Forever and a Day

by Alexis Konsantino

  With great effort she managed to push herself upright and leaned against her suitcase, digging around she found her conditioner. As she waited for Xander, she thought about him. She reckoned he was the type to keep busy as to not think of things: things like his family. She recognized her feeling of guilt for all he was doing for her, she had no way of returning his level of kindness, well… except for that. She would be happy for extending that courtesy to him, but of course, he is married. Well, if he likes doing nice things for her, she should just go along with it and be thankful and just maybe, someday she can somehow repay him.

  Several minutes later, she saw him come jogging by again and he gave her an odd, but silly look and left her field of view. She wanted to yell out to him, but her lungs were not ready for that. She shook her head, he’s either a fun little boy, or a serious heroic bastard all wrapped up in a body that warmed her heart and stoked her fire. She questioned if maybe it was because it has been so long since she was with a man. No, she reasoned. It was because of him, from the moment she saw him on the screen…

  Now… with this offer to wash her hair for her was unexpected, most men would not do that. Would they? Unless? No… there is no way he could be gay. Maybe he hasn’t come out of the closet… maybe that is why he keeps her at arm’s length? Her thoughts began to worry her.

  Suddenly he appeared at the tent entrance, “Sweetness, are you ready?” Xander lightly lisped.

  She stared at him for a moment and could only nod. He flopped his hand out at her gesturing to the bottle of conditioner and stuck his hand on his hip. With a barely perceptible lisp he continued, “Halo, is that conditioner? You are simply fabulous!”

  “Xander?” She whispered.

  “No time to dally, Miss Gorgeous.” Xander came into the tent and scooped her up in his arms.

  She watched his face as he carried her to the fallen log. Then continued watching him as he pursed his lips at her and raised an eyebrow then cocked his head at her in a slightly feminine manner. She prayed he was just acting, but it was a bit too good… not over the top, more like Robbie Montclaire when not in the public eye. Oh, please no, she thought desperately.

  He laid her gently down on the silver emergency blanket that he had cast over the fallen log. Underneath he had a rolled up blanket for her head to lay on. She kept her eyes on him the entire time.

  He stepped back and bowed, with a light lisp he addressed her, “Welcome to Halo’s Island Beauty shop!” He covered his mouth with his fingertips and giggled, “My name is Xan, and I shall be your stylist.” He clasped his hands together then bowed slightly to her, “Shall we start with a rinse?”

  “Um, Xander? You are scaring me here!” She said with a nervous giggle.

  Still with the convincing lisp he giggled, “Silly girl!”

  “Um, ok…” She whispered.

  Xander’s hands flew up to his cheeks and gave her a shocked look, “Oh my! I simply forgot!”

  “What?” Halo asked nervously.

  “Would you care for a delicious Pina Colada?”

  “Um, a what?” Halo asked confused.

  Xander reached behind the log and showed her half a coconut shell. He stood up quickly and began doing a little Samba step next to her.

  “We must have music!” He shouted gaily and suddenly the area was full of a music, the song had a dance beat and he began doing a little Samba for her.

  Her eyes widened as she watched him dance. Holy hell! She thought, he dances too? Oh God he is gay. She felt her eyes began to water. She desperately wanted to stop him, but was in a state of confused shock.

  She watched as he produced a water bottle of coconut milk and quickly poured some in the cup. Then he produced a mini bottle of Bacardi rum. He uncapped it and poured a little bit in. Next came a straw from his pocket and he mixed it up for her and left the straw in.

  “Voila!” He laughed.

  Halo sniffed at smelled coconut, pineapple and alcohol, “N—no way!” She took a tentative sip. Sure enough, it was coconut milk with a little pineapple and a hint of rum.

  “Woo hoo! Party girl in the house!” Xander said with a little hand clap, “Finish up so Xan can attend to your gorgeous hair!”

  She downed the rest of her cocktail and handed him the coconut cup back.

  She watched as he went behind her, “I must position you so that you don’t get… all wet!”

  “Um, ok.” She murmured staring up at him.

  He took her cup from her, reached under her arms, and pulled her gently up so her head was over the log. She felt comfortable as the rolled up blanket under her helped support her. She looked skyward at the deep blue sky and the gently swaying palm trees then Xander’s grinning face appeared over hers. He set a hand towel on the front of her blanket and tucked it under her chin. Watching him, she wondered how he knew how to do this. Then another plea of please no, resounded in her mind. This reminded her excessively of Robbie!

  “Here we go princess!” He warned.

  “Xander, Xander!” She whispered hoarsely at him.

  “Yes?”

  “You are a little too good at this! C’mon, you really aren’t… you know? Oh God, please tell me you aren’t gay!”

  His face appeared over hers with a beaming smile, “And if I am a friend of ‘Dorothy’s?”

