Chapter 8 Axel
The pictures were an indulgence. They were on the hammock, snacking and snuggling, when the sun began its glorious descent into the Pacific’s shimmering horizon.
His first picture took her by surprise. But when he urged further, Oleanna played along by seductively looking over her shoulder.
She had slipped back into her summer dress. As much as he wanted to take it all off, he opted to move the spaghetti straps down so he could take a picture of her with no fabric on her shoulders. So he could see that tan line he loved so much.
Oleanna’s face catching the last rays of a Hawaiian sunset would be an ongoing screen saver in his brain. But since he couldn’t get enough of her, he also made it the screen saver on his phone. Every minute he wasn’t with her, he would think about her like that. So beautiful, so responsive, so his.
Late at night, snippets of his intention slipped as they lay tangled in bed.
“I wish I could take you to Sweden. You’d love it in the summer,” he muttered into her skin.
They cuddled, his body pressed against her back and his arms wrapped tight.
“Now that I found you, I can’t imagine letting you go,” he whispered, groggy and content.
He should have felt embarrassed by his confession. The last thing he wanted to do was pressure her. Although she didn’t answer, she didn’t pull away either. She snuggled deeper into his arms.
Nothing mattered except Oleanna’s skin against his, her hair spread on the bed, her sweet aroma filling his senses.
Such were his final musings before falling into a deep slumber.
The next day, Axel woke up and her side of the bed was cold. Immediately, even before he consciously acknowledged his dread, he felt something was wrong.
She was gone. He tried to calm his dire thoughts because maybe she had to work. It wasn’t like she was on vacation like he was.
After freshening up in the bathroom, Axel pulled out his phone to see if she left a message. Suddenly, he realized he didn’t have her number.
That made him guffaw, because how ridiculous was it that the woman of his dreams, the one person he wanted to reach now and always, wasn’t even in his contact list.
He grabbed the landline and dialed one.
“Aloha, Axel.”
“Oh, hey, Greg! Yeah, aloha. Um, is Oleanna there?”
There was a pause before the answer came. “Oleanna left this morning. I just drove her to the airport.”
There must be something wrong with the landline. It was about fifty years old, after all. “Can you say that again? I don’t think I heard you right.”
“Airport. She caught her flight to—” The line died.
“Hello? Greg?!”
Axel called again, punching one a bit too hard this time. A woman answered.
“Hi, Axel. This is Oleanna’s aunt.”
“Where is she?” he asked brusquely.
“So she… she didn’t tell you she was leaving this morning?”
“Where is she?” he repeated in a whisper. Anything louder and she would hear his annoyance.
What kind of game were they playing? It was a simple fucking question.
“She went back home, Axel.”
“You mean she doesn’t live here? Why wouldn’t she tell me that?” he growled because now he wasn’t annoyed. He was confused. And nothing pissed him off more than being confused.
“I don’t know,” the woman said softly, as if she was just as baffled. And then she cleared her throat and, with more authority, declared, “But if she had her reasons for not telling you, I’m sorry I can’t betray her decision.”
Her decision?Her decision to leave without saying goodbye. No, that can’t be right.
“Wait a minute,” he blurted. “Reasons? We’re together—” he began to say before stopping himself. “I mean we’ve spent time together. She…”
“Axel, I’m sorry. Is there anything we can bring you to make your stay more comfortable?”
“No,” he mumbled. “No, I... um, no.” When he hung up the phone, he pressed his head against the wall.
Was he in some kind of twilight zone? Without a note or a call, there was nothing to explain why the woman of his dreams disappeared into thin air.
Except for her shell bracelet left on the nightstand and the pictures he took of her during yesterday’s sunset, there was no evidence of their time together.
Both Eleanor and Greg brought baked goods in what seemed like a peace offering. Or a pity party, it was hard to tell. Prompting them yielded nothing. He would have begged, if there was any indication it would work.
All they could confirm was that Oleanna hadn’t lived in Hawaii for years. However, because she never disclosed where she permanently resided, neither would they.
He stayed for two more agonizing days, thinking she might show up. To say what?
Surprise! Just wanting to check if you’d miss me!And fuck, did he ever.
Her laughter echoed in his mind, her scent lingered on the sheets, her taste owned his tongue, and her beauty haunted his dreams.
Hopeful anticipation made him restless until something beyond confusion lodged deep in his belly.
Resentment.
Anger.
Actual physical pain more acute than his back spasms.
How dare she act like the most incredible experience of his life meant so little to her?
That’s when he packed his luggage, left a note instructing them to keep his payment for the two weeks, and drove to the airport where he would catch the next flight home.
He didn’t put on any sunscreen, because fuck it.
Fuck all of it.