My mind let those words sink in. It wasn’t until I saw that Mr. Rigby and I were the only two not engaged in the moment that I really felt alone. A tear dropped and soon the sky began to sprinkle. Nasani immediately realized what was happening but before she could attempt to cheer me up, I snuck away. I didn’t wander far. The party was still within sight.
Love wasn’t something I had ever been in and I was certain the feelings I had for Joseph were not that, yet. It was different with him. The Keyes’ words repeated in my head—two parts of a whole. No matter how difficult Joseph was, I felt partial without him.
My toes touched the water; gently the waves washed over my feet and I admitted. “Joseph, I need you. Come back to me.”
Just off the shore a soft blue glow spread across the surface of the water. I watched as a figure emerged—a man. I called to him. “Joseph?”
He spoke, confused. “Seraphin? Where am I?”
My feet carried me further into the water; every inch of progress was instinctual. There was a force that was not my own. It pulled my body towards his. “Have you been following me?”
“Seraphin? Following you where? Up until 30 seconds ago I was in Perth, eating brunch.”
“You don’t miss me, do you?” I asked, sad.
We were face to face, standing in the cool water. He wore a white button down, long sleeve shirt. It was open at his neck and the sleeves were folded once each. It hung low over a loose fitting pair of tan linen shorts. He was completely dry. His expression softened. “What makes you think I didn’t miss you?”
“Obviously you didn’t miss me or you wouldn’t have been enjoying omelets or croissants or whatever you were eating in Australia,” wanting to hear only that he was sulking, not enjoying brunch.
Laughing, he declared, “You are not making sense. You know I would never eat an egg—I mean, sometimes as an ingredient I can’t avoid them but I would never just crack open an egg and fry it up.”
I smiled, comforted by his sense of humor.
“I’m dreaming,” he bent down, touching the water with the tips of his fingers.
“You’re not dreaming.” I assured him.
“Sure feels like a dream. Look, not a drop of water on me and I just emerged from the ocean. Heck, as long as I’m dreaming, I might as well.” His arms wrapped around me and without warning his lips met mine. They were soft and warm. It was our first kiss. We both seemed to relax, comforted by the contact. When he pulled back I moved forward, surprising us both. “Yes, this is definitely a dream.”
“You’re not dreaming.” I repeated, whispering.
“Then why am I here? How am I here?” His lips rested on my forehead.
“I think I brought you here. I have to talk to you—I want to tell you that I didn’t mean what I said.” Suddenly, he lifted; my feet left the water as he carried me back towards the beach. I continued talking. He said nothing as his lips moved to my neck. I tried to focus on my words but it was difficult. Having trouble forming a sentence, I mumbled the word, “apologize.”
“Me?” He questioned. “I’m sorry for anything and everything I’ve ever done or might do to upset you Seraphin.”
“No, I apologize,” trying to clarify.
“Mmmhmmm,” he dropped to the sand, pulling me onto his lap.
“Joseph, what are you doing?”
“I’m having the best dream, ever.” As he kissed my collarbone his hand ran up my leg.
“JOSEPH!” I pushed him back.
“This is not a dream, huh?” A sigh escaped as he removed his hand from my thigh. I remained nestled in his lap. “So, you summoned me here to apologize? And how did you manage to do such a thing?”
“I was standing on the shore and I said; Joseph, I need you.” When I repeated it a blue glow surrounded us. Again I felt a pull towards his body. “Do you feel that?”
“When a beautiful woman admits her need for you, it’s difficult to not feel, THAT.”
“I’m serious.”
“Oh, I’m completely serious as well. So, what is it then that you need me for?” With sarcasm in his voice, he asked. My cheeks flushed and when I didn’t answer right away he let a large smile take over his face. “Oh. I see. You need me.”
“No. The reason I—”
He stopped me. “I’m so thrown off by you. All this time I expected to find your opposite—someone more like me. A person who’s only drive in life is to be a Guardian but instead, I’ve got you.”
“You’re going somewhere with this, right?” My feelings were close to being hurt.
“I’ve got you to remind me that I’m only a man—that I make mistakes and that I’m not perfect. You are challenging, confusing, and difficult—all the things I didn’t know I needed, until we met. You are all I think, worry, and obsess about. It’s driving me mad to not be with you Seraphin.”
“But the time we did spend together, the night in Dr. Caro’s suite, it meant so much to me and so little to you.”
He held me tighter. “Sometimes it’s difficult to balance all the thoughts in my head; most of the time it’s impossible for me to turn off and just relax. That night was special to me too and I’m sorry if I gave the impression it was not.”
My toes pushed the sand around as his hand mindlessly buried them. “What do we do now?” I asked.
“We go back to school in a few weeks, so there won’t be much time for relic hunting.” With a mischievous smile he caught my attention.
“You are going back to school this coming term,” excited that he made that choice.
“Yeah, you were right; I’ve worked too hard to abandon my studies. I can still be active at CORE and as long as Dr. Caro is doing his best to patrol the waters, I don’t see a need for the Guardians to emerge, yet.” He grinned. “Though, you are wrong about one thing; we will be going back to school this fall, not just me.”
“WHAT?”
Quickly he began to explain. “With your grades it was a breeze, they let you right in—”
“Joseph?”
“Welcome to the University of Maine. You should be receiving your welcome packet in the mail any day now.” An innocent smile cracked as he shrugged his shoulders. “We can carpool.”
In a way I was thankful that Joseph had made the decision for me. For the first time I felt like I knew where my life was going, at least in the short term. Joseph would be good for me as well. “Okay.”
Okay? You’re not upset with me?” He asked. “You’ll have to live on campus though; the drive is too far to commute. Are you mad now?”
“Is a random storm bursting through the sky?” I answered not thrilled about leaving my house behind for the school year. I reasoned that at least Nasani would be there, it wouldn’t sit empty again.
He laughed and kissed the top of my head. “Seraphin, if there is one man that you can rely on, that you trust with all your heart; know that it’s me. I promise that I’ll be truthful from this point forward. Whatever I know, you’ll know.”
The music from the string quartet filled the air.
“Just out of curiosity, who were you having brunch with in Perth?” I whispered, holding him to the promise he had just made, wanting to know everything he knew.
Looking back, sometimes things are better off unknown. Sometimes the truth hurts more than a lie and being naive is a blessing in disguise. From that moment on, it was going to be difficult to distinguish between being protected and being lied to.
He moved his lips to my ear and spoke soft, “I was having brunch with your father.”
Book Two
Memoir of a Mermaid
When, At Last, She Could See
By Adrianna Stepiano
Follow Seraphin as she discovers what it means to be a Guardian and uncover a tragic past that even her worst nightmare pales against. Be sure to catch the second book in the Memoir of a Mermaid series, January 2013.
About the Author
Following a summer of unexpected struggles and rampa
nt changes in her life, Adrianna Stepiano craved a creative escape. As an avid reader, she found solace in fiction but desired more. For several years the idea of a merfolk-based story swam around in her head, inspired by family vacations to coastal states and a life spent along the shores of the magnificent Great Lakes. Finally, a prayer brought Joseph and Seraphin to life by way of the written word.
Adrianna lives in Michigan with her family. She writes for her personal enjoyment, as well as yours.
When, at last, he found me. Page 28