Extraordinary Love

Chapter 10

Song: Don't Be Gone Too Long by Chris Brown; Underneath The Stars by Mariah Carey

Aaliyah

Chris freestyled for a little bit when my feet started to hurt in Raven's heels. I kicked them off and went to sit in the front row. Chris dimmed the stage lights and turned on a single wide spotlight, with blue mood lighting. The ambiance was amazing and in the giant empty theater, while he moved, I didn't feel like I was just watching him. I felt the music and I felt his movements as if I were performing them myself. His stage presence was unlike anything that I had ever experienced before. He was a storyteller, no matter what way he chooses to convey it.

I had to admit that Christopher had an overwhelming amount of talent. He was a natural at every aspect of art and was well rounded in each aspect too. I could see him as a dancer, a visual artist, a singer, a rapper... His artistry just poured out of him.

There was smoke, or maybe I was just imagining smoke, that crept in from the sides of the stage. He had unbuttoned a few buttons for less restriction and went to work. I didn't know that it was possible for a man to be so light on his feet. He did flips and tricks in the middle of his dancing, without any bracing of impact. He was just sure of himself.

Some moves flowed through him, a fluid movement from his head to his toes. Others were erratic and choppy, pieces of animation. It was a dance of duress and anguish, and it was personal to him.

He comes to a stop in the blue light, with his back turned towards me. My singular clapping echoed through the empty auditorium and reverberated as if it were a full audience applauding. At least, it sounded like it to me.

After all the emotion and energy he had put into that performance, I expected him to be out of breath or sweaty or at least off kilter. Instead, he seemed as tranquil and centered as ever. He calmly, "You ready?"

I was far from ready for our first date to be over, but I nodded reluctantly anyway.

"Hey, don't worry. Our night is far from over."

I hoped so.

It was about ten o'clock now and I was actually looking forward to seeing what he had in mind next. It turned out to be a little adobe building hidden in an alley. A quaint little restaurant had its "CLOSED" sign lit up but Chris hopped out of the car anyway. I started to get out to follow him but he indicated for me to stay in the car. He knocked on the front door and an older Hispanic woman pulled back the curtain inside wearily. When she saw who it was, she visibly relaxed and came back to the door with a bag. He took it and thanked her, jogging back to the car.

The smell of warm tortillas hit my nose as soon as the bag was in the car and knew that he had picked up some food. My stomach audibly grumbled and I felt a little embarrassed.

"Just a minute."

The car was parked on the underbrush by the riverbed in a secluded spot. Chris popped the trunk and pulled out a comforter and a blanket out of his trunk. He laid the comforter on the grass and set the food down on top, gesturing for us to sit.

One of the things I loved most about New York was whatever cuisine you were getting, the food was authentic. When you ate Mexican food, it wasn't any of that cheesy Tex-Mex stuff. You could tell that the food we were eating was made from a family recipe, from scratch. Every bite of cheese and salsa and corn tortilla was made with love.

I had passed this space countless times and never thought much of it. If anything, my cynical ass thought of it as a future crime scene. Somewhere a detective would pull a body out of on Law & Order. But with Chris, it felt like Lovers' Lane. The river ran softly and stars seemed to twinkle twice as bright.

"One summer night
We ran away for a while
Laughing, we hurried beneath the sky
To an obscure place to hide
That no one could find,"

Chris pulled the blanket up onto our legs as it was starting to get chilly. I loved when he sang for me--correction: serenaded me.

"And we drifted to another state of mind
And imagined I was yours and you were mine
As we lay upon the grass there in the dark
Underneath the stars (young love, young love)
Underneath the stars (young love, young love),"

I snuggled up closer to him and he wrapped his arms around me. I could feel the vibrations in his chest as he sang.

 "Weak in the knees
Wrapped in the warm gentle breeze
And I'm so shy (so shy)
A bundle of butterflies
Flushed with the heat of desire
On a natural high,"

I recognized the song now as one my mother used to play and felt in awe of how he could flutter on the notes just like Mariah and still make it masculine yet sweet.

"As we drifted to another place in time
And the feeling was so heady and sublime
As I lost my heart to you there in the dark
Underneath the stars (young love, young love)
Young love."

He looked down at me with those brown eyes and I knew in that moment with utter conviction that he was going to kiss me. He leaned in and my heart picked up about four paces. His soft pink lips met mine, our eyes closed, and I felt like I could count every star in the sky.