Page 29 of Beyond the Blues
“I think you missed something” I look back to the boat and walk a couple steps closer, and then I see it. I place my hand over my mouth, in shock and trying not to cry. The word ‘Coco’ is painted on the side of the boat.
“This is a Coco Viente yacht.” I stand there in disbelief that Nora went through all this effort to finda boat with Coco on it. I know Coco is somewhere extremely jealous that she doesn’t get to ride the yacht with her name on.
“Now let’s get on before they leave without us.” “Were going on it?” I exclaim.
“What did you think we were doing, baby?” The way Nora says baby makes my chest feel warm, and my heart flutters.
“Baby?” I ask playfully.
“Is that ok?” Nora says nervously, scratching the back of her head. “More than okay.” Nora’s smile spreads across her face, and her blue eyes
light up. We walk onto the boat, the deckhand passing us a glass of wine each, before the captain greets us, all dressed up in his immaculate white uniform.
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“Good evening ladies, I am Sergio. I’ll be driving Coco today. If you have questions, please feel free to find me or one of my deckhands.” We thank him and then walk around to the front of the boat. I may know nothing about boats, but I can tell this is nice. When we get to the front, it’s decorated beautifully. There are rose petals dotted around the floor, and tea lights placed carefully. In the middle of all this seems to be an array of foods, but the one that catches my eye is the vast bowl of olives. I smile to myself.
“You hate olives.” I say.
“But I like you.” Nora responds. We sit down on the deck, and I take in the view and what Nora has done for me. The picnic I laid out for her doesn’t even come close to this. I lean in close to Nora’s side and lay my head on her shoulder. She presses a kiss on my head.
“Thank you so much, Nora.” Without saying a word, Nora pulls me in for a kiss. Each kiss with Nora feels like our first one, special.
“Why’d you do this?” I question.
“Because I wanted to show you how special you are.” I feel my cheeks flush, and I lower my chin into my chest, looking up at Nora.
“And-” And?
“I love you.” The words take the breath out of my lungs and my lips fall open slightly.
“You don’t have to say it back, but I just wanted you to know, just in case.” Nora adds. I feel stunned, unsure what to say because I know those thoughts have passed through my brain too, but I just didn’t know if I was ready to say them. But staring at her face, itching to hear any words from me. The effort she’s put into this evening, for me, despite how I’ve been. Despite the wild journey of what was to be a relaxing holiday, she stayed by me and accepted me for who I am.
“I love you too.” I respond, as if a weight has been lifted off of Nora’s shoulders, they lower and a smile breaks out on her face. She leans in to hug me and nuzzles her face into my chest, her arms wrapped around my waist.
“I don’t want this to end.” Nora says muffled in my chest. It doesn’t have to, I want to say. Stay here with me, don’t worry about America, just please stay with me.
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“Me neither.” I opt for instead, stroking her hair gently. Nora pulls away and holds eye contact.
“I think every person that I’ll meet from now on, I’ll always look for you in them.” Nora whispers to me. Both of our eyes are watery, but I can’t tell whether they’re happy or sad tears. Happy that we got to experience this connection or sad that we won’t be able to for much longer. I know I can’t go to America, it’s not what I want for myself. I want to be an author and after this trip, I truly believe I can. I want to have a writing desk in London, facing the street and write till my heart’s content. I can’t sit back watching Nora live out her dream, wishing I had lived out mine. In the words of Nora, if you want it hard enough it will happen. I realise at this point, neither of us know how long each other is here in Greece for.
“When are you leaving?” I ask out of the blue.
“One more week.” Nora said in a broken whisper, her voice etched with sadness.
“Me too.” I press my lips together. One last week of this.
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Chapter 16