It happened on the beach
One afternoon in the
sun
It happened in the
shower
When the day was done
It happened in the car
Parked in the
multistory
It happened on the
sofa
Watching Toy Story
It happened on a bench
One night in the park
It happened at the
pictures
On the back row in the
dark
It happened on an
airplane
I’m sure it will again
It happened in a bus
shelter
One night in the rain
It happened in a taxi
On the way to waterloo
I got that empty
feeling
Because I’m missing you
I’ve had my eyes tested
And I am 20/20
I am not short sighted
Nor long sighted
My eyes are healthy
There is no glaucoma
No floaters
Nor cataracts
My sight is perfect
So why is it
When I look at you
I see an angel
When you are anything
but
I asked the optician
Why, with such perfect
vision,
Can I not see
betrayal?
He told me
That I have perfect
vision
Its just rose tinted
How I look back with regret
At that summer long
ago
A sultry sensual
summer
A time of sexual
awakening
When I was on the
threshold,
The blossoming of
womanhood
And how I curse the
time
I wasted on you
All those hours in
your room
Listening to your
music,
Your creative juices
at work
Your incessant toe
tapping
And finger clicking
To your tuneless
efforts
Played on the out of
tune guitar
That accompanied your
juvenile
Angst ridden ramblings
“The music of your
soul”
Was what you called it
God you were
pretentious
Even for a teenager it
was extreme
You were self
obsessed,
Self regarding, self
centred
Self absorbed, self
deluded
Egocentric and
narcissistic
In fact if the word
“Narcissism” hadn’t
existed
They would have had to
Invent it just for you
If only you had
realised
I wanted to make music
with you
Raw unscripted
passionate music
An ardent duet,
Fervently reprised
I had creative juices
I had creative juices
to spare
I had a song of
teenage want
About a frustrated
nymphet
In lust with a
pretentious musician
Who would rather
finger his fret!!
Well I had urges
And I was left
unsatisfied
By your excruciating
folk
And your mournful
dirges,
You called me your
muse
Like I should be
flattered
I didn’t want to be
your muse
I wanted to be your
groupie
I panted at you in
desire
I dressed
provocatively
I hinted at my lusty
inclinations
I suggested you play
my body
Like an instrument
But the sexual
connotation,
Like everything else,
was lost on you
And I remained
unsullied
That sultry sensual
summer long ago
When I reflect back
On our time together
People were amazed
By my patience
And my quiet resolve
To maintain,
The status quo.
Such forbearance
And fortitude
In the face
Of her constant
betrayals
My endurance
And boundless
tolerance
Astounded everyone
But to claim any
virtue
Would be dishonest
Because it was so
calculated
I was not blind
To her indiscretions.
And to our friends
My capacity for forgiveness
Seemed to far exceed
Her ability to shame
me
But it was I
Who was the dishonest
one
I maintained an air
Of cool dispassion
In an effort
To give her space
And freedom
So as not to drive her
away
I wore the mask
Of the patient husband
But my noble efforts
Were in vain
As I appeared to her,
Merely indifferent
And I drove her away
anyway
I should have been
honest
True to my feelings
I should have
discarded
All pretence
And removed the mask
Ahla was very cute and sweet
And she worked at the sweetshop
An appropriate occupation
For such a confection
I asked her out one
day
And too my surprise
she said yes
But on our first date
I found
She was not so cute
and sweet
But was rather
deliciously sinful
And she gave me a
proper treat
But I wasn’t the first
to dip his liquorice
In that particular
fountain
Every lad with a sweet
tooth
Had sampled her pick
and mix
Even the oldies with a
taste for soft centres
Had tried her Turkish
delight
But I didn’t mind
sharing
After all a bag of
candy goes a long way
But I had to draw the
line
When I heard about
Bertie Bassett
With whom she did
Allsorts
Dear lost and found
Can you please assist?
