56 Ginger
56
Ginger
I felt a tingling all over my body as we traveled across the island and I observed the countryside: greens, blues full of light, all passing by at top speed. It was so different from London…so full of light and color…and then there was him. Rhys. His back against my chest, his shoulders firm as he drove, his blond hair blowing wild in the breeze. I held on tighter. His stomach was tense, hard. I held my breath.
I didn’t want to think about why I felt that way.
About why everything in him awakened everything in me…
I put aside those feelings and just enjoyed the view, and twenty minutes later, he slowed down as a row of short houses and taller buildings appeared in the distance. He parked and took my backpack before helping me down.
“It’s here? Are you serious?”
“Yeah. It’s calm here. Or as calm as this place can be in the summertime. You like?”
I was already walking toward a sign that read PORTINATX. Not far off was a small cove, curved, with water the color of turquoise. It made me want to dive in headfirst. There were boats swaying at a distance from the rocky coast. The sun was reflected in the water, which shone as if it were full of crystals. It smelled of summer. I couldn’t help but smile.
“It’s paradise,” I said.
“I’ll show you the apartment.”
We walked a few streets inland from the sea into a kind of subdivision. Rhys took out his keys when we reached a three-story building, and we climbed the stairs to the top floor. I shouted with excitement when I went inside. It was simple, comfortable, decorated in the same blue and white I’d seen everywhere on the island, and a purple bougainvillea rested against the sliding glass door in the living room, which opened onto a balcony with a wood table and a few chairs with gray cushions.
“Follow me, I’ll show you the rest. The kitchen’s not huge, but I don’t use it that much anyway. The bathroom’s here. Here’s my studio.” It was little, with a table full of electronic gadgets. “My room…” There was an unmade bed, with wrinkled white sheets and some clothes tossed on a chair to the side. “And yours, right next door.”
“It’s perfect.”
I walked across the room to open the wood-framed window and let in some fresh air, leaning out a little. I could see bits of blue water between the trees surrounding us. I sighed, happy.
“Do you regret coming? You know you can’t just escape out the window,” he joked.
“No.” I turned around. “I was thinking this is probably the best decision I’ve ever made in my life. I want to go down to the water now! I want to… I don’t know, I want to go out and see everything! Are you working today? Tonight?”
“No. I’m all yours today.” He smiled.
“Then what are we still doing here?”
It took me ten minutes to throw the clothing in my bag onto the bed and put on my bathing suit. It was dark red, with a dumb frill around the neckline, but it had been years since I’d been to the beach, and I’d just assumed I’d buy a nicer one once I got here. I put on a white summer dress on top of it and walked out of my room. Rhys was there waiting for me on the sofa, shirtless, in swim trunks. He looked up at me and smiled. I tried not to admire his naked torso more than I should, and we went to the beach with two towels wrapped around our necks and a backpack with fruit and water inside.
We walked down the wooden stairs, and I screeched with joy when I took off my sandals and sank my toes into the sand. How could something so simple be so pleasurable? I asked him, and he laughed. But it was true. And I thought to myself that I should have done that a long time ago. Get away for a week at least. Or a few days. Take a vacation. I hadn’t done anything like this in years. How ironic that I was feeling so happy right when I’d just lost everything. For the first time I could remember, I had no goals in front of me. I was living in the now.
A now in which I took off my dress and blushed as I saw Rhys looking at me, amused, grinning, with a glimmer in his eyes.
“What?” I stretched my towel out on the sand.
“Nothing.” He laid his next to mine.
We lay down. Something about his expression got to me. I tried to ignore it. Even though it was midafternoon, the sun was burning hot.
“Come on. Say what you were thinking,” I demanded.
Rhys looked at me from the corner of his eyes, turning on his towel.
“Nothing, just…your bathing suit surprised me.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s from the nineties.”
“That’s not funny, Rhys.”
“I’m serious. When did you buy it?”
“Uh…let me think.” I tried to remember, and I bit my lower lip when I realized. “I was sixteen. Some friends of my parents had invited us to a barbecue; they had a place in the suburbs with a pool…” I took a deep breath and shook my head. “It’s not that bad, is it? It could be vintage, right?”
Rhys laughed and reached over, and I held my breath as he ran a finger along the frill of my neckline. I shivered. That gesture alone made me shiver. It was so small and would have meant nothing if anyone else had done it.
“On you, it’s not so bad, that’s true.”
