This blog post shares one of the scenes in "Topless Delivery" that I had originally edited out of the book. After months of careful deliberation, I decided to add the scene to the updated versions of the book. The scene takes place on the oceanfront patio at Chad and Heather's wedding reception. David had recorded the mini-concert by Pure Ecstasy and had just received permission from Michelle, the band's manager, to upload the video to his YouTube account.
I bring out my
trusty laptop computer and set it up on a small round table on the oceanfront
patio. Once the setup is complete, I take the memory card from the video
camera out of my pocket and insert it into the card reader on the side of my
computer. There is a strong wireless internet connection here. Now
that I've obtained Michelle's consent on behalf of the band, it's time to
upload the Pure Ecstasy concert video to my YouTube. Two minutes later, I
see that the upload is successful. Let's see how the video turned
out.
Ashley emerges
from the Grand Ballroom and says, "Hi, sweetie. Michelle told me
that I'd find you out here uploading our performance onto YouTube. I can
hardly wait to see it myself."
Because YouTube
videos are limited to 10 minutes in length, I have to upload six different
segments onto my account. The first segment features my performance of
"Dance Across the Sky," the song I had written for my future First
Dance with Ashley. Chad and Heather asked me to play it live for
theirs. Now, it's our turn to give it a spin.
I click on the
link and ask her, "Ashley, may I have this dance?"
She touches my
cheek and sweetly replies, "David, I'd be honored."
It is not until
we start dancing real slow and real close do I realize that I accidentally
clicked on the link to my rendition of "O Canada", which I played in
a slow string setting. Weirdly enough, she doesn't seem to notice my
little technical glitch, until she notices a tear in my eye.
Ashley
wipes the tear from my face and sweetly asks, "Sentant un peu la
nostalgie, sommes-nous?" Feeling a little homesick, are we?
I softly reply,
"Oui, un peu," as she wraps her arms even more tightly around me and
kisses me. Yes, a little.
After a hot,
deep kiss that causes her knees to buckle a little bit, she asks, "David,
à quand remonte la dernière fois que vous avez visité Toronto?" David, when
was the last time you visited Toronto?
I reply,
"Ashley, il ya eu au moins dix ans despuis que je suis
là." It's been at least ten years since I've been
there.
She says,
"Toronto est une ville magnifique. J'adorerais y aller avec
vous." Toronto is such a beautiful city. I'd love to
go there with you.
I kiss her and
say, "J`ai hàte de vous montrer les endroits où j`ai grandi.
Peut-ètre que nous pouvons mème prendre un jeu des Blue Jays au Rogers
Centre." I look forward to showing you the places where I
grew up. Perhaps we can catch a Blue Jays game at Rogers Centre.
Reaching the
laptop a few seconds later, I check my YouTube playlist and make sure that the
segments of Pure Ecstasy's concerts were loaded in the correct order...and they
were. I click on the first segment, which features my song, "Dance
Across the Sky."
Upon hearing my
piano intro, I gently take Ashley's hand and softly ask, "Ashley, Puis-je
avoir cette danse?" Ashley, may I have this dance?
Her deep
sapphire eyes light up as she sweetly, yet excitedly, replies,
"Absolument!" Absolutely!
As we
dance slowly and gracefully out here on the patio, we gaze into each other's
eyes and lose all sense of time and space. We don't notice that several
other couples join us in what we thought was a very private dance. We
conclude this dance with a hot, deep kiss that leaves us both tripping.
Only when we hear them cheering are we aware of their presence.
Ashley laughs and says in a state of
total disbelief , "I can't believe that we just danced to the national
anthem of your former homeland."
Laughing as Ashley and I embrace
tightly, I reply, "Oops! I clicked the wrong link...or could it just be a
Freudian slip?"
Ashley says, "Honey, I've yet to find a danceable
rendition of 'The Star-Spangled Banner'.
Now that would be the ultimate power rock ballad!"
I pause for a moment and reply, "I can imagine hearing it now, performed
by Metallica on a CD titled, 'O Say Can You Rock, 'Till the Dawn's Early
Light.' It just wouldn't sound right
without that James Hetfield growl.
However, I did hear a recording of 'O Canada' by Rush that sounded
really cool."
You will notice a few parallels here in this scene. Keep in mind that while David was born in Chicago, he was raised in Toronto and often thinks more like a Canadian than like an American. As the National Anthem is performed before the start of a ball game, it is appropriate here because David and Ashley are starting a new phase in their relationship with David moving in with Ashley the following day. It is known that Ashley and David are both bilingual. This is their first conversation with each other in French, although she has conversed in French with David's mother, who was born and raised in Montreal. I like to refer to this scene as David's "Rosebud Moment". If you have ever watched "Citizen Kane", you will know what I mean.
The idea for this scene came from a remark that the daughter of a lady I once dated had made to me about a song that her mother really liked. I responded by saying, "That would be like dancing to the National Anthem", as that song held a special meaning in my own life as well.