Lost – one heart
In poor general
condition
Broken repeatedly
Repaired shoddily
(Too many times to
count)
It is a good heart
Generous in proportion
True and steady
Not of fickle
disposition
A trusting heart
A heart given freely
Last possessed by
Julie
Heart was last seen
Being trodden
underfoot
By previous keeper
You always feel like
A Sunflower amidst the
Daffodils
A Thistle among the
Tulips
Out of place,
unsightly
You see yourself
As the ugly duckling
But who never
transformed
Into the beautiful
swan
You feel ugly and at
odds
Ungainly and
ungraceful
How wrong you are
To me you are
perfection
You should feel like
You are a Rose amidst
Cabbages
An Orchid among Daises
In pride of place,
radiant
I see you as
The beautiful signet
Who was transformed
Into a beautiful
graceful swan
That’s how I see you
An angel from the host
A goddess among mortals
Whom I shall forever
worship
I was stranded and lonely with time to kill
And I was looking for
someone to cure my ill
They told me about the
only available “miss”
Who went by the unkind
name of ugly Agnes
“Left on the shelf,
and as plain as a pike staff”
“Facing the wall” he
said followed by a laugh
I figured she’d be
better than nothing at all
The girl left on the
shelf, facing the wall
They gave me some
direction to follow
Where I crept to and
peeked in the window
I spied her in the
candle lights flicker
Legs akimbo showing a
glimpse of knicker
This old maid, who’d
been left on the shelf
Was sat home alone
pleasuring herself
There was nothing
homely about this old maid
As she caressed
herself and erotically played
And as I watched her
deft self seduction
I was anxious to make
my introduction
Outside I banged hard
on the front door
Inside I banged her
hard on the floor
But the savage and
primeval union
Led to a more tender
sensual communion
What had begun as “any
old port in a storm”
Ended with me proud to
stay till the dawn
Now I often get
stranded with time to kill
And I know where to go
to cure my ill
The locals call her
Ugly Agnes or Plain Jane
But I go to love her
again and again
Was it destiny?
Or an act of
providence
That wove the threads
On the eternal
tapestry
What twist of fate?
What unseen hand
Rolled the fateful die
That moved us on our
paths
What unseen gamer
Steered my avatar to
yours
For what reason
Did the fates
conspire?
To cross our paths
To bind our souls
What great celestial
clock
Struck time
And brought us both to
this place
To this time
To each other
Who must we thank?
Love is…
Not fearing the quiet
Not doubting in the
silence
Not feeding your
insecurities
Not being jealous
Jealousy is not love
When we first started dating
I had no expectation
of forever
I was content with the
immediate
And enjoyed each
moment with her
All the mundane
chatter
And flirtatious
wordplay
Leading to the longing
looks
And the sentimental
words of love
Back then time evaporated,
Hours seeming to pass
in seconds
And in all those
moments
Precluding our life
together
The one thing we never
had was silence
But that was then and
this is now
And now the silence
deafens me
No more chatter
Words are used miserly
As if endowed with
great value
And not to be wasted
On flirtation or
sentiment
Words, when used, now
bite
With venomous spite
Moments now last an
eternity
Clocks that once
seemed to race through time
Run now in slow motion
Her contemptuous looks
wither me
Longing now for my
extinction
It begins with a cursory glance
Long before the
beguiling smile
Or the girlish giggle,
Or the flick of the
head
That makes her hair
dance
Somewhere between the
appraisal of a shapely leg
And the curiosity of
what lay hidden
And you are smitten
And while your
defences are down
It tiptoes into your heart almost unnoticed
It whispers into your brain.
