Touched By You (The Touch Series)

  I spot Chloe in the kitchen and make my way in to see if I can help her with anything. Pulling her into me, I kiss her on the cheek and can feel her smile.

  “Need any help in here Angel?” I ask.

  “Nope, we are all set for everyone to start eating. We have plenty of time before we have to leave. Go grab yourself some food and make yourself comfortable. You have a big day ahead of you.” She says.

  “Thank you for all of this Chloe. You know I appreciate everything you do for me.”

  “I know love, now go eat.” She says and kisses me on the lips.

  My girl is absolutely perfect.

  After we eat the families pile into their cars and we follow one another to Cambridge. Commencement is set to begin at 11 o’clock and should be wrapped up around 4 o’clock. I know I should be excited for graduation, but really I just want it to be over so that I can spend the rest of the day I have planned for me and Chloe.

  During the ceremony I do my best to pay attention to the speakers and the line of students I’m supposed to follow up to the stage. Once I’m in front of the dean and accepting my paper in hand I look out to the crowd and envision Chloe’s smiling face. The past three years of me in school have been difficult for both of us, but today is proof that it was all worth it.

  I walk around to the area our families are sitting in and receive hugs all around.

  “I’m so proud of you Derrick.” Mom says.

  “Me too.” Teresa squeals pulling me in for a big hug.

  “Come here stud, I’m so happy for you. It’s nice to know we have a lawyer in the family. You know…just in case.” Charlie says.

  I bypass the rest of the crew and head straight for my girl. Chloe sees me approaching her and brings her arms out to embrace me in a hug. I squeeze her tight and lift her into my arms.

  “We did it Angel. Today starts a new life for me and you, one that I promise will make you happy for the rest of our lives.”

  I continue to hug her while twirling her in my arms.

  Bryce and my dad come walking over to me and I give them both a scowl. I don’t want to let her go, but I guess I better accept the congrats I’m going to get from our fathers.

  “Nice work son, we are all so proud of you.” Bryce says shaking my hand and giving me a firm pat on the back.

  “He’s right Derrick, we’re all so proud of you. You know Papa is looking down on you today with tears in his eyes. You made a dream come true just like you told him you would.”

  “Thanks dad, that means a lot to me.” I reply giving him a hug.

  I pull Chloe back against my side give her a kiss on the cheek and turn to face our families.

  “Thank you all so much for coming today. It has been a crazy journey for Chloe and I, but today makes all of our struggles well worth it. I appreciate you guys so much for being there for us and I couldn’t have done it without my family. Now if you don’t mind, I have a celebration dinner planned for me and my girl.”

  Taking Chloe by the hand I escort her out of the auditorium and to my car. I remove my cap and gown and hand it to Chloe to fold up for me. I know better than to try and do it myself. Once she has it perfect, I set it in the backseat and open the passenger side door for her.

  My heart is thumping in my chest and I feel like I’m about to pass out. I can do this, I know I can.

  After Derrick’s graduation we get into his car and head toward East Boston. He told our families we were off for a celebration dinner which sounds like fun, but I have a lump in my throat and in the pit in my stomach. I don’t know how much longer I can keep my secret to myself. I need to tell him and I don’t know when will be the right moment.

  It probably wasn’t the best idea to accept a job offer without talking to him, but my god this really is a chance of a lifetime. I really didn’t even see this coming, it just happened so fast.

  I’m sitting in my office at the WZDH Channel 7NBC studios in Boston where I’ve been working for the past two and half years. I’m scheduled to attend the Red Sox vs. Phillies game tonight at 7:30 and trying to get some last minutes edits worked through before I have to leave.

  I look up when I hear a knock on my door and my boss Sean is standing there with another person. He introduces me to Traci Roche with ESPN Live out of Los Angeles. I stand from my desk and approach the two of them, my hand extended to greet her with a handshake.

  My knees feel weak and my heart is pumping through my chest. Shit, my hands are sweating, I just shook Traci Roche’s hand and my fucking hands are sweaty…just great!

  “Hi Chloe, it’s a sincere pleasure to meet you. We’ve been watching you for quite some time now and felt it was time to present you with an offer.”

  “An offer?” I look between Sean and Traci. “I’m sorry. I’m a little confused. What offer?”

  Traci looks at Sean and lets out a laugh.

  “Yes Chloe. ESPN would like to offer you a sport’s analyst position with ESPN Live. You have had quite the career since graduating from NYU and we’d love to have you as a member of our team.”

  She watches me intently as I walk back over to my desk and take a seat. I think I’m honestly in shock. This stuff doesn’t happen to people like me. Derrick and I are just ordinary people that get up go to work, come home and go to bed…well after having really hot sex, then we go to bed.

  Oh god what the hell!

  “So what do you say Chloe?” She asks taking a seat across from me at my desk.

  “Wow! I’m speechless.”

  “That’s a surprise.” Sean says with a laugh.

  “Did you know about this Sean?” I ask looking him dead in his green eyes.

  He runs his hands through his blonde hair and takes a seat next to Traci.

