Forbidden But Bound

Reignite

The sun was setting. You could almost hear the sun and the ocean kiss as they met. Finally, the heat was subsiding as the salty ocean breeze got cooler. This magical scent of rows of Frangipani trees filled the air. Ile de St. Martin was the pearl of the Caribbean for dream-like honeymoons, weddings and getaways that felt like the best kept part of heaven on earth.

Red was the color of the dress that Julia was wearing that first night she saw him again after so many years. Deep, blood red. The elegant dress was one that didn’t leave much to the imagination. The “v” going right down to the pale, vulnerable space between her breasts that usually never saw the sunlight, and continued down to an even lower V to just above the small of her back. She felt slightly uncomfortable, almost naked, given the dress choice that she was not used to. Her body insecurities would make her shy away from clothes that would get her noticed. Vivianne, her best friend since college, decided that she was going to lend her one of her dresses and it just so happened that she picked the most provocative of them all.

“This night is about celebrating yourself and your beauty and of course Catherine and Joseph’s wedding. It has been ages since you have done something exciting. Thomas decided to let you come here alone, just enjoy it and look sexy,” Vivianne said, pulling off the plastic covering over the red dress that she took out of the deepest part of the wardrobe. Julia had her hair brushed back in a messy bun with a gold barrette holding back her unusual, long jet black hair. For the reception, she wore gold heeled sandals that relieved her well-kept feet.

“ I do,” said Joseph as he put the ring on Catherine’s slender finger.

“Do you Catherine Morgan Miller take Joseph Philipe Herman to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love and to cherish from this day forward?” Asked the whited-haired pastor standing under the pink Bougainvillea flower arch.

“I do,” said Catherine with a slight joyful shudder in her voice as she said this as if she was about to burst into joyful tears. She was wearing a typical island wedding dress: white satin with delicate spaghetti straps and a floral veil that went over her face. The couple strictly informed all their guests that shoes were not to be worn during the wedding, but only during the reception. So everyone was barefoot including the couple themselves and their bare feet in the smooth sand, rooted to the earth as they made their vows to each other.

“Then by the power invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss your bride.” The crowd of the couple’s closest friends and family stood up applauding the newlyweds as they walked down the beach sand isle that was lined with flower petals. They looked so happy, the kind of happiness you see at the end of fairy tales.

The girls was there to celebrate Catherine and Joseph’s wedding, something that they had planned ever since they met. Catherine, Vivianne, and Julia went to college together many moons ago. Those good old days were filled with drunken nights and karaoke at their fraternity parties. It was a surprise that they all managed to pass college. Vivianne was the clever one who studied Aeronautical Engineering, she had the brains and the beauty. Catherine was the party animal, always ready for a good time. And finally, Julia was studying to be a lawyer. After college, they grew apart for a while. They each went out in the world to find themselves. Vivianne and Julia were always closer. Vivianne was working for a large aviation company in New York and she lived a few blocks away from Julia who was now working at the district attorney’s office. But this weekend was all about Catherine getting married to the love of her life Joseph, an heir to a huge oil company in Texas. So Julia was there with Vivianne who, it just so happened, didn't have husband or boyfriend.

Julia and Vivianne were ones of the first to arrive at the ballroom where the reception planned to take place.

“ I hope Catherine had us sit together,” she grumbled to Vivianne as she used her finger to scroll down the table seating plan.

She saw his name in plain gold letters on an off white background, gleaming. She felt a sudden nervousness build up inside her.

‘Why else wouldn’t he be here? He’s friends with Joseph after all. I was bound to see him sooner or later,’ she thought to herself. She didn’t say anything to Viv as she walked away towards another table seating plan to scan for her own name.

“Damn, we are not sitting together,” Julia said when she found her name a table away from Vivianne.

Vivianne went towards the seating board to confirm this.

“Typical Catherine! We’re all not sitting together. No doubt she did this as a joke. b***h,” Vivianne smacked the board.

She tried her best to avoid making any sort of eye contact with him. She felt butterflies in her stomach. She then realized that she was blushing and immediately snapped herself out of it.

“He looks nothing like he used to when we were younger,” Julia turned to Vivianne, who was in the middle of a heated gossip session. Julia and Viv decided to go against the seating chart and sat together. Vivianne turned to look at the man dressed in a black suit standing at the entrance at the top of the long flight steps held.

He looked slightly different, but still the same features that attracted her to him when they first met. He had more dark stubble now, and his jaw was somehow wider. The suit was a long way from the usual Billabong shorts that he always wore when they had been dating. His thick dark hair was styled to perfection.You could tell that he worked out from his slightly tight but well fitting suit jacket. It was insanely attractive to Julia.