And touches your soul
Then you are in love
And lost to reason
All for the glance of a shapely leg
We were an innocent couple,
We were naively sweet
Fluffy and soft
Embarking on a great
love
We were an
unremarkable couple
Just a couple of
lovebirds
Sharing secrets,
passing notes
We were an
uncomplicated couple
I loved her and she
loved me
And we just wanted to
hold hands
And always be together
Fluffy and sweet,
Coyly smiling
Making wishes
And stealing kisses
We were an unbreakable
couple
When we were seven
Of course, you know I love you
And how much you mean
to me
Of course you must
know
It must be plain for
you to see
Ok It's not every day
that I tell you
And I would if I
didn’t think you knew
It’s obvious so you
must know
Exactly how much I
love you
I know I don’t say it
in so many words
Ok I don’t ever say it
to you
But that just because
I thought you knew
How much I’m in love
with you
I may not always tell you
But you are everything
to me
When I awaken in the
morning
You're first in my
thoughts
How much simpler life
would be
If only I could say
I love you for being
you
I love you for loving
me
The love we feel the
deepest
Is the hardest to
express
But in your heart you
must know
How much I love you
How much simpler life
would be
If only I could say
I love you for being
you
I love you for loving
me
Emotions and the feelings
I sometimes tend to hide
But when we're
together
I count my blessings
How much simpler life
would be
If only I could say
I love you for being
you
I love you for loving
me
You're first in my
thoughts
Every moment of every
day
I should just say “I
love you”
But this is not the
way for me
How much simpler life
would be
If only I could say
I love you for being
you
I love you for loving
me
10cc’s “I’m not in love” was playing
And our bodies were
gently swaying
Meaningless words
because we were in love
I was the hand and
Clair was the glove
Our bodies moved
together as if we were one
Still together long
after the song was done
Our lips came together
our hands caressed
Swaying to the music
our bodies tight pressed
Clair and I at the
disco kissing in the dark
Later under the moon
we made love in the park
I found the box in the attic
A flat, rigid white
box
The sort that special
greetings card came in
It was immediately
familiar
Reminding me of my
first love
For inside the box
Carefully kept and
preserved
Were the love letters
from Janice
Scented with cheap
perfume
Letters full of young
girls chatter
About favourite pop
groups and fashions
And the days “must
haves”
Talk of adolescent
love and longing
Honey coated words of
first love
Kept in the same box
as her valentines card
Teenage love fondly
remembered
The perfume was still
evocative
Though faded like the
memory
But I could see her
pretty face
Framed with that fine
brown hair
Cut in a Bob, so it
kissed her neck as she moved
Her developing figure
that hinted at what would be
Her gentle laugh that
made you turn your eyes to her
The soft delicate
hands that felt so good in mine
That first kiss that
lingered on my lips
Long after we parted
I smiled at the memory
And wondered how her
life went
What kind of woman did
she become?
Did her aspirations
bear fruit?
Or did she muddle
through the years like the rest of us
Best not to know
probably
The truth might
diminish the memory
Of a sweet young girl
Emblazoned on my heart
Seared into my soul
The fire of love burns
within
Please don’t
extinguish
This fire in my soul
Don’t add another scar
To my tortured heart
Scar upon vivid scar
Keep the embers aglow
When we were young
We began wandering
aimlessly
Through leafy
woodland.
We began when there
were only
The early buds of
spring
Wandering on through
The dappled shade of
summer
And its comforting
warmth
Onward then to the
fall
With its crimson hues
Now we embark beyond
The crunch of autumns
leaves
Into the cold metaphor
Of winters landscape
We still have each
other
But we also have
uncertainty
How much winter will
we see?
A sound like heaven
Sits softly on the ear
Every honey coated
word
Is a sweet souvenir
The joy of her touch
On my skin still
lingers
From her Porcelain
hands
And delicate fingers
Delicately scented
Like an exotic Rose
Still vividly resides
In the appreciative
nose
And the sight of her
Consummate beauty
Will occupy my dreams
For all eternity
The taste upon my lips
Of My moonlight kiss
And to taste that kiss
again
Is my one and only
wish
Nerissa Gamboa was 29
years old and worked behind the delicatessen counter at Morrison’s Supermarket
in Chapel Hill.
She was quite a shy
girl but was popular with staff and customers alike.
Nerissa was a very
slim and attractive girl with beautiful long dark brown hair and dark skin,
reflecting her heritage as did her brown eyes.
In her ancestry she
had Filipino and Spanish blood but she was born and bred in Britain and had no
family ties with either country or even in Britain for that matter.
She was the only child
of two only children and both of them were gone now.
So she was now all on
her own and she lived alone in a small one bedroom flat about a mile from her
work.
So why was a lovely
slim girl with a personality that was equally lovely, living alone in a dingy
one bedroom flat?
Her next door
neighbour in flat 2a Gladstone Court was 32 year old Harry Devonshire, he
though had the luxury of a large two bedroom flat in which to live alone in,
courtesy of a failed relationship some eight years earlier.
Unlike Nerissa his
heritage was strictly British and he did have living family, two brothers in
fact, unfortunately they were both living in Australia so he hadn’t seen either
of them for over 8 years.