  “Well I kind of sent them some stuff about you a few months back. Don’t be mad Chloe. I know this is your dream job and you’ve done such an amazing job here. I just had to help you get your name out there.”

  “Thanks Sean, really I’m grateful. And thank you Traci for coming all this way to see me. It’s all just a bit much to take in. I was just preparing to leave for the game.”

  “Don’t worry about the game. I’ve got you covered tonight.”

  It feels like yesterday I was in that room with both Sean and Traci. Who knew so much would have changed in such a short amount of time. I don’t know if I made the wrong decision accepting the job, but I have to do this for me. It’s my dream and I know Derrick will understand. We will find a way to make it work. It might be hard at first, but we did it before and being apart only made our relationship that much stronger.

  The sound of Derrick’s voice takes me out of my thoughts.

  “We’re almost there Angel, just a few more minutes. You okay? You seem quiet since we left the school.” He asks and runs his hand up and down my thigh.

  I grab onto his hand and smile. Talking right now might just bring me to a fit of tears. I’ll tell him after dinner. I can do this.

  I look out the window and see that we’re pulling into Pier Park. This was one of the places Derrick and I’d go to sit and relax when it was too cold to take out his boat. There are still a lot of crazy people out there that don’t mind the cold. It’s a beautiful scene to see the other boats out on the water.

  My gaze looks toward Derrick and he turns to me. A big grin is on his face.

  “What are we doing here Derrick?” I ask.

  “You’ll see. It’s a surprise. Wait here, I’ll be right back.”

  I watch as he gets out of the car and comes over to my side to open the door.

  “Such a gentleman.”

  “Always for you love.”

  Well if I wasn’t in love with this man, I sure would be smitten by now. He takes my hand and pulls me over to a roped off area.

  “Derrick, it doesn’t look like they want anyone in here.” I say trying to pull him back.

  “Exactly, we don’t want anyone in here to disturb us.”

  He continues to pull
me into a spot where a small white tent is set up. What is this man up to? He turns to look at me and pulls me into his embrace. Placing his lips against mine he gives me a passionate kiss that I know I’ll remember forever. He pulls away just enough to look into my eyes.

  “Chloe I love you more than anything in this whole world. Today is the start of a beautiful future for us and I wanted to make this night perfect. First we’re going to have dinner here at Pier Park and later I’m taking you to a very special place.”

  I’m in awe of him in this moment. I can barely speak. I just nod my head and follow him into the white tent.

  The entire ride over to Pier Park my heart is beating so hard I fear that Chloe can hear it. She has been so quiet since we left the graduation. I hope she is feeling alright and nothing happened to upset her. It would kill me if she was in a bad mood for tonight. I want everything to be perfect. This is a night she will remember for the rest of our lives.

  I look over at her and she has her hands twisted up into her lap and she seems like she’s off in deep thought. I need to break the silence before I pull into the parking lot.

  “We’re almost there angel, just a few more minutes. You okay? You seem to be pretty quiet since we left the school.”

  Instead of responding she smiles and nods her head. Damn it to hell! I’ll do just about anything to ensure this night makes her happy. And it all starts right now.

  I plaster a huge grin on my face and tell her to wait while I come around to open her door.

  I open the door for her and take her hand. I’m so fucking nervous I can’t even remember if I have the damn ring. I put my hand in my pocket and fish around till I feel the little bag mom gave me to put it in. Phew, that’s the last thing I need to stress about tonight.

  We walk toward the center of the park where a small white tent has been set up for a romantic dinner. It took just about all my connections in Boston to pull this shit together and from the looks of it they all did a great job.

  Chloe tugs on my arm and says we shouldn’t go through the ropes. I laugh to myself, oh dear Chloe just wait. I’m about to knock your socks off.

  I tell her it’s okay and pull her to follow me.

  When we reach the outside of the white tent I pull her in close to me. She really is one of the most important people in my life and this night is going to be one to tell our grandkids about.

  As we enter the tent I hear her gasp. I turn to face her and I see her hand is pressed over her mouth and tears are streaming down her cheeks. I pull her into me and kiss her forehead. She begins to tremble in my arms and I run my hand up and down her back to soothe her.

  “Oh my god Derrick, this is beautiful. You did this for us? How did you do this? I mean wow!” She says wiping the tears from her face and looking around the inside of the tent.

  I must say the guys did a fucking fantastic job. The walls of the tent are trimmed in white lights. There are red roses scattered all along the wooden floor and a table is set for two in the middle. Soft music is playing in the back corner and there are candles surrounding a small dance floor.

  “I wanted tonight to be special for us. We have a lot to celebrate Chloe.” I tell her putting a fallen piece of hair behind her ear.

  “It’s beautiful, its amazing Derrick. Thank you.”

  “You don’t have to thank me Angel. Come let’s sit down and eat. Then we can do some dancing before we leave.”

  Chloe follows me over to the table and I pull out her seat. She sits and I help get her comfortable. I take my own seat and look across the table. She’s taking it all in looking around the small room set up here in the middle of Pier Park. It’s the most romantic moment and I’m so glad it’s us in here together.

  She looks up at me with her big brown eyes and gives me that killer smile. I return the smile and grab her hand giving it a kiss.