  She stuttered wide-eyed at him and her mouth tried to find her words.

  “It is so freeing to be out here on this island!” Xander shouted out into the sky.

  She felt a hot tear begin to form at the corner of her eye then her chin began to quiver. “Xander…” She pouted.

  He quickly came around and looked at her full on, “Halo, I am so sorry to tell you this. You know, I thought you knew.”

  Halo reached out her hand, touched his face and sniffed, “I—I didn’t…”

  He leaned close to her ear, “Straight as an arrow!”

  “Oh my God! Xander, you ass!” Halo choked out and watched him return to his normal self.

  “Gotcha!” He exclaimed and using his finger, he wiped away the tear from the corner of her eye.

  “You dance too?” She whispered hoarsely at him.

  “Yes ma’am!” He went back behind the log to attend her hair.

  She was utterly relieved as she watched his hand gently cover her forehead so water would not drip in her face. She then felt warm water cascade down her hair. The warm water felt wonderful and she wished for a hot bath as well. Another round of rinsing and soon Xander began lathering her shampoo in her hair then he began a gentle massage of her scalp. God it felt good, for too many reasons…

  “Xander, do you and your wife go dancing?” She asked then there was that sour feeling in her belly again.

  “Nope. My daughter did dance classes for years. I was her practice dance partner at home. Oh, well my mother did think it was prudent that I learn to ballroom dance as a boy. I took lessons until my dad stepped in and rescued me… he immediately put me in Aikido school.”

  “Oh… so you don’t go dancing with your wife?”

  “About the only dancing I ever did with my wife was at Greek parties. She does the Kalamatiano, it’s a Greek line dance of sorts. Dancing at a club, with the wife? Ha! She’ll never let that happen…”

  Halo heard something behind what he was saying. She wanted to probe it further but passed on it for now, “Is Athena a good dancer?”

  Xander poured warm water over her hair and then began lathering her hair again, “Yes, she is a very good dancer, she sings as well.”

  Halo heard the some sadness in his voice, “Oh! Well, I hope I get to meet her someday!”

  Xander leaned over so she could see him, “Like I said, she’s a huge fan, she’d love it. I am supposed to get your autograph.”

  “Really? Awesome!” Halo replied as he rinsed her hair; this time the water was cool. “Xander? Your acting was too good, you reminded me of someone.”

  He gathered her long blonde hair into a ponytail and gently began squeez
ing the water out, “Acting class. For my final, I reached into a hat and pulled out a piece of paper, it said: Be gay or lesbian. I had to spend a day in downtown Portland and act gay with a partner to get ready. Then we had to come back and perform a scene together and make it believable.” He began to chuckle, “You know what I did to prepare beforehand?”

  “No! What?” Halo asked excitedly.

  “Since my agent signed me up for the class? I dragged him out with me to a mixed club the night before! He didn’t enjoy it one bit, especially when I made him dance with me!”

  Halo heard him laugh from behind her, she liked the sound of him being happy, “I don’t think I could get my agent or manager to do that!”

  “Well, fair is fair! Anyway, I just watched all the men… oh!” Xander began chuckling again but did not say anything.

  “What?” Halo asked.

  “Uh, well I don’t want to sound conceited…”

  “Oh come on!” She urged.

  “Well… it comes in handy when I’ve gotten hit on. Uh, not that it happens a lot.”

  “Really! You do the gay thing to get out of being asked out? Oh my!” Hell, he could have had her going if he did not want her pursuing him…

  She felt him apply the conditioner and he gently massaged it through her hair. She felt tingles rush through her then to her surprise he began running her comb through her hair, “So do you want to leave this in or rinse it out?”

  “Oh, you can rise it.” She felt cool water running over her hair and then he squeezed out the water then began drying it with the hand towel from the front of her.

  “Ponytail?” He asked.

  With surprise she replied, “Sure.” She felt him get her hair up and he put on one of her hair bands, “Xander? How do you know how to do this?”

  “Halo, haven’t you been listening? I have a daughter! When she was young, I had bath duty so I had to learn. I can do braids if you want, although I’m not too good at them.”

  “Oh!”

  “Here we go.” Xander said and gently scooted her down and left her propped up on the log as he came over it. He sat down on the silver plastic like blanket next to her.

  “Yes?” Halo asked.

  “Can we chat for a moment about the Satellite phone?”

  Halo felt her insides jump, “Ok…”

  He patted the top her hand before he continued, “Halo, I’m not sure I can fix it…”

  She suddenly felt relief flood through her at his words, which left her feeling perplexed, but she listened on.

  “I need a very small Philips screwdriver. I tried my knife but I couldn’t get it to turn. I actually do repairs of this sort back home, but the only other option is to break it open. I may permanently damage it. On the other hand, it could be damaged beyond repair already. In the raft I tried to turn it on and it was dead… and there is no power cord.”

