Sweet Revenge

The first thing we did was water skiing. It had been a while since I’d attempted water skiing, but I’ve always been a good swimmer so I said we would try it out. It was Ted’s idea that I go first.

I got set up on my skis and grabbed the rope line securely, while Ted hopped behind the wheel of the motorboat we’d rented. He was a surprisingly great driver and didn’t try to make me go too fast for my own good, but he made sure that I was able to keep a good, challenging pace for myself. He always knew me and what I could handle. That was a gift, a talent he had. There was just some way that he had of reading me always. I liked to think I had the same with him, but he truly had been blessed with a skill I don’t think I have been.

“Do some tricks!” Ted yelled playfully as I sped along.

Being out on the skis again made me realize how much time I’d devoted to work and being alone in my life. Ted had this zest for fun adventure that I used to have. He’d awakened it in me and I was forever grateful to him for that. A part of me had died when my parents did and I’d been forced to grow up too quickly. When that happens to a kid, sometimes the lines between childhood and adulthood can get very blurred. That had happened to me. Some days it felt that I was just going through the motions with no end result in mind, no reset button to start over on a new path.

When that happens to someone it is so easy to get disillusioned and bored with everything.

Being with Ted had become so instrumental in clearing away that kind of clutter in my life. I felt almost reborn being with him. And water skiing that first day of our honeymoon, the first day of the rest of our lives together as husband and wife, was more special than I could ever truly explain.

I pretended to not notice that he had fallen and I drove the boat out a little way before circling around to pick him up.

“That’s hilarious,” Ted said climbing back in the boat.

“I thought so.”

Ted wrapped his arms around me and for a moment I thought he was just going to give me the old heave-ho over into the water, but instead he just held me closely and kissed me as I pretended to resist and squirm.

“I love you,” Ted said. His sweet voice whispering those words in my ear was something I would never get over. And so far he’d whispered those sweet words into my ear at least once a day, usually two or three times. And every single time he did it felt like the first time. The world stood still around us and I just felt at home with him.

“So, have you read up on Acapulco recently?” Ted asked after he’d had his turn. I was impressed with the way he slid across the water. He kept urging me to go faster until I was moving along full throttle. The show off even did a few flips and one handed maneuvers. Eventually, he tried the one-foot approach and fell topsy-turvy into the water.

“What do you mean?”

Ted was smiling and chuckling to himself as he looked over his phone.

“I was researching some fun things to do around here the other day and I bookmarked a few things I wanted to check out. There is an underwater cave network not far from here that might be really fun to look at. I’ve always loved natural wonders like that.”

“Yeah, me too,” I said. “My family went on vacation in Virginia once and we found a lot of cool stuff like that there.”

“So, let’s do it,” Ted said.

* * *

“I can’t get over how tasty this rice dish is here,” Ted said.

I loved watching the man eat. I’d never seen someone really devour their food so quickly while enjoying it so heavily all at the same time. It was almost like he was making love to it and I found myself jealous of that dish.

The day had been busy but exciting. After leaving our suite we went on the guided tour to the Valla Caverns. They were so impressive. It almost looked like something man made at first glance, like a true work of art, but after a few minutes of being down there you were overtaken by the amazing sights, the smells, the feeling that you were standing in something that was possibly older than humanity. If you had any religious beliefs, you were inclined to believe that a divine hand was definitely at work here. The designs on the top of the canyons combined with the smooth rock that formed them clashed together to create something that was both visually stunning and otherworldly beautiful. I felt blessed to be able to walk down there and to breathe the air that was older than I would probably ever know.