I rolled my eyes to try to distract him from my blush and walked off to take my first dip in the sea in ages. Rhys followed me. The water was transparent, delightful, and…freezing! I shouted when I stuck a foot in.
“Come on, don’t be chicken. It’s easier to do it all at once.”
He had gone in headfirst and was already several yards away, with the sun gleaming on his body and his eyes focused on me, waiting.
“Are you sure this is good for your circulation? I’m not…”
“Ginger, either get in, or I’m going to come back and throw you in. Ten, nine, eight, seven…”
“Hey! I’ve spent years living in the gray and damp…”
“Six, five, four…”
“I need to acclimate myself!”
He was close now. Very close.
“Three, two, one…”
“Rhys, wait!”
He jumped at me. I turned around and ran off to the shore as quickly as I could, laughing, panting, unable to make it more than a few feet before I felt his hands around my waist. Then he hurled me into the salty water. He fell in with me, his body clinging to mine. I took a quick breath when my head rose to the surface a few seconds later. Rhys laughed, holding on to one of my hands. I splashed around indignantly, but eventually his laughter drew me in, and the water stopped feeling so cold.
It was in that moment, with the sun on his face, his bright eyes half-shut but staring into mine, that I realized that Rhys glimmered. That was it. He was a star. Unlike him, I had always known that. As we rocked in the water, looking at each other as though it were the first time, I remembered that the only stars I knew how to draw had sharp points with a bright center; they were beautiful, but they were hard to touch.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“Nothing. I’m happy. I feel good.”
It was true, despite the premonition I’d just had. I tried not to think of it anymore. I looked at the water droplets hanging from his eyelashes, the almost imperceptible freckles around his nose, his wet lips, slightly open…
“I’m going to go get some rays.”
“Sure. I’ll be right there,” he said.
I took a deep breath, swam off, and climbed back on my towel. I opened my backpack and took out a slice of watermelon, watching him paddle around lazily. Then I lay back and smiled as I felt the sun’s caresses.
“You’ll get burned if you don’t put on sunscreen.”
I opened one eye. Rhys was lying down beside me.
“The sun’ll go down in no time.”
“It’s just my advice; you can take it or leave it. But you’re…whatever. You’ll see.”
“I’m what?” I sat up.
“You’re white, Ginger. Very, very white.”
“I’m not that white!”
“You’re virtually see-through.”
“Dumbass.”
“Are you going to put on sunscreen or not?”
“No, thanks.”
I grabbed the sunglasses he’d just taken from the backpack and put them on. They were aviators. I didn’t want to think about how good they must look on him. I let the sea’s murmurs envelop me, breathed in the scent of summer and peace, and when I opened my eyes, the sun had almost vanished beneath the horizon, and the sky was an orange tone reflected in the water. I yawned and looked at Rhys, who had his earbuds on and was watching the sunset. He smiled when he saw I’d woken up.
“How long have I been asleep?”
“A while. You must have been tired from the trip.”
“Yeah. What are you listening to?”
“Some studio sessions.”
“May I?” I asked doubtfully.
“Sure.” He passed me one of his earbuds. “Maybe you won’t like it as much as the last one. There are no lyrics, it’s all electronic.”
“Haven’t you ever thought about singing yourself?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I could try. We’ll see.”
“Hit Play.”
The sounds were strong, potent. Animated too. Something to dance to. I imagined listening to it at full blast in a club full of lights, with people jumping all around…
“When can I watch you work?”
“Tomorrow night. But are you sure? You can stay home if you don’t want to be out that late…”
“Of course I’m sure! I can’t wait.”
“Okay.” He smiled, looking at the horizon.
“How many nights do you work?”
“Three. Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday.”
“What about the rest of the nights?”
“That’s when other guys work. Fridays and Saturdays are for the bigger-name DJs; a lot of them don’t have set schedules. Here, listen to this.”
He skipped ahead to a harder, darker track.
We stayed there until the sun set completely and decided to go back to the apartment and shower before going out to eat. Rhys got in the shower, and I hung up what little clothing I had in my bag. Apart from those garments, I just had a tiny makeup case and a pocket-sized book I’d bought at the airport before leaving. That was it. It was as if, for the first time in my life, all I needed was myself.
When I was done showering, I put on some comfortable shorts and a tank top. I wasn’t sure whether to wear a bra. My breasts weren’t really big enough to need one. But in the end, I put one on, the way I always did.
“Ready?” Rhys asked when I came out.
“Ready,” I answered with a smile.