Integrity, Freedom, and Love, these are the things that should be held above all. A simply love story is about all three. It is about a young and upcoming writer; who is put in to a position to compromise his freedom of expression to appeal to the masses. It is about a young woman that forced to deal with an ailment that has shaped her life, and has forced her to depend on others for help. It's about the love of two people, and the strength they get from it. From music to just living, they need to look to themselves and each other, and find greatness. Because, without the pursuit of greatness, why even be motivated to get out of bed.

A Simple Love Story

By Nicholas M. Clevette

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2011 Nicholas M. Clevette
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4634-1128-2

Chapter One

Alone on a bench is where I sat, on a hot and humid day in Saint Augustine. I was facing the cool sea air and taking in the smell of cool, salt water. There were the sounds of gulls overhead and children playing on the beach. The sounds calmed me that day. I could not see any of this, for I had been blind since birth.

My sisters would leave me alone here when they went to be with their boyfriends. How I dreamed to feel like they did when the men came around. I was ignored because I think they were uncomfortable around me. My name is Tilly, and I lived a very boring life then.

That day was different from the rest, though. I did not know it at the time, but it felt very strange. The air felt stronger and the humidity was thicker. My sisters helped me look my best, yet still I sat there on that bench with only my cane to keep me company.

Maybe it was just me. There were mornings I woke and said to myself, "Tilly, it's your lucky day." That had not happened that morning. I woke up like always, yet I still felt strong and beautiful that day. That was the day I met him, and everything changed.

As I was taking in all of the sounds, I heard footsteps walking toward me. They were soft and light, and they sounded very cheerful. The person stopped in front of me. Then there was the whir of a camera shutter, and then a voice. "Sorry, I'll be out of your way in just a second," the voice said. It belonged to a man. Well, a young man. He sounded like he was in his twenties at least, which was perfect. I was only twenty-two years old.

"That's okay, it's not like I can see it anyways," I said in return.

"I'm sorry, I had no idea." His voice sounded soft and sweet. I tried to hide a smile. I felt him sit next to me on the bench. "You come here often?"

"I do," I said.

"I've always loved the smell of the sea. There's nothing like it."

I sat quiet for a second. This guy sounded great and warm. "So, is that all you do over here?" I asked. I was still trying to hide my smile and start some small talk.

"No," he began. "I also like the pubs in the old part of town. It's always a good way to spend a day. The candy store is kind of cool, too."

"And, I take it, you find a girl and talk with her."

"Well, that's the best part," he said. "I always take time to talk to a beautiful woman on a park bench."

I blushed. "My name is Tilly." I held out my hand. He took it in his warm hand and shook it gently.

"Well, Tilly, my name is Alex."

"Hi, Alex, it's really nice to meet you."

"Same here, Tilly," Alex said. "What brought you out here today?"

"My sisters wanted to go out with their boyfriends, and they take me because our mom makes them."

"I'm glad they brought you, then," he said without missing a beat. He was a smooth talker. I didn't know what to say. I just sat there like an idiot. Finally, he spoke. "Here, take this," he said while he stuck a piece of paper in my hand. "It's my phone number."

"Is it in Braille?" I blurted out like a dork.

"No," he said, chuckling. "Take it and I'll tell you. The paper is in case you forget." Then he whispered in my ear. I could feel my face warm up. I repeated it back to myself. Then I put the paper in my pocket.

Just then, my sisters and their friends came up to us.

"Hey, Tilly," Amanda said. She was the oldest. "It's time to go."

Sara was the noisy one. "Who's your friend?" she asked. She was being a pain. I could hear it in her voice, so I put my hand on Alex's arm. It was a solid arm, too. He was built nicely. I wanted to feel more, but I knew that would rude. "This is Alex," I said. I heard Alex say hi, and I felt him get up.

"Tilly, I must be off. I'll talk with you later?" he said.

"Yes, you will," I said, hoping not to sound too eager. I put my hand in my pocket and felt the paper in my hand. Then a warm feeling came over me. Amanda helped me off the bench and led me in the right direction.

"He's a cute one, Tilly," she said.

"He seems really nice," I answered.

We all walked to the car and got ready to go. I was still on cloud nine. His name kept running through my head. The ride home didn't feel that bad. Normally, I felt like throwing up in a car. It had to be the strange movement. It was like I was on a rollercoaster for an hour. Thank God Florida didn't have any hills, or I would never have left the house by car. I would have walked or just stayed home.

"So, Tilly," Amanda said, "are you going to call him?"

"Yes, I am."

"Good luck with that," Sara said next me. She was trying to be humorous, but failed.

"I have a pretty good idea how to dial a phone. The numbers don't change. One will always be in the same place."

