The sunrise

(by Deyse)

After staying inside the studio for nearly the entire day and night, at almost 2 AM, the cast was sent home and the filming was finally over. Roma headed to her dressing room tired and in the most complete silence, but, even without saying a single word, it was possible to see that the Irish actress was very sad: Reilly had to stay with her father during the weekend and she was always trying to prepare herself to spend some days alone. To worsen the situation, on that day, John wasn’t in any of the scenes to be filmed and neither did Della, so the only thing that she could do was bear the sadness without her dearest friend and her secret boyfriend to bring her their usual reassurance and peace.

When she entered the room, however, Roma found a small note attached to the mirror. The paper had been carefully folded and when she opened it she immediately recognised the familiar handwriting, "Go to the back of the studio and check the back door..."

Chuckling, and with an intrigued expression on her face, Roma headed to the other entrance of the studio, at the back. It was empty already, as most of the people who worked on the scenarios had gone home. There, stuck on the door, there was another little note: "Go to the parking area..."

The Irish actress obeyed to that order and arrived at the parking area where she saw another note on the windshield of her car: "Go to the black car near at the entrance of the parking area..."

Smiling, as she knew pretty well to whom the car in question belonged to, she walked over to the vehicle, where there was another note, also in the windshield, "You’ve been kidnapped again, Ms Downey!"

And this time, she heard a dear voice right from behind her, "And there’s no way to escape!"

With a broad smile upon her face, she turned around and saw John standing behind her, "I would never try to anyway!"

"I wish I could hold you tight and kiss you a hundred times but there are a few people watching, so..." He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. Roma gazed at him with so much love in her eyes it ached. The sadness in her heart was far too clear, but his presence seemed to fight against it, to put aside all her sorrow for not having little Reilly with her at least for some moments.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you..." she spoke, with some tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

John gently stroked her face, "There’s no other place I’d be other than by your side, Roma..." then, he smiled again, "And I mean it, you’ve just been kidnapped, Ms Downey! Now, if you please, get into the car and wait until the next order..." he joked, opening the door for her.

Giggling, she happily obliged him, "You’re certainly the most polite and adorable kidnapper in the world!"

Chuckling, the blond actor got into the car and sat beside her, "That’s because I’m a kidnapper who is hopelessly in love!"

"Oh, well, in that case, I must warn you that you have a hostage who is hopelessly in love too, Mr!"

"Good to know! That’ll only make things easier!"

"Where are we going?"

"We’re going to have dinner..."

"Oh... I see... Did you pick the restaurant already?"

This time, he smiled enigmatically, "Yes..."

"And... Which one is it?"

"Nope... this is top secret information, honey." He replied, enjoying the curious expression on her face. Then John started the car and both left the parking area.

*

30 minutes later, Roma noticed that he got the road to the countryside.

"So... May I ask my handsome and adorable kidnapper where he’s taking me?"

"I told you about 30 minutes ago: we’re going to have dinner..."

"I can’t see any restaurant around here!"

"You’re such a curious hostage!" saying that, he turned his head to place a quick kiss on her cheek. Then, with his attention back to the road, he kept on speaking, "I don’t want any reporter or anybody staring at us so I chose a new restaurant... I guess you’ll like it, it has a beautiful view..."

Roma continued to look at him with her heart filled with love, "If you chose it, then I’m sure I’ll like it..." watching as his smile grew wider, she gently stroked his handsome face, "Besides... I’ll be with you, Johnny, and you make every place special to me..."

At that exact moment, he slowed down and stopped the car, without turning the motor off. With his eyes full of love and shining with adoration for her, he gently grabbed her face in his both hands and placed a loving sweet kiss on her lips, which lasted for a long minute.

"I just couldn’t resist..." he said, tenderly kissing her cheeks and nose, "You’re the most adorable person I’ve ever met."

"Well... I’m wondering if I can charm you in order to tell me where we’re going..."

Laughing, he startled the car again. "Well, you sure charm me by whatever you do, sweetie... but you know something? You’re adorable when you get curious too!"

Although she had a content smile upon her face and took to her heart every loving word that came from his mouth, Roma sighed impatiently as they continued on the road heading to John’s mysterious place.

*

The blond actor drove up in the mountains for about 2 hours until they arrived at a spot from where it was possible to see the city at a distance; thousands of small lights shining through the silent and pleasant night. John stopped the car at a point away from the road and turned to look at Roma: she was sound asleep in the passenger’s seat, with a content smile upon her meek face . That image caused him to smile tenderly and he didn’t wake her up immediately. Much on the contrary, John spent about 10 minutes just staring at his beloved friend, his secret love, treasuring each and every second by her side.

