CHAPTER 29
THE SPARKLE IN HER EYES
Barbara
There’s something special about the nights in the Maldives.
It’s not just the sea breeze cooling and caressing your skin, nor the sound of the ocean or the endless ebb and flow of the waves against the shore.
It’s the way everything slows down, as if the whole world had decided to grant us a much-needed pause amid the whirlwind of emotions carrying Lidia and me away.
Or maybe it’s us creating that magic, determined to live inside a fragile bubble we know can’t last forever, but that we still refuse to break because inside it, everything feels possible, everything feels like ours.
The restaurant is lit by small strings of lights hanging between the palm trees, casting soft shadows over the white sand.
The tables are beautifully arranged, some near the water, others tucked beneath wooden structures draped with white fabrics swaying gently in the sea breeze as though dancing to the rhythm of the night.
The air smells of salt, food, and the natural fragrance of the flowers decorating the place.
Soft background music drifts through the air, a subtle melody that accompanies the conversations without overpowering them, creating an intimate, welcoming atmosphere.
We sit down with Miriam and Pablo. The last time the four of us shared a meal together was a disaster, and the memory still weighs heavily on my chest. I remember Lidia’s tense glances, everything she said to me before leaving, and the strained looks Pablo and Miriam exchanged after she stormed off and left the three of us alone.
But tonight everything feels different. Because Lidia is beside me, because there’s no distance between us anymore—neither physical nor emotional—and because somehow we’ve decided to try again without thinking too hard about the consequences waiting for us on the horizon.
“This is beautiful,” Miriam comments, looking around with a satisfied smile lighting up her face. “I think the welcome dinner for the guests is going to be incredible if everything already looks this good.”
“I sure hope so,” Pablo replies, lifting the cocktail he ordered the moment we sat down. “After all the stress you’ve put yourself through, it better turn out amazing.”
“Hey, don’t say it like that,” she protests, lightly smacking his arm. “Planning a wedding isn’t easy. But if something goes wrong and it doesn’t turn out exactly how we imagined, then at least we’ll have a funny story to remember. Right, girls?”
“Absolutely,” I reply sincerely as I take in all the details surrounding us. “Besides, it’s always the unexpected moments that end up becoming the best memories.”
Miriam gives us a smile that reaches her eyes, and for the first time since arriving in the Maldives, I truly feel at home.
Maybe because we’re no longer standing on opposite sides of a complicated story.
Maybe because, somehow, everything has shifted and the wounds have begun to heal without us even noticing.
“And how are you two doing?” Miriam asks then, her gaze moving curiously between Lidia and me. “Things seem a lot better than last time, don’t they? Today you both seem more connected. I don’t know… there’s something different about you.”
I feel Lidia’s eyes on me, and I don’t need to turn my head to know all the emotions swirling behind those green eyes I love so much.
“Everything’s fine,” she replies casually. “We went for a walk and we’re a little tired, but everything’s good.”
“That’s already a good sign,” Pablo says with a soft laugh. “At least you’re not fighting like cats anymore, which is progress.”
Lidia laughs quietly.
“Don’t get too excited yet, Dad,” she adds, winking at him. “No matter how much things have improved, we’re still us. So at any moment… boom!” she says, miming an explosion with her hands.
“As long as the explosion doesn’t happen during the wedding, we’re good.”
The conversation flows easily between us. We jump from one topic to another, talk about the little details Lidia and Miriam finalized that morning, reminisce about the boat trip from a few days ago, and even joke about how miserable I looked while the waves seemed determined to destroy me.
“It really wasn’t that bad. You’re exaggerating,” I protest, trying to recover a little dignity as I straighten in my chair.
“Oh, definitely not,” Lidia replies, fixing me with that mischievous sparkle in her eyes. “You were only about to throw up the very first baby food your mother ever gave you. That’s all.”
“You’re dramatic,” I shoot back, even though I can’t stop smiling.
“Me?” she asks, arching an eyebrow. “I almost tossed you into the ocean to cure your seasickness once and for all. Now that I think about it, it probably would’ve worked instantly.”
“That would’ve made everything worse,” I reply, playing along.
We lock eyes and burst into genuine laughter.
That moment means everything to me: it feels natural, light as the breeze surrounding us, and above all, it doesn’t hurt.
It doesn’t carry the weight of the past anymore.
But real life always finds a way back in, and Ingrid’s presence creeps into my thoughts, reminding me that this happiness comes with a price I still haven’t paid—a price haunting me and threatening the fragile balance I’m desperately trying to maintain.
I tighten my fingers around the cloth napkin, trying to push the thought away and return to this moment, to this perfect night.
“Will you dance with me?” Pablo suddenly asks, looking at his daughter with enthusiasm.
Lidia blinks, surprised by the invitation.
“Right now?” she asks, though a smile is already tugging at her lips.
“Of course right now,” he insists, getting to his feet energetically and offering her his hand. “I’m not waiting until the wedding to dance with my daughter. Come on, the night’s still young.”
