An hour later we got dressed and he took my luggage to his pick-up truck. He tied it inside the box with his luggage and then we were off. The drive wasn’t that long, about an hour and a half, so we just listened to music and talked most of the way. I loved how his mind worked when he focused on the little things most other people wouldn’t even notice. He seemed to have an objective point of view and even though I wouldn’t say he was a feminist there were things he thought were unfair toward women and he wanted to fight against the unfairness. For example, equal pay between the sexes. These small things made me feel closer and closer to him.
We arrived at the hotel and even though on the outside it didn’t seem like much, on the inside it was a whole different story. The best part was that the hotel was practically on the beach. We went into the hotel lobby and it was beautiful. The check-in desk was made of marble and the floors were beige ceramic tiles. The walls were painted white and the whole place looked completely alive. Apparently Tom had already alerted the front desk that we were checking in, so we just grabbed our room key and headed toward our room.
If the lobby was nice, the room was even nicer. Three of the walls were painted beige and the fourth was covered with beige fabric with a subtle pattern. The floor was made of alder wood. as was the bed frame, which had white covers on it, two white pillows and two smaller pillows in three different shades of blue. There was a couch chair placed diagonally from the bed that was also made of alder wood and beige fabric. On each side of the bed were tables made out of cherry wood. Each one had four small holes as the design in the front and a beige top. The left wall held a glass sliding door that led to the beach. The door curtains had been opened so the guest could see the beach when walking into the room for the first time. The view of the beach made the room a lot more beautiful than if it hadn’t been there.
“So where are we?” I asked.
“Long beach, New York.”
“It’s so nice here, and everything is extremely fancy.”
“I’m glad you like it. I figured you would.” He pulled me by the waist into his arms, kissed and hugged me, then picked me up and spun me around three times. I started laughing and he put me down on the bed while laughing with me. I took my shoes off and laid on the bed. He laid there with me in complete silence. Only the sound of our heartbeats were speaking to one another.
“I could stay like this forever,” he said.
“Obviously that’s not an option, so get up. We need to make the most of this,” I said, as I hit his stomach with the palm of my hand.
He gasped in pain. “Oof!”
“What a cry baby! I barely hit you. Now let’s go.”
He got off the bed and hugged me.
“What do you want to do?”
“How about we go for a stroll on the beach?” I suggested.
“Sounds like a good idea,” he said as he pulled me down onto the bed with him and started kissing me.
“Then let’s go.”
“Come on,” he said insistently. “Give me a moment of your time.”
Then he started kissing me again and I gave into him. His touch was so perfect and I loved that. He picked me up and placed me on his lap and just continued kissing me. After a while we stopped. His eyes were so loving and then he just tucked my hair behind my ear and kissed my forehead. I got down from his lap and he got up from the bed. We walked out to the beach and he grabbed my hand. For hours and hours we walked until the sun started to go down. There was no conversation, just a perfect silence that spoke to each of us. There was a small mountain made of rocks you could climb at the end of the beach. We climbed to the top and watched the sun go down hand in hand. The night came and the stars appeared. We could see them clearly because there weren’t many lights turned on in Long Beach. I sat down on the rocks and Tom sat behind me, wrapping his arms around me. He placed his lips on my ear and started talking slowly.
“Don’t you love how the stars sparkle? I feel like they call out to me,” he said with passion in his voice.
“I love the stars. They are beautiful and bring me peace. Stars and the ocean, and we have the perfect combination right now. I’ve always wanted a telescope so I could see the true nature of the stars so I could be closer to them,” I said.
“In astronomy there is something called a double star. A double star is a pair of stars that appear next to or near each other in the sky. The reason that we see them as if they were next to each other is because they are in the same orbit. In other words they are bound to each other by gravity, like those stars right there.” He pointed to a double star directly above us.
“They seem so close to each other.”
“They do seem close, but in reality they’re not so close to each other. They’re actually at different distances apart. I want us to be bound to each other like a double star. That even when we might be far from each other that we still circulate in the same space and that the rest of the world can see us aligned close together.”
“Tom,” I said, looking into his eyes.
“Rachel, I want you to understand,” he started to say and then grabbed my hands, “that you have awakened in me something that I haven’t felt in an extremely long time. You are a very special woman and don’t ever let anyone tell you differently. I love that you are just you and you’re not afraid of being you. You’re filled with so much joy and you’re not afraid to show it. There isn’t a moment where you don’t end up laughing and bringing other people into your laughter with you. I love that intensity,” he said, pausing for a moment. “And I love you. I love you and I don’t care who knows it. I will do everything in my power to have you by my side for the rest of my life. While there is a chance, I will fight for you.”
I stared at him in disbelief until the words flowed out of me by themselves.
“I love you too” I said, as sure as I had been of anything in my life.
“Rachel, I don’t want to lose you,” he said. “I can’t lose you. I love you too much to let you go. I know people say that when you find something you love, let it go. If it comes back it’s meant for you, but I feel like every day you leave me, every second you’re not by my side and are by Ethan’s side I am letting you go. But I know in my heart that every time you will come back.”
