It took forever to get to Harlem.
Not just “forever” because we had to sit through miles and miles of traffic. Not just “forever” because we had to stop to fill Michaela’s tank up with gas (and the closest gas station was over 15 miles in the opposite direction). It took “forever” because the whole trip was filled with an uncomfortable silence that not even music could fill – no matter what song or how loud.
Before, Michaela and I had an ugly tension whenever we would talk or interact with each other, but it’s disappeared since the night we played 72 Questions. That same tension was in the air when it came to Luke and Victoria’s relationship and they’ve been together for some 2 years.
Calum had made his way down to Harlem to spend most of the day with Ashton and Jennifer, so it was just Luke and Victoria in the back seat. Right before we left, they had a loud discussion about where Luke had been and Victoria didn’t trust him and I was beginning to worry…not only for the sake of their relationship, but if they became broken up, Luke didn’t have anything holding him back from trying to be with Michaela. But Michaela had something holding her back from being with Luke – me. And I wasn’t going to let her slip through my fingertips so easily.
So, with about 10 minutes left of the trip and a newly found confidence, I placed my hand on Michaela’s thigh and began to trail it up towards the tight, blue, shiny miniskirt she was wearing.
When she didn’t respond to my touch, I looked at her expression – she had about a million things racing through her mind at once; her school papers that took up most of the floor, or the fact that she keeps changing the music. She was so preoccupied and worried about what she was doing and how it was affecting others that she didn’t even notice my hand until we were looking for a parking spot.
We got to Harlem in barely under 2 hours.
“Michael, would you-” She turned towards me and saw my hand on her leg for the first time this whole car ride. She looked back up at me with a goofy smile on her face once she had parked the car, “Thanks, Michaelangelo.”
“No problem, Bubbles,” I replied, rushing out of the car and to her door before she could step out. I opened her door and helped her out, and (forgetting that Luke and Victoria were still inside) shut the door behind her.
“Oh, god,” I mumbled once I came to realization with my actions, but Michaela stopped me when I gripped the handle.
“I think they need a few minutes alone, y’know?” She responded, lacing her fingers with the hand she had halted from opening the car door. We were walking at an extremely slow pace in order to be able to tell when we were supposed to lock the door to the car when the “Power Couple” finished their fight.
“Hey, can I ask you something?”
“Sure, Michael, you can ask me anything,” the grip on my hand loosened as she raised both of our hands up to her face and kissed my knuckles. She only just started doing this about a week ago, but I couldn’t shake how good it made me feel. Each kiss was like a door that led to pure happiness.
I huffed out a shaky sigh before whispering, “What did Luke say to you back at Chaude Nouveau?” As I finished asking the question, the doors slammed and I turned to see a pissed Victoria strut away from the small car, leaving Luke sitting on the curb with his head in his hands.