"Sara, stop," Amanda said rather sternly. Amanda normally did what she could to curb Sara. Sara was one of those really bright people, but what she had in intellect, she lacked in people skills.

"Sorry," Sara answered.

We got home just in time for dinner. Not always a fun time of the day for me. That's when Mom treated me like a baby, always telling me where my mouth was, like I didn't know how to eat. People seemed to think that because I was blind, I couldn't live like other people. For the most part, I did. Yeah, there were some things I couldn't do, like cook, or clean, or even drive. I hung in there with just about everything else.

After dinner, I sat in my room with the phone in my hand. I also took the piece of paper out of my pocket, though I didn't need it. I knew the number off the top of my head.

I had sat there for a few minutes when Amanda walked in. I knew it was her because of her perfume. "Have you called yet?" she asked.

"No, I don't know what to say."

"Just say hi. Everything else will come to you, but you can't start without calling."

"I know, I'm just nervous," I said.

"Don't be. You'll be fine. I don't think he'll hang up on you, or get mad if you call. Hell, that's why he gave you his number." Amanda laughed.

"You're right," I said, then took a deep breath and slowly dialed the number. I had to do it slowly because ... Well, you know.

"Hello?" a voice said on the line.

"Hi, is Alex there?" I said.

"This is him."

"It's Tilly," I said.

"Hi, I was hoping you would call. How are you?"

"I'm good. I just ate dinner and I'm sitting in my room."

"Same here, there's nothing going on tonight," he said.

"So, where do you live?" I asked.

"Orange Park," he answered. His voice sounded nice in my ear. That warm feeling came over me again. I felt light. I lay back on my bed, and we must have talked for hours, though it felt like only ten minutes. I learned so much about him: where he lived, what he liked to do, and what he did for a living. Apparently he worked as a parts guy for a dealership in Jacksonville, and liked taking pictures and watching kung fu movies. I really didn't know a whole lot about movies. It wasn't like I could watch them. But they sounded interesting. I had always wanted to go to a movie.

I told him all about me, of course. I lived in the World Golf Village, and I didn't really go out much. I loved just sitting at the beach, enjoying all the sounds and smells. I dreamed about one day seeing the water rush up to the land. It had always seemed so beautiful in my head.

"What are you doing Saturday night?" he asked

"Nothing planned."

"How about we meet at the beach and go out to dinner?"

"Yes," I said quickly. I was trying not to sound too excited. I knew I had failed, though.

"Okay, Same place we met?"

"Cool." I was now trying to calm myself, but still failing to do so.

"Have a good night."

"You, too. Bye," I said tenderly, and that was our first phone call. It was all I had hoped it would be. He sounded sweet and kind. I was smiling so much that my face hurt.

Amanda walked back into my room. "How did it go?" she asked.

"Glorious!" I yelled. "We have a date this Saturday. We're going to meet at the beach like we did today."

"That's so cool. I'll have to help you get ready. I'll help you with a dress for it, and we'll have to get you hair done. It'll be so much fun." Now Amanda was excited. We were both talking really fast and jumping around. It was a girly moment.

"I'll take you to the salon and get your hair done. Then we'll work from there. You're going to blow him away," she said.

"Thanks sis."

"No problem. It's what I'm here for." Then she gave me a big hug.

It was now bedtime, and I could hardly sleep. This had been the most wonderful day of my life, and I was afraid to let it go by. I lay awake for hours. I was thinking about the next day. I couldn't wait, and to top it off, I was nervous. What if he didn't like the way I looked, or what if I made a complete fool out of myself? There were so many things that could go wrong.

The morning came, and I had barely gotten any sleep that night. I was exhausted, but that did not matter to Amanda, who was up and ready to go. She barged into my room. "Time to wake up!" she yelled, then sang some stupid good-morning song.

I stuffed my head in my pillow. "It still looks like nighttime to me," I grumbled.

Amanda stopped singing, "That's kinda funny. Still nighttime to you." Now she was laughing. "Get up!" She started shaking me.

"Okay, I'm up." I stood up. The floor was cold under my feet. There was a musty odor in the air. "It's going to rain."

"Tilly, how do you know that?" Amanda asked.

"I can smell it."

"I guess so," she said, sounding facetious. "Quickly, go take a shower. There is much to do."

I made my way to the shower and let the warm water hit my face. Showers were always so relaxing—the sound of water hitting the tub, and the warm, calm air wrapping around me like a blanket. I always felt good in a shower.

I continued to stand in the shower as I felt the warm water run down my back. I could feel my muscles relax. Then Sara began to beat on the door. My peace was over, replaced by a pain-in-the-ass little sister.

I took my time getting dressed because I wanted to make sure my clothes looked all right. I couldn't tell, but my sisters would let me know if I looked good or not. I normally had my clothes set up in outfits to make things easier. I would grab one from the closet.

