*All ages, future
Bryan Adams has been a favorite of mine for a long time. When I finally bought his "Unplugged" tape a few weeks ago, story inspiration hit! I’d been wanting to write other characters for a while, and these two just seemed to fit perfectly. Oh yeah…excess rigamarole: I don’t own these characters, blah blah blah…I am making no money off their appearance, blah blah blah… J And one more thing….there will be a sequel!
When You Love Someone
By Karen C.
When you love someone
You’ll do anything
You’ll do all the crazy things
That you can’t explain
You’ll shoot the moon
Put out the sun
When you love someone
April 17
"Hi babe! Guess WHAT!" Diana Lynch burst into Mart Belden’s classroom at Ten Acres Academy, her violet eyes sparkling and her grin stretching from ear to ear. "In this hand I hold my future….for the next year anyway," she breathed excitedly. She waved a business-size envelope frantically.
Twenty-three-year-old Mart looked up from his lesson plans at the most beautiful and intelligent woman he’d ever known, the one he loved with all his heart and soul. He smiled indulgently as she ripped open the envelope, extracted a single page, and hurriedly began to scan the words printed on the thin white sheet.
"We at the Sorbonne University, Paris, are pleased and proud to inform you that you have been accepted for a year’s study in art history, beginning in the fall semester…oh Mart, I made it! I got in!" Di threw her arms around her longtime boyfriend and threw her head back, laughing gaily as he returned the gesture and began to twirl her around the room.
Di had applied for a year abroad at the Sorbonne, hoping to begin after she graduated from NYU in May. While she’d always appreciated art in its various forms due to her parents’ involvement in the Sleepyside Art Museum, she hadn’t realized she truly had a gift until she was enrolled in the requisite art appreciation class her freshman year. Now her dream was to teach, to instill in others the visions of beauty she herself saw in various forms of art.
"I am so, so proud of you," Mart beamed. "Let’s blow these lesson plans and go celebrate…Wimpy’s, for old time’s sake?"
"Yeah," Di answered happily. "Oh, Mart, I just can’t believe it. Come on!"
She didn’t seem to notice that Mart’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.
You’ll deny the truth
Believe a lie
There’ll be times that you believe that you could really fly
But your lonely nights have just begun
When you love someone
April 18
"Come on, Mart. How do you really feel about this? You know you can tell me," Trixie looked sympathetically at her brother while she set two glasses of iced tea on the small table in the even smaller dining area of her apartment in downtown Sleepyside. "I know that on one hand, you’re ecstatic and just bursting with pride…but isn’t there a small part of you that doesn’t want her to go?" Deep down, Trixie took much satisfaction in the fact that Mart had come to her, not Brian, with this problem. It really shows how much we’ve grown up and that we’ve put all our juvenile squabbling behind us, Trixie reflected. For the first time in years, I feel like Mart and I really connect with each other.
"Of course there’s a part of me that doesn’t want her to go, Trix!" Mart exploded. "I love her more than anything in the world, you know that. But it’s because I love her so much that I have to show her nothing but the utmost support. If she knew I was entertaining the slightest notion of her not going, she wouldn’t go, and she’d end up resenting me for it later." Mart clutched his short blond hair in his hands and tried not to look as desperate as he felt.
"I know how you feel," Trixie said simply. "When Jim first decided to go so far away to graduate school, I was happy and proud, just like you are. I didn’t want him to go, either. But in the end, it made us stronger, because he came back, just like he promised, and now our future is stronger than ever."
"With the wedding in six weeks, it’d better be," Mart teased. His face regained its seriousness. "You have to help me, Trixie. There’s no one I trust more than you to help me get through this. I mean, what if some French guy just sweeps her off her feet? What if she loves it over there so much she never wants to come back here? What if she develops such a craving for escargot that she decides to go to school at the Cordon Bleu next? What if…" his voice trailed off, revealing a man in sheer misery.
Trixie got up and wrapped her arms around her brother. "I have to be honest with you. I can’t promise you that none of those things will happen. You just have to trust in the fact that you and Di love each other, and you have for years. Believe in that, and you can’t go wrong."
Mart smiled through the tears that were threatening to well up. "Thanks, Trix. The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing, right? Well, then, I just need to get through the next three months until she leaves. If I can do that, I can do anything."
The siblings sipped their iced tea and sat quietly, weathering the calm before the storm.
