Our Way
It’s our third night, and Nathan holds up my hand and twirls me around. I come back and hit his body with a thud, and I laugh out loud. We’ve been dancing in this bar for hours. We wandered in here on our way home from the beach. We had dinner, and now with our beach towels and sunscreen in a bag on the floor, we are having the time of our lives.
Nathan swings me around, and his deep, carefree laugh permeates my bones. This vacation is the stuff dreams are made of.
We’ve eaten at beautiful restaurants and swam in the Mediterranean Sea.
We’ve made love under the stars, and fucked until we couldn’t breathe.
Nathan is swoony, attentive, dry, sarcastic, funny, spontaneous… and I’m in love. Utterly, completely, and irrevocably in love.
Nathan Mercer is everything I never knew I needed. How was I so blind not to feel it before?
* * *
We sit at the small table outside the restaurant. The cobblestone streets house medieval looking buildings. It’s late afternoon, and day five on our vacation. We’ve arrived in the town of Alcúdia.
“Can you believe we’re actually here, Nathan? This place is magical.”
He sits back and sips his wine. “It is.”
I take out my brochure and begin to read it out loud. “The historic center of Alcúdia is enclosed by Mallorca’s only entirely preserved walls, erected in the 14th century by King Jaumex II to protect Alcudia’s inhabitants.” I smile and raise my eyebrows. “It wasn’t, however, enough to keep out the marauding pirate who attacked the city again and again in the 16th century, causing many of the population to flee. Today, it’s hard to believe that this bustling town was once at risk of being deserted completely. Thankfully, in 1779, the construction of the harbour saved Alcúdia from decline.” My eyes widen. “Marauding Pirates. Can you imagine what this town was like back then?”
Nathan smiles as he listens. He has this whimsical look on his face as he ho
lds his wine glass, his leg crossed at the ankle.
I put my brochure down. “What’s that look?”
“I love listening to you read to me.”
“You love me reading brochures to you?” I smirk.
“Yes.” He smiles softly as he lifts his glass to his lips. “Perhaps one day you will read me a story about us.”
I smile as the air swirls between us. “Well….” I pause as I try to think of a story. “There were once two beautiful birds named Nathan and Eliza. And they were the best of friends. They loved and looked after each other for the longest time.”
He watches me.
“And one day they decided to be brave and fall in love.”
He smiles softly. “And what happened to the beautiful birds?”
“They flew off into the sunset and lived happily ever after.”
He takes my hand over the table and kisses my fingertips. “I like that story.”
“Me, too,” I whisper. “Me, too.”
* * *
I lie on the deckchair and smile up at the sun.
I’m wearing my gold bikini—the one that started everything. I’ve worn it every day, and Nathan has taken it off every night.
It’s day seven of our holiday. We’ve swam, eaten, sight seen, and made love under the stars. Majorca is so beautiful.
It’s now 7:00 p.m, and the sun is just starting to set over the ocean. We are on the beach drinking margaritas. Nathan is on his phone, and I’m lying in a lazy state of heaven.
“Hey,” he says as he reads. “Your apartment settles tomorrow.”