Before I knew it, we were in the car and on our way to my sister's favorite clothing store. The ride was short, and that was a good thing. I was close to throwing up. That would have sucked, and I think Amanda would have gotten mad. That, and it would have stunk to high heaven.

My sisters took my hands and led me into the store. The place smelled funny, and the people talked strange, too. I had no idea where I was, and I wasn't very comfortable, either.

I could hear my two sisters laughing and giggling to one another. They led me all over the place. When I had only been there ten minutes, I was already tired. We went up and down racks, and they put dress after dress up to me to see how it would look.

Finally we had stopped for a moment when I heard another voice. It was a woman's voice. She had a funny tone to her, and didn't seem real to me, but she wanted to help. I was just glad to stop.

"She has the perfect body and legs for something small and tight," the woman said.

"I know, she's so perfectly built. I've always been jealous." Amanda laughed.

"Really?" I asked. I had no idea.

"Hell, yeah," Sara said. "If I had an ass like yours, I'd have it made."

"It's all that exercise bike riding she does while we're at work," Amanda said.

I did ride the bike a lot, but only because I got bored at home. It's a good way to spend an hour. I never thought about how I looked. I guess it wasn't that important to me. I was always self-conscious about the way I spoke. That was the most important thing to me. I could not see how others looked, so I did not I care how I looked. Now things were a little different.

The woman said, "Why don't we try a little black dress?"

"I think she'd kill him," Amanda said with a chuckle. "But she could pull it off. It would look great on her."

"Yeah, it would," Sara agreed.

Before I could ask what it was, I was in the dressing room trying it on. It felt a little snug. I thought I would have to pour myself in it. I knew it was short. I could feel it end around the mid-part of my thigh.

"Good thing I shaved my legs this morning," I said to myself.

"Are you ready yet?" Amanda said. "Do you need any help?"

"No, I'm good," I said as I was walking out of the room. I stood very still and waited for approval.

"God damn, sis! You're hot," Sara said.

"Thanks." I was grinning ear to ear, and I could feel my face getting warm.

"We'll take it," Amanda said. "Tilly, go ahead and change, and we'll get out of here."

"Thank God," I thought to myself. I was so ready to leave. Shopping with my mom was always an easier time. My sisters were heavy shoppers. They could make it an all-day affair.

Next, we walked in another funny-smelling place. I couldn't figure out the smell. It was a bunch of different chemicals and perfumes. It was very odd, and I could hear a bunch of chattering women.

"Good morning," I heard Amanda say. "We have my sister here who needs to get her hair fixed up."

"Just your sister?" a voice said. The voice sounded small and very young. It was a woman, but she couldn't have been any older then seventeen. At least, that's what I got from her voice.

"Yes, ma'am, she has a date Saturday and we need her looking good," Amanda said.

"No problem, we'll take great care of her. What's her name?"

"Tilly," I said.

"Okay, Tilly, just have a seat and we'll be right with you."

My sisters led me to a bench, where we sat. It was a cold and hard place to sit. I could hear my two sisters going through books and discussing what kind of hair styles would look good on me, and even on them.

I loved to hear them talk. They always had these deep conversations, yet what they talked about would have absolutely no depth at all. To them, though, it was important.

I never thought that way. I never cared about the next hot actor or the next fashion craze. I always sat around and wondered why things were the way they were. Why we feel the way we do, or what a feeling means. How certain feelings and thoughts are connected, and why we have them. I guess I'm just weird. I mean, I always wondered how people thought and why they thought that way. Why do we worry so much about what people think, or why do we get scared of the unknown? I, for one, wanted to learn as much about it as I could.

Finally my name was called, and my sisters led me to a chair. That's where I sat while some woman played with my hair and discussed with my sisters about how styles would look. It was a frustrating ordeal for me. I hated not knowing what a stranger was doing to me. It was hard for me to put faith in something like that. My mom always handled my hair, and this was very different.

Snip, snip was the only thing I could hear. There were people all around me, and they were talking. I didn't care about that. I could only think of the woman cutting at my head. To top it off, she had a funny voice and smelled of really cheap perfume.

When she was done, she turned me around and showed Amanda and Sara what she had done to my head.

"She looks great," I heard Sara say.

Good, I thought, maybe I could get out of here. This was starting to get to me, yet I had a feeling it wasn't over. I was right. Soon I was over at another table to get a manicure. Then someone started with my feet.

"Isn't this fun?" Amanda said. I did not answer her. I felt like a dress-up doll, and it sucked. There were many other places I would rather have been.

I thanked God when it was over. Finally we returned home, and I was very glad. It was dinner time, and I knew it was going to be another long night. At least it was only one more night.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from A Simple Love Storyby Nicholas M. Clevette Copyright © 2011 by Nicholas M. Clevette. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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