Finding Love on Vacation | alexandralinnn | Short Story

So there I was, my last day of vacation, sitting in the same lounger I’ve been in for thirteen days… It had been an amazing vacation, the best really, although I still hadn’t met anyone to talk to and remember from my vacation. Every year I try and find one person I can connect with and remember from that year’s vacation, someone to talk to and always remember the wonderful times we had in a beautiful place. However, I was beginning to let it go and forget about trying to find a person to connect with for this year’s trip, but then I saw him. 

He had dark hair, and tan skin, it appeared as though he had been at the resort some time, although I’d never seen him until now. He looked me straight in the eye, and we stayed this way a moment, looking at each other, not daring to blink. Until a woman walked in and ruined the moment, the connection, and suddenly the feeling of connection I had with him disappeared just as quickly as it came. The woman and he seemed to have some sort of bond, although I couldn’t tell who she was to him, a girlfriend, a sister, a cousin, a friend… Either way I felt as though I shouldn’t mess with the bond they clearly had, especially if she may be his girlfriend. 

But of course it couldn’t be over that easily, he and the woman and three others, a mother and father, and a little sister took the loungers right beside me… Shit. 

There’s no way I could ignore it then, it’s like my eyes were magnetized to him, and it seemed like the feeling was mutual. We continued exchanging looks of attraction, longing, lust for what seemed like forever, but every time I felt like he was about to come and talk to me the woman reappeared, ruining yet another stolen moment. 

I knew that if I just made it through the next couple of hours I would never see him again, all I had to do was avoid looking at his longing golden eyes, perfectly carved jaw, and his amazing body… But it was impossible, he had the most wonderful laugh, like music to my ears, and to make it worse, every time he laughed his jaw-dropping abs would look even better… I couldn’t help myself any longer, so I had to do something, but yet again the woman reappeared… So I did the only thing I could think of… I texted Diego. 

Diego is a very attractive and well off kick-boxer who I became close with about a year ago. He works at the resort and we see each other any chance we get while I’m at the resort. I simply asked him to come see me and he responded that he would be there in 5 minutes. But I wasn’t sure if he able to contain my desires for 5 more minutes, so I went to the swim up bar to distract myself. When I felt like a few minutes had passed, I got out of the water and began the walk back to my lounger, when I look up and am met with the most beautiful golden eyes I had ever seen. Shit. 

I was so close to not having to speak to this mysterious stranger but now he is stopped right in front of me blocking my path to my seat, to Diego, to my distraction. I don’t know what to do, what to say, I’m convinced that if I open my mouth something stupid will come out and ruin my chances, not that I have any, he had a girlfriend… I think. But lucky me he speaks first… But what he said is the last thing I would ever expect, and is something that will possibly lead to the worst and yet the best decision of my life: 

“Wanna go for a walk on the beach?” 

Shit. What do I say, where is this woman who continuously ruins our moments when I need her the most, do I go on a walk on the beach with this handsome stranger, or do I turn him down and forget him altogether to never see him again? And then to make things even more complicated Diego walks up… Shit. 

“Am I interrupting?” Diego asks clearly noticing the connection between me and this handsome stranger… I don’t know what to say, do I let Diego go, or do I let the handsome stranger go and forget about him altogether? But that’s when the gorgeous man answers for me, never taking his eyes off of mine, 

“Not at all, she’s all yours.” 

Shit. I instantly feel regret in letting the stranger walk away, but it’s too late, he’s already gone. 

“Who was that?” Diego says, interrupting my thoughts.

“I don’t know,” I say “but I think I need to go find out if you don’t mind me leaving you. I know I asked you to come,” 

“It’s fine, I can always see you next year, he may not be so lucky.” Diego responds clearly understanding the yearning in my eyes… 

“Thank you so much,” I say running off to find the mysterious man who left me mere minutes ago. 

I’m looking for him everywhere but still no sign of the handsome stranger… I’m beginning to give up on the mystery man when I hear an eerily familiar voice behind me… 

“So about that walk?” 

I spin around to find my mystery man, his face decorated with an uneven grin, god that grin is begging me to go with him, and as if that same grin took all the will away from me I say “Well c’mon” mimicking his flirty attitude. 

Little did I know those two words would be the start of the best night of my life, and the hardest days to follow. 

So while walking on the beach, I learned a lot about this handsome stranger. Firstly his name was James. Secondly, he was from Canada. Shit. She rest of the things we talked about were strange because we were so much alike… We both have German Shepherds, both are very intrigued by photography, and both love the show, Friends… We talked for hours until I realized that it was 20 minutes until I was supposed to meet my mom for dinner. Shit. 

“I am so sorry but I have to go,” I say grabbing my things in a scramble to get ready and meet my mother for dinner in time… 

“Wait, I have to see you again,” he pleaded, longing in his eyes, “Meet me here, tonight, 8 o’clock.” 

And as much as I wish I would have said no, we all know how these things work, and without a second thought I let the word slip out of my mouth, “Okay.” 

Dinner came and passed with my mother… 7:15. We went back to the room and I changed clothes before mom took a shower. 7:25. Mom got out of the shower, and knowing she had to wake up early, went straight to bed… 7:40. I sat on my phone waiting for her to drift to sleep.. sometime later I look up to find her deeply asleep… 8:01. Shit. 