Harry also worked at
Morrison’s where he was the warehouse manager.
Nerissa and Harry were
best friends and did everything together, if either of them was invited
anywhere the other was always their plus one.
It would be true to
say that they loved each other but their relationship was strictly platonic and
their friendship had been forever and they were close to the point of
symbiosis.
Coworkers at the store
used to think their relationship was almost comic, but Harry and Nerissa got
each other and their thoughts and desires were quite esoteric.
But their
all-consuming purpose in life, their primary objective, was finding life
partners, in particularly a serious romantic relationship.
But their frantic
search for love remained fruitless.
Though not for the
want of trying, they tried on line dating, blind dates, clubs, pubs and speed
dating, all to no avail and as a result they had both kissed more than their
fair share of frogs along the way and neither of them knew why they hadn’t
struck gold.
Nerissa couldn’t
understand why a good looking man like Harry was unattached and he couldn’t
fathom why a gorgeous woman like her was still single, but the search went on.
They were walking home
from work one particularly cold Friday night in October and Nerissa was
unusually quiet as Harry prattled on about the arrival of the Christmas stock
into the warehouse.
“I might have to
cancel Christmas this year” she said out of the blue
“Why?” Harry asked
“My rents gone up” she
said “and I’ve just got my Gas and Electric bills”
“Well look on the
bright side” he said “You might have found Mr. Right by Christmas”
“I’m afraid I’ll have
to put looking for him on hold” Nerissa said as they arrived at the flats “And
I’ll have to break into my savings just to get through the winter”
Harry didn’t know what
to say and they walked upstairs in silence when they got to their floor he said
“Right you go and get
changed and I’ll get the supper on”
“I think I’m just going
to have a bath and get an early night” she replied
“Are you sure?” Harry
asked “We can have a glass of wine and talk it through”
“Yes I’m sure babe”
She insisted “I’ll be fine after a good night’s sleep”
“Ok Hon” Harry said
and kissed her cheek “I’ll see you in the morning”
Nerissa closed the
door and once inside she decided to skip the bath and went straight to bed and
cried herself to sleep.
And while Nerissa
sobbed into her pillow Harry decided to forgo supper and opened a bottle of red
wine instead and by the time he drank the last drop he thought he had a
solution to her problem.
The next morning he
was up early and went round to the bakery in Convent Road and picked up fresh
croissants.
As he returned to
Gladstone Court he could see the lights were on in her flat so when he reached
the door to flat 2b, he rang the bell.
After a minute or two
she opened it looking like she hadn’t slept in a week.
“Come on sleepy head,
croissants and coffee” Harry said
“Not for me Harry” she
said
“No to croissant?” he
said and putting his hand to his chest as if he was having a heart attack.
“Not today” she said
“I won’t take no for
an answer, so get your dressing gown on” he ordered her
Reluctantly she did as
he instructed and followed him into his flat.
“Do we have to do this
this morning?” she asked “I really don’t feel up to it”
“Yes we do need to do
it now” Harry said “and when you’ve heard what I have to say you’ll understand
why”
“Ok give me some
coffee” she said resignedly
After he had poured two
mugs of strong black coffee he sat down and began.
“I think I have a
solution to your problem”
“Oh yes? And what
might that be” she said doubtfully
“I think you should
give up your flat and move in here” he said
“What?” Nerissa asked
scarcely believing her ears
“Give up your flat and
move into my spare room” he elaborated
“But that’s a
ridiculous idea” she said
“Is it?” Harry said
“Well isn’t it?
Nerissa asked back
“Look we eat together
most nights, we watch TV together most nights” he explained
“And you only use your
flat as a bedroom and dressing room anyway”
“Yes but” she
interrupted
“And my spare room is
almost as big as your whole flat” Harry added
“Yes I know, but” she
persisted
“I’ll continue to pay
the rent and we can split the bill for the utilities” Harry concluded
“Well I…” she began
“And here’s the
clincher with the money we both save we might finally get that holiday we’ve
always talked about” Harry said
“Greece?” she asked
“Greece” he replied
“Ok” she agreed “now
give me a croissant”
They had often talked
about a foreign holiday, not that they ever thought they’d actually achieve it,
it was planned more in a fanciful way.
