My First Year with Austin Ch. 21

We both dressed-up for the occasion and Austin looked handsome as hell in a dark green -- almost black but not really -- suit. I was feeling much better about my own body, I was not as fit as I was before the attack but I could appreciate the way I looked.

Austin had helped a lot on this front as well, praising me and my body while I knew I was certainly in one of the worst shapes of my life.

I could not wait for Valentine's Day because I knew that I had the perfect present up my sleeves. During dessert, (an excellent tiramisu), I let Austin know what I had been doing in secret for the past few weeks.

"Ok, so, I do have a gift for you, but it's not really something material that I can give you here."

He smirked at me.

"Is your gift a hug or... Like... A sexy pair of underwear... Wait, even better... A new crazy position you want to try tonight?"

"You, perv! No. Although I am wearing a new pair of underwear that I am pretty sure you're going to like very much."

Austin's eyes sparkled with a hint of mischief. I was wearing see-through briefs.

"I'm getting curious... Go on." He pressed me.

I pulled out my phone and clicked on the link that I had saved.

"Because you've been working a lot and helping me so much, I figured that you did not have the time to look for a new place for us. Your contract is ending next month and I also heard you say that we'll have some time then to decide on where we should move."

"Yeah...?"

He looked worried now.

"I did do my own research and I think I have found the perfect place for us. The apartment is situated less than 15 miles away from Cassie's place, it has a second bedroom we can use for Lena, and it is available in four weeks. I have already sent all the paperwork and if you want it, it's all good, we can move in next month."

I showed him the pictures of the place on my phone. My heart was beating fast. He scrolled through my phone but I could not read him.

Shit. I hoped I had not made a mistake.

"Tyler... This... This is perfect. Do you really want this?"

"I do. I told you; I can work from anywhere and I... I just want the best for you, for us. You deserve to be closer to your daughter, we can figure all the rest later."

Austin was clearly moved which was a rare occurrence, especially in a public setting. He looked away to hide his tears. I was not hiding mine.

I had been obsessed with this guy for years, but let's be real, for a long time, it was certainly not healthy. Spying on him, lying to him, cheating on my boyfriend to be with him. But now, it was no longer an obsession. It had turned into something else. Something much more beautiful.

I was falling in love with this man all over again, only for the right reasons this time.

I thought I could not love Austin more when he offered me his own gift.

"I do have something to give you, Ty. And I can give it to your right now."

He had come at the restaurant with a small and mysterious black bag that I had pretended to ignore to not spoil the surprise.

"What is this? A pair of underwear? A dildo?"

He rolled his eyes.

"No. You have enough of these at home already..."

"Come on, I'm just trying to guess, just like you."

"Open the damn bag, honey."

I grinned at him. I was nervous, I already had everything that I needed. It looked like a book. An issue of Gaturo, again? Or another manga?

Austin's hands were slightly shaking. He seemed anxious about my reaction.

When I realized which book it was, I started crying like an idiot in the middle of the restaurant. Damn my boyfriend and his perfect romantic touching ideas!

"Austin? What the... What is this?"

I was holding the very first copy of "My First Year in College" in my hands.

"When you... When you left me last summer, I found the files with the stuff you've been writing on the computer. I could not help myself from reading them... It was... Well, I thought it was great. Funny, crazy... I have a coworker whose wife works in publishing and I thought I could surprise you with that. It's just a prototype of course. I thought I could show you my support, you know."

"That's such a great idea. That's... I can't believe it, actually. Look! There's my name. Here. Tyler Braxton on the cover. I mean, the writing must have been so bad, those were all just drafts, all over the place."

The version that I had in my hands definitely had nothing to do with the version of My First Year in College which I would end-up actually publishing years later. But this gift had nothing to do with the content or the poor-quality of the damn book, it was all about the gesture.

"It was not bad. At all. Definitely, some of these passages are hot, and I think one of the characters kinda looks like me but eh... My friend said that it did look promising!"

I leaned over to kiss him.

"This is perfect, Aust. You... You have no idea how amazing you've been to me."

And this is what I call, my friend, a successful Valentine's Day dinner.

I could have stopped this chapter here, but something else happened that night which I think is worth the tale.

We came out of the restaurant and Austin ordered the Uber. Classic after drinking some glasses of wine. We were chatting on the sidewalk, holding hands, thinking about our future life in Boston, when Austin casually said:

"The driver should be here any minute."

And it hit me.

Like a punch in the face.

"The Driver."

Everything came back at me in this second. Every surreal moment that I had lived through during, or maybe before, I was put into a coma. Suddenly, I vividly remembered how I felt like I was out of my body. I vividly remembered how I had sex with Austin in this strange place, and then, how I had seen other men of my life, naked all around me. The white rooms. The people. And... Xander.

His message. The damn Driver.

I grabbed Austin's shoulder.

"Babe... I.... I need to talk to Mindy!"

"Mindy?"