It was almost 5 AM when he opened the car door, being careful not to wake her up, and took a basket with food in the car trunk.

Half hour later, John got back into the car again and started to stroke Roma’s face, watching fascinated as she slowly opened her eyes.

"Johnny..."

"Wake up, sleeping beauty..." he gently took some strands of hair off her face.

"What time is it?"

"5:30 AM."

"You’ve been driving for 2 hours?"

"Yes, about 2 hours." he never stopped caressing her face, until the moment she was fully awake and looked at their surroundings.

"Where are we?"

"We arrived at the restaurant I told you..." watching her inquisitive look, he helped her out of the vehicle, "Come with me, you must be hungry..."

Although the day would start in a few hours, there were some stars in the sky, and John let the car highlights on, allowing them to see clearly their surroundings.

A few steps from the car, Roma covered her mouth with her hand when she saw the picnic towel on the ground and a complete meal waiting for the two of them.

"John!"

"I hope my beautiful and adorable hostage likes the accommodations!" he said, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind and kissing the top of her head.

"Oh John... you didn’t have to..."

"Of course I did! I thought that maybe you’d like to have a picnic without anybody to bother us. But I’m not sure if this is a late dinner or an early breakfast..."

She quickly turned around so that she could face him. "I love it anyway!"

The blond actor placed some strands of hair behind her ears. "Besides, something will happen in a couple of hours and I want to share it with you..." he spoke, holding her tightly and brushing a tiny kiss on her lips.

"Something? What is it?"

"A beautiful sunrise."

Smiling broadly, she wrapped her arms around his neck and stood on the tip of her toes to cover his face with lots of kisses.

*

The sky was orange coloured by the time they had finished eating and now John and Roma sat on the ground leaning on a stone and facing the breathtaking view from the mountains. Although it wasn’t cold, Roma snuggled up to John and they held each other in a tight, warm embrace.

"That was the sweetest thing somebody has ever done for me..." she spoke, and sighed with contentment.

"Well, Miss Downey, I must warn you that this is just the beginning..." he kissed her temple, "I plan on doing thousands of sweet things for you during all the days of your life, if you let me..."

Roma turned to face him and her eyes were suddenly filled with tears which rolled down her cheeks a second later, nearly scaring the blond actor, "Roma? What... what is it?..."

She took his hand into both of hers, "I’m sorry... It’s just that... You make me so happy. And I was supposed to say that you’re the sweetest and most loving man I’ve ever met in my whole life..."

"Roma..."

"When I look back I realise something... I... I wasn’t happy, John... I’ve been hurt and suffered way too much..."

He quickly held a finger to her lips. "No, sweetie, please, I don’t want you to remember this, it’s in the past now..."

"No, it’s ok... There are a few moments when those past memories come to my mind but now they don’t make me sad anymore. When I was invited to take part on the show I had no idea of the present I’d receive..."

"No, you are the blessing here, honey..."

With a gentle smile, mixed with tears that had fallen from her eyes, the Irish actress shook her head and placed her hand on his cheek. "You know... I had a sad childhood and a miserable youth... but somewhere in my sad and miserable past, I guess I must have done something good, because here you are, loving me, whether or not you should..."

He looked deep inside her eyes, "Oh yes, you did and do wonderful things throughout your life, Roma, be sure of it. And, to me in particular, the most wonderful of them is to fill my existence with happiness and with your love..." he cupped her chin, his green eyes sparkling with love for her, "And I love you. I’ve been loving you for 8 years and I intend to love you at least for the next 80 years, sweetie. This is as sure as this sunrise..."

They looked at the orange sky and marvelled as the first sun rays started to shine from behind the mountains and touch their skin. John looked down at her again with all his love evident on his face, "And this one is just for you..." he whispered. She shifted her position in his arms so that they could be face to face and they shared a long, loving and tender kiss.

When they finally pulled away, the Irish actress traced a line with her fingertips along his strong jaw. "Looking back at my past I used to think that I would never be happy again... I was so wrong... You are my sunrise, John..."

"So are you to me, my love..." with his heart filled with adoration and affection, John didn’t waste any second in grabbing her face and kissing her lovingly and slowly once again. She felt him tightening his hold on her and running his fingers through her auburn hair, and both secretly prayed that that moment could last forever.