"I can't believe I'll be going to school so far away from all of you." I told sister May as she helped me pack up my clothes.
"Neither do I, now I'll be bored without you, you were my only friend," she says sadly looking down.
"Oh come on, you'll come visit me every weekend, it will be like highschool. That is if you want," I say trying to cheer her up. I lifted her chin and wiped the tear away from it.
"Oh how I wish, I don't know if father Lawrence will accept" she says.
"But I know Father Rafael won't say no." I tell her raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, yes, we all know you are his favorite." She says jokingly and I gently slap her shoulder. Just then father Rafael walks in.
"Are you ready Jasmine?" He asked.
"I guess so.." I stutter looking down.
"Are you sure you want to go?" He asked, and if I wasn't imagining things, he had disappointment lacing his gentle voice. Or maybe I was imagining things.
"This is my calling father, I want to be able to help people, just like you. I want God to work through my hands, just like he works through yours, and with time, effort and dedication, I just might be able to do half of what you do." I say, almost excited looking straight into his grey eyes which were lit up by the rays of the rising sun, and they were beautiful. But I almost immediately snapped out of my trance and looked down again.
"You'll do far more than me Jasmine Willows. Far more than me." He says as he taps my shoulder. I smile at him. "We'll join me in the car soon." He says takingy luggage.
"See, favorite." May says pulling my cheek.
"Whatever May " I say as I hug her and run to the car. As I wave goodbye to all the sisters on the convent I got a nostalgic feeling from when I first came here. Things were different, and now they were getting better, I was getting better. The drive was an interactive one and me and Father Rafael were having a conversation when suddenly he went silent and his eyes were fixed on the rearview mirror.
"What's wrong father" I asked him.
"Nothing Jasmine." He says asked still fixed of the rear view mirror. As soon as I turned to look, my stomach turned as I saw my brothers and 'mother' in the car right behind us, with guns and knives in their hands. Oh good Lord. Father Rafael stepped on the gas and I felt my heart race. What if they were going to take me back?
"Oh no, no no no no no no no no no no no. This can't be happening, not again..." I stutter in a state of panic while hyperventilating.
"Hey Jasmine, look at me." Father Rafael says and I immediately do so. " I'm here. They'll do nothing as long as I'm here okay?" I nodd. "Okay stay calm"
We drove hoping to loose then but they were hot on our trail. Just when I thought things couldn't get worse, right ahead of us was traffic. Highly packed traffic. We manage to overlap some cars and get a spot between them, giving us space between us and them and this bought us some time. Father put on his coat that was red inside and black outside. I used to like it because it could be worn any way. Just then, the men and my brothers, mother and her husband walked out of the car and started walking car to car looking for us, fully armed.
"Jesus Christ." Father exclaimed, " get out of the car" he says and I do that immediately. I take my small bag which had some clothes to change to. Father locked the car, took my hand and led me through the traffic and unto the busy street. I looked behind us to see if we were being followed and sure enough, we were.
"They're still on to us." I tell him.
"Let's go to a restaurant somewhere to hide." He says. We walk in between the crowd and head to a nearby restaurant. There, I quickly change into a crop top and a pair of ragged jeans, while father swapps his jacket to red. We then sit at a table and we order tea to distract the people pursuing us. Father then proceeded to do something I didn't expect. He rolled up his sleeves to reveal his beautiful tattoos and then made his hair a bit rugged. He then took his specs from his jacket and put them on. God forgive me but he was so hot I wanted to eat him up.
Right before he was about to explain himself, the people walked in. On asking around someone pointed at us and they started walking out direction.
I started immediately freaking out, sweating and shaking,. I tried to avoid their gaze by looking down and even Rafael noticed.
"Let's run. They're coming and they have weapons." I whisper to him.
"No. They'll probably catch up. I'll just take them down." He says sipping his coffee and trying not to act suspicious.
"Sorry,but are you fucking crazy? They have guns, they'll just shoot you down and probably someone else will get hurt in the crossfire." I say to him and he let quiet and sipped his coffee again. But they were getting closer.
"Just give me up. No bloodshed required." I say and sigh, "I will really miss you. Thank you for everything Father." I say as I stand up to go and surrender myself.
Just then he moves his chair a little and pulls my hand making me sit on his lap. He then whispers to me,
"Forgive me for what I'm about to do."
With that, he grabbed my cheek with his huge hands and the mere feeling of his skin against mine sent shivers down my spine. Before I could process what was happening, he pressed his lips against mine. Instinctively, I give in and he immediately dominates the entire kiss. It was full of passion and hunger and I kissed him back. As I gave him more freedom, he took more control. I felt my heart race and I couldn't help but put my hands around his neck, and lift my other leg across his thigh so that I can sit properly. I was unsure about that and I thought that he would push me away,but instead he pulled me closer by my waist and wrapped his arms around my waist. With that the kiss got even more passionate and I felt him release what he had been holding back.
Just then I heard the men who were after us asking people about us, but they said that we had been there for about an hour, and sent them in the wrong direction. As they left, Rafael continued to kiss me until he suddenly snapped out of the trance he was in and I snapped out too, quickly getting on my feet.
"Thank you all so much." I tell the people as Rafael puts the money on the table for the tea we hadn't even touched. We left in silence to the car now that they weren't pursing us anymore. As soon as we got inside the traffic started moving and we continued with our drive to the school. The drive was silent and there was a thick tension in the car. We arrived and before Rafael walked out of the car, I decided to speak up.
"I'm sorry." I say. He stops and looks at me, " I'm so sorry. It's all my fault that you had to do that. I'm so sorry that you had to commit such a horrible sin to save my life, and for that I am willing to take your anger and your hate."
"Who said I was angry with you for that. I am angry with you, but not because of that, but because you were quickly willing to give up that easily. Jasmine, your life is very important to me. And you just can't endanger your life again like that. God gave you a second chance, and that life that your playing with is His, so you don't get the right to decide your death. So please for heavens sake, don't ever put yourself in such a position again, understood?" He says and I nodd. " And yes, about what happened I don't regret it because I did it so save your life, and I don't hate you because it was my decision and I was fully aware of what I was doing. So I am not upset okay." He says with a reassuring smile while holding my hand.
He then got me admitted to school, and before he left he hugged me as usual and prayed for me before he left. That night as I went to sleep, I couldn't help but recall the kiss that we shared. How he held on tighter to me, how he kissed me deeper and how I could hear his heart beat faster and harder against his chest while he kissed me, and how he said he was fully aware of what he was doing, and how he said he would gladly do it again. And then I just snapped. I stood up and went to the mirror that I had in my room, because I had a mirror in my room, and as I washed my face, I saw him. He was right behind me, his tattooed arms wrapped tightly around my waist, slowly breathing on my neck and I couldn't help but give in to him. Just when I turned to look back, I realized it was just a fantasy. And that was when I made a decision.
I wanted Rafael, and I was going to do anything, ANYTHING to make him only mine.