Blind love (Part V)

Every night that Ariel goes up the stairs, Brandon is drawn more to her. He has never met a woman whose only interest was his well-being and not his money. He knew that she was special and longed to hold her, to touch her, and to one day, know what she looked like. He was beginning to fall in love with her. He decided that it didn’t even matter what she looked like. It was her and her heart that he loved. He just wanted to be with her.

A month had passed; he was waiting all day so that he could ask her something. She finally arrived and he took her hand as she sat down. The most they did up to that point was to hold hands and that was enough for them for now. He smiled at her and said, “ I want to ask you something and I want you to give it serious thought before you answer me, okay?” She didn’t know what to expect so she answers, “ Okay, I promise. What do you want to ask me?” He replies, “ I am going to the doctor tomorrow. I know that my eyes are not healed yet but I feel that I am capable of moving around a little now. I was going to ask him if I could go out to eat, one night. If he says that I can, will you go out with me? I promise that you can name the place to go to. We will go to a place where no one knows you. Please, I want to take you out. We can’t hide in my room forever! Besides, I need you to keep me from walking into a wall. Think about it before you answer, okay?” She doesn’t know what to do. On one hand, she would love to go out with him. On the other, someone might recognize her and tell him who she really is. She didn’t know how to answer him. She just sat there and thought for a while. She imagined how it would be to actually go out in the public with him. She finally came up with an idea and said, “ I will meet you at a restaurant if your doctor tells you that you can. I will decide which one we can go to while you are at the doctor tomorrow. We can talk about it tomorrow night, okay?” He smiles at her and says, “ That’s good enough for me.” She comes to a realization and sits back in her chair in sadness. Brandon senses that something is wrong and asks, “ Is there anything wrong, Casper, you’re awful quiet over there.” She sits up and holds his hand and tries to explain, “I’m afraid that our time together is going to come to an end soon. I told you that when your bandages come off, I wouldn’t be back to see you. It has to be that way. I don’t want you to know who I am. I am going to miss you.” She starts to cry. He squeezes her hand and says, “Please, don’t cry! I don’t understand why you don’t want me to know who you are! I don’t care who you are. Are you hiding from the law? Are you in some type of trouble? Please tell me! I can get you the best lawyers. If you are disfigured in some way, I don’t care! I care a lot for you. I don’t want to lose you!” She consoles herself in the thought that he cares for her and says, “Why are we worrying about something that hasn’t even happened yet. We are still together now and that is all that matters.” She laughs and continues, “ And to answer some of your questions; no, I am not in any trouble with the law. I never have been and no, I am not disfigured, at least I wasn’t the last time that I looked in the mirror. I hope that eases your mind a little bit. Please! Let’s talk about something else, okay?” They finish the evening spending time together and she leaves once more.

The next day, Brandon arrives at the doctor’s office and is taken to see the doctor. He examines his eyes and tells him, “ Your eyes are progressing well, but I think that the bandages need to stay on a while longer. I’m sorry.” Much to the doctor’s surprise, Brandon smiles and says, “ I agree with you doctor, the bandages need to stay on as long as it takes. I don’t mind. How about another month, can I keep them on for another month, doc.?” Brandon is happy to hear that the bandages have to stay on for a while longer. It will give him that much more time to spend with Casper. He knows that he will have a lifetime of sight and only a short time with her. He is willing to sacrifice his sight for a few more weeks with her. The doctor is a little taken aback at his attitude and answers, “ Yes, I believe another month will do the trick. Completely healed is better than almost healed. You just keep on doing what you have been and I will see you in a month.”

Brandon gets up and asks, “ I want to know if I can go out to eat. I have someone special and I would like to take her out. Would that be all right, doctor?” The doctor thought about it and said, “ As long as you don’t make a habit of it, Mr. Cartwright. You still need to get plenty of rest and not strain yourself. I suppose that one night out, won’t hurt you. Have a good time.” Brandon thanked him and said good-bye. On the way home in the limo, he just sits there without saying anything to his chauffeur. He normally talks to him so he asks, “ Is there something bothering you, Sir? You're pretty quiet back there. Was your checkup okay?” Brandon answers, “ My checkup was fine, James. I have to keep the bandages on for another month.” James assumes that he is upset about that and says, “ I’m sorry to hear that, Sir.” Brandon shakes his head and explains, “ I’m not upset about that. It is something else. How is it possible that I can be in love with someone that I have never seen?” James is confused and asks, “ What do you mean, sir?”

