THE PLAYGROUND

Jade let Emma's letter drop to the table.

She needed to talk to Alec.

Emma was right. What she and Alec had was beautiful and she was letting her stupid ego come in the way of her love.

This was her one chance to have the kind of love story she had always wanted.

And if she let it go....

If she let Alec go.....

She was going to regret it.

She would have to stay like this, spending her whole life writing about perfect love stories when she let hers get away.

There was already a possibility that he had gone.

But she had to take a chance.

She didn't have the heart to call up Alec and hear from him that he had gone back. She didn't think she would be able to bear that. So she decided to call Julia.

As she picked up her cell phone and dialled Julia's number she remembered the way Alec had smiled the first day they met after he came back.

She remembered the whole day they had spent together.

The coffee he had left for her after that night in the pub.

The kiss on the playground.

The way he had slept outside her door waiting for her.

The look of hurt in his eyes before he left.

"Hello!" Julia's voice snapped Jade out of her thoughts.

"Hey Jules! It's me Jade."

"I know! Hi! You've been avoiding me haven't you? I'm going back to Chicago tomorrow Jade." Julia whined.

"I'm sorry about that." And Jade really was. "I promise I'll meet you today. But first tell me something. Is.... Is Alec still in town?"

She held her breathe waiting for Julia's reply.

"Yes he is.... Jade didn't you hear about...."

But Jade was not listening. A smile had come on her face as soon as she had heard that Alec was still in town.

He had not gone.

"Is he at home?" She interrupted Julia.

"No he's not... He's at the construction site."

"Construction site?"

"Jade let me finish my sentences!" Julia said on a laugh. She knew what was happening and she couldn't be more happy about it, "Alec is opening an office of Wanderlust here. In Millbrooke. That's where he is."

"Really?" Jade asked in disbelief.

"Yes."

"Where is it?"

Jade was already up and on her way out of the door with the car keys in her hand.

"Near the kindergarten playground. Can you please tell me what is happening?" Asked Julia though she knew everything.

"I'll explain everything to you later. Now I got to go. Bye, Julia! I love you!"

"Bye!" Julia said.

She kept the phone chuckling to herself, before going to the living room to give the good news to her mother and Steve.

......................

Alec stood on the playground and looked at the deserted swings. He felt desolate and exhausted. The last couple of weeks had completely drained him out.

Suddenly he heard the crack of a twig breaking into half. He turned around to see the person he was thinking about standing at the gate of the playground. Jade.

She was wearing a grey tank top and blue jeans. Her clothes were crumpled and her hair was all ruffled, as if she got dressed in a hurry.

"What are you doing here?" He had to yell in order to be heard as they stood on almost opposite ends of the playground.

"I went to the construction site. The guys told me that you're here." She yelled back.

She had made record time to the construction site after keeping Julia's call. But she couldn't find him anywhere over there.

At last she had gone up to one of the men working over there and she was told that he was in the playground.

And there he was standing under the same tree under which they had met a few days back. Wearing a black t-shirt and dark wash jeans and with his brown hair fluttering in the air.

"And why were you at the construction site?" Alec yelled.

Neither of the took a step towards the other. They just continued standing where they were.

"I wanted to talk to you."

"About?"

Jade looked at her feet nervously, then looked up at the sky, "Nice weather isn't it?" She stammered.

"Seriously Jade. You came all the way to speak about the weather?"

"Yes." She said before thinking again and shaking her head, "No. Actually... Alec I'm sorry."

She said in a hurry. Without stopping even to take a breath.

"For what?" Alec replied simply.

He dragged his fingers through his hair and looked at her expectantly.

"I was a fool. Not as big as you but still a fool. I let my anger, my ego come in between us. And right now when I thought that maybe you had gone back to London.... I was so scared. Scared that maybe I had lost you for real this time."

"I'm not going back Jade." He said softly.

"I realise that...." Dragged Jade.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't give me a chance to." He replied simply.

"I'm sorry." Jade turned red again.

"Do you still love me?"

"Yes." Jade looked down at her feet.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" He asked.

"I would have told you if you wouldn't have got Emma with you in the first place." Jade replied with a huff.

"Seriously?" Alec asked, "Emma was not there before. You didn't tell me back then."

"Ummmm.... That's there." Jade looked up at last, right at him. And she said the first thing that came to her mind, "Can we start again?"

Alec didn't reply. Instead he smiled and walked towards Jade.

Jade just stood where she was, stuck to the ground.

Finally when he reached her, he stood and stuck his hand out, "Hi! I'm Alec. And I love Mickey Mouse too."

The same words he had said to her on the first day of kindergarten after seeing her Mickey Mouse lunch box.

They were standing on the very same playground. And the smile on his face was also the same mischievous one.

Jade put her hand in his shyly and said, "Hi! I'm Jade and I have p b and j sandwiches."

Jade repeated her answer.

Back then Alec had jumped up and said, "Will you spend the rest of the break with me? We can even become best friends!"

Now Alec smiled before hooking a finger under Jade's chin and pulling up her face till she looked into his eyes.

"Will you spend the rest of our lives with me? We can even get married!"

The tone was the same but the sentence was so different.

Jade didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She just opted for her original line, "Okay!"

Alec slowly bent his head and touched his lips to hers in a hesitant kiss.

It was a sweet kiss and when they came up for breath, Jade asked, "Do you really mean it?"

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't." Replied Alec, "I love you Jade. I really really do! And I was a fool to not realise it. I was stupid to do all that I did. I jumped to conclusions. I took rash decisions. And you were a bigger fool to not tell me when you realised it. Since we spent almost half our lives being fools let's do one clever thing. Let's be fool's in love. Together."

Jade just looked at his handsome face. Her eyes were burning with unshed tears.

"Well it's okay if you don't love me!" Alec replied.

Since Jade was not replying he suddenly got nervous.

"I love you idiot!" Jade yelled, crying and laughing at the same time. She threw herself at him.

They kissed once again and this time it was a deeper, knee weakening, chocolate- melting hot kiss.

"Hey! What are you doing here?"

The yell of the caretaker brought them out of their embrace.

The caretaker was standing at the entrance of the kindergarten and looked angry.

"Trespassers are not allowed!" He yelled before he started running behind them.

Jade turned to Alec, "Want to do another clever thing?"

"What?" Alec asked with a smile.

"Run!"

The two of them ran, their fingers entwined till they reached the construction site. The caretaker having given up long back.

The stood in the middle of the half built office, panting with stupid grins on their faces.

Suddenly Alec hit his forehead with his hand.

"What?" Asked Jade.

"I asked you to get married to me, and I don't even have a ring for you."

Jade laughed. She was still wearing the fake ring on a chain around her neck.

"Don't worry. See what I have here."

She pulled out the the chain out from inside her top opened the clasp and let the ring fall into her hand.

Alec gingerly picked it out from her hand and grinned, "This ring? Where did you get it?"

"A little boy and a little girl were saving it for us!" She replied.

Alec took her hand in his and put it on her ring finger.

"It fits!" He smiled.

"I love you!" Jade said looking into the eyes of the only guy she had loved in her whole life.

"I love you, more."

..................................