The stereo plays inaudibly, the breeze blows through stealthily and the sunset rays seep through the rear window.
They both hum to the beats of their favorite meditation tune…
“Roll up and smoke my sins away, I’d like to go to St. Tropez, Maybe I’ll go maybe I’ll stay.”
For the past two months, they had brewed a culture of driving to the hills to watch the beautiful sunset. They would park and chill at the backseats of Tay’s vintage merc and roll up and levitate.
They levitated to other worlds, got the reward of happiness, something that had grown rare at the time.
We knew him as Taylor, but she called him Tay. Their connection was special and sort of in-built. She knew the bright side and the dark side of Tay and all the messy stuff he had gotten into. But she never felt such trust and intimacy around anyone else. She even knew of the dirty deals he once led. But since first sight, their connection was something extraordinary. Their friendship, built on trust, safety and boundless love. Something she never wanted to take for granted.
We knew her as Yasmin, but he called her Yas. He knew her way too deeply, her wounds, fresh and those that had lasted, he knew every beauty spot and all stretchmarks garnished on her skin. He even knew of the bruise she got during a fight with her boyfriend. He knew of her dark secrets, her mistakes that she had covered up and her addictions that nobody knew.
Every sunset is a chance to reset right? Well, when the sun set, they forgot about everything. Life became just the two of them. This is where they never had to be careful.
“You don’t know what you did, did to me. Your body lightweight speaks to me”
Chris brown was always the beginning of their mistake. And yet, all the time, it felt right being wrong. Most people wait for the weed to start hitting. Tay and Yas got high off their emotions and they both would blame it on the second blunt. Anyone would call them brave for sneaking links. But they both knew what they were most afraid of, admitting that love for them was simply each other’s company.
With their phone on DND and plenty of room in the backseat, there was no denying the desires that turned the hotbox into a space of heated lust.
Yas usually kept to herself when it came to the outside world, that meant, her boyfriend. But in this world, her world with Tay, she felt powerful, appreciated, wanted, seen and most significant to her…validated.
Tay had easily become her haven. Time with him was almost infinite. Nothing ever felt compelled. So, when she got overrun by her own emotions, she couldn’t bring herself to wait for the first moves from him. Together, they made something else out of sunsets. They created passion out of their euphoric dreams. And then, they would blame it on the weed.
Time would stop. Tay often battled his conscience. And every time, he realized he was lying to himself. Yas was obviously the weakness he somehow craved. Nothing compared to the other girl everyone believed to be his other half. Yas was…his everything. But still, every time, he dismissed the thought of having everything.
It’s true that what is forbidden is ineffably desirable. Tay and Yas becoming a plain sight was rather a hidden view. Both feared risks. Jumping off the cliff wasn’t that easy.
But if their spot right by the hill was too beautiful to look at, they knew the long ride would restart again…with every sunset but this time with a change of heart.
Written by: Guncho & Diana Indigo.