Parker Austin, Part Three.

A successful writer of Young-Adult fiction, Parker Austin was now just coming up on 26 years of age. He still had the same extremely dark hair, and those light gray eyes with the black circles underneath juxtaposing them. He had quit smoking when his parents discovered his bad habit back during senior year and had never started up again. He had been to college, seen what it was all about, and then dropped out. He had been to several countries on book tours and signings, lectures and reviews. But he was a very bored man. Bored with his life and his future. Always stuck at home writing for his publisher's next deadline. And that's where he was now. At his flat in Providence, situated right next to Brown University. As he dropped his keys on the counter he grabbed his slightly stained ceramic mug filled with coffee and started to lazily sift through the week's mail. His bleary eyes passed over advertisements for grocery stores, bills and the occasional fan letter but one unremarkable piece of paper caught his eye. He picked it up and could barely believe what it said. He set down his cold coffee and read:

"You are cordially invited to the premiere of the year, the movie of the month, up-and-coming director Hanna-Jane Goldstein's "My Life in a Golden Aquarium"
This edgy feature film will be presented in Manhattan on..."

He stopped reading.
He picked up his chilly coffee and put it back down.
Instead he dug a crisp apple out of a grocery bag on the counter and bit into it thoughtfully.
He walked over to the alcove in his loft that served at a closet and dug around until he pulled out a thin black tie and a suit. It worked for his book talks and it would work for this. He was going to a movie premiere and maybe, just maybe, she would be there too...

She was.
He saw her sipping her flirty, artificially colored drink from a mile away. No, not really sipping, just holding it. He knew she hated Red Dye 40. It was strange seeing her without those braids. But really short hair did suit her just as well.
He went and found his seat and waited for the movie to begin.

It was at the after-party at the Tribeca that he worked up the courage to approach her. He felt like a character out of one of his books, a stuttering sweating adolescent, ridiculous.
He said "Hey...Aubrey...Remember me?"
That same face she had made when he told her he loved her all those years ago came back in a flash.
Then it was gone.
She cocked one eyebrow, formed her mouth into that famous smirk of hers known for being on billboards and said "Of course I would, how many 'Parkers' does the average person know?" Like it was some personal joke.
He wasn't sure what to make of it but chose to carry on with small talk. After asking where she lived, what she did and if she liked the movie, he still knew the same amount about her.
He had Googled her name before the party so as to be better prepared when they spoke.
Then she startled him with five words, nonthreatening by themselves ,but at a whole, the scariest thing he could think of.
"Do you still love me?"
and this was his one word back:
"Yes"


Over the next year Parker Austin realized something truly remarkable. He was no longer bored.
Sharing his loft with Aubrey was wonderful.
Sharing a bed was even better.
But sharing his life with her was something else entirely. The most raw and pure emotion imaginable.
He knew he would never make the mistake of giving that up again. And he never did.