Chapter Seven
Janelle
I t’s the end of the week.
Tomorrow our families and friends will start arriving and Rome and I will cease to exist.
Everything in me wants me to extend our time together.
Every cell in my body wants to latch onto him and never let go, but that’s just not a possibility.
We work so well together because we’ve managed to exist outside of the planes of reality—outside of familial influence, responsibilities, and expectations.
When all of that comes crashing down around us, I don’t think we’ll survive.
My soul feels like I know him on a deeper level than I’ve ever known anyone, but how can that be possible in such a short amount of time?
It isn’t. So, it’s best to just end while the memory of him still lights me up with joy.
Today, we have a group activity on our itineraries but it’s one that fills me with excitement rather than dread. We’re swimming with sea turtles!
When Ri let me know that she didn’t have a sea turtle excursion anywhere on the agenda for our time in Tulum, I was disappointed, but I didn’t want to make the trip about me so I kept quiet.
I was resigned to the idea that I would do it by myself if I could find the free time, but then she texted us to let us know that we were doing that instead of the errands she had planned for the day.
If this is her idea of an olive branch, I appreciate it wholeheartedly.
Our guides get us set up with snorkeling gear and go through a safety lesson with us before loading us onto the boat that will take us out onto Akumal Bay.
The water is a serene turquoise color. The wind against the waves gives a refreshing chill to the otherwise humid air.
Rome, Micah, myself, and Dani are the first to dive into the water.
As our guide is helping Dani with her vest, Rome sends me a sly smile.
He knows how much this moment means to me and the pure elation on his face from the fact that I get to experience it brings a tear to my eye.
I jump in the water and let it wash away with the waves.
Once we dip below the surface, I am bombarded by the beauty of this underwater world. When surrounded by the expanse of the sea, you realize just how small you really are.
Feeling a little overwhelmed, I swim back up to the surface. The snorkeling aspect is a little hard to adjust to at first. Even though I know I’m breathing, it feels like I’m not and it sends a minor panic through me.
“J, I found one.” In the middle of the sea, I can hear his voice loud and clear like it’s only meant for me to hear.
I turn to see him with his hand out to me and fuck if I don’t want to pull him to me and lose myself despite the audience.
He seems to sense my thoughts and gives me a saccharine smile.
I grab his hand and let him pull me under all to come face to face with a beautiful sea turtle.
Our guide swims over, but we don’t disconnect our hands until Dani and Micah find their way over to us.
Evie, Arnold, Ri, and Christian join us in the water and when the guide pulls out a container of food, more sea turtles surround us.
One of them looks like it’s trying to bite our guide, but he simply grabs it by its front fin and pushes it upward. The little guy completely changes its trajectory and moves on somewhere else.
I forget all about my trouble with snorkeling and am the last one to swim to the surface for a break.
Eventually, the others grow tired of snorkeling and opt to stay on the boat, whereas Rome and I continue to go under and soak it all in.
These marvelous creatures have allowed us into their space, and I want to make the most of it while I can. This is absolutely breathtaking.
After the tour, I am so worn out I can barely keep my head up on the boat ride back. It’s something I’ll never forget though and it makes me glad I didn’t leave like I threatened to last night.
When we get back to shore, the group takes off for the beach and I step back to give myself one more moment to admire the water. A shadow falls over me and I tilt my head back to see Micah smiling down at me. “Did you have fun?” he asks.
“I had the time of my life. Sea turtles are my favorite favorite.”
Micah hangs his head as if I’ve just told the funniest joke in the world. “That makes sense then.”
“What does?”
“Nothing, my fault. I’m all over the place.”
It’s obvious he’s lying but I just don’t know why. Maybe I’m not the only one in this wedding party with secrets.
“Well, did you have fun?” I return the question back to him.
“Oh yeah, it was dope. I liked that it was just us too. Rome did his thing.”
My head seemingly detaches from my body with how fast it flies back to look at Micah. “Rome?”
My question seems to spark a few of his own and he cycles through them internally before a look of peace takes over his face, and I know whatever decision he’s made is about to punch me in the gut.
