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CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
Eli
After Audrey showered, and changed, and then ate, she was like a totally changed woman. Her tears of sadness disappeared and were replaced with tears of laughter as we ate our food, then talked for hours before falling asleep on the bed together watching TV. In the morning when we woke and I had her wrapped in my arms, Audrey snuggled at first until something dawned on her and then she was up in a shot, like I had stung her. A little frustrating, but I can also completely understand how she feels.
Audrey is in Kendra’s body, and so it’s Kendra I’m feeling. It’s Kendra’s body I’m snuggling up to, wanting to hold onto and to kiss. She doesn’t realize that I don’t see Kendra anymore when I look at her and touch her, but I still get it. I would feel the same if I were in her shoes.
After breakfast and a few stares from people—some of whom ask for autographs—we’re quickly swept away by Finnegan and driving towards this mysterious mountain range that Audrey wants us to hike in.
The weather is a complete contrast to how it was yesterday: dark, wet weather, matching Audrey’s mood. Today she is brighter, so the weather is too. I’m starting to wonder if she’s a goddess who can change the weather to coincide with her emotions. At this point, nothing would surprise me. Audrey, however, surprises me. She surprises me every day. She is like the welcome breeze on a hot day; a rare shooting star on a clear night; a beautiful flower that blooms on a spring morning. I sometimes have to pinch myself to convince myself that she’s real. That all this is real. I’m not a God-fearing man, but lately, I keep praying that no matter what, this with her will never end.
We stop off on this trail where brown hills ahead and the green grass below are as far as the eye can see. You could easily get lost in a place like this, but I wouldn’t mind. What a beautiful spot to get lost in.
“Thank you, Finnegan,” Audrey says as she grabs a backpack that we brought yesterday and pulls it out of the car along with her. I quickly follow suit, thanking Finnegan and letting him know that I will call him near to the time we need to be collected.
Once he drives off and the only sound I can hear is the slight breeze and the birds flying overhead, I take in a deep breath, marveling at how the air seems so much fresher here than in LA. It feels like I’m breathing in proper oxygen.
“This is beautiful,” I comment, strapping the bag over my shoulder, readying myself for the long walk ahead.
Audrey smiles as she puts one foot in front of the other, beginning our hike. “It really is. I think you’ll love this.”
I don’t tell Audrey, but I have been here before many a time to get a break from things. Besides, every time I am here, it’s like the first time. Simply stunning.
“I’m loving this already.”
She giggles as we walk side by side. “How do you get used to it? The fans, I mean. People randomly coming up to you and asking for your autograph. It feels so alien to me.”
Hitching my thumbs inside my straps, I answer, “You do in a sense, but then you don’t. It’s hard to explain. Yes, when I first became well known and I had people coming up to me asking me for my autograph, it was the strangest feeling on earth. Then, after a while of doing it, you kind of go into autopilot, like you would be signing a check, or a letter.”
“Don’t you ever get bored of it, though?”
I smile at that. It somehow feels like I’m being interviewed by her. And the weirdest part about it is it’s by a person who looks identical to my wife… ex-wife. That’s something I’ll need to sort out when the time comes.
And it will happen.
“I don’t think I have a right to.”
She scrunches up her forehead in confusion. “How so?”
“My fans are the ones who have given me the wealth I have. If it wasn’t for them, I would be working for my father—perish the thought.” That notion always makes me shiver.
“I think you’re very brave,” she notes.
“What makes you say that?”
We start our ascent, making it a little harder to talk, but we ascend slowly and steadily, allowing us the ease of this conversation.
“You could have easily given in to whatever your father wanted, but you chose not to. Instead, you chose probably the hardest path, considering so many people fail at it. For that, it takes a tremendous amount of courage.”
I had never thought of it like that. I had always looked at it like a rebellious phase because of my father—never that I was brave.
“You always bring out the good in people,” I say.
She smiles softly at my response. “I just say what I see.” We then reach the tip of the hill, and she takes in a deep breath. “It’s amazing up here. No one around, no coffee machines chortling, no people shouting orders, no rushing around. Just pure, tranquil silence.”
I watch her as she takes in her surroundings. Something I would normally do too, but I’m too busy staring at her. Staring at the warmth in her eyes, the smile gracing her lips, the happiness pouring out of her soul.
“You know, my father once told me a story,” she begins, her face suddenly animated. “I don’t know if it was true, but I never forgot it.”
