Page 17 of To Feel Like This Again
“Well, I wasn’t sure if it could still fit or if it’s outdated, because I got it in 2017 when I was in Barcelona and had planned to go to the beach. But it rained heavily that day and I haven’t gotten a chance to go to a beach since that work trip because —".
I kiss her on the cheek, bringing her explanation to an abrupt end. “You have an amazing body. I’m loving your curves, I’m loving your breasts, I’m loving your ass, I’m loving your legs. All I want to do, right now, is untie all the strings holding your bikini in place and rip off that sarong.”
She smiled, I smiled.
After lying around in the sun for a while, we decide to take a dip in the water. While we’re in the ocean, swimming around, I glimpse her smiling.
“What are you smiling about?” I ask curiously.
“Nothing, really,” she says.
“C’mon… tell me.” I pull her close to me.
“It’s really silly.”
“Tell me… please.”
“I was just thinking… it’s really nice to feel like this again.”
I look deep into her eyes; she looks deep into my eyes. We have a conversation without speaking a word.
Moments later, we head back to the shore to gear up for snorkelling.
Snorkelling was fun. Beach volleyball, however, was not so much fun (or I guess it depends on how you look at it). We challenged a couple — Robert and Jody, college sweethearts — in their early-thirties and in great shape. Both played volleyball at the collegiate level. Safe to say, the odds were stacked against us.
Jody is stunning, but she’s off-limits because Robert and Jody are my good friends. Lisa assumed they were acquaintances — after all, it’s realistic to run into people you know in a small country. And I made it plausible when I said, “I played cricket in high school with Robert’s cousin, so I used to see him at some of the games. But haven’t seen him in years.” For obvious reasons, the age-gap, I did not tell her that I had invited my friends and run the risk of her backing out. I wanted to make it aflex… so I needed my peeps.
Lisa is fired up, getting animated for every little thing. At first, I thought she was messing around but then she got into an intense debate with Robert and Jody about a ‘controversial’ point. She is very competitive to say the least.I love it.
“Don’t worry about it,” I say light-heartedly as we walk over to the food area.
“No, that’s bullshit. The ball clearly went over the line,” she insists.
“If you don’t calm down, I’m going to spank you.”
She smiled, I smiled.
“I forgot how much fun it is to play volleyball. It’s actually my first time playing on the beach too. I learned to play the summer before college when I wanted to lose weight. And then I played Intramural volleyball in college, but after graduating I had no one to play with. Thanks for this.”
“Anytime, babe.” I fling my arm around her and kiss her shoulder.
At the food stall, from theunintelligible— crab toeas we say in Jamaica— handwritten menu on a chalkboard, we order garlic lobster and festival and Red Stripe beer, before making our way back to our umbrella and chairs. And while enjoying our food, we talk about nothing and everything.
“Do you have a bucket list?” I ask out of the blue.
Sipping her beer, she replies quietly, “I used to when I was in college. But then life happened, and I got very busy.” I can hear the twinge of regret.
Robert interrupts our conversation, “Hey guys, we’re meeting up with a group of friends at a beach party down the road. You should come.”
“Yea, you should definitely come. It’s going to be fun,” Jody pipes in.
Yup, the group of friends we are meeting at the beach party are also my friends. I only roll to parties with my crew.
“Extending an olive branch?” Lisa says a little too sharply.
“Yes… So, are you game or what?” Robert responds smiling, placing his arm around Jody. The gesture, I guess, softens Lisa because she returns the smile. “We’re game. We’ll freshen up and meet you there,” she tells them, sounding hip. It was kind of funny.
I later find out this is the first public party she’d ever been to in her life.
