ashley
34 YEARS OLD
Ihaven’t heard from Serenity in two weeks. If not for the people talking, I’d have assumed she left. I wish I knew where I stood with her. Does she consider there to be too much of an age gap between us? Maybe she doesn’t want to be with Adam’s brother. Enough years have passed, haven’t they? Or maybe that’s it. What if she still has lingering feelings for her summer romance? What must she think of how we all ended up? Adam wallowing in self-loathing and hating me, while I own my own business and home. Does she judge me for not doing more for him? Does she blame me too? So many questions. Then again, it’s pointless to wonder and stress over any of this because I doubt she’s staying. She’ll leave all this behind, and this time, for good.
I walk along the rocky path, carrying my board. I’ve decided to take an afternoon to hang out at Skookumchuck Narrows with my paddle board. It’s almost time for the tide to shift, so I’d like to ride the waves and whirlpools.
I’m in my wetsuit and the water is beginning to build up. As the waves grow, I focus on balancing my weight and moving with the tide. The sound of the rushing water and tourists admiring the natural phenomena of the Skookumchuck rapids is deafening. A strong shift in the current causes me to lose my balance. The water pulls me under, but I hold on to my board and ride to the surface.
Something latches on to me. Or someone. I panic and try to see through the splashing water. I didn’t notice anyone else near me, but maybe the current brought them this way. Using one arm to latch securely to my board, I let go with the other and wrap it around the body plastered to mine. Immediately, I notice they’re wearing regular clothes and not a wetsuit. Someone must’ve fallen in. Lucky for them, I was here. If the waves get too high and too rough, the rapids can be dangerous.
The person uses my body to try and climb up. I use my arm to help them. Our faces come close enough together that I can see through the water droplets splashing.
Serenity.
“I came to rescue you!” she screams over the roaring water.
“Did you?” I can’t help but laugh. “You’re crazy! I fell off, but I know how to swim, and I have my board.”
“You’ve only been out here once, though.”
I wedge her between me and the board and then work my legs to get us over to calmer water. “Thanks for the rescue mission.”
“Maybe you didn’t need saving,” she says after everything has calmed down.
“I would rather you hadn’t risked your life, but it’s hard to complain when I’m getting to hold you in my arms again.”
“Yeah, about that…”
That doesn’t sound good. I pull away to give her some distance. Her clothes are plastered to her body, black streaks run down the sides of her cheeks, and she has a leaf mixed in the wet knots of her hair. I gently pluck it out and then go back to allowing her some space.
“I know this is going to sound random, weird, and maybe even crazy.” She shivers slightly, and I hold a hand up.
“Do you want to have this conversation in my truck? Are you cold?”
“No, I need to do this now. I’ve wasted enough time.”
All right. We’re going to have this conversation in a river.
I watch her neck work as she gulps, and then her eyes level on me. “I’ve always wanted you.”
My body almost gets taken away by the current; I’m in such shock. I’ve always wanted to hear those words from her. I wish we were someplace else. I need there not to be any noise around us and not to have water in my ears. But I do my best to focus completely on her lips as she continues speaking.
“Your paintings are what I would fall asleep to every night from the first night here, and even after I left. The moment I saw you in the bakery, there was an instant spark. It’s sealed into my brain. Every night I can close my eyes and see it on repeat. Of course, I didn’t think anything could ever come of us because of our age difference. But then you rescued me. And you were there for me again and again with Adam. At the movies. When I left. I know this is probably weird for you since I briefly dated Adam, but as horrible as it sounds, I don’t think it was love. Love is something you don’t get over. I got over, Adam. But I never got over you.”
She’s worried I would think it was weird? This whole time, she’s thought about me the way I’ve thought about her. She’s fallen asleep to my painting. I can’t get through the water fast enough. I discard my board and take her into my arms, bringing her body directly against mine. Every nerve in my body is dying to feel and taste her; I have to claim her sweet lips.
Serenity doesn’t hold back as she greedily kisses me. Our hands grab and squeeze each other as our bodies sway in the now gentle river. A thought breaks through my mind that’s clouded with desire, and I pull back to stare into her eyes.
“Did you say you love me? You said you don’t get over love, and you never got over me.” Her lips press firmly together as she nods. Hope, love, excitement all at once swell inside my chest. “I love you.”
“I’ve always loved you, Ashley.”
“I’ve always loved you, even when I shouldn’t have.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“How about we get out of the river now and stop wasting anymore precious time?”
“I like that idea.”