THE rest of the week went by uneventfully, with Alex put in his proper place, we didn't have to endure any more razzing, but Paul was brought back to class, just in case of any more trouble.
After my last class on Friday, I sought out Isaac at what had become his usual "thinking spot" on the bench beside the main classroom building, and he greeeted me with his customary sweet kisses and hugs. We did, however, manage to contain our passion in the presence of Paul, out of respect.
"I have to talk to you Isaac, ALONE." I said , looking over my shoulder at Paul. The three of us got into Isaac's car, a late model Camaro, and drove to his small, dorm-like apartment , a 5 minute drive from school, which I had never been to before.
When we got there, he opened the door of his first floor flat and the first thing I noticed were all the guitars, lovingly placed in stands and lined up in the main living area. There must have been at least 15 of them, I guessed, but upon further inspection, I counted 18 of them, one for each year of my beautiful young mans life. We walked over, and Isaac and I sat down on the large off white leather L-shaped sofa while Paul stood at the door, watching out the window. Ike reached over and handed me a guitar from the back row. It was a cream colored Gibson Les Paul, rather beat up, but obviously the most prized of all the specimens in this glorious collection, as shown by the extreme care that he handled it with. "This is the first guitar I ever owned." he stated, and as I began to place my fingers on the frets to pluck a rudimentary bar chord, he smiled at me and said "Do you want to borrow it? You could practice with it at home and maybe get some chops back enough to do some rhythm guitar for the the demo." He moved closer to me, our faces just inches apart and our bodies separated by the guitar. He leaned over to my ear and whispered "I trust you with it, Jenna. I trust you with my whole life, precious one."and just at the moment we were about to kiss, Paul cleared his throat rather loudly, and Isaac sat back in hs seat.
"Would you do me a huge favor Paul?" he called over to his friend, and Paul said "Uh, like leave you two alone for a few? Sure buddy, I'll go make some tea, maybe knock down a couple of walls or something creative like that." and he turned and left the room.
"Now,where were we?" asked Isaac in his most seductive come hither voice, with the look to match, as he moved back in to kiss me. I backed away, hoping it would clear my head a bit, obvious to the animalisitc tension that was there every time we were this close. "I need to talk to you, and This is IMPORTANT. I have a lot of questions, and for us to continue, I need some answers, NOW!" He sat back on the couch, brought his right leg up and said 'I DO have some explaining to do about the comments that the brick wall made on Tuesday, huh?" I fidgeted and said, "Yes you do, Mr. Hanson." as I fought like hell not to just curl up into his arms and forget about ever knowing what his secret was. "What's all this "Pop Star" stuff, and the National Enquirer business, was that for REAL? And how does our friend Paul figure in all this? Why is he here to guard you to begin with? I'm really confused, but I NEED to know the answers, so spill." Isaac heaved a heavy sigh of resignation and settled in to explain. "You see Jenna, it's like this. I'm actually a pretty famous guy, and I'm not from Milwaukee, I'm from Tulsa Oklahoma. My 2 little brothers and I, we're a band called Hanson. Right now, as of a week ago, we've sold 26 milion records, traveled the entire world twice, and are currently at the top of the charts....look." and he handed me a copy of Billboard Magazine and opened it to the singles charts page. He pointed to the chart and said "Now read me everything you see about the number one single in the country right now." I glanced at the page and did a double take, because, sure enough, was a song called "River" by a band called Hanson, written by none other than I. Hanson/T. Hanson/Z. Hanson. I nearly dropped the magazine and Isaac's prized guitar on the floor as my jaw fell a mile.
I stared at him, the confusion overly apparent on my face as he asked me "Does this change who I am to you? Does this change US?" I could do nothing but sit there, feeling numbed by it all, and trying desperately to comprehend all that I had just seen and been told. "I need to think about this Isaac, and all that goes with it. There really WILL be a scandal when the press gets hold of us, and I don't know if I want to put your bands image through that. How do really think your brothers, your manager, and the whole Hanson Organization will react when they find out you've hooked up with a MUCH older woman? How about your parents? They'll hit the roof for sure with stakes like these." "
"Look, who I'm with is MY business, not anybody elses, besides yours. I'm not a child anymore and if the public has a problem with it, it's THEIR problem. Ths is my choice to make, mine and yours, not some record company executive, and definitely not my managers either. As for my parents, and my brothers and sisters, they know my heart, and they also know that I wouldn't get involved with someone who was less than worthy of it. To me, you are worth everything I've ever worked and strived for in this life. I love you Jenna, and that's all that matters to me. You're all I see and all I want right now, and in my heart, that will never change. Sure as the sun rises, it will never change." I had a new understanding of this man that I never had before and it affected me profoundly, but something in his words caught my songwriter's ever present ear.
"Could you repeat that last sentence again?" He furrowed his eyebrows, shook his head in confusion, and repeated "Sure as the sun rises, it will never change." and I stopped him right there. "As SURELY as the sun." I said. He understood at that point, took his guitar gently out of my hands, and started strumming some chords. The first verse we wrote on that day of revelation went like this:
As surely as the sun rises each day, so my love, will never change. And though the years may come and go, My love will only grow and grow.
When the song was finished, I took the guitar out of his hands, placed it ever so gently back into its stand, sat down next to Isaac, wrapped my arms around him and said with all the emotion I had inside of me "I TRULY do love you Isaac, so very much. It will never change, not now, not ever. I take you here inside of me forever, no matter what. I love YOU, Clarke Isaac Hanson, for keeps." and I kissed him passionately to seal the statement and as we sat there together in each others arms, he whispered in my ear "I truly do love you too. This is my future, my choice, and the rest of my life all in this moment and these words. Forever I will love you , my precious one." and we kissed again, not caring what was going on in the world, our entire LIVES wrapped up in these moments, to be cherished forever and always.