Neither of them had
been abroad or even owned a passport for that matter.
At first they spoke in
general terms but over the years they had narrowed their search and had decided
on Greece as the object of their dreams, or more precisely a Greek Island.
The particular Greek
island was unspecified as of that moment when Harry invited Nerissa to move in,
their only stipulation was that it mustn’t have its own airport.
The reasoning for that
was that it would limit the number of binge drinking lager louts.
Later that day they
were sat in his flat looking through old holiday magazines.
“Are you sure?”
Nerissa asked
“Sure about what?” he
replied
“Me moving in” she
said
“Never more so” Harry
said
His leant over and
kissed her forehead and said
“So have you seen
anything you fancy?”
“Andros” she replied instantly
and handed him the magazine, and after reading the article in detail he replied
“Andros it is then”
Then Harry got up and
switched on his laptop and went online, he typed in the address and navigated
around until he found the relevant page
“Here we go” he said
and Nerissa moved closer.
“It will be cheaper if
we go before the School summer holidays”
“June” Nerissa said
“that will give us more time to save, and we’ll get our Easter bank holiday pay
in May”
“Ok” he said “two
weeks in June”
“Two weeks?” she asked
“can we afford two weeks?”
“Oh” she said as he
pointed at the figure on the screen “Two weeks then”
He entered his details
in the form and picked up his wallet from the table, entered his credit card
number and hit the button.
“Booked” he said
“We’re really going
aren’t we?” she said and giggled.
“Indeed” Harry
concurred “We are taking our search for love and romance on the road, so to
speak”
“Hooray” Nerissa
yelled and danced around.
“Let’s open a bottle
to celebrate” Harry suggested
“Let’s not” she said
“Lets save the money and open one in Andros”
“Damn you’re so
sensible” he said
On Monday morning
Nerissa gave notice on her flat and over the following month she completed the
move into Harry’s flat.
This involved helping
him clear the spare room and redecorating it.
They then had to
decide what she would take from the old flat and what would be dumped or sold.
She and Harry then
gave her flat a thorough clean and they were rewarded by the return of her
deposit in full which meant she could clear her bills and put the remainder
straight into the holiday fund.
As of the 30th of
November she was properly in and there was no turning back because the day
after a new tenant moved in to her old flat.
As a result the pair
of them had become quite boring and put on hold any expectation of finding
Mr/Miss Right as their focus was one hundred percent on the holiday.
The run up to
Christmas added to the coffers as they picked up extra shifts as a result of
the age old tradition of seasonal panic buying.
They also restricted
their spending on entertainment by only attending certain festivities, like
staff parties and such like, and by cutting back on buying Christmas gifts.
This was a difficult
decision as they were both huge Christmas fans and liked to make the most of
the season.
The decorations went
up promptly on the first of December and that Christmas they had twice the
decorations to put up.
What they didn’t stint
on though were the festive services from the first Sunday of advent to
Christmas morning.
After the morning
service on Christmas day they really pushed the boat out, despite having spent
a pittance.
They bought the
damaged or reduced items wherever possible and used their staff discounts on
the rest and as a result they had a sumptuous feast.
“Well that was very
indulgent” Harry said as they sat on the sofa after dinner.
“Very” Nerissa said
and burped
They both laughed and
Harry patted his stomach and said
“I don’t know why I’m
laughing this belly is going to look great with my speedos on the beach”
“I hadn’t thought of
that” Nerissa said and patted her own tummy and burped again.
When they exchanged
presents they both had novelty chocolates and one main present each.
Harry bought Nerissa a
small Gold crucifix and she bought him a Gold tie pin engraved with his name.
On New Year’s Eve,
they normally hit the town, but this year they stayed home and saw the New Year
in quietly and then they worked the next day for double time.
January was a hard
depressing month, the decorations were packed away and the flat looked bare,
the weather was bitter cold and snowy and it was a long 5 weeks until payday.
When pay day came they
applied for their passports.
February brought more
cold, more snow but a much quicker payday but no valentine cards save for the
joke ones they gave each other.
March brought an end
to the snow and cold and showed the first hint of spring and the passports
arrived.
With April came Easter
and another chance for extra money which would be in their pockets in time for
the holiday.
In May they did their
holiday shopping and packed their cases and they were all set.
