AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I shake my head, smiling at her shenanigans. “Real mature,” I say through the speaker, my eyes now focused on the body of water around us. Three seconds later, the water ripples and something dark blue rises out of the water and plops back in with a perfect arc.
“Oh my God, it’s a dolphin,” Charlotte exclaims, the binoculars back on her eyes. “Get over here, Chris,” she orders through her walkie-talkie.
With a full-blown grin, I enable the auto-pilot function and leave the compartment to stand beside her by the railings. About two minutes later, a pod of dolphins jumps out of the water, giving us quite the show.
Charlotte jumps slightly on her feet, practically close to bursting from excitement. “They are so beautiful,” she says.
But my eyes are glued to her now, rather than the dolphins. The wind must have blown through her hair because the loose bun from earlier is gone and her beautiful blonde hair falls down her back. “Yes, so beautiful,” I whisper. She really is beautiful.
“Here, you should get a closer look.” She shoves the binoculars into my hands, jolting me out of my thoughts.
I take the binoculars, peering into them to get the full ocean experience. It truly is beautiful, but something about sharing this moment with Charlotte makes it even more perfect.
“Did you know that bottlenose dolphins swallow fish head first?”
I turn to her and return the binoculars. “Yes, and I know they do that so the fish’s spines won’t get caught in their throat.”
Charlotte eyes me curiously for a second. “Is there anything you don’t know?” She finally says with a pout that somehow manages to make her look even more beautiful.
I grin at her obvious disappointment. “Lots of things,” I reply and she rolls her eyes. “Fine, tell me another fun fact about dolphins.”
She perks up again. “Did you know that dolphins like to blow bubbles? They do it when hunting to herd their prey to the surface. They also use another hunting technique called fish whacking, where they use their tail to hit fish, thereby stunning them and making them easier to catch.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, I bet you didn’t know that,” she smirks, obviously very pleased with herself.
The twinkle in her eyes at beating me in her game makes me chuckle. And I realize how refreshing it is that something as mundane as this can make her so happy. “Tell me, Miss Wilson, what else don’t I know?”
Charlotte then proceeds to launch into an array of fun facts not limited to dolphins alone. As a man who likes to spend his time talking about business and science, it suddenly doesn’t matter to me that our conversation isn’t about any of that. Just the fact that the conversation I’m having is with Charlotte keeps me entertained.
Aside from the storm, I’m quite glad that it’s just the two of us here now. If there were other people around, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t get to see this side of her, because there would be too much going on.
If it wasn’t for the way my fingers itch to caress her lovely skin, I can almost convince myself that it is possible for me to keep things with Charlotte platonic.
Later that night, we lay side by side on the deck watching the night sky twinkle with the illuminating stars scattered across it. The gentle breeze is nothing like the raging storm with rigorous wind that blew last night, but it still makes an impact as it brushes against my skin.
Once in a while, I steal glances at Charlotte, watching her smile up at the sky and attempt to tame the unruly curls on her head dancing to the tune of the breeze. We’ve tired each other out with questions, games, and randomly chasing each other around the boat. I never want this to stop.
If I close my eyes, I can almost imagine every other day being like this, just me and her. We would laze around, eat, talk, make love, watch the stars every night and fall asleep in each other’s arms. It is the life that I yearn for, but one I’m not sure I will ever get.
I curse at the universe in my head. Why hadn’t I met Charlotte Wilson before all of the other women that made it clear that they had ulterior motives? If only she had been born then.
I have no idea what makes me say my next words, but perhaps there’s something in the air urging me. Maybe it’s because after everything we’ve done and shared today, it feels wrong to let her go to bed thinking I rejected her because I feel nothing for her.
“I haven’t had the best experience with women…” I exhale and pause, but it seems like Charlotte knows how hard this is for me, because she doesn’t talk. Instead, she swivels her head to the side, watching me patiently. “My ex-wife, Ava’s mother, was everything I always wanted in a woman. Smart, funny, loving, sophisticated, someone that I could build a family with. It was even better because she was from a wealthy home as well, so we understood each other. When we had Ava, things couldn’t be more perfect. But it turns out it was never enough.” I exhale forcefully as I relay the memories I’ve buried deeply for a long time.
Beautiful green eyes stare back at me but there’s no pity in them, just patience and support. When her hand slips into mine, I almost gasp from the feeling it elicits.
I find courage in her silent encouragement and I continue. “It turned out my perfect wife was in love with someone else and she was ready to ruin me completely just so she could be with him. We had signed a prenup before getting married so she knew divorcing me without a concrete reason wouldn’t favor her. So, she infiltrated my business instead and painted me as a fraud.
At first, I was too heartbroken to really fight back, but that changed the moment she decided to get full custody of our daughter.” I chuckle bitterly. “She had already taken everything from me but I refused to let her take Ava, too.”
Charlotte’s hand squeezes mine but her expression betrays nothing as she continues to listen to every single word I’m saying.
“Eventually, I got involved with someone else. She was actually the lawyer in charge of my case, and at the time, it seemed like the universe was compensating me for the shitty life card I had been dealt. Her name was Yolanda and she had fought for me with everything in her until we won the case. I thought, finally, someone that understands. But she had been just the same. She wanted no part in raising Ava. In fact she pushed for me to grant my ex-wife full custody. All she wanted was me and my money and I found that out the hard way. There were two other women after her and I had similar experiences with them.”
I turn on my side fully, pulling myself up with my elbow as support so that I am staring down at her. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that I have not had the best experiences when it comes to women and relationships. Everyone around me always seems to want something, men and women alike, so I’ve made it a point over the years to never get attached. I let them go before they can think of doing the same to me.” Slowly, I reach my hand out to brush aside the lock of hair that has just blown across her face. “So, it’s not that I feel nothing for you, Charlotte. It’s that you deserve better than what I’m willing to offer.”