“Who is that?” Vivianne noticed Julia looking at him.

“Don’t you recognise him?” Julia asked and took a gulp of her cocktail. She needed more if she was going to manage the rest of the night.

Vivianne stared at him for a few seconds, screening him from top to bottom.

“No ways? That cannot be him,” She turned to Julia, who nodded.

“It’s him, Vivianne, I would recognise him anywhere,” Julia said and knocked back another glass.

A woman wearing a blue sequin dress with plunging cleavage quickly walked in behind him, her blonde hair whipping perfectly behind her like there had been a fan blowing it back. She oozed sexy yet dangerous. She looped her arm around James’s even before she sat down.

Julia’s butterflies faded. Even though she had been with Thomas for years, Julia had never stopped thinking about James. He was her first love. They were teenagers then, and theirs was a never ending summer love: Sipping on fresh mango juice, swims in the caves down by the La Jolla Cove beach in California. Their lips were locked almost all day long only coming up for air. They made love on the beach, in the van, in the cinema, and any other place possible. Julia could still remember the smell of the oil from his overheating van.

They would speak about the future, their dreams, and their aspirations. But their time was cut short after a heated argument that was so childish she couldn’t even remember what exactly happened. After that, he left San Diego, California and that was it.

That seemed like years ago. It took her a while to get over him, there were many nights she sat up crying hysterically, her chest heavy and yearning for him. She never heard from him again, but could see how his life panned out on f*******: whenever he was tagged by a mutual friend over the years.

Now here he was with a Barbie at his side. Did he ever wonder about me? Julia thought as she quickly glanced at James and his partner again before looking away. Does he even remember us, and the promises we made?

“Earth to Julia!” Vivianne snapped her fingers at Julia’s face. “We will not let a great evening go to waste over your teenage wet dream. You have been looking forward to this night out and we’re going to dance the hell out of it, you hear me?” Vivianne side-eyed Julia before nibbling at a piece of fruit. Vivianne knew every detail of James’ and Julia’s history, but wasn’t about to let Julia get sidetracked on having a good time.

“Don’t be stupid, Viv. I’m a whole adult. It’s been so many years. We are not the same people,” Julia said trying to be dismissive enough to mask what was truly stirring inside her.

“Fine, then we need a shot!” Viv smacked the table and started looking for a waiter. When she saw the bar, she yanked Julia up and they both clicked their heels towards the bar.

“ Two tequila shots, please,” Viv yelled to the bartender. From the corner of her eye, she saw James walking towards them but then suddenly moving towards their right, not having noticed them yet.

“Make that four shots please, the night is going to be a rough one,” she said.

She handed the first two shots to Julia. “Drink up princess.”

Julia threw them back and cringed, and Viv downed her two without flinching. They both chuckled and let the drink mellow into them.

When they got back to their table, James finally recognized them.

Julia’s first instinct was to pretend to not have seen him, but she could feel he was looking at her. She leaned into a conversation with an elderly man sitting next to her trying to seem interested. He talked to her about some computer language he had studied.

After the first course, the MC introduced the speeches. Catherine’s sister was the maid of honor and Joseph’s brother was his best man.

Throughout the lengthy speech, all Julia could do was try and get a glimpse of James from where she was sitting without him noticing that she was looking at him. Luckily there was a large vase with white Iceberg roses that was partially hiding her as she was made to move up one chair to the right. She could just about see him through the bouquet. The sight of him was like magic to her soul. In that second she realized that she missed him all these years. She couldn’t pinpoint what she missed but his deep, loud laugh triggered that feeling inside her.

Just then his Barbie leaned over and whispered something into his ear and his face changed, suddenly serious. He said something to her in return, cold and without looking at her. She raised her voice slightly as she threw her napkin to the table. They were soon arguing, James trying to still keep his composure but Barbie now shifting in her seat, unable to control her irritation. She then got up and left through the back as quickly as she had come in earlier. No one noticed except Julia, everyone was engrossed by a speech from the father of the bride. James sat with his face forward and unmoving. Barbie quietly came back to the table and whispered something to him. He immediately gave her the room access card and she skittered off again.

Julia jumped at the sound of the crowd clapping at the end of the speech. She hadn’t heard a word.

Just after the main course the ladies were discussing the menu selections with Catherine who popped over to their table, when a quick wind of a man came up from behind them.

“Nice to see the girls of the Cali Babysitter’s Club is still going after all these years!” James said as he moved in between Viv and Catherine, but his eyes unmistakably fixed only on Julia.

He’s finally here. After all these years.