The first week of June
and they arrived at the airport an hour earlier than necessary.
Harry had only been to
the airport before to either drop someone off or pick someone up.
Nerissa on the other
hand had never been to an airport before in her life.
When they eventually
got on the plane they sat very quietly.
Neither of them had
flown before and were both quite scared but didn’t want to mention it to the
other.
And as the plane raced
down the runway they held hands.
Once in the air they
soon relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the flight to Athens and nervousness was
replaced by excitement.
However even once they
had landed in Athens they were still a long time and a long way from their
destination.
First they had to wait
half an hour for a coach at the airport then a similar duration coach trip to
the docks where they boarded a ferry.
There they had to wait
a further 40 minutes before the ferry departed on a journey which took two
hours to carry them to Andros Island in the Cyclades.
To the seasoned
travelers aboard, the journey would have been very tedious indeed but to Harry
and Nerissa being novices at travel, they didn’t mind a bit as they saw
everything about the journey as a great adventure and on the journey they were
rewarded for their patience by the appearance of a pod of porpoises who
escorted them across the azure blue Aegean sea.
This they took as a
good omen for the holiday ahead.
When they docked on
the island they were met by another bus that took them to the village of Batsi.
As they walked into
their apartments they had travelled for a total of 12 hours door to door but
they thought it would all be worth it when they met the person of their dreams.
On the afternoon of
their first day they had an orientation meeting with their tour rep who gave
them the spiel about the resort and handed out information on places of
interest, transport timetables, day trips and local entertainment.
However the two of them
were less interested in the talk than they were in their fellow tourists as
they were looking for romance in the sun.
But as they scanned
each and every face in the assembly they noticed there appeared to be no
singles present.
Although Harry and
Nerissa both noticed independently they chose to keep it to themselves.
However over the next
24 hours they both came to the conclusion that they had come to the wrong
resort for romance because the visitors were all, without exception, already
paired up.
Over an Al fresco
breakfast next morning on the waterfront, as they sat in the fresh morning air
at a quayside café it was Nerissa who broached the subject.
“Have you noticed
they’re all couples?” she said
“Yes” he replied
“We’re not going to
find them here are we?” she asked
By “Them” she meant
their soul mates, their perfect other halves, Mr. or Miss Right.
“I’m afraid not” he
agreed
“So what now?” Nerissa
asked
“Now we just have fun”
Harry said
And so they resigned
themselves to the fact that they were not going to find who they were looking
for and decided they should just enjoy every minute of their holiday instead.
Their search for love
over, they spent a lot of time on the beach or in the water, or on a boat or in
bars and Taverna’s.
They filled every
possible moment.
Walking the beach
together playing in the waves and having fun
before finding a quiet sheltered spot or a shady tree to siesta under.
They took day trips to
Tinos and the Church of Panagia Evangelistria and visited the monastery of Agia
Zoodochos Pighi and Andros town.
Evening entertainments
included cocktails at the Koala bar,
Nightcaps at the Paradise, Greek dancing, Beach BBQ’s and a Greek night of
local cuisine and drink.
But most of all they
spent their time in or near the water.
One of their favourite
spots was a narrow stretch of beach, north of Batsi at Agia Marina
with its own beach side Taverna run by a colourful character called Stavros
where they often had lunch.
He was an elderly man
with deeply wrinkled skin the colour of tanned leather.
When Harry introduced
him to Nerissa he said,
“Oh what a lovely
name, that means goddess of the sea you know?”
Harry thought that
might make her big headed but Nerissa blushed.
Mind you when Harry
watched Nerissa walk out of the water wearing her yellow one piece he could see
what Stavros meant.
As the holiday drifted
amiable into the second week any casual onlookers could have been forgiven for
thinking that Harry and Nerissa were a couple, they behaved like a couple and a
happily married couple at that.
Every evening the pair
dined together happy in each other’s company but unknown to everyone they slept
alone.
One day the beaches on
their side of the island was covered in dead jelly fish, each translucent disk
was roughly the size of a dinner plate.
Apparently June was
the spawning season for jelly fish and having spawned out at sea, they promptly
died and drifted in to shore and then two days later drifted back out to sea on
the tide never to be seen again.