  “Oh hell, it’s probably in JJ’s suitcase. So… our options are?”

  “Try and break it open and hope for the best. Wait out a rescue party? I’ve read that in the summer, divers and fishermen visit small islands out here in the Pacific. I’m not positive where we are, so I’m not sure about the last part. I do know that normal rescue searches last at least two weeks. I think we have a window still. Uh, unless…” Xander paused.

  “Unless they think we are dead?” She added.

  “Yeah…”

  “If you are asking my opinion, I think we should wait before we try and break open the phone.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” Xander shrugged, “So, now that Xan is done and has left Halo’s Island…”

  “Hey! What’s with this Halo’s Island thing?”

  “Sorry, named it already. I had dibs!” Xander laughed.

  She smiled happily at him, “Well then, the other island can be yours: Xander’s Island.”

  “Why thank you, one moment!” Xander said and reached behind the log and brought out a beautiful purple flower, “Here, I thought this might cheer you up.”

  “For me?” Halo accepted the flower and smiled, “Thank you, Xander!” She felt her cheeks get warm.

  “I was going to put it in your hair, but I wasn’t sure if it would turn you hair purple.” Halo looked up from her flower and simply smiled at him in silence. “Well, let’s get you home, er well I mean back to camp.”

  With a smile on her face, she gave him a nod. He leaned down, picked her up gently and carried her back to the tent. She stayed silent until he set her down then she looked up at him, “Are you leaving me now?”

  Xander’s heart lurched at her question; his brain thought one thing, his heart another. “Well, I was going to look for parts to build a fish trap. I can stay if you like?”

  Halo looked down at her flower, “Can we talk for a bit? Until I get tired?”

  “Sure! Uh, are you ok?”

  She nodded still looking at her flower as she slowly twirled it with her fingers, “I—we really don’t know each other. I want to get to know you better…”

  He eased himself down on the silver blanket in the tent and began to feel the warmth of the sun as it heated up the plastic covered interior, “Halo is it too warm in here for you?”

  She looked up at him, “A bit.” She whispered.

  “Would you like to go sit out under a shady non-coconut tree?” He asked with a smile.

  She cocked her head slightly at him, “Why not a coconut tree?”

  “Falling coconuts don’t do well on the head!” He replied smiling as he fell over mimicking being knocked out by a falling coconut.

  “Oh… I wouldn’t have even thought of that, but yes I would like to go out with you.”

  Xander’s butterflies woke up in his belly and he fought to keep his face passive at her remark. He lifted her up and strode out of the tent with her arms wrapped around his neck. He looked around and found an appropriate tree with ample shade. He began to set her down and she squeezed her arms tight around him. He altered his motion and sat down with his back against the tree with her in his lap.

  “Do you mind? I only have my panties on, you know… sand and all.” She whispered.

  “Oh… no worries. So what can I tell you about myself?” He asked as settled against the tree and she rested her head against his shoulder.

  “I dunno. Tell me about your wife. What was her name again?”

  “Oh! Evie… like I mentioned before, she is half-Greek like me. Her father passed away a long time ago. Like I mentioned, her mother is Eugenia, she’s from Greece, but we all call her Yiayia, which means grandma.”

  “Oh… does she look like your daughter?” Halo whispered.

  “Uh, well I can show you a picture… didn’t you look through my pictures earlier?”

  Halo looked up at him, “I wanted to, but I figured I would be intruding.”

  He smiled and reached into his pocket and produced his phone. He brought up his photo album and scrolled to his most recent picture of her. He showed her the picture, “Here she is on her birthday from July.”

  Halo looked down at the picture and almost sighed with relief. The woman was pretty for sure, with long black hair, large dark eyes. She had thin lips and almost had a hard look to her smile. She looked just a little thick, but looked like she had small breasts. She definitely looked Greek and nothing like her daughter, “Xander, she is a pretty lady, she is lucky to have you.”

  “HA! Not sure she sees it that way… but thank you for complimenting her.”

  A silence came over them for a long moment. She had a huge urge to explore his comment, when she was about to ask, he ended up breaking the silence, “So, Halo Heaven Raines… you have quite the unique name. May I ask about it?”

  She nodded, looking at her purple flower.

  “I know about your mother, hell who doesn’t? So how did they come to name you your beautiful name?”

  Halo glanced up at him smiling at her, “I came out with a lot of blonde hair, when they saw it all around me, my dad exclaimed that i
t looked like I was surrounded by a golden halo. My mom right there told him that would be my name.” She let out a giggle, “My dad wanted to name me Michelle. My mom insisted that my middle name be unique. So, Heaven it was. You know my sisters name, right?”

  “I know she’s a singer, Storm is it?” He asked.

  “Yeah, Stormie September Raines, and yes her name fits her personality well.”