by Meris Lee
Ana swallowed hard. She felt a chill creeping up her spine.
“No, no,” said Ana, “we haven’t spent that much time together.”
The waiter returned with Ana’s juice. Ana took a sip and tried to change the subject by saying, “How is your baby? Where is your baby?”
“Oh, my baby is doing fine,” said Kim. “I am so glad to come home with the baby so my parents can see him. They are already spoiling him.”
Kim paused, and then pointed toward the other end of the patio. “Right now he’s with my mother-in-law, over there. Can you see?”
Ana looked, and saw Vo’s mother, Lan. Lan was cradling an infant in her arms, and chatting with a few other women. Ana folded her arms across her chest, trying to calm herself down.
“Do you want to go and see the baby?” said Kim.
Ana wanted to decline, but it would have been considered rude. Reluctantly, she agreed.
Kim held Ana’s hand as they weaved in and out of the crowd to reach Lan. Lan’s face stiffened up when she saw Ana, but she stood up to say the proper greetings.
“Ana wants to hold the baby,” said Kim. “Right, Ana?” Kim took the baby from Lan’s arms, and handed him to Ana.
It took Ana a moment to hold the infant comfortably in her arms as it had been so long since she held one. She rocked the baby back and forth a little, and examined his face. Something about the baby looked a little odd to Ana.
“And this is my mother-in-law, Adele,” said Kim, pointing to a black woman sitting next to Lan. “Mom, this is Ana, the one Vo talks about all the time.”
Adele stood up to give Ana a hug and said, “Don’t worry about Vo’s mom. I’ve got you covered.” She winked at Ana, and sat down with Lan, resuming the conversation they were having with the other women.
Ana was speechless. The presumption she had held on to for months was shattered in a matter of seconds. She felt a little faint. She almost dropped the baby when Vidal walked up and tapped Ana on the back to greet her. Thankfully, her instinct as a mother saved her from such a catastrophe.
Vidal gave her a puzzled look and said, “What’s the matter? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost?”
Ana opened her mouth, but no word came.
“She’s just too surprised to see us tonight,” said Kim. “I don’t think Vo told her that we’d be here, too.” Kim took her baby back from Ana.
Vidal gave Kim a kiss on the lips and said, “I’m going to find Vo. They are about to bring out the cake.” Vidal turned around and left.
“You and Vidal got married last year?” said Ana.
“Yes,” said Kim, looking a little embarrassed, “we fell in love so quickly, and before I knew it I was pregnant. You’d think as a nurse I would have been more careful. My father naturally was very angry. He wanted to sue Vidal and threatened to cut me off from my family. Vo had to go and talk to my father so many times, trying to reason with him. Eventually Vo’s mother stepped in and talked to my mother. Vo’s mother vouched that Vidal was a trustworthy and dependable man. The law degree helped. My parents finally gave in, and Vidal and I got married.”
Ana nodded her head. She was feeling a little less anxious. Instead, her mood was starting to swing toward the other direction. Vo was unattached. She had been such a fool.
“It’s been like a dream,” said Kim. “Everything happened so fast. Vidal said I was his lucky star. He got a job as soon as he got back to America. He’s not doing corporate anymore; he’s an environmental lawyer, fighting the companies that are polluting the Gulf of Mexico.”
Even in the dim light Ana could see that Kim had a twinkle in her eyes as if she were talking about a god that she worshiped wholeheartedly.
“I am so happy for you,” said Ana. “I was very sorry about breaking you and Vo up last year.”
“Oh, I was not sorry about it at all,” said Kim. “I pretty much fell in love with Vidal as soon as I saw him the first time. He said he liked me from the beginning, too, but he pretended that he didn’t because it was his duty to help Vo and I get married. After Vo ran away from the engagement dinner that night at Quan Bien Dong, Vidal came to see me the next day and confessed his feelings to me. I was so happy when I found out that he had been in love with me, too, all that time.”
Ana and Kim were laughing when Vidal returned. Vo and Ivan were a couple of steps behind.
“What did I miss?” said Vidal. He put his arm around Kim’s waist.
Vo bowed to his mother, and gave Vidal’s mother a hug. He greeted the other women whom his mother was talking to as well.
