Dancing In The Rain

For as long as I could remember I’d had a dream- one day a handsome man (who looked suspiciously like Zac Efron, forgive me I was only 11 when this dream came to be) would take me on fairytale like date that would end with us dancing to the beat of our own hearts in the midst of a summer downpour. After countless marathons of Step Up, Dirty Dancing and, yes, High School Musical- I find myself often wondering when I would get my Hollywood moment with my very own Noah. I would find myself dreaming of the dance daily, wondering when I would find the one and I would get the chance to live a love worthy of a Nicholas Sparks novel. I guess I’ve always wanted a silver screen cliché.

Then you came along and instead of Noah, or any of the other dreamy characters I had fallen in and out of love with over the years, it was you I was dreaming of sharing this moment with. However I held back- not wanting to give it to you to early, afraid of wasting my one chance of a Hollywood romance on a love that wouldn’t last. I needed it all to be perfect- the situation, the timing, the partner. It wasn’t until that date in September, almost a whole year after we were first introduced- that I decided to take the plunge.

It was one of the rare days towards the end of the British summer where in our stubbornness we refuse to acknowledge the grey clouds and partake in some stereotypically summery activity or other. You had demanded to see every corner of my hometown so after a whistle-stop tour of the place I had escaped only a few years ago, I decided to take you to one of the few places that I will admit to missing purely for the view. We bought ice cream and sandwiches and used your jacket to set up an impromptu picnic overlooking the lake. We ate, laughed, kissed and fed the ducks before getting up to walk back towards the car. Until that point we had managed to stay warm and dry but it was halfway through the story of how I pushed my dad into the lake that I felt the first droplet hit my nose. Within seconds the rain was pouring but as I tried to drag you under the trees for shelter you pulled me back, refusing to move from your spot. You pulled me closer, placing your hands on my waist and started to rock us slowly, as the rain soaked our clothes and you hummed our song.   

Admittedly it wasn’t quite like the movies- with the water proof makeup, space heaters and perfect staging to make it seem Oscar worthy, our real life un-choreographed imitation was charmingly messy at best. I was shivering from the cold by the end, with makeup running down my face and you were laughably out of time thanks to your two left feet. But still, in that moment it occurred to me that I had never been so in love before because despite our flaws, I still saw our little story as even more beautiful than the story of Jack and Rose; and I knew we’d get a happier ending.