Lidia hesitates for only a second. She glances at me, and I smile back and wink at her.
“Okay,” she finally agrees. “But don’t step on my feet, all right? I know how you are.”
“I can’t promise anything, sweetheart,” Pablo replies with a hearty laugh.
They head toward the area where the music is playing, and I stay behind, silently watching her. Lidia’s laughter reaches me in bursts, and I find myself focusing on the sparkle in her eyes, the one she’s always had and that, for a while, I thought she’d lost forever because of me.
“It’s beautiful to watch them together, isn’t it?” Miriam comments softly, her voice full of tenderness.
I nod slowly without taking my eyes off the dance floor.
“Yeah…” I murmur, though that’s not really what has me mesmerized.
I let out a deep sigh, filling my lungs with salty air.
“What’s really beautiful is seeing her eyes shine like that. As if she’s finally found something she’s been searching for for a very long time. I haven’t seen her this happy in ages…”
Miriam stays quiet for a moment, respecting the silence, and when she finally speaks, she does so with complete sincerity, because she knows she can with me.
“She’s happy, and something tells me you’re the reason for that. Or am I wrong?”
I go still for a moment, processing her words. The phrase hits me in two completely different ways because yes, I’m responsible for many things. For her happiness now, but also for agreeing to all this while knowing Ingrid is still waiting for me in London.
“I’m responsible for a lot of things…” I reply, lowering my gaze briefly before looking back at her.
“But this time… all I want is to make her smile like that for the rest of her life. I want that sparkle in her eyes to never fade. I want to be the reason her days feel lighter, the reason her nights feel like this—full of happiness.”
Miriam says nothing for a while. She just watches Pablo and Lidia dance together and soak in that magical, love-filled moment.
“I’d forgotten what this feels like,” I continue.
“Feeling truly connected to someone, missing them even while you’re asleep and dreaming about them, not wanting to be apart from them because…
” I swallow hard as a lump forms in my throat, “…because you don’t know how to live without them anymore, because the thought of losing them hurts more than anything else. ”
The weight of my own words crashes down on me, and for a moment I can barely breathe.
“And Lidia…” I begin, but I can’t finish the sentence.
Miriam gives me a knowing half-smile.
“Lidia has you completely in love, doesn’t she?”
“It’s that obvious?” I ask, almost shyly.
“Obvious?” she repeats, raising her eyebrows. “Sweetie, it’s painfully obvious. You can see it in the way you look at each other, in how you constantly seek each other out. It’s beautiful, honestly. And I’m glad to know Pablo wasn’t entirely wrong when he brought you two together.”
I look back toward the dance floor. Lidia spins around laughing loudly while Pablo clumsily tries to keep up with her.
In that moment I feel pure happiness, the kind that warms you from the inside out.
But I also feel fear—a subtle fear tightening around my ribs as I realize this isn’t right, that it isn’t fair to anyone, and that it definitely isn’t easy for me either.
Ingrid slips back into my thoughts, and I remember that strange feeling from when we talked shortly after I arrived on the island.
That jealousy she never fully voiced, but that still left a knot in my stomach and heaviness in my chest. I told her she had nothing to worry about, and I don’t even know how I’ve managed to do all of this without feeling like an absolute monster.
“Are you okay?” Miriam asks, noticing the subtle change in my expression.
I nod quickly, forcing a smile.
“Yeah… I was just thinking about a few things, that’s all.”
“Careful with that,” she teases affectionately. “Thinking too much usually complicates everything, you know.”
I let out a quiet laugh that sounds a little forced.
“Oh, trust me, I know.”
“Then stop doing it. Enjoy the moment. Fate will figure out the rest.”
“I wish it were that easy,” I think. “Just leave my life in fate’s hands and wait for it to fix everything.”
Lidia and Pablo return to the table shortly after. Her cheeks are flushed from dancing and laughing, her eyes shining like stars reflected on the sea, and that smile that feels like it belongs only to me.
“So? Did you survive dancing with your father?” I ask.
“Barely,” she replies, dropping back into her chair. “I swear he’s trying to wear me out before the wedding.”
“It was either that or making you suffer through dancing with me at the wedding itself.”
The conversation continues among the four of us, warm and easy, as though nothing else exists beyond this table, as though the sea, the lights, and the music have created a refuge just for us.
But inside me, two forces pull in opposite directions.
The immense love I feel for Lidia, the kind that fills my chest and makes me want to protect her from everything, and the guilt still tying me to Ingrid.
I know I can’t ignore it forever, that this bubble can’t survive indefinitely without something eventually breaking.
But then Lidia looks at me, and everything else fades away.
The guilt blurs, the fear retreats, and the painful truth slips into the background.
I hate myself a little for that, for choosing this refuge, for still being unable to face what I need to resolve.
But apparently I don’t hate myself enough to walk away from her. Not enough to destroy what we have now.
This is where I want to be. Even if it means everything else is about to fall apart. Even if I know that sooner or later I’ll have to pay the price for this stolen happiness.