"Xander's wife or... I should say, widow... I... Oh, fuck! I had completely forgotten! It just came back to me, I need to talk to her."

"What's going on, Ty? What is so urgent?"

"I can't explain... It's... Just trust me, okay? I really should see her."

"Now? After midnight? Do you even know where she lives."

I took a deep breath. We hoped into the Uber. I had to collect myself... It had been such a perfect evening; I could not ruin everything and have a maniac episode.

However, I knew for sure that I was remembering something which was real. I did not feel like I could explain it to anyone though. It was so different from any normal memory. It was like a feeling inside of me, buried deep in my core, while running outside of me, far off in the universe, at the same time.

"Ty?" Austin was concerned. (Legitimately)

"I'll just text Ralph. He knows where Mindy lives. I... I'll call her or see her tomorrow."

"You're scaring me, babe. Just tell me if anything is wrong, okay?"

"No. It's all right. I'm sorry. I just freaked out because I remembered something... It's fine. I swear." I kissed his lips. "I promise, babe. I'm fine."

Nine hours later, I was walking into the jewellery store downtown where Ralph had told me Mindy was working.

I had been thinking about "The Driver" all night, and I had barely had any sleep. My mind was boiling.

The store had just opened and she was the only one there, ready to welcome customers. Mindy looked beautiful, her hair was longer but nicely arranged in a bun, she gave me the typical jewellery store's employee smile when I walked in.

"Hello..."

She stopped herself, recognizing me.

"Hello Mindy. Ralph told me you've been working here."

"Wow. Tyler! It's.... It's so good to see you. I did not expect to see you here. And you look great! Ralph told me what happened to you a few months back. I was worried about you."

"Yeah... It was tough but I got out the hospital about a month ago and I'm really doing good. I... You look great too. How is the little Xander?"

"He's an angel of a baby."

There was a moment of silence. She was standing behind the counter where she had been placing rings right before I came in.

I had been in such a hurry of seeing her that I had not really thought about the way I would go about it. That was awkward and maybe, I should not even mention Xander. I decided to be as upfront as I could.

I did not have the choice anyway, there was something beyond me which was making me do this.

"Mindy... I... I did come here for a reason. It is gonna sound so fucking weird but I have to tell you something."

"Geez. You're freaking me out."

"Oh, I bet. I've been freaking a lot of people out lately."

I just went for it.

"Mindy, I'm not too sure why, but this guy, the Driver, I just needed to tell you that he is a good man, that he..."

My voice was trembling, Mindy was careful listening.

"He's good to you and to the baby, and... Fuck, it probably does not make any sense, I mean, it does not, for sure, but I feel like Xander would be happy that you're moving on, that you're building a life with someone."

She gasped.

Mindy looked like she had seen a ghost, which was pretty an on-point reaction given the situation.

"The Driver?" She repeated.

"Yes. If that rings any bell."

She bit her lips and held her hand close to her heart.

"Has Xander come to you too?" She asked.

That sentence took my breath away. I had shivers all over my body.

I nodded yes.

She held on to the counter, she seemed like she was about to faint. I walked behind to hug her or maybe to hold her, we somehow ended-up sitting on the floor.

"Mindy, the last thing I want is to disturb you... You look like you're doing so good, and maybe I should not have come but..."

She wiped a few tears away from her face.

"The Driver does make sense, Tyler. I lost my car and for the past six months, a good friend of mine, a great friend, has been driving me to work every single day. He was here, like a couple minutes before you came in. Nathan. He's always joking about being my personal driver."

"Oh... Well... I could not have made this shit up, right? Maybe it was real, then..."

She held my hand tightly.

"Sometimes, I see him, or rather... I feel him, in my dreams. But for the life of me, no matter how hard I try, I can never understand what he's trying to say to me. I'm sure it's him though. I'm sure it's Xander."

"I think... I think he's been trying to say that you have his blessing."

She sighed.

"I can't believe he's been gone for so long. More than a year now."

I hugged her.

"If it is worth anything, I do believe that wherever he is now, if anywhere at all, he seems in peace."

I genuinely believed that.

If a customer had come in at that time, we would have looked like crazy people. Maybe we were. I mean, it has been ten years now and I still have no idea what the fuck happened when I was in the coma.

All I know is that Mindy and her "Driver", Nathan, are happily married.

We hugged and cried it out for about ten minutes.

Before I stood back up, I looked at the rings set out right at the level of my eyes. There were engagement rings. One of them was right in front of me, shining bright. It was a ring made for a man, sober, in very light -- almost white -, gold, nothing too fancy, but stunning.

Fuck.

My heart started beating very fast again.

What if, for once in my life, the timing had been right?

What if Xander had not just sent a message for Mindy?

What if he wanted me to be there as well, for a specific reason?

"Mindy... I think I'm gonna purchase that ring. Right there."

She looked at me quizzically.

"Really? You're getting married?"

"Yes. I think I wanna propose to my boyfriend."