She poked her head up. “Oh, stop it. You’re hot and you know it!” Immediately after saying it, she regretted how she worded it. In her mind, she just sounded like a sixteen-year-old – and it’d probably been that long, too, since she’d called a guy hot!
Luke took it as not just a compliment, but an acknowledgement of his humor. He grinned with a quick-witted response. “Just had to hear you say it out loud.”
Nikki jabbed Luke a little in the ribs at his come-back before getting serious again. “Really, I mean it – why do you want to be a chef?”
Luke laid his head back down staring at the stars, just as he’d done countless nights before thinking about the same exact thing.
“Honestly, I’ve often wondered that. I don’t know – it’s just, like, an internal desire to create something that brings other people happiness. That’s the best I can figure. But then other times I wonder if it has to do with growing up hungry in the orphanage. You see, the lady that ran the place barely fed us. It was …”
Nikki heard Luke trail off while trying to find the exact words to describe what sounded like an absolutely horrible place to grow up in. Rather than letting his thoughts dwell on the place a moment longer, Nikki asked a question on another topic which she’d been wondering about for the last hour. But as soon as she asked the question, she regretted it, since she knew it would inevitably not be any happier of a subject.
“When did Sharon pass?”
“… you remember our first date?” Luke didn’t hesitate to answer, but Nikki could still hear the rush of emotion in his voice as he said it.
Nikki shot up, sitting up so that she faced Luke. A completely shocked look overcame her. “You’re kidding.” She asked rhetorically out loud, knowing that he wasn’t.
She turned to look Luke in the eye and saw several tears begin to stream down his cheeks. She placed her hand on his right cheek.
“Oh, Luke. I’m so sorry …”
Despite the fact that Luke was no longer laying down looking up at the stars, she still saw a shine in his eyes that was irresistible. Though the earth spun slowly under the clear night sky, in this moment, they were the only ones that existed on it. Nikki felt Luke’s face, that same electric pulse being felt in her fingertips as she touched him. Luke sat there, looking into Nikki’s eyes.
His look said everything to her. Calmness. Confidence. Acceptance. In this brief moment, it occurred to her that Luke had always accepted her for who she was – he never gave even a hint of judging her. He was confident with himself in this world and held no judgment for anyone else. Even all of the funny or awkward encounters with the elderly downstairs never made Luke ever complain or judge them. After having heard about Luke’s horrid upbringing in an orphanage, she knew that he had a great excuse to be angry or judgmental. Yet, he wasn’t. And that inner calmness and confidence resonated sharply with Nikki in the moment that she looked into his eyes under the stars. It was a magnetic quality to which Nikki was passionately and deeply attracted.
She couldn’t help it. Nikki knew that Luke had wanted to take their physical relationship slower, but her passion for Luke grew unbearable in this moment. As she held his cheek in her hand, she burst forward and kissed him. She kissed him like she meant it, because in this moment where only the two of them existed under the stars, her desire to feel him on her lips was too overwhelming.
She felt Luke reciprocate, and it felt good. The electricity between them was not just undeniable but physically fulfilling. But still, Nikki could sense some hesitation by Luke. It felt as though he was giving into what he’d yearned for, but not fully. And Nikki respected that – she’d, unfortunately, known all too well from her past how a physical reluctance needed to be respected. So, she pulled away. She wanted her passionate draw toward him to intensify. She wanted to climb on top of him and give into her overwhelming attraction to the beautiful man with whom she felt complete under the stars.
But she didn’t. Instead, respecting Luke’s wishes, she laid back down at his side. She laid her head on his chest, feeling his heart racing like a race horse pounding against the ground with each forceful step.
“Thank you,” he said as he held her at his side while they laid staring at the sky. “I never thought I’d meet someone like you.”
“Stop it…”
“Really. I never thought I’d meet someone so incredibly beautiful on both the inside and outside. Someone who is exciting, yet passionate. Accepting yet still yearns for more. Grounded, yet a dreamer like me. And someone who isn’t afraid to try new things because she’s sure of herself in this crazy world –like randomly coming to an old folk’s home with a stranger.”
“Hey, I loved every second of it … and still am.” A moment of silence filled the air before Nikki said something else that stood out to her from Luke’s last compliment. “And you’re not a stranger. Not anymore. For so long I wondered what happened to you on our first date. I went thru every scenario, wondering. And the weird thing is, I’d been on a lot of dates where things didn’t go well or where things ended early. Yet, you stood out to me. Eventually I figured out why – I was attracted to you instantly. The moment you first spoke and asked me about fate, I knew you were different. You didn’t just care about life, but you saw how life has purpose. But it wasn’t just your words or your unbearably handsome smile…”
“Who, me?” Luke chuckled.
This again made Nikki prop herself up to look Luke in the eyes again. “I mean it, Luke. I saw it in your eyes from the very moment I met you. And I see it in your eyes again tonight. There’s a light. And it’s a light which I want in my life. I want you in my life.”
The two leaned in again to kiss. But shortly after their lips connected, they began to hear raindrops on the rooftop around them. Within just a couple of seconds, the raindrops were felt pattering on their foreheads. No sooner did they realize that their perfect moment atop of the retirement center would end, did the cold wetness of the raindrops intensify into a downpour. It was as if the same torrential storm they’d heard back at the wedding hall earlier in the evening had made its way to the outskirts of town, cutting their beautiful evening short.
“Follow me!” Luke had to pretty much yell due to the loudness of the storm. He made his way to the edge of the rooftop to where a ladder led down the side of the building and out to the parking lot. “Careful not to slip!” He cautioned while leading the way down the ladder.
By now, both of them were soaked, their clothes sticking to them like saranwrap. But Nikki didn’t mind. She was loving every moment of their escape from the rain. As she looked down the ladder before taking her first step, she saw Luke there waiting at the bottom with his arms extended in case she fell.
“I got you, don’t worry!” He yelled up at her.
She took step after step carefully down the ladder. She knew that she needed to be cautious, but she still intentionally went a little slower than she needed to. With each step, Nikki told herself that she was going to remember this moment. Her entire life, she searched for love. And now, this improvised night was ending with Luke waiting to catch her if she fell. This was the meaningful moment she’d been searching for so much the last several years. As the rain streamed down the top of her head, down her hair, and onto the ladder in front of her, she sought to memorize every tiny detail of this moment of incredible happiness.