The Stuff I Leave Behind

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The second scene I have edited out of "Topless Delivery" takes place out on the oceanfront patio at the Marriott Grande Dunes Resort, where Chad and Heather's wedding reception is taking place. In this scene, David brings out his laptop computer and uploads the video footage of Pure Ecstasy's musical performance from earlier in the evening to YouTube.

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, 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.

I edited this scene completely out of the book because one would have to hear the music and the dialogue in order to understand the meaning. I got the idea from a remark made to me by the daughter of a lady I once dated, referring to a particular song that her mother liked. I replied by saying, "That would be like dancing to the national anthem," as that song held a special significance in my life. However, if "Topless Delivery" is ever made into a movie, I hope to use that scene in the film version.