact that he was Adam Attenborough, the press would scandalize their relationship with the wrong articles, Sophie didn’t know he was a business man and she thought that he was about to be poor, and was hanging onto his job to keep up with his life.
He gave Sophie a hi-five.
Chapter Twenty
The story of the embassy car tradition
“The thing is, Mitchell,” Sophie started, “I’m not getting married until we can buy three embassy cars. That’s the tradition that’s been going on in my family, through generations. ‘Cause my mum got married to my dad that way. And so did my dad’s mum and dad, and my mum’s mum and dad, and my da
d’s mum and dad’s mum and dad, and my mum’s mum and dad’s mum and dad, and …”
“And I get the story of this family chain thing,” Adam finished off, smiling. He didn’t feel like saying a word of discontent to her now; he had never been so happy in his life.
“Well, yeah.” Sophie shrugged.
“So we will get those embassy cars, if it goes on in your family. I’d be happy to follow that tradition.”
“Thanks, Mitchell,” Sophie grinned.
A couple of weeks later, when Adam was at work, Sophie decided to buy her first embassy car. She went to a jewellers shop with a heap of her gold jewellery.
“Please could you tell me the value of my jewellery?” she asked to the jeweller. The jeweller was wearing plain white attire, and he had dark brown hair.
“Indeed,” the jeweller replied, and he went to a room with a microscope in his hand and his glasses on.
Soon later, he came back.
“Are you sure you would like to sell this jewellery?” he asked.
“Well, yes, that’s why I’m here,” Sophie said.
“Do you work for Mr. Sandalwood in an advert production company?”
“Yes.”
“Well, then I can certainly see how you could afford such things. All together, it was worth five thousand pounds.”
The examiner went to another room, and brought out the money in a large case.
“Here you go,” he said, and snatched the jewellery off her.
“Thanks,” Sophie said sarcastically, and left the jewellers shop.
Then she went to a car company.
“Excuse me, do you sell embassy cars, you know the tradition ones you have before weddings?” Sophie asked.
“Of course. We specialize in all types of cars. Follow me,” said the car company manager, and led Sophie to an enormous garage which had a couple of embassy cars inside it, each different in colour and design.
“They are on the expensive side,” explained the manager, stroking his thick stubbly chin with his thumb, “and we do have limited stock. As you can see, we only have four of these embassy cars left.”
“How much will the cost come to, sir?” Sophie enquired.
“Five thousand pounds, madam,” said the manager, fiddling with his tie because Sophie looked so good.
Sophie gave him a wide smile.
“That’ll be all right then. I can afford it,” she said, and she bought the most rich creamy white coloured embassy car.
“Will you be able to deliver it, to my friend Billy’s house?” asked Sophie.
“It will be done for sure,” said the manager, as he took details of the address and where the house was situated.
“Thanks, sir. Oh, and please get it delivered by tomorrow.”
“A tight schedule it’ll be, ma’am, but since you have paid such a high price; well, more than enough, we’ll manage,” said the manager. Sophie grinned and walked off.
It was the day after the day Sophie had ordered her first embassy car. Billy was hanging around with his chubby friends down town, and told Sophie to feel free to wander around his house. The embassy car had arrived, so Sophie phoned Adam to tell him to come to Billy’s house, now.
He arrived, and he gasped as he saw the embassy car.
“How could you afford it? They’re really expensive, and Sandalwood doesn’t even give half the money it costs to get an embassy car.” Adam looked purely dumbfounded.
“I sold my jewellery, you know, this and that,” Sophie said, shrugging as if it was not a big deal.
Adam began to feel guilty. He could afford a room full of embassy cars as he was so successful yet he hadn’t helped Sophie the slightest bit in buying the embassy car. He was practically made of money, as far as he was concerned, though she didn’t know that, as she knew him as Mitchell Anderson.
“Oh right, cool,” was all he manage.
“Yes, cool indeed,” Sophie agreed, laughing. “Now let’s take it out for a spin!”
She grabbed Adam’s arm and hauled him out, shoving him in the car quickly but gently. “We’ll get some kids in it as well,” Sophie suggested. They drove down the road and some kids got in the car till it was full to the brim and nobody else could come inside.
Sophie wound down the window and called out to some shopkeepers at their stalls.
“Hey guys! Nice embassy car, isn’t it?” she shouted.
