by Amelia Grace
*~*~*~*~*
Ben’s fingers were wrapped around mine when we entered the Italian restaurant. It was noisy with the constant conversations and laughter of patrons. I felt the stress release from my body. He was right, again. I did need to get away from Gran’s house, and the rock.
We left the Italian Restaurant and ventured to the ultimate place to relax—in Ben’s opinion—the spectacular Aquariumdome.
‘I know I have never brought you here before, and I have never told you—but this is my favourite place to be. I come here regularly when I need to … de-stress from my job. It makes me feel like I am home for some reason.’
I looked at him, intrigued. The similarities between the Aquariumdome and the pods in Une Autre Terre were uncanny. Did he know why he liked coming here so much, or why it made him feel like he was home?
As soon as I entered the Aquariumdome, I was inside a tunnel woven through a fish tank built on a magnitudinal scale. Sea life swam all around and I was no longer the dominate species, but a mere unimportant small guest in their world.
A vast variety of water plant and animal species had been successfully orchestrated to co-habit in this underwater world, and the colours were diverse and vibrant. The swimming action of the fish were hypnotising and calming, intermittently interrupted by the whizzing by of a mischievous seal, or a playful dolphin.
‘I’ve always wanted to come here at night. How did you know this is what I needed?’
He looked at me, looked off into the distance and then looked down at my hand, and took it in his. ‘Well … if you really want to know … I watch you. I’ve been watching you since we first met, before you even made eye contact with me. I try to read your body language. I try to watch the way you are behaving, and, I can see your emotional state in your eyes. I watch you to see how I can help you in the best way that I can. Most of the time, I put your needs before mine. And I know at this moment, you really need a distraction away from Gran’s drawing room. This will rejuice your mind, Cate. I think you are suffering from brain overload. This is the place to forget Gran’s drawing room, just for a little while, before you return again to Gran’s memories.’ He lowered his head and watched me carefully when he finished explaining it to me.
I stared at him. I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t believe what he had just said. Of course, I always knew he did all those things. I had noticed it from early on in our relationship. But to hear him analyse it and tell me about it, just about word for word, the same as I heard in the other world … was … indescribable—surreal.
He stopped walking and looked at me. ‘What?’ he asked, with a nervous smile.
‘Mmm. I was just thinking how incredible you are,’ I said. That was true. I was thinking how incredible he was, amongst other things … the world was not as it seemed.
We spent a long leisurely three and a half hours in the Aquariumdome with our fingers entwined the entire time. We spoke at length about the wonderful creatures we saw, each exchanging the information we knew about them.
Sometimes, our lips would meet, just for a fleeting moment, enough to stir the strong passion I felt for him and make me hyper aware of every part of my body that desired him. Temptation was growing way too strong for me.
I wanted more … much more…
The journey home in the car was quiet as I forced my thoughts away from Ben to reflect on what I had encountered in Gran’s memories. It was a lot to process. Was this journey in Gran’s memories a great gift, or a terrible burden? And at once I knew I could never be the same person I was before all of this began.
Ben’s voice broke into my thoughts. ‘Cate … you are mine, forever.’ He looked at me for a moment, and then looked back to the road.
I smiled and moved my hand to his cheek. At the touch of my hand he blinked with a slow movement. I wondered why he said those words out of the blue…
‘Forever and a day,’ I whispered, borrowing words from Gran’s memories.