  “Today has been absolutely one of the best days of my life Chloe. You and I really have been through just about everything and I’m so glad that we have made it to this point.”

  “Me too Derrick. I really am so proud of you for doing all this. You have accomplished every goal you’ve ever set for yourself. You inspire me to do the same.”

  “I did it all because I want us to have a great life together. With you by my side I know that will happen.”

  “I know.” She replies

  “Well come on let’s eat before our dinner gets cold.”

  “It smells amazing.”

  I lift the silver domes off of the plates and we begin to dig in to our food. It tastes so good and I’m starving. As much as I want to move onto the next destination of our evening I can’t help but enjoy this moment watching Chloe. She’s the most beautiful woman in the world. Her long dark hair is falling in waves to her mid back. The crimson red dress she’s wearing shows her amazing curves and when she looks at me with those eyes… she just takes my breath away.

  “Dinner was wonderful Derrick.” She says tossing her linen napkin onto her plate.

  “Oh do you hear that?” I ask.

  “Hear what.” She says looking around the tent.

  “I think they are playing our song.”

  She looks over to where the music is set up and she stares, like that will help her hear better.

  I stand alongside the table next to her and extend my hand.

  “May I have this dance?” I ask.

  “I can’t believe this night Derrick, it’s our song.”

  “It sure is Angel. Come on let’s dance to it.”

  I walk her over to the small dance floor area and swing her around in my arms. As we dance to our song, Lucky by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat, I envision what it will be like to dance with her to this song on our wedding day. I pull her in closer to me so that I can feel her heart beating against mine. This day has been absolutely perfect and there’s just one more thing I need to do. I pull away from her just enough so that I can look into her eyes again.

  “You’re so beautiful to me Chloe.” I tell her and kiss her lips ever so softly.

  “I love you so much Derrick. No matter what we’ve been through we always make it work. You make us work. I love you.”

  She kisses me back but instead of a soft kiss she kisses me fiercely. I feel tears coming down our cheeks and I pull away.

  “Don’t cry Angel. This is all for you. Everything I do is for you so that our future is perfect. Come on we have one last surprise for the night.”

  Chloe holds onto my arm and follows me through the tent and out into the park toward my car.

  We’re about fifteen minutes away from our next destination and I’m about as antsy as a four-year-old at an ice cream shop waiting for his treat. My left leg is twitching and I’m beginning to get a headache from clenching my teeth.

  I look over to Chloe and she’s resting her head back against the seat with her eyes shut. This is perfect; she won’t notice where we are until we’re parked right out and in front of it.

  After exactly fifteen minutes I pull into our final stop for tonight.

  “Chloe love, we’re here.” I say rubbing her thigh.

  “Oh no, sorry Derrick I must have dozed off.”

  “No worries Angel let me come around and get the door for you.”

  When I open the door for her she stands up and looks around.

  “Why are we…?”

  I quickly put my finger to her lips and guide her to the side of the house. We walk hand in hand until I feel her stop.

  “Oh. My. God. Derrick!” She shouts.

  She kind of throws me off guard and for a moment I’m looking at her and back to our spot. I quickly gather my bearings and continue to walk toward our tree. Teresa, mom and Charlie did a fucking amazing job. The tree has tiki torches lit around the outside and they’ve sectioned off branches so that there’s a wide opening for us to walk into. Inside of the weeping willow tree is our bench with a table filled with candles and roses.

  I walk us inside of the tree and wait for the
music to start. Moments later the melody starts and I pull her into an embrace. I hold her tightly as her body shakes against mine. In a few seconds I realize it’s not her body trembling but my own. I need to do this now before I blow it with an anxiety attack.

  Pulling slightly away from her I rub my thumb along her lower lip and sweep away the tears that are now falling from her eyes.

  “Derrick this entire day has been one surprise after another. This is your day and you’re doing so much for me.”

  I step back from her and take her hands in mine. Looking into her eyes I know it’s time.

  “Chloe I can’t tell you enough how special you are to me, or how much I love you. For the past eight years you have been my soul mate, the one I find peace with. You’re my forever Chloe and today is just the beginning of great things to come for us. Without you in my life things would be empty. You honestly make me who I am. I’m a better man because of you.”

  My fucking hands are shaking so bad. I remove my hand from hers and reach into my pocket. I remove the ring from the bag and have it in my hand. I look at her and start to get down on one knee.

  “Chloe……”

  “No wait Derrick stop. You can’t…I’m sorry, but I have to tell you something before you say anything else.”

  My heart stops. I am blind by fear. What the hell would she have to tell me that would make her stop me from proposing?

  Oh no….no…this can’t be happening. Everything he has done today was all for this. Oh my God he’s going to propose and I haven’t told him I’m leaving for LA in a few weeks. My body is numb, my heart has stopped beating and my hands are getting sweaty. I can barely breathe as I see him reaching in his pocket. This has been the perfect day leading up to this moment. He has planned this amazingly romantic day for me and he’s going to propose under our tree.

  God Chloe, you’re such a bitch for doing this to him. I have to stop him before he goes any further.