“Yeah, Rome’s the one who set this whole tour up, said he heard about it from a local and thought everyone would enjoy it. He wouldn’t even hear it when Arnold told him we didn’t have time to make it happen. He said he was booking it and whoever could make time was welcome to come.”
“Is that right?”
“Yep. Seemed really important to him.”
This whole time I thought that because Ri was the one who texted me about it that she was the one who set it up and that she did it for me when really Rome was once again proving that he gives a fuck.
I have a theory on why Micah decided to share all of this with me, but his answer to my next statement will confirm or deny. “I’m not surprised. Rome’s a good guy.”
“He is. Probably one of the best. There’s one thing you should probably know about him.”
“What’s that?”
“Once he’s decided he wants something? He works relentlessly to get it. And keep it.”
And there it is. He knows.
I should be furious at Rome because I was very clear about not wanting our friends to know, but I can’t knock him for needing a sounding board for our whole situation.
I’ve wanted to share with Evie since day one, but I let my desire to keep us in the safe bubble away from bullshit outweigh my desire to gush about a man to my friend.
It does feel good to know that Micah approves, if him keeping his mouth shut is any indication. “I’m actually starting to understand that, Micah.”
He offers me his arm when my foot sinks too far into the sand and walks with me back to the group.
“I’ve been meaning to tell you, Micah, that Ri showed me the painting you made for her and Arnold for their wedding before we left.
It’s gorgeous.” The painting he created of the two of them is so well done it could be mistaken for a photograph.
It’s the finer details of the painting that set it apart though.
Woven into the minor details of their clothing are things that represent them.
There are small footballs, basketballs, baseballs, etc.
for Arnold. For Ri, there are needles, thread, and sketchpads.
But in the center where their hands meet are the things that represent them as a couple.
The car from their first road trip together, the plate of spaghetti from their first date, the spot in Patterson Park where he proposed.
He captured their journey to each other in the painting, but you would only notice it if you knew where to look.
“Thank you. I’m proud of that one.”
“As you should be. I wanted to ask you if you do murals by any chance.”
“I definitely could. Why? You got something going on?”
I think about the space back home that I want to create. The vision that Rome helped bring clarity to. “Not yet.”
“Well, you say the word and I got you. We’re gonna be seeing a lot more of each other so you know I’ll take care of you.”
My eyes cut to his. “We’ll be seeing a lot more of each other?”
“Yeah. Isn’t your sister marrying my friend? I imagine that puts us in the same circle.”
I bow my head with a smirk. “Oh, right.”
The grin he sends my way is slick with mockery. If he weren’t so damn handsome, I’d want to slap the grin off him. “Why? Is there another reason we might be seeing a lot more of each other?” he asks, the implication in his voice clear.
I chew on my bottom lip, shaking my head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I bet you don’t.” He pats my arm as we reach the group and makes his way over to Dani, and for the briefest of moments I see her look at him with what looks like longing before she slips back into a mask of indifference.
I catch Rome’s eye and he mouths the words “ you okay ” to me to which I wink at him and he smiles.
“ If you’re horny, let’s do it. Ride it, my pony .” Evie sings “Pony” by Ginuwine and dances her way down the aisle while everyone laughs.
“Evie, be fucking forreal,” Dani says in between laughs. “That is not what you’d walk down the aisle to.”
We’re supposed to be having a sort of wedding rehearsal tonight, even though the space won’t be decorated until the night before the wedding, followed by a group dinner to celebrate our last night having this place to ourselves.
Instead of taking it seriously, however, this has deteriorated into karaoke night with us challenging each other to sing the song we’d want to walk down the aisle to or the song we’d pick for our wives to walk down the aisle to.
“What you mean?” Evie sucks her teeth. “If I find a man that makes me wanna give up my last name, it must mean he’s laying down soul-snatching peen, and so I will commemorate it appropriately. Y’all will be lucky if we make it to our own reception.”
“No, the song fits her because she’s probably gonna elope,” I point out.
“Even better. Now can I continue my performance? Damn, have some decorum, y’all.”
She continues singing “Pony” all the way down the aisle, making sex faces at Micah and gagging faces at Christian. Christian rolls his eyes at her but his song of choice is “I Wanna Sex You Up. ”