One afternoon Harry
was lying on his stomach on the beach snoozing off his lunch and Nerissa picked
up a dead jelly fish from the lapping waves and from a height of four feet,
dropped it squarely in the middle of Harry’s back.
“What the hell” he
yelled and looked over his shoulder to see Nerissa wearing a pink bikini,
almost wetting herself with laughter.
“Oh” he said “I
suppose you think that was funny?”
“Oh yes” she confirmed
and laughed even harder
“Right that’s it”
Harry said scrambling to his feet
Nerissa, still
laughing like a drain turned and ran down the beach with Harry hot on her heals
holding a jelly fish freshly plucked from the waves.
Her laughter turned to
squeals as he chased her and she ran about a hundred yards before she fell over
in the lapping water and as she lay on her back in the wet sand.
Harry, with great
delight, dropped the jelly fish on her exposed belly.
Nerissa screamed in
disgust and it was Harrys turn to laugh.
Later that evening as
the sun was setting, the sultry air was heavy with the scent of oregano as they
sat on the terrace of the Medusa Taverna accompanied by the familiar symphony
of evening birdsong.
“It’s been another
lovely day” Nerissa said
They had ordered their
dinner and were just enjoying an aperitif, the cracking of ice cubes was
clearly audible in their Gin and tonics.
“It really has” he
said and they chinked glasses
After dinner and the
best part of two bottles of wine and a hilarious reliving of the afternoons
jelly fish escapades the subject of the conversation took a familiar turn.
“Of course there is
one thing that could have made today even better” Nerissa said
“And what’s that?”
Harry asked before draining his glass
“Our perfect partners”
she replied
“Oh yes, I’d forgotten
about that” he said
“Of course it would
help if we could recognize them if we saw them”
“Well yes that would
help” Nerissa concurred
Harry thought she
looked lovely that night and he was particularly pleased to see she was wearing
the gold crucifix Harry had bought her for Christmas.
“Ok then” he said “do
you have pen?”
He already knew the
answer, Nerissa always had at least one pen in her bag.
She fished in her bag
and produced a one.
“So what is your
ideal?” he asked
“What do you mean?”
she replied with a puzzled expression
“What would you want
in a partner?” he elaborated
“Tell me what
qualities you are looking for and we’ll make a check list”
“Oh I see, ok” she
said “Well the usual I suppose”
“Let’s write them down
then” Harry said and using a napkin he headed the list “The perfect other half”
“Someone I can trust”
she said
“Dependable” he wrote
followed by “trustworthy”
“Someone who shares my
values and my faith” she added
Harry wrote “Moral
compass”
“Someone who makes me
laugh and laughs with me” Nerissa said
“Good sense of humour”
he wrote
“Someone who loves me,
and will cherish me” she said
He wrote “Romantic”
“Someone who will be
there for me” she said “whenever I need them”
“A friend” he put
“Someone who listens
to me and understands me” she added
“And who values me”
Harry thought for a
moment before writing
“A confidant, Kindred
spirit” and for good measure “Open and honest”
“Someone I can grow
old with” she said “who will want to grow old with me”
Harry wrote “Soul
mate”
Nerissa was silent for
a moment as she gave it some more thought and then said
“That will do I think”
Harry took another
drink and then read down the list and his brow furrowed.
He read each item and
mused over it, added the occasional word to it, and muttered under his breath
as he studied it and in the end after what seemed to Nerissa like an age,
nodded his assent.
“Are you ok?” she
asked with concern
“I agree with every
single one of those” he said
“Good” she replied
“And furthermore I
know the person who has all of those qualities and more” he added
“Really?” she said
open mouthed
“Who?”
“You Nerissa” Harry
said
“What?” she asked
“It’s you” he said
“you tick every single box on this list, you are my perfect other half”
“Don’t be daft” she
said
He didn’t say anymore
but handed her the napkin.
Nerissa took it from
him, and started reading down the list of her suggestions and his additions and
was very thoughtful for a few moments and then she went down the list in front
of her again.
“You’re right” she
said finally “you are the perfect other half of me”
Knowing smiles were
exchanged and then they sat in silence as a confused turmoil raged inside them
and thoughts raced in and out of focus.
“More wine sir?” the
waiter asked breaking in on their silent deliberations.