Brandon laughs and says, “ I know it sounds strange, James, but it’s true. Since my accident, I have met this woman who I feel so close to. We talk to each other every night and I love being with her. The thing about it, she isn’t interested in my money. She only cares about me. I don’t know what she even looks like, but in my mind, I see a beautiful woman. I know that I want to be with her and I am really not worried about how she looks. She won’t even tell me her name. I call her, Casper, because she is a ghost to me. She told me that she would only be around as long as I can’t see her because she doesn’t want me to know who she is. I just don’t know what to do! I don’t want to lose her. I don’t care who she is!” James is totally confused and says, “ I hope things turn out for you, Sir.”

Ariel is at the mansion worried about her promise to Brandon. During her lunch break, she talks, in private, to Sharon. Sharon can see that she is worried about something so she asks, “ You look a little down today, Sugar, what is going on?” Ariel shakes her head and explains, “ Last night, Brandon asked me if I would go out to dinner with him. He begged me so much that I finally said yes. Now I don’t know what to do! I know that no one will know me because we won’t be eating at Mc Donald’s, if you know what I mean. The thing is, I don’t even have anything to wear. I am supposed to tell him where to take me and I wouldn’t even know where to go in the first place. I don’t know what to do!” Sharon starts laughing and says, “ Girl, you must really love him to take so many chances like this. If you really want to go, I think that I can help you out. I will show you after work. As far as where to go, I would go to that new place. You know, the one where you can eat and dance all in one. Folks like us can’t afford it so you should be safe there. No one from around here will be there. That’s for sure. I think it is called “ Chez Charles” or something like that. Come on, we need to get back to the grindstone.” They both get up and go back to work.

After work, they go to their room and Sharon goes into her closet and pulls a big box out. She opens it and pulls out a beautiful blue evening gown. She holds it up to show Ariel and says, “ I bought this thing a few pounds ago when I was your size. I’m afraid that this dress and me will never go out with each other. I promised it that I would take it to a nice place, one day. I would like for you to have it. It will never see the light of day with me. Please take it.” Ariel takes it and hugs her. She gets misty-eyed and says, “It’s beautiful! I don’t know what to say!” Sharon smiles and says, “ What are friends for, honey? Besides, I want to keep my promise to the dress. By the way, I also have a cute necklace that I can let you use. It ain’t much but it’s real pearls. We’ll get you all fixed up nice and pretty!” Ariel hugs her again and says, “I don’t know what I would do without you.” Later that night Ariel meets Brandon at the usual time. When she walks into his room, he is sitting with a big grin on his face. She walks over to his bed and sits down in the chair next to it. She giggles a little and asks, “What is that big grin for. You look like the cat that ate the canary?” He responds, “First, I want to let you know that the doctor told me that I have to keep the bandages on for another month. We can be together for another month! Isn’t that great?” She didn’t know how to answer his question. She was happy that they would be together for another month but was concerned about his willingness to go without his sight for her. She takes his hand in hers and says, “ I am happy that we will be together for another month but if I could trade that for you being better, I would. Your eyesight is a lot more important than me being with you. I don’t feel right that you are acting happy because you can’t see. If I am keeping you from progressing the way that you should, I would never forgive myself!” He squeezes her hand and says, “ I will get my sight back. The doctor said that I was making progress. It was he who told me to keep the bandages on for another month. Instead of being upset about it, if I were alone, I have you, so I wasn’t upset. Is there any wrong in that? I am happy that I won’t lose you for now. Please don’t be upset.” She puts her other hand on top of his and replies, “ I’m not upset. I just want to see you better, that’s all. As long as you do what the doctor says, then I won’t fuss at you, okay?” He smiles and tells her, “The doctor also said that I could take you out one time for dinner. Where do you want to go? I can have the chauffeur pick you up wherever you want. How are we going to work this?” She tells him about the restaurant and that she will meet him there on the following night at seven o’clock.