Page 58 of The Teacher

But I do worry about him. About who he is. Yeah, I might’ve lost myself in his intense lovemaking but now, sitting on the beach, my mind clears, and I’m reminded about who he is and what he did to me. The pain he caused me. Sure, he’s apologized but is that enough? Should I let him off the hook just because he said a couple of pretty words? Can I really forgive and forget? When I look at his face, will I always be reminded of that moment when I opened the door to the bedroom in that house party eight years ago and saw him on that bed with my best friend? Will I ever erase that moment from my mind?

How do other people do this?

I take in a deep breath, taking in the fresh ocean air.

No. It’ll take actions, not words, to satisfy me. I’ll have to see what Skipper does before I can pass judgment on him. He can’t just say some pretty words, he actually has to live by them.

Then maybe my heart can truly forgive him.

I sigh and run my hands through the soft warm sand. It’s nice out here. Nice to be alone with my thoughts, however raging they are.

A figure runs out from the waves and jogs towards me. A surfer. He’s waving in my direction and I raise a hand to block out the setting sun in order to see him better.

It’s Cove, my brother.

“Hey, sis!” Cove sprints up to me sitting on the beach, a long surfboard under his arm. He’s dripping wet. My brother is tall, probably the same height as Skipper, and slightly skinnier. He’s very athletic after all the training he’s been doing for his surfing competitions. I still can’t believe my brother is a pro surfer. A few years ago, he was partying hard in clubs and screwing girls left right and center, now he’s happily married to my best friend and living the life traveling the world and doing major competitions.

“Hey, Cove.”

“I thought I was seeing you sitting on the beach, I had to come over to check.”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Not much.”

“How’re things?”

Cove shrugs. “Everything’s great. Ripley’s doing pretty good at her job. She’s happy at the hospital, but you probably know that already.”

“I didn’t.”

My best friend and I haven’t spoken much in the last few weeks.

“Really? She was saying how you two should catch up soon. I think she’ll really like that.”

“Yeah, we haven’t had the chance to lately,” I reply. “It’s mostly my fault, my life’s been a crazy mess.”

“A mess? You mean work or your love life?”

I laugh. “Both.”

“Fucking hell, Sandy. Drama. You’re worse than me.”

I smile weakly. “I guess it runs in the family.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asks, sitting down beside me on the sand, placing his surfboard to rest at his feet. He brushes sand off his hands.

“It’s complicated, but you remember Skipper Deep, right?”

“Of course, I remember Skipper. He was at our wedding; I think Dad invited him or something.”

I sighed. “Yeah, of course Dad invited him. Skipper’s a billionaire who basically owns his family’s massive company in America, so of course Dad would’ve loved him to be at your wedding.”

“Typical Dad. And I remember this Skipper guy from, like, a decade ago when you two used to date. Wait, he’s the guy who fucked you over, if I remember right, yeah?”

“Yeah, he did,” I reply. “He’s back and we’ve kinda… begun things again.”