“Yes, very nice, madam,” they shouted back.
And from then on, they kept on driving the embassy car, dropping the kids off at their stops and then driving it to Sophie’s house.
“Bye, Mitchell. I had a great time.”
“It was great,” Adam replied, and left.
Chapter Twenty One
Deciding on a gift
Adam’s work partners were all having a discussion, sitting in one room, making sure nobody else was listening.
“Well, I’ve been thinking,” Mike began, “that we should give Sophie a treat. ‘Cause her and Adam are pretty close now.”
“I totally agree,” said another of them, whose name was Sam.
“Maybe we could enter her into a competition, but make sure she wins,” Cameron suggested.
“Good idea,” Mike replied. “But the problem is – what competition should we enter her into?”
“Maybe for a new apartment?” suggested Cameron. “I mean, her apartment needs refurbishing, but it’s no damn use because the wallpaper gets covered with mould no matter how many times she paints it or changes it.”
“Well, an apartment competition it is, then,” Mike finished, and grabbed the phone to let Sophie know about what they were going to do.
Chapter Twenty Two
Winning the apartment
Sophie was whooping with joy as she answered a phone call.
“I’ve won the competition, yes I have, I’ve won the competition, yes I have,” she sang. “I’m getting a new apartment! WOO HOO!”
She packed up her clothes and all her stuff in practically a million suitcases, and then loaded them into a truck. Then the truck drivers drove her over to her apartment.
She unpacked her stuff and gazed at how gorgeous the apartment was. The wallpaper was gorgeous, the bedroom was gorgeous, the bathroom was gorgeous … Everything was gorgeous!
She phoned Adam to tell him about the good news.
“Come over right now!” she screamed in sheer delight. “Apartment block two, room number 45.”
“OK.”
Adam arrived.
“Congratulations,” he exclaimed, but before he could step inside, Sophie stopped him.
“Wait here a sec’,” she said, and ran into the apartment. Then she came out with a green slab of clay in the shape of a square. It hadn’t dried out yet.
“You’ve got to push your foot in it, and I’ll push my foot in it as well. So if I ever have to move out of here, though I doubt I will, our footprints will always be a memory of this apartment.”
Adam knew she’d gone bonkers. But he did as he was told anyway.
They grabbed each other’s hands to keep themselves steady, and then entered the apartment.
There relationship was great, but the only problem left was that Adam hadn’t told her he was actually Adam Attenborough.
Chapter Twenty Three
Leaving her alone
After having a mug of coffee each, Adam’s phone began to ring.
“Excuse me,” he said to Sophie, and stood aside to answer his phone.
It was Mike.
“What is it now, Mike? You know I’m spending the day with Sophie, and I don’t want to upset her now.”
“I’m sorry, Adam, but this is important. We’ve got to go on a job trip, up in America. You have to come as well, of course, ‘cause you’re the boss of this whole bloody business.”
“Oh, right. I’ll be at the office as soon as I can.”
Adam dialled off, and turned back to Sophie.
“What was that all about?”
> “Oh, just a phone call. I have to go.”
“Well, bye,” Sophie said, and Adam could hear her voice crack.
Chapter Twenty Four
Moving away for work
It was a couple of days before Adam Attenborough had to leave for the job trip. Before Adam left for the job trip, he decided to pay a visit to Sophie.
“I’m going to be going away for a couple of weeks,” he explained. “I really have to go.”
“Why?” Sophie cried, heartbroken.
“Well, my mum’s ill, and I need to go to America, to be there by her side. I can’t afford to treat her, that’s why I need to go,” Adam lied.
“Oh,” Sophie whispered, still crying. “But won’t I ever see you again?”
“Of course you will,” Adam promised, “when I come back.”
“Right.” That was the only word that she could manage.
“I’m not going yet, though. I’m going next week.” Adam thought that by informing her of this, it might soothe her.
“OK.” Sophie shrugged, trying not to look too worked up about it.
Chapter Twenty Five
The guilt that he felt inside
Sophie was back at the car shop. She wanted a refund on the embassy car. They didn’t see why she wanted to give it back, but they gave her a refund anyway.
“Thank you,” she smiled, even though she was both gutted and heartbroken on the inside. Sophie went to see Adam. It was the day when Adam was going to leave for his job trip.
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