Thee Random Words

01 - SEA, BLUE, SMILE

01 - SEA, BLUE, SMILE

What a few weeks it has been.

She hasn’t felt this drained for a very long time. While everyone is going out and celebrating the merry and jolly December, she’s working overtime, never coming home before seven or eight in the evening, leaving home before dawn. Leaving her with an hour or two at best of quality time with her son before his bedtime.

Even though she feels a bit guilty for having dumped him on her parents for a few days during the school break, she needs this time alone more than ever.

Just a few nights ago, as she was helping him pack for his short holiday with the grandparents, she snapped at him because he was taking forever to choose which pyjamas to take. Snapped being an understatement for her outburst and lecturing him relentlessly on why it was always taking him such a long time to decide on simple things. Which ended in his tears at her unwarranted behaviour. It took her longer to calm him down than it would have taken him to finish choosing his pyjamas.

To say that her ebullition had been counterproductive, would be putting it mildly.

And now, here she is, eleven o’clock in the morning, still snuggly tucked in her bed, a cup of tea in her hand, and nowhere to be or go. She needs rest. She cannot go around, having outbursts and yelling simply because she is mind bogglingly tired.

Though doing nothing is not something she is good at. She prefers her life to be action packed. Even on her summer holidays, she has to be moving all the time, always on the lookout for a new, exciting activity.

Last summer was just like that. Days packed with early morning runs and swims in the sea before the beach came alive with early birds. After breakfast activities with her son of swimming, playing tennis, going to the trampolines, assisting in his football practices, or simply playing cards or other board games in the afternoon. With obligatory after dinner walks to the town for ice cream or just because.

Which is why she was surprised in the first place that she had even noticed his attention.

A hunky young man, clearly much younger than her, with tasselled dark brown hair softened in parts by the highlights from the sun, and the eyes of crystal blue colour perfectly matching against the backdrop of the infinite sea.

When she had first spotted him, he seemed almost staged. As if someone had plucked him from the sea of bodies and purposefully planted him in front of her to interrupt her routine daily life. He was shamelessly checking her out, his playful blue eyes raking her body. That must have piqued his interest, she considered shamelessly at that time. She had a body even twenty-somethings would be proud of. Gym was her religion regardless of anything else.

First time she had considered it a coincidence. But when she caught him for another, and another, and another time, looking at her intently, desire of a young, potent man undisguised in his expression, her interest was roused.

She began to notice him wherever she turned. Or maybe that was only a perception because her thoughts had started turning to him more and more. She wondered what could have been his reason for taking an interest in her.

Maybe it had been a bet he had made with his friends. Young guys did this sort of things, so that they could brag about their conquests. Or maybe he had some mummy complex. Or maybe he had been simply bored and had been on the lookout for what he had believed to be an easy prey.

Whatever the reason, he was successful in his endeavours because she began fantasising about him at night. Imagining at night, as she lay awake, what his hand would feel on her, how his mouth would taste, what would it be like to slide her fingers though his gorgeous hair.

That night, she was particularly restless. Their distant flirtations of stolen glances had been going on for days now, and her holiday was soon coming to an end. And he still hadn’t made any direct move. Most probably because he had never seen her alone.

The room felt stifling in the summer heat, making her body warm up even more. She decided to go for a night swim to cool down. Maybe all of it had been just a wishful thinking and a youngster was not really interested in her.

She checked on her son before departing. He was peacefully sleeping and there was no worry of him waking up any time soon. Even if he did, there was the landlady of the house where they had been renting to keep an eye on him for her.

The air was cooler outside than in the room, giving her skin some well needed cooling. As she approached the sea, the difference in temperature became even more pronounced, her overheated skin breaking out in goosebumps as the breeze coming from the sea brushed it.

The scenery was completely different at night. The sea no longer had a light, inviting blue colour, but rather a dark murky hue enticing a slight fear of unknown that may be hidden beneath the surface. The heat was obviously playing tricks on her mind as well. Discarding the brooding thoughts of hidden sea monsters, she quickly undressed herself and decidedly commenced her march into the night waters.

As the water splashed around her ankles, the coldness of it elicited a shriek from her.

“A bit different now at nigh than it is in a broad daylight,” came a sudden statement, followed by another of her shrieks, her surprise quickly replaced by a sense of embarassment as she was standing there naked with a strange man standing behind her, relieving her of her thinking capacities as her thoughts began to frantically search for an escape.

“You look even more gorgeous in the moonlight,” a soft whisper reached her ears, the warm breath indicating that he was no standing directly behind her. “A bit unreal, almost magical, as if you don’t belong to this world.”

Christ! That was the best pickup line she had ever heard in her life. The surprise of it only surpassed by the surprise of her making that same statement aloud, making him chuckle at her words.

“I’m glad you approve.”

And he continued: “I hope you will approve of more than just my pickup lines.”

The sheer audacity and confidence apparent in his voice had her spinning around, facing him. “Oh!” was a simple exclamation that escaped her as she noticed him now standing in front of her, completely naked.

His body was like a magnet for her. She couldn’t prevent herself from roaming her eyes up and down his body, admiring in a new way everything that she had already seen at the beach, and taking in all that had before remained hidden.

“Well?” he enquired teasingly, having her lift her head in confusion, meeting his blue eyes which yet again seemed to take on the hue from the dark sea. “Do you approve?” he enquired while gesturing with his hands at his body.

The cheekiness of the action made he giggle gleefully.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he concluded and grabbing her by her waist, pulled her to his bare chest and crashed his lips with hers.

What ensued was one of the most memorable and fulfilling experiences of her life. Maybe it had been due to their preceding courtship, or that it had been so long since she had been with a man before that night, or maybe it had been due in part to the magic of the night when neither needed to fit in any of their daily roles and could simply be themselves, and when the moral impositions of the society lost their firm grip.

They had remained kissing for a long time, their hands exploring the other’s body. Even though they were both thirsty with desire, they were in no rush. And instead of making it a sordid, quick affair hidden under the covers of the night, they had turned it into a night of exploration, of each other, physically and spiritually. After they had made love for the first time, they set on the beach, talking, sharing their views on subjects that either of them found compelling. Followed by more lovemaking and talking.

Saying goodbye in the early hours of the night was more arduous than two strangers could have anticipated. But they were both conscious that it had been a one-time occurence and that parting was inevitable.

Whenever life gets too much, she thinks of her summer boy as she fondly refers to him, even though he was hardly a boy in his mid-twenties, and a smile is instantaneously formed on her lips. She spends many nights with his image as her companion, unwilling to let go of the comfort those memories bring her.

With enough time on her hands, once again, she submerges herself in the warmth of remembrance.

***

To my dear friend S. R. who I’ve known longer than I care to admit.

I admire you for being able to make time in your busy life – what with taking care of your son more or less all by yourself – to go to dancing lessons, or do cross fit, or simply meet for drinks with your friends and acquaintances, never losing sight of the fact that you are, first and foremost, a human being who needs time for herself, and not just a mum.

Which is why you deserve to dream of sea, your favourite colour blue, whenever and however you desire, and I hope it brings many smiles to your face. And if you throw in a couple of seaside romances, so much the better.

And rest assured that I, as your trusting friend, will be here to lend you my ears for any juicy summer stories. Or if you just have the need to decompress.

This story is a fiction of my imagination and does not, to the best of my knowledge, represent my friend’s life or her character. Any similarities with real life events or persons are most probably subconsciously imposed. And I know, my dear friend, that you’ll overlook it.