With those words a tear rolled down his face and I placed my hand on his cheek.
“Tom, I will do everything I can to one day be by your side, until death do us part.”
Chapter eighteen
After a while we got up and started climbing down the rocks carefully because it was very dark and the path was a lot harder to see. When we finally reached the bottom we walked back to our room. We were both exhausted. I threw myself on the bed while Tom walked to the bathroom with a towel in hand. After he came out of the shower, I took my turn, feeling nervous about returning to the room with my skimpy pajamas on. Eventually I came out of the bathroom and Tom was lying on the bed with black boxer briefs on and nothing else.
I just stared at him and then blurted out, “Really? Why do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Wear practically no clothes whatsoever.”
“It wasn’t on purpose or anything. I just sleep like this.”
“Whatever. So if you slept naked you would have no clothes on right now?”
“Most likely.”
“You are too much.”
“Look who’s talking. Do you know how perfect you like right now?” He stood up from the bed and walked toward me. “Do you know how hard I’m trying right now to control myself? Every single part of you looks perfect.” He touched my shoulders, sending an electric shock through my body.
“Don’t say things like that, Tom.”
“Why not? It’s the truth... you know I’m in love with you. I’m madly in love with you. So what’s the problem?”
“Whenever you say things like this I just forget about everything and want to leave everything behind, including Ethan.”
“Than d
o it. What’s stopping you? I’ll be there for you. I’ll give you everything you want and need.”
“You know I can’t do that, Tom. I love him too.”
As soon as I said the words I regretted having said them out loud. The hurt on Tom’s face was evident, but he composed himself quickly.
“I’m sorry. I understand,” he said with a lump in his throat.
“I’m sorry, Tom. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“It’s alright.”
“It’s not. I wouldn’t like it if someone did it to me.”
“It’s alright, really. I told you before that I know what I walked into. I have to brace myself for what might come.”
“I wish it wasn’t that way and that I could just give you everything that I have.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said, changing the subject. “We haven’t eaten in a while. Are you hungry?”
“Yes, I guess so. Anything is fine,” I said, still sad that he had changed the topic so abruptly.
“Ok, how about hamburgers?” he asked with a smile.
I was truly amazed how fast he could compose himself; such a small action would take me hours to accomplish.
“Sure, that sounds great,” I said.
“Ok, I’ll call room service.”
I sat on the bed and after a while he joined me.
“They said the food would be here in about 20 to 25 minutes,” he said, as he sat down on the bed.
He stretched out beside me and started kissing my stomach softly. Looking up at me, he asked, “How did you make fall so deeply in love you, Rachel?”
“That’s an easy question to answer,” I said. “I’m wonderful!” I started laughing.
“That you definitely are,” he said. He placed his hands on my face and pulled my lips to his.
He started playing with my hair and I could feel myself slipping away, his words a distant echo in the night. Just when I was about to fade completely there was a knock on the door. Tom put a shirt and shorts on and walked to the door. He opened the door to a young clerk who pushed the cart with the food slightly inside. Tom tipped the man, who thanked him and left. Tom grabbed both plates and put them on top of the bed. I sat in a pretzel position and Tom sat in front of me. My hamburger had no lettuce and some tomatoes, just the way I liked it. It had only been two months since we had met and he already knew how I liked my burgers. Besides that, both plates held the same food: a hamburger and fries. He poured some ketchup on his plate and mine, then dipped one of his fries in ketchup and fed it to me. I looked down and blushed a small smile on my face. I looked up to a warm smile on his face and the feel of his lips on mine. We finished eating between laughs, feeding each other food and making small talk.
“Did you order anything to drink? I asked, looking around.
“No, but I can go get something.”
“It’s alright.”
“It’s no problem,” he said as he got up and left.
A few minutes later he came back into the room with two apple juices in hand─our favorites.
After we finished everything, Tom took the two plates, put them in the cart the clerk had brought us, and covered them. For hours we stayed in bed. He took his shirt off in the process and I laid on his chest while he caressed my arm softly. We talked for hours and hours about the most insignificant things, our favorite animals, how many kids we wanted to have, what religion they would grow up in. Our likes and dislikes, our wants our desires were similar, not to say completely the same. I loved being able to talk to someone so easily. I was never able to do this with Ethan without fighting, and I had forgotten what it felt like to have a normal conversation with someone I loved. Around 2 am I started to get tired and fell asleep to Tom’s touch, one of the best sensations in this world.
Chapter nineteen
I woke up to Tom’s soft kisses on my forehead. He startled me at first, but when I saw it was him I immediately relaxed. He laughed as soon as he saw my reaction, then kissed me again.
“Good morning,” he said with a wide smile.
“Good morning,” I replied, stretching my arms.
“Sleep well?”
“I haven’t slept so well in months.”
