“I went on vacation.” I scratch my head. “Are we fighting right now?”
Her face breaks into that smile again, like the sun coming out from behind the clouds. “I’m Dominican. It’s not fighting until achancletagoes flying.”
I laugh. “Same for Filipinos. Except we call ittsinelas, and it’s used as more of a handheld weapon.”
“Actually, us too. Dual purpose,” she says, eyes sparkling. “So we’re not fighting. We’re coming to a mutual agreement that we will help one another relax.”
I do not think about the undertones of this statement. “Deal.”
I watch her eyes trace every inch of my body. I do not think about how much I like her eyes on me.
“I’m gonna put on my bathing suit, and then let’s go down to the beach?” she says suddenly, standing up and walking back to her suitcase. She drags it down the hallway.
This is truly insane. Am I really about to share this relaxing beachfront guest house with the most beautiful woman I’ve seen in a very long time? Just the two of us?Onlythe two of us? “Oh my god,” I hear.
“What’s up?” I call down.
“You gotta see this.”
I walk down the hallway towards the first room on the right, where she stands in the doorway. “Whoa,” I say.
I’m smacked in the face with the ocean. That is, the insane ocean view through the far wall that is almost entirely glass window. There’s a door, also glass, that opens to a narrow patio just outside, holding a cozy-looking lounge chair. The bed is on the opposite wall in the middle of the room, facing out towards the ocean wall. There’s a fireplace in the corner of the room, and everything is either that warm wood or drapey-looking white fabrics. The whole room feels airy and open, with the colors and light blending together with the sparkling blue of the ocean.
“Do you care which room I take?” she says, after a few seconds. I jolt, and realize I’m standing just inches behind her, so close I can almost feel the warmth of her body. I take a large step back. “They both look the same,” she finishes.
“Nope.”
“I’ll stay here then,” she says, smiling up at me.
I turn on my heel and walk back out to find the other room, praying we don’t share a wall.
We do.
* * *
I change my shorts and look out the ocean window, seeing Frankie running down towards the beach from the main house. Gloria and Ollie follow close behind her, and I feel a pang, a pull almost, to be closer to my daughter, to not have her so far.
“Frankie’s out by the beach,” I yell on the way out of my room. “I’m gonna head down there.”
The door to her room swings open. “Chasing after your daughter isn’t relaxing, Dominic,” she probably says, but I do not hear her, because all I hear is her bikini-clad tits screaming, “Look at me!”
You absolutely cannot have a pair of tits keep you from your daughter, Dom, I think, and this makes it easier to keep my eyes towards the front door and my feet moving towards it. “I’m going to relax out on the beach. With Frankie,” I manage, pulling the door open.
“One sec,” she implores, her voice much closer than I expected. “I’m coming. Do you think we need shoes?”
“I don’t think so,” I say, now out the front door and peeking down. “It looks like it’s either paved or grass before we get to the sand.” I walk down the stairs, hearing her shut the front door behind her.
“This isn’t a very relaxing pace you’re setting,” she huffs from beside me.
“But look at this very relaxing view.” We walk down a path surrounded by a massive, neatly manicured lawn, bordered by low stone walls, hedges, and colorful flower beds. There’s a slight incline down as the path curves around the back of the main house. We pass the patio area, covered by squishy looking lounge chairs and a massive dining table and an expensive-looking built in grill.
I really do feel my shoulders relax and lose some of their tension when the sound of the ocean becomes more pronounced. We follow the path further down, finding a little stone staircase leading through a break in the greenery. We descend, surrounded by wild dunes, and the vegetation thins out and the beach emerges, with the vast expanse of the ocean just beyond.
It’s the perfect day, not a cloud in the sky, the slight humidity cut by the breeze.
“Daddy!” A soggy Frankie leaps into my torso, soaking into my t-shirt. “Are you coming swimming?” I hold her in my arms and smell her hair as if I haven’t seen her in weeks.
“Did you put on sunscreen yet?” I ask her, searching her body for white streaks, frowning when I don’t see any.
