I love you

Ch 5

Present

I’m close to crying and vomiting at the same time but then a woman comes up to me. She tells me that this is her seat and I quickly get up embarrassed, constantly apologizing to her. “It’s fine,” she says, giving me a reassuring smile. She takes her seat and I take my original seat right next to her, still embarrassed. The plane starts to take off and my chest feels heavy. I practice taking deep breaths, in and out I repeat to myself. I constantly looked back and forth between the window and my hands, which were shaking, hoping to calm myself down. I guess I was being too obvious because she notices my anxiousness and gently places her hand on my hands. “It’s okay dear” she says with the kindest smile on her face. I grab at her hand as tears start to roll down my face. She doesn’t take her hand away and I slowly calm down. She reminds me of my mom the way she can bring comfort with just one touch. “My name's Mary but please call me Ma,” she says. “Hi Mary- I mean Ma” I stutter “I’m Ana, well Analie but call me Ana,” I manage to say. “Oh what a beautiful name” she says. “Sorry I’m a little nervous” I say laughing nervously. She smiles and I smile. We continue to talk, getting to know each other. She looks at my book and asks if she can see. I gave it to her and she scanned it. I tell her about how writing has been a serious passion I’ve had for a long time. I talk about all the books I’ve written and how horror and romance are topics I’ve focused on. “Romance?” She says interested. The conversation leads to her talking about her past lover, Marco, and how she'd been through all these experiences with this man everywhere. They loved to travel the world together. They had seven kids in total, all grown now and living in different parts of the world, but her husband had passed away four years ago. He was a painter and he painted one of the greatest paintings displayed in Greece. “I was his greatest muse,” she says proudly. She continued to travel the world solo this time but traveling was also to break free from the reminders of him back home that only caused her more heartbreak. Her next trip is to San Pedro where she’ll be staying for a while. My face lit up immediately. “I’m going there too” I say, almost screaming at her. We laughed and continued to talk until the plane landed, which I hadn’t realized. We got off the plane together but headed to different areas after we got our luggage. I grabbed my luggage and headed to the back, excited for a new start. It took me a while to find the exit but I managed. This airport is pretty different from the one back home and not to mention pretty big. I love how there are big murals of flowers and oceans painted on almost every wall I pass. The colors are so bright and welcoming. I honestly feel great. I took a few breaks looking at them. Then with the map in one hand and my luggage in the other I continued to the exit. Finally, after what felt like forever I found the exit. The air is fresh and the weather feels nice. I look to my left and then my right. I just realized I don’t have any connections here nor have I ever been here. Well it was my bright idea to move here, I think to myself. I found a bench and took a seat, looking around at the beautiful trees everywhere. I sit there for a few more minutes and then I hear someone call my name. I look behind me and it’s Ma. She looks at me in confusion and then asks me if I’m waiting for someone but I hesitantly tell her no. It’s like her face lit up. He tells me to come with her and that I can stay with her and her relatives as long as I want. I happily accept but before I can say anything else she's already walking down the road and I quickly follow her. We walk together dragging our baggage behind us. She tells me all about this place and how this place's culture is so exquisite and how it can be very different from the U.S. She continues by saying that she’s been here several times before for visits but now she’s thinking of staying here for a bit. We continue down the road to this little shop. She grabbed my arm and rushed me into the shop. When we entered the air was filled with the smell of fruits. I loved it instantly. We ended up ordering these smoothies that she insists I try. I can’t say no to food so I accept. We grab our food and head out to sit on the picnic tables outside of the shop. I hadn’t realized that it got pretty hot since the airport. This smoothie just hit all the right spots. One bite is all it took, I’m in love. It’s so fruity, cold, and it tastes so refreshing. I quickly devour it. She sees that I’ve finished mine so she shares hers with me. Hers taste even better. We’re talking more about this place when I hear screaming not far off from where we were at. I hear someone screaming her name and running towards her. She looks up at the man and screams back, opening her arms to him and he hugs her tightly. She laughs. “You’re so big!” she screamed at him, looking him up and down. He laughs it off. “I want you to meet someone” she says looking at