Scheduling a Vacation
“So, what do you think?”
“I think that I’m getting blind, with the sun burning its way through my retina like that.”
Raphael’s head tiled, propelled by his sigh. “You know, you could just ask me to draw the curtains some more, instead of using such a dramatic statement.”
He tilted his chair just far enough for his arm to reach the cotton curtain behind him and jerk it sideways, completely covering the window and the sun looking in on their conversation. Light still got through the kitchen from the other windows, but it felt more like a casual eavesdrop, Pauline noted. The two front legs of Raphael’s chair connected with the floor once more, wood on wood tapping. He repeated his question to her.
“What do I think? I think that I can see you better now. Thank you.”
Evading the actual meaning of the question and they both knew it. “Ok yes, I know, that’s not what you meant—” she quickly continued before he could voice his frustration “but truthfully, I don’t know what to say about it. I’m sure that it’d be fun, it’s just that I don’t think that it can be pulled off in actuality…”
“Oh come on. You can’t say that you’ll be going off on your own, or something like that?”
“Yeah, sure! I’ll tell him ‘I’ll be going this random place for three days. Alone. No offence I hope! You know I love you.’ Only a rock would think there’s nothing iffy with this.” Pauline exclaimed, raising her hands and dropping them on the table with a noticeable smack.
Raphael got up, and moved his tall frame from facing Pauline to the next chair closest to her. He put an arm around her shoulders and grabbed her hand that was finger tapping furiously on the wood grain with his remaining hand. Glancing at their hands joined together like that, Pauline thought of the time she read in a textbook about the sun casting light and shadow on the sides of a building. His hand light, her hand shadow.
“Okay I get it, but at least try asking him. I’m sure he’d understand, and he’s not going to suspect anything, since you’re not going to tell him I’ll be there too, right?” he said, squeezing her hand at the last word to prompt her to respond.
“No, of course I’m not going to say you’ll be around, that would be asking for drama that I can’t afford to have,” waving away his concern with a wave of her free hand, “not even mentioning that he’d say 'no' fast enough to break speed limits.”
“You know,” Raphael softly proposed “you can speak normally; I’ll love you all the same” sealing his words with a soft kiss on the cheek.
Pauline’s mouth widened into a smile before she realized it happened. “What? I thought you said you loved me because I was fun. I have to make sure to keep you entertained, lest you decide to look elsewhere” she chuckled, finishing with a wink to him.
“Don’t worry babe, that won’t happen for sure. We’ll find a way to spend time alone together. He won’t know a thing and everything will be fine.”
As he leaned to kiss her, down the hallway and behind a closed bedroom door, Aston was quietly kneeling, gluing his ear to the door and to the unfolding conversation. Clumsily brushing his brown waves away from his eyes, he wondered in confusion who was the person his mother didn’t want to bring along. His legs tingling and tiring with the activity, he got up and shuffled his feet to a bright blue box labeled “Toys – Cars” to pull out his favourite flaming red car to play with.