It’s going to get worse before it gets better, Trixie thought to herself. Please let me be able to help him.
When you love someone
You’ll feel it deep inside
And nothing else
Could ever change your mind
When you want someone
When you need someone
When you love someone
July 24
The three months since Di had been accepted to the Sorbonne had flown by. She and Mart, together with the rest of their friends, had spent as much time together as possible. Now however, the time had come to say goodbye to one of their own, if only temporarily.
Honey had presented her with a photo album of everything they’d done the past summer. Trixie and Jim’s wedding in June, all of them dressed in their wedding attire. The last cookout at the lake, complete with pictures of Dan dunking everyone repeatedly. A quiet moment between Di and Mart, taken on a horseback ride. Honey and Brian giggling madly when Trixie stuck the camera right next to their faces while they were kissing. The requisite picture of someone taking a picture of someone else taking a picture.
The Bob-Whites had all made their farewells the night before, knowing that Di had to be at Kennedy Airport at 5:00 a.m. Her parents had thrown a huge dinner party, inviting all of Di’s friends and family that could possibly come. The party had wrapped up early due to her flight time, and Mart had eagerly volunteered to take Di to the airport the next morning.
"Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?" Trixie had asked, watching him closely.
"No, Trix, but thanks anyway," Mart replied. "Di and I haven’t really had any time to ourselves to say goodbye. I think we need it to be just us. But I’ll see you when I get back. Fair enough?"
"Fair enough," Trixie agreed. "Take care…it will be okay, I promise."
Mart remembered his sister’s words as he and Di made the long drive in relative silence, the only words being spoken in order to change the radio station or adjust the temperature settings. It’s going to be all right, Belden…she loves you, Mart told himself over and over.
Mart’s been taking everything so well and he’s been so supportive, thought Di. I just can’t let him know how scared I am, he’d be so disappointed in me.
She leaned back and closed her eyes, letting herself drift off…
Images of herself and Mart through the years floated through her mind. Him helping her to finally unlock the mysteries of algebra. The Halloween party where they’d dressed as the Doublemint twins. The roses he’d gotten her after her stage debut as Juliet in the freshman play. He’s always believed in me. I’ve got to make him proud.
"Di, we’re here. Wake up, sweetie," Mart shook her gently.
"Ummm….already?" she inquired sleepily.
Because there weren’t many people at the airport at five in the morning, Di’s check-in went relatively smoothly. No one had handled her bag other than herself, she wasn’t wearing steel-toed boots, and all of her ticketing was in order. There was nothing to do now….except wait.
Each was experiencing so many conflicting emotions. Mart was happy that Di would be able to have this experience, but knew he would miss her terribly. I guess the proposal I’d planned for Christmas will have to wait, he thought glumly.
Di was excited. She’d never done anything like this before and so wanted to make Mart proud of her. Underneath it all, though, she found herself almost wishing he would do something to stop her. Am I really ready for all this? I’ve never lived anywhere else my whole life…and now to be a whole ocean away from everyone I love. Can I handle it?
Finally, it was time. "American Airlines Flight 396 service to Paris, France will begin boarding rows 40-50," the flight attendant’s voice droned over the loudspeaker.
"Well, I guess this is it…that’s me," Di sighed. "Walk me over there?"
Mart stood up and took Di’s hand, squeezing it comfortably. They walked over to the gate and just stood there, holding on to one another for what seemed an eternity.
"Mart…I love you. You do know that, don’t you? It’s very important to me that you understand just how much," Di’s voice began breaking as the tears slid slowly down her cheeks.
"Hey..don’t cry, sweetheart. Of course I know. What I need is for you to understand how much I love you, and that I’ll be waiting right here for you when you get back," Mart replied. Be strong, be strong, be strong. "Now go on…before they close the door on you," he laughed, and gave her a little push.
"Okay…I’ll call you when I get there. And you’d better remember to check your e-mail, too!" she called.
"I will, I promise…you too! Goodbye, Diana," he replied in kind.
"Goodbye, Mart…I love you," she mouthed silently to him.
When you love someone
You’ll sacrifice
Give it everything you’ve got
And you won’t think twice
You’d risk it all
No matter what may come
When you love someone
You’ll shoot the moon, put out the sun
When you love someoneWith a long sigh, Mart turned to make his way back to his car and Sleepyside. One down, three hundred sixty-four to go.
The End