me. “Ana this is Sam, Sam, Ana” she continues. I smile and stand up to shake his hand. Instead he pulls me into a big hug and my face flushes. He was shirtless so it made it sort of awkward for me. He introduces himself as Sammy and I can’t help but admire his accent, it's unlike anything I’ve ever heard back home, very deep and thick. We three grab more food and smoothies, which I devour in less than 5 minutes. The food here has a certain taste that keeps you coming back for more. We sat and talked before Ma said “We have to head out,” to the both of us. Sammy nods and carries our things inside the shop and Ma asks the owner if we could leave our stuff in the back. He agrees with no hesitation and they both exchange inside jokes before we prepare to head out. “Welcome back Ma” the store owner shouts before we leave the shop. She smiles at him and closes the door behind her. We continue down the road. I didn’t mind that we didn’t take a car and instead walked. It felt right, I felt more on Earth. We passed by beautiful houses big and small. Some houses you could see through, people were watching games, others you could see the families cooking and setting up the table. Both the houses and the streets were crowded with people. People were barbecuing, others were having big parties, kids were running across the road and climbing trees. The sound of people filled the air. This place felt so active, so involved with the area around them. There were mini shops in the middle of some houses. We passed by a couple of small flea markets, where people were selling small handmade trinkets and street food that you could smell from a mile away. It’s so strange yet beautiful at the same time. I can’t stop looking at all the places around me. Everything was a wonder, everything was wonderful to look at. We continued to walk until we stopped, the road was now split into two roads, there weren't many houses in this area, the regular concrete road and the other a dirt road. They headed to the dirt road and I quickly followed them. As they’re catching up on old memories, I look around at the jungles. The trees are tall and the grass is a stunning bright green. The sun makes the green even more vibrant. I could hear the ocean's waves. I get really excited. The road ends and we arrive at a beach. It’s water glistened in the sun. They went swimming and I gladly joined in running like a child to the water. I haven’t been to the beach in almost six years. The water feels beautiful flowing smoothly along my body and I don’t want to leave. I'd rather stay here forever, swim every hour of every day. She says we have to be somewhere it’s getting dark so I follow them as they continue further down the beach. I picked up shells and watched as crabs ran along the sand disappearing into holes. We arrived at a beach house, two stories, a big patio in the front and a big balcony on the second floor. It was a beautiful home. There looks like a party going on and I get a little anxious. Crowds of people surround the house. Their voices grew louder as we got closer. The music mixed with the shouts of people filled the air. When they see Ma, they all shout and scream in excitement, running to her. She laughs and shouts at them happily. She greeted and hugged all of them all as she headed into the house. Sammy and I hangout in the party outside, he introduces me and they all give me hugs as if they’d known me for a long time. Some women offer me plates of food, while others are dancing to the music. By the end of the night I’m exhausted, my feet hurt and I can still hear music in my head but I don’t go into the house. I wait for Ma and she's tired too so I help her inside. She directs me up the stairs into one of the rooms. I place her in the bed gently and she falls fast asleep. I turn off the light and pull the covers over her body. I close the door behind me and quietly make my way down the stairs to the porch. There are girls there and one of them sees me and recognizes me from Ma. She could tell I was tired so she guided me to her room and gave me some clothes to change into. I was so happy I didn’t have to stay in these clothes. She gives me a hug and tells me to get some rest. She says I can stay in her room tonight. She continues by telling me that there isn't a bathroom in her room and she guides me to the shared bathroom. I quickly get in and take a shower. In the middle of it I hear the door open and I grab the shower curtain to hide myself. I look out to see who it is only to see this man standing in front of the mirror completely ignoring me. He turns to me with a disgusted look on his face. “Who are you?” He asks. I’m stuck there in shock and he notices my reaction and smirks, continuing to brush his teeth. He quickly finishes up and leaves. He closes the door but I hear him say “lock it next time”. I stare at the door unable to recall what just happened but then I ignore it and continue my shower. I changed in the bathroom and quietly headed back to the girls room. It doesn’t take me long to drift off to sleep.