“Absolutely” Nerissa
said and returned to her thoughts.
Both of them shared
the same thoughts and were afraid, afraid to take a chance, afraid of being
wrong, afraid of getting hurt but most of all afraid of losing their best
friend.
The wine came and they
drank in silence as they continued their internal struggle, until in a moment
of perfect clarity Nerissa looked at Harry and smiled as it dawned on her that
they had come to Andros looking for love but the romance they had searched for
wasn’t on the island at all, they had brought it with them.
And when Harry saw her
smiling countenance he was immediately entranced and all his doubts melted away
and the deep passion for her that he had always harbored subconsciously,
stirred within him and rose to the surface.
Her inner beauty
exposed Harry reached his hand across the table and Nerissa took it.
“All this time I was looking
for Miss Right and she was there right under my nose”
Harry mused
“Living next door” She
added
“Living in my spare
room even” Harry corrected her
It was a miracle
finding their heart’s desire so close at hand.
“How could we have
been so blind?” Nerissa asked as she caressed his hand.
“Love is blind” Harry
replied
“Yes” she agreed “yes
it is”
Neither of them could
comprehend how it was possible they were both so short sighted.
He had always thought
she was lovely but now Harry’s feelings for her were of love for his soul mate
who lived in his spare room.
On the moonlight walk
back to the apartment’s they were holding hands and drinking in the heady
atmosphere of the night, not wishing to forget a single second of it.
And when they reached
her door they kissed for the first time and it was a kiss that made the hairs
stand up on the back of their necks and their skin tingle from head to toe.
“That was a first kiss
to remember” Nerissa said and giggled
“Let’s try number two”
Harry suggested and she obliged
“Wow” Nerissa said
after kiss number two
“I think we should sit
down for a minute”
“I think so too” Harry
said
Nerissa walked a few
feet and sat on the wall and Harry sat next her, she immediately leant in to
him and rested her head on his shoulder and he put his arm around her.
So they sat there
quietly in the moonlight, their hearts filled with a new found love and their
minds awash with previously undreamt of possibilities.
Nerissa kissed Harry
once more and it was the equal of its predecessors.
But as much as they
wanted each other in that moment they resisted the desire until their minds
were clear and their desires not fueled by cheap wine and Gin and tonics.
So they reluctantly
said goodnight and slept alone.
Though neither of them
actually slept.
Harry and Nerissa were
both up and about early next morning and both had made independent decisions on
their futures.
The quandary was, had
they both made the same one.
There were three
possibilities, two of which could cost them their friendship.
Harry was sitting on
the terrace drinking his coffee when Nerissa appeared.
Harry smiled and stood
up to greet her but remained frozen to the spot.
She returned his smile
and said
“Hello soul mate”
The relief Harry felt
in that moment was palpable.
He found he was able
to move again and he stepped forward and scooped her up in his arms and said.
“Hello, my perfect
other half”
And then he kissed her
as he had the night before and the feeling was just the same.
Their complete and
utter surrender to each other came that afternoon when they made love for the
first time.
When loves consummated
passions reached the ecstatic heights of fulfillment.
To the untrained eye
the remainder of the holiday appeared to go much the same way as the days
before their epiphany.
Harry and Nerissa
still appeared as if they were a couple as they behaved like a couple, a
happily married couple.
Every evening the pair
dined together happy in each other’s company but now unknown to everyone they did
sleep together.
Harry and Nerissa had
gone to the Cyclades in search of love and romance and it turned out they had
actually taken it with them.
All too soon they were
on the ferry heading away from the northern most isle in the Cyclades, and
looked back at Andros, bathing in warm sunshine, the hills and valleys, the
groves and vines and painting the hillsides in differing hues.
They would miss the
place and its warm hearted people, the scent of herbs on the warm night air,
the culture, the food, the warm sun, the blue sea and the golden sand and the
soft sea breezes.
But most of all they
would miss it because it would be forever the place where they fell in love.
Harry and Nerissa
stood at the stern of the ferry, for one last look across the Aegean as Andros
faded from view.
“Will we come back”
Nerissa asked with a tear in her eye
“Oh yes” Harry replied
“On our honeymoon”
Nerissa turned and she
kissed him.