“And this is Ivan,” said Vo to his mother.
With a serious expression, Lan fixed her eyes on Ivan.
“Ivan? Do you ride a skateboard?” said Lan.
“Yes, Mrs. Nguyen,” said Ivan. He seemed to be studying Lan’s face as well, as if trying to recall something.
Lan stood up immediately, and put her hands together to bow to Ivan. She said, with a big smile, “You are the Ivan who helped me when someone tried to rob me last year.” She proceeded to recount the event for everyone present. When she was finished, all of her friends came up and hugged Ivan as well. Ivan smiled, looking embarrassed.
Ivan never told Ana about the event, so Ana was surprised as well as proud of Ivan. She gave Ivan a pat on the back. She glanced at Vo, who was shaking his head, indicating that he didn’t know anything about it, either.
“Ana is Ivan’s mother,” said Vo to Lan.
Lan looked at Ivan, and then looked at Ana as if trying to confirm the resemblance. She shook her head and said, “This is fate. I give up.” She took a step forward, and gave Ana a hug. “I give my blessing to you and my son. I will be happy to have you as my daughter-in-law.” She folded Ana’s hands inside her own.
“Mom,” said Vo, “don’t embarrass her. We are just friends now.”
Everyone gave Vo and Ana a confused look, but before anyone could say anything, someone had started singing the song “Happy Birthday” and brought out the cake.
Chapter 45
When the party was winding down and most guests had left, Vo found Ana at the edge of the water, making circles in the sand with her toes. Her hair was flowing in the wind, and her slender figure, wrapped in a white tunic dress, seemed to be swaying to the rhythm of the waves. It was more than he could bear not to run up to her and hold her in his arms. Instead he approached her in a gentlemanly manner. He felt a little weak in the knees, but managed to gather the necessary courage.
“Ana, did you enjoy the evening?” said Vo. He left his shoes at the bar, and was making little splashes of water with his foot.
“Yes. I’m almost hoping that it won’t end,” said Ana. She gave him a smile.
They stood and listen to the sound of the ocean, the soft murmur of the Spanish guitar still reverberating in the air behind them. The moon was not up yet, and above them was a canvas of dark purple and indigo. The soothing breeze caressing their skin was at once both relaxing and invigorating.
“I was thinking about taking the boat out tonight. I would love to have some company,” said Vo.
“Are you asking me to go out to sea in the dark? Sounds rather dangerous,” said Ana. She peered at Vo, who was kicking up a micro-storm at the shoreline.
“I didn’t want to ask anyone else. I mean, there’s no one else to ask,” said Vo. He was stumbling to find words again.
Ana smiled and said, “I’d love to come.”
Vo wanted to pick her up and spin her around out of joy, but he refrained from doing so, afraid that it might upset Ana. They walked back to the restaurant, and asked Vidal to take Ivan and Zoe home. Everyone was agreeable to the plan, so Vo and Ana hailed a taxi to take them to the Nha Trang Port.
The water was calm, and it did not get dark until the lights from the city and the residential islands were out of sight. Vo slowed down the boat and had it cruise at a leisurely speed when it seemed like he and Ana were the only two living beings around. The birds of the s
ea that frequently followed Vo’s seaward journeys were absent, and Vo imagined that the creatures underneath the surface of the water were also taking a rest. Vo offered Ana a blanket.
“Thanks, but I’m all right for now,” said Ana. She shook her head to turn down the offer. There was an exhilarating chill in the air, and Ana wanted to soak it all in.
Ana didn’t know where Vo was headed, but she didn’t really care. When she was with Vo, it was beautiful anywhere in the world. They were not exchanging a lot of words, but they were communicating somehow, as if their spirits had invisible tentacles that reached out and in a game of back-and-forth, became intertwined.
Vo stopped the engine in the middle of complete darkness and said, “Want to watch the stars for a bit?”
They both lay down on the deck of the boat to admire the Milky Way, the stars more numerous and brilliant than could be seen in Nha Trang. The boat was rocking slightly on the open water, the waves slapping against its hull quietly. Ana moved toward Vo so that her arm was touching his. Vo didn’t object.
When Ana saw a stretch of iridescent blue starting to peek out above the horizon, she sat up.