I slip out of the room as quietly as possible and run to the cabana Canada told me to meet him at. 8:07. Just as the cabana comes into sight I see him walking away. I panic. I begin to speed up and just as I get close I slow down, I approach him from behind quietly until I get right up to him and I wrap my arms around him, covering his eyes with my hands… 

“Guess who?” I whisper quietly into his ear. He grabs my hands and spins me to the front of him effortlessly, holding me close. We look deep into each other’s eyes, neither of us daring to say a word… 

A moment passes before he breaks the silence, releasing me, but maintaining a hold on my hands, “How about another walk?” 

Now I know what you’re probably thinking, “No way you went on a walk with the random stranger you just met in the middle of the night with no one around.” Well… You were wrong, I went… And again, probably one of the worst decisions of my life, but not for the reason you are thinking. 

We went towards the beach, holding hands, not saying a word, as we make our way along the water he breaks the silence, interrupting my train of thought, “It’s beautiful here, even when you can’t see a thing, just the smell, the sound.” 

I ponder what he said for a minute before stopping dead in my tracks… I release his hand as he spins to look at me, even though the dark I can see the look of curiosity, and the fear of what I may say in his eyes, “What?” he asks. 

“Let’s go for a swim,” I say bluntly, catching him off guard. 

“Now?” he asks, “Are you even wearing a swimsuit?” 

“No,” I say slyly, “but it doesn’t mean we can’t swim.” 

He looks at me intently, and without a word, he takes off his shirt, and even though the night I can see his perfectly cut body. I mimic his move, removing my own shirt, and shortly after following with my shorts… We make our way to the water and stay there for a few minutes, swimming, splashing, laughing, taking in the last fleeting moments of our vacations… After a few minutes we make our way out of the water, and back into our clothes… He leads us to a cabana sitting 20 feet away from the beach bar… no one in sight. We lay there for a while, talking about… Well, everything. It was one of the most beautiful moments of my life, laying there on the beach with a handsome stranger, talking about everything, from cars to family; to our dreams and aspirations in life. Time seems to fly as we lay there, and when I look at my phone to check the time it reads 11:11… I look him in the eye and whisper “Make a wish,” and without a blink of an eye he responds, 

“I think we both know what my wish is, and I’d be willing to bet that it’s yours too,” he says with that crooked grin spread across his face. 

“Oh really?” I say, matching his confidence as he begins to lean in to kiss me… He drops his eyes to my lips as I close to mine, waiting for our lips to connect… When the perfect moment is shattered to pieces by the flashlight being shone into our eyes… 

Now I really wish I could tell you what was said, but neither me or James are fluent in Spanish, and the security guard standing in front of us was all too entertained by the moment he just ruined. I could smell the alcohol in his breath as he made a joke in Spanish, chuckling and walking away… James and I look at each other, not sure what to do when he grabs my hand and says, “Come on, I know where we can go.” 

He drags me out of the cabana and towards to resort pools, as we begin to get close it begins pouring rain… We stop and laugh for a second looking at each other, still soaked from our swim, and now being drenched by the rain. He grabs my waist and pulls me in as I laugh hysterically, thinking about the last 5 minutes.. His expressions falls serious as he looks me in the eyes, I begin to calm my laughter as he pulls me in tighter, “So how about that wish?” he says, and before I even have time to respond, his lips are on mine… And may I just say, that was the best kiss of my life. Now I can’t really tell if it was the kiss itself, or the events leading up to the kiss, but either way, I will never forget the soft kiss he planted on my lips. As he pulled away he took my hand and began pulling me towards another cabana. As soon as we were in it he didn’t waste anytime replacing his lips onto mine, pulling me close and holding me tight… And we laid there kissing under the stars his hands explored my entire body. His hand slipped down my thigh, pulling my leg over him, giving him the leverage to roll on top of me as gently as possible. He pulls his lips from mine and lets them travel down my neck. He lets his lips linger for a moment before moving up my jaw leaving a trail of kisses until he reached my ear, nibbling my earlobe for a moment before quickly replacing his lips back on mine, allowing his body to press into mine. I release a small groan, and his hand finds my thigh again, he swiftly rolls us over, pinning me on top of him… I feel utterly lost in the moment until I remember what time it is… Shit. I pull away quickly grabbing my phone and my shoes attempting to push myself out of the cabana as he grabs my waist, spinning me back towards him. 

“Where are you going?” he asks, with a pleading tone, begging me to stay. 

“It’s late I need to get back before my mom notices I’m gone,” I say, pulling away from his grip, beginning my trek back to my room, not giving him the goodbye he deserves, knowing it will only make it harder for me to leave him, knowing I’ll never see him again. As I continue walking towards my building I hear footsteps coming quickly behind me… I spin around to find James walking towards me. 

“Let’s go, don’t wanna keep you out late,” he says grabbing my hand continuing to walk towards my building. 

“What are you doing?” I ask, stopping and pulling my hand from his. 

“I’m walking you to your room, I don’t trust the people here to allow you to walk back by yourself,” he explains. 

“Whatever,” I say bluntly, continuing to walk without him, not placing my hand back in his. Now I know what you’re thinking: he was being sweet, why would I be so hostile, so cold? Well, this is my way of avoiding being hurt. We make our way silently to my room and when I reach my door I turn to him placing my hand on his chest, stopping him in his place. 

“Stop,” I say, leaving a confused look on his face, “I don’t want my mom to see you through the peephole,” I explain leaning into him, allowing him to pull me right into a hug. 

As I pull away he allows his grip to linger on the small of my back, holding my waist against him. He stays there looking me dead in the eye as if waiting for permission to kiss me, but I’m weak, and I allow my eyes to fall to his lips, giving him full permission to kiss me. And yet again, another perfect kiss to complete our perfect night. Shit. 

To be continued…