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Lexie
Lexiewasswimmingbeside Nav admiring the schooling fish and stingrays swimming beneath the surface of the water. They communicated together silently, pointing and making faces as they observed new and different things beneath them. The reef was full of life and she could have spent the entire day finding something new to look at.
As she glanced over at Nav she couldn’t help but wonder how different their relationship could have been had they done more fun things like this. Their college relationship consisted of walking around campus and getting drunk in the evenings. Lost in her thoughts, she nearly missed Nav pointing rapidly toward a small gathering of seahorses. He reached his hand out and gently nudged her. Even under the water, it sent an immediate heat to her cheeks.
She felt her legs becoming tired and knew they needed to get out of the water and rest for a little bit. She motioned to Nav, pointing above the water. He nodded and she swam to the top, removing the tube from her mouth and breathing in the fresh, salty air around her. She waited for Nav to pop up above the water and then paddled herself to the shore where she collapsed in a heap of exhaustion right there in the sand. Nav plopped down beside her and she rolled to face him, placing her arm over her eyes, blocking the sun. She met Nav in the same position staring back at her.
“Thanks for this, that was amazing,” she cooed out.
“Of course. I’m glad you’re having a good time.”
Nav placed his arms behind him and sat up, leaning against his raised knees. He tilted his head back to look at her and she followed suit, pulling herself up. As she did their faces remained close together. “I wish we would have done more of this when we were younger,” she said. He turned to face her but said nothing.
“We always wanted to travel together,” Lexie said as she turned to face the water.
“I wanted to. I just couldn’t ever get myself to leave Adam and Tristan behind,” he said, quietly.
She turned her head to face him again and narrowed her eyes. “But that’s exactly what you did do. You left all of us behind.”
He shook his head and she could sense the anger within. “You act as if I left you all behind because I wanted to. As if I had any choice.”
“What are you talking about? Of course, you had a choice. You could have finished school. You could have dropped out. Whatever, no one would have cared. It didn’t matter that you felt worthless or that you were failing classes. We just wanted you in our lives.”
Nav sighed heavily and turned his head allowing his eyes to drop over her face. “There was just a lot going on in my life that no one knew about.”
It was her turn to stare back. “That’s what you said yesterday. But we knew everything about each other...” She trailed off. She thought she knew everything about Nav back then. They shared everything with one another, not a secret between them. “Whatever it was, can you tell me now? Your leaving impacted my life in such a major way. I think I deserve to know.”
He stared out at the ocean and grabbed a handful of sand, letting it slowly slip from his fingers. Without facing her he spoke again. “Your twenty-first birthday.”
Lexie nodded. Nav had skipped her entire party with no excuse or explanation. She of course forgave him, but it was a pivotal moment in their relationship. It was the first time she realized she was falling out of love with Nav, simply because of what she assumed was his lack of caring for her. “What about it?”
“The morning of your birthday I went to Walton’s Jewelry store to pick up your gift and make my final payment. When the cashier ran my card, it was declined. I knew that couldn’t be possible because it was connected to the account that Adam set up for me. Every month he deposited money into it so I had spending money. I never ever used it, so I knew it had to have at least ten thousand dollars in it.” He shook his head and threw a rock he had uncovered in the sand. His muscles rippled as he brought his arm down. “I walked over to the bank and the teller informed me that someone had been taking money out of my account on a monthly basis and it had actually over-drafted that month. I freaked the fuck out because Adam and I were the only ones who had access to the account and I knew Adam wouldn’t do that. Turns out it was my piece of shit father. He was still on the account because he had co-signed it initially since we were minors. I don’t even know how he knew Adam had been funneling money into it.” He dropped his head between his knees and tilted it toward her. “I went straight to that bastard’s house and confronted him. Things got out of control, fists were flying, and next thing I knew I was sitting in jail regretting my entire existence.”
Lexie’s jaw went slack and her heart began to pound in her ears. She always knew Nav had a temper. He showed it off at parties all the time--especially when someone was flirting with her or treating her badly. He and his brothers were always such a protective bunch.
“The asshole and his slutty girlfriend showed up at the jail in the morning and advised me they wouldn’t be pressing charges, but only if I left Otsego and never returned. He claimed I was a bad influence on his new family and he didn’t want anything to do with me. That bastard ruined every good thing I had in my life.” He turned back toward the sea, flicking sand with his fingers.
“I--I didn’t know,” she said.
“How could you? I didn’t show up to your birthday and three weeks later I left for the military.” He placed his arms behind him, opening himself up as he leaned back. “I was an immature idiot. I was terrified of going to jail and having to face the consequences of my actions, even if my dad deserved it.”
Lexie leaned forward against her knees, suddenly unsure of her entire past with Nav. Knowing now that he didn’t leave because he was running from her or something she did, but rather from his asshole dad, made so much more sense to her. She had painted Nav as the villain for so long. She remembered the good times, sure, but they were always clouded by the decisions he made during those six months before he left Otsego.