“I think the moon is about to come up,” said Ana. She wanted to watch the moonrise.
Ana went to sit at the bow and cradled her knees, gazing into the distance.
Vo watched Ana from behind. The wind was whispering softly, the silence mesmerizing.
They watched as the full moon completely rose out of the edge of the ocean, massive and bright like a silver medallion, veiled by just a few wisps of a cloud. The sky behind was an electric cobalt, accentuated by blotches of charcoal with rims of platinum. The water below was sparkling in the moonlight, and Ana remembered something that she had always wanted to do.
She stood up, and as if in a trance she disrobed completely. Before Vo could react to what was happening, she had jumped into the ocean.
Vo ran to the bow and became worried when he saw only ripples on the water and no signs of Ana. His relief came when Ana poked her head out of the water, her long hair wet and draping over the curves of her shoulders. Her skin glowed as the moonlight bounced off the water and illuminated her. She swam with her head above water, away from the boat.
“Are you going to leave me here?” said Vo. He was joking, but sounded desperate at the same time. It was just too cruel the way Ana teased him.
Ana swam back to the boat. “Are you coming in?”
“I don’t think I should. It won’t be decent,” said Vo, pretending to look away.
“Fine,” said Ana, and she swam away again.
Vo watched as Ana glided toward the moon until she almost blended in with the glistening sea. He couldn’t resist it anymore. He removed his shirt, and jumped in.
He caught up with Ana, and they dove in and out of the silky water like they were in a synchronized dance. When Ana would pause to take a breath, her radiant silhouette against the moonlight was more than intoxicating. Vo looked at the pearl that Ana was wearing. It was shimmering as if it had come alive, casting a magic spell over him.
“That pearl,” said Vo, “why do you wear it all the time? It makes me hope that you still want me. I can’t let you go as long as you wear it.”
“Then don’t let me go,” said Ana. She swam toward Vo, threw her arms around his neck, and kissed him.
It took them only a moment to rekindle the passion that they had hidden from each other. Vo held Ana firmly against him, wanting to touch every inch of her. They wouldn’t regret it if they were to drown right there and then.
Ana pushed Vo away gently and said, “I do still want you. I love you.”
“Oh, Ana, why do you keep me waiting in the dark? Why do you torture me so?” Vo pulled Ana closer again.
Ana would explain it later, but not right now.
They swam back to the boat and dried off. Ana threw her tunic back on, and wrapped herself in a blanket as Vo started the engine.
“I don’t want to go home yet,” said Ana.
“Don’t worry,” said Vo. “I am taking you to the Pearl Island. We never get to see the sunrise from there, and now seems a good time to do it.”
When they arrived at the island, the moon was directly above the hills. They started a fire, and took a stroll along the beach. It felt like they were at the end of time, so far removed from all the burdens of the past. They had abandoned the world, and with it all the pain and suffering that they had to endure before.
They fell asleep in each other’s arms, the powdery sand as their bed and the song of the ocean as the lullaby.
When the moon exited behind the hills, a streak of orange penetrated through the neon violet at the junction between earth and sky. The air was getting warmer, and birds started to chirp.
Vo woke up first, and when he felt Ana in his arms he pinched himself to make sure that he wasn’t in a dream. He studied her face, ran his finger through her hair and traced her eyebrows and her nose. He bent forward, drifting in the magnetic force that drew him to her.
Ana opened her eyes to see the sky turning a fierce coral as the sun ascended and the heat began to rise. She tried to pull Vo toward her, but he got up instead, his knees planted in the sand.
Ana sat up, too, a little disappointed.
Vo took a deep breath, and removed an object from his shirt pocket. It was a ring that he had made by weaving coconut leaves together while Ana was asleep. His hand was shaking slightly as he held the ring to Ana. “Will you marry me?” he asked.
“A thousand times yes,” said Ana. She could hardly wait for Vo to slide the ring onto her finger before she embraced him, locking their lips in a kiss for eternity. This was their first sunrise on the Pearl Island, and she wasn’t going to miss it.
Thank you for taking the time to read this novel.
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Cover Photo and Design by Meris Lee
Sunrise seen from the beach in Nha Trang