“I’m glad to hear that. I ordered some bagels with everything and cream cheese. They’ll be here shortly.”
About 5 minutes later there was a knock on the door. Tom opened the door, accepted our breakfast and rolled it over to a small table near the window.
“How did you know I like everything bagels?”
“I didn’t. I just figured you would.”
“You figured right.”
“I also rented two horses so we can go horseback riding on the beach.”
“What time is the tour?”
“There is no tour. We just pick up the horses when we’re ready.”
“Do we have a guide?”
“No, there wouldn’t be much to guide. We just ride them forward on the beach until we get tired.”
“Ok, let’s eat and get ready.
We finished everything, I went to take a shower and Tom went in behind me.
“Really? I want to shower,” I said, giving him a glare.
“I want to shower too.”
“I’m sure you do,” I said, my glare still in place.
He gave me a wide smile and pushed me under the running water.
Tom got out of the shower to go look for the horses. By the time I had finished showering, got dressed and fixed my hair, Tom was outside of our room on the beach holding two reins in hand, the horses behind him. I stepped out onto the beach and walked over to them.
“Are you ready?”
“It doesn’t seem like I have much of an option.”
He started to laugh, and said, “you always have an option. Especially with me.”
Tom helped me mount the horse and then mounted his own. We rode the horses along the beach with the horses’ hooves touching the water. It was the type of scene you would watch in a movie and I was living it. It took about an hour to reach the end of the beach. When we reached it we both dismounted. Ethan grabbed the reins of both horses and tied them to a palm tree. He then pulled out some sugar cubes and gave one to each horse.
“I want to give them sugar cubes,” I said, extending my hands.
Tom placed two sugar cubes on my hand and I fed them to the horses. The feel of the horses’ mouths against my hand made my hand tickle. I wiped my hand against my jeans and Tom walked toward me.
“Come,” he said, as he started pulling me toward the water.
We sat along the shore, close enough to touch the water with our feet without getting wet otherwise. I took off my shoes so that I could feel the water on my toes and Tom did the same. The water felt refreshing on our feet, and the sand overlapped our toes. Tom put his hand in mine while he stroked my fingers softly.
“I love being with you here, Rachel. This setting is perfect, and you’re perfect.”
“I am far from perfect, Tom.”
“You are as close to perfection as a woman could get for me. The way your mind works is beautiful, your laugh is like a melody, you’re kind, you like animals, which means you’re most likely compassionate, yet you’re fierce and passionate. To this moment you have been extremely loving to me. We have many things in common and yet we have our small differences. All these things in my eyes make you perfect.”
He leaned over and kissed me. I lost my balance and fell back on the sand, getting it all over my hair. As I fell he started to laugh, then edged his body closer to me. He kept kissing me, and his body was practically on top of mine. For this reason I was very glad that the part of the beach we were on had no people around. He didn’t let me think; he just proceeded slowly and again he was mine.
Afterwards, we spent about half an hour sitting on the sand before we made our way back to our hotel room. This time we rode more slowly on the horses, trying to enjoy every minute we had left with them. Somehow the time just flew by and the n
ext thing I knew I was off the horse and Tom was taking them back to the stables. He told me to put on the dress I had picked for the weekend and when he got back he would get dressed for dinner. When I got out of the shower Tom was waiting on the bed. I got dressed in the gray dress with a bit of blue I had picked, silver heels and a silver watch. Tom came out of the bathroom dressed in a tux. I hadn’t noticed he had taken it with him to the bathroom. It was a gray tux over a white shirt and a light blue tie. He looked dashing.
“Wow...Rachel. You look gorgeous. That dress looks beautiful on you.”
“You don’t look so bad yourself,” I said with a smile.
I walked to the bathroom to put some make up on and Tom followed me in. He walked in behind me and stayed there while I applied it.
“Stunning. There is just one thing missing.”
“And what’s that?”
“This,” he said, and he pulled out a black box.
“What is it?”
“Open it and you’ll see.”
So I did. Inside was a beautiful diamond necklace. I just stared at it in shock.
“Tom... it’s beautiful.”
“I’m glad you like it. Turn around so I can put it on you.”
I turned around and he placed the necklace on me. I touched the necklace and let it fall on the bottom of my neck.
“Thank you, Tom. I love it.”
“Shall we go eat?”
“Yes, please. I’m starving.”
Tom linked his arm in mine and we walked out of the room.
Chapter twenty
The restaurant at the hotel was elegant with a bar in the middle held up by two silver columns. The lamps on the roof were light purple and blue. Around the room there were more than 20 black tables with beige chairs at each one, some for two and others for bigger parties. On the far end of the restaurant there was a man playing a black grand piano, a truly marvelous sound. Everything about the place screamed special occasion; Tom had really outdone himself. After placing our food order, we started to talk about everything and about nothing really. When we were done with our meal Tom ordered some dessert for us. I started eating my dessert, but then I saw something in it. I grabbed it and Tom smiled.
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