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“What is it?”
“Let me teach you to drive the boat. There is a secluded cove about two miles down the coast. It’s perfect for diving, snorkeling, and private for other activities should the mood strike.”
“Sounds like we’ll work up an appetite.”
“Likely quench one too,” he winks. “So what do you say, Bella? Are you ready?”
I wrinkle up my nose and smile. Simply being in his presence gives me everything I need, and didn’t know I needed, to fill my soul.
With my sunglasses on, Rafael can’t see how wide my eyes really are being the driving force behind this boat. It must cost more than my parents’ house and I’m in charge of it. We skirt the coast. His body curls around mine from behind with his hands at nine and three while mine are at ten and two. He’s very gentle in his teaching, even when I thought I got too close to the rocks. He didn’t flinch. He simply guided me away.
When he could see I was getting too tense, we’d point more toward the open water and throttle the engine. My hair that was wet from our swim to the boat is now nearly dry from the heat of the sun and the wind flowing all around us. Every so often I would get a gentle kiss on the top of my head and his hands would slide over mine.
After I decide it’s time to tap out on my time as captain, Rafael takes over while I settle in my position in front of the console. Once I’m nested in, he opens it up for an adventure of his choosing. He was really holding back with me at the helm. He zigzags back and forth, allowing us to bounce along the waves. Every time I laugh, he smiles so big I can’t tell which is brighter, him or the sun.
Sometimes I can get an image of myself in his aviator sunglasses. I look rested. I look content. I look happy. Not only do I look it, I feel it. All of the anxiety I’ve had for the last few days about coming here and being alone with him is long gone. I meant what I said to him. I only want to learn about him and watch him relax into who he is without the cameras, or anyone really, watching him.
We circle back and into the cove we’ve passed a few times and enter. The rock formations are high on either side with a black sand beach in front of us. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“I’m happy your first time is with me.”
“You could say that about a few things at this point,” I joke. Now it’s his turn to blush, even in the glow of the sun. “Have I embarrassed you?”
“Not at all. Just pleased me a great deal.” I hear the chains descend into the water until they anchor the front of the boat so the waves can take us in lazy circles should the mood strike. “Go ahead and take a look over the side.”
I slide my glasses to the top of my head and peer into the water. I didn’t notice it when we were moving, but the water is as clear as glass. You can see all the way to the bottom. Every fish, shell…everything is right there to be witnessed. “This is so beautiful.”
“If you were a more experienced diver, they have a wonderful coral reef on the other side.”
“How did you find this place? I could tell you’ve been here before.”
“I stumbled on this paradise about five years ago. A friend and I were doing a film on an island a couple up the chain from here. On a weekend break, we went exploring and this is what we found. I try to come here regularly. It’s like you said about some of the places you travel. It feels like home for you. That’s what this feels like for me. I found our villa about three years ago and won’t stay anywhere else if I can help it.”
I turn my face to the sun and let my impending freckles have a field day. Rafael’s hands encapsulate mine on the deck rail. I can feel his frame tower over behind me. “This feels like heaven.”
He slides the stubble of his cheek over my temple. “I couldn’t have said it better myself. Would you like to go for a proper swim? I made sure we had plenty of towels, water, and a few snacks placed in the small galley below, in case we got hungry.”
“I would like that. I have a thing I do when I’m near the ocean, if you’d like to help me.”
“Of course,” he smiles.
“I’m obsessed with seashells. I bet there are some beautiful ones on the shore over there. Would you search with me? I’d like to dry them out and take them home for my collection.”
“Memories of the sea?”
“And you. Pick what speaks to you. That’s what makes them special.”
Rafael
As I watch Ava dive headfirst off the back of the boat into the warm water, I find I’m mesmerized, yet again, by the simplest of motions she makes. The way her hands slide through the water as she swims. The gentle clips of her legs back and forth. She glides with the grace of a mermaid.
The emerald shade of her swimsuit casts in a stunning way against the paleness of her skin. The only thing bluer than the water are the irises of her eyes. With her hair wet they stand out even more. She’s completely hypnotic.
I don’t want her too far from me. When I’ve gotten my fix in the moment, I dive in after her. My strokes close in on her quickly. When I reach chest height in the water, initially I intend on chasing after her to hear her laughter. As I come up for air, the image I find takes all the air I had.
Ava is walking delicately across the sand, allowing the waves to lick at her toes. She’s hyper-focused on everything around her. Anything that shimmers at her feet, she crouches or bends to see what it could be. She has the curiosity and tenderness of a child and a gentleness to her I’ve rarely seen.
She takes great pleasures in the smallest things. This hunt for her treasures today is important. Ava is uncaring of her being watched in this private moment. She could be in the middle of a crowd or as she is now, by herself, and you’d see the same woman. My Bella is wholly unassuming.
