“Yep.” I rock back on my heels, stuffing my hands in my pockets to hide the coordinates pulled up on my phone.
“What are you getting?”
“I’m thinking it should be a surprise.”
“How am I supposed to know what to get if you don’t give me an idea?”
“You want to match me?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. No.” Ivory huffs when I laugh. “Would that be weird? How am I supposed to know if you don’t tell me?”
“I don’t think it’s weird. But I want you to get something that is meaningful to you.” I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. It’s something I do a lot lately. “If you don’t want a tattoo, you don’t have to get one.”
“No, I like the idea of something permanent to remember the trip by but I don’t know what to get.”
“How about you watch me get mine while you think about it?” Turning to tattoo guy, I confirm. “That’s cool, right?”
“Yeah, sure. Whatever you want.” He’s quick to agree. Still in fanboy mode.
“And maybe we can keep this under wraps for now? We don’t really want people to know where we are. I can sign something for you or shout out the shop later but if you could keep it quiet, we would appreciate it.”
“No problem. You ready then?” When I nod, he starts toward his booth. “Let’s get you set up. I’ll draw it up and then we can go from there.” Since it’s just numbers, I have a feeling itwon’t take long. It’s not like an intricate design that’ll take hours of prep work and adjustment.
Showing him the phone, I ask if he can mock it up. He shows me a few different fonts and I point out the one I like best.
“Are you really not going to tell me?” Ivory’s impatience is cute.
Tattoo guy goes to print out the stencil, leaving us alone in his booth.
“You’ll see soon enough, Serentia.” She melts at the use of my special name for her.
“What does that mean? You’ve only said it a few times but it sounds so nice I haven’t asked.” I rarely pull it out, only in the most intimate vulnerable moments where I feel the most at peace.
“It’s something Ma always told me to look for in a partner.” Tucking a stray hair behind her ear, I pull her in. Her breath mingles with mine as I speak the words directly into her mouth, never breaking eye contact. “It means you embody the very essence of tranquility and peace for me.”
Ivory’s eyes water. Her mouth opens. I waste no time diving in for a deep kiss.
“Where do you want it?” Tattoo guy interrupts the moment, cutting the stencil down to size as he comes back into the booth.
Whipping my shirt off, I point to my upper left pectoral.Close to my heart, just like she is.
“Alright, lay down here and I’ll prep the area.”
Ivory watches on in fascination as the tattoo guy cleans my skin and shaves a small patch above my heart. Once it’s clean, he places the stencil where I indicated on my chest. The ink from the stencil transposes to my skin.
“You got coordinates? What are they?” As soon as the temporary ink is on my skin, Ivory leans over to look at it. Looking down, I see the coordinates, 17.2066° N 87.5952° W, in a straight line over my heart.
“The coordinates to Long Caye.”
“Why?”
“It’s where I fell in love with you.” A small gasp falls from Ivory’s mouth. Her lips part but no words come out. “That’s what I want to remember most about this trip. This is where I met the love of my life and the journey to fall in love with her was the best part.”
A tear slides down Ivory’s cheek. I swipe it away with my thumb as I cup her cheek.
“You didn’t say it until Corozal.”
“Just because I didn’t tell you doesn’t mean I didn’t know. It was so hard holding it in. I wanted to make sure you were ready to hear the words. I wanted you to find yourself and your voice first. Then to tell you how much I love you. I know everything is crazy right now, but it doesn’t change how much I love you.”
