Three Fortunes

One month had passed since Michael had begun working on the ship, and in that time I'd grown to like him very much. We'd just arrived in Potomac, after being blown off course and delayed one week by a nasty storm. After much persuasion, I convinced Michael to come with me to explore the town. As it turned out, he'd been there many times with his family as a young boy, and knew the town quite well.

He spent the afternoon showing me around, pointing out the places he used to visit with his brother and sister, and sharing what little history he knew of the town. I listened intently to all his stories, asking questions and making comments just to make sure he knew I was enjoying listening to him.
As the sun sank lower in the sky and afternoon faded to evening, we stopped at a bakery that had the best fresh baked bread you'd ever tasted, according to Michael. I have to admit he was right about that.

Michael eagerly questioned the people in the bakery about the latest happenings in the world, and more specifically in Corsica. Being at sea for weeks at a time meant never being up to date on current events. I'd long since stopped letting it bother me, but Michael was eager to find out what was going on back in his home town.

"The prince got married recently, or so I hear." said a middle aged woman who'd just received a letter from her sister in Corsica.

"Did he really?" Michael asked, taking more interest in this than anything else he heard.

"Oh yes, the older one, and to a commoner. The daughter of a blacksmith I believe. It was all very sudden apparently." she lowered her voice as she spoke these last words. "Rumor has it they're expecting a child, and wanted to get married before anyone found out."

"I wouldn't be surprised." Michael laughed.

"And the younger prince has run away," she went on. "Left late one night, almost a month ago now, and hasn't been seen since."

"Oh," he said, less interested now. "Yes, I heard that." He made polite conversation with the woman for a few more minutes before we left the bakery.

By that time we should have been thinking about heading back to the ship, before Richard grew impatient and set out looking for us, but Michael insisted we wait a bit longer. We walked along a pathway up a hill and through the forest. Michael claimed he knew exactly where he was going.

We walked in silence, the first time either of us had been quiet in a very long time. When we at last reached the end of the path we stood at the top of a cliff looking out over the sea. The fiery orange ocean was nearly impossible to look directly at as it reflected the light of the setting sun. The sky above it was red and orange and yellow, with deep purple around the edges and pink clouds just above that.

"This is…" I could not even begin to describe that beauty of the scene before us, but Michael seemed to understand what I meant.

"My mother used to bring me here, a very long time ago. She grew up here in Potomac, and she'd been coming to watch the sunsets from this very spot since she was a little girl."

The sadness behind his eyes told me his mother was gone now. "She died twelve years ago. I was only nine." He said, as though he'd been reading my thoughts.

A while later, I told him we should probably head back, but he stopped me.

"Wait," he said. He caught my hand and pulled me back towards him. He turned me so I faced the ocean, resting one hand on my shoulder and with the other pointing in the direct of the town, that sat just to the left of the setting sun. "This is the best part. The sun reflects off the buildings in the town and the trees in the forest, making everything around glow with the most beautiful golden light."

I followed his gaze to the town, and saw the effect he'd described so perfectly. The trees around us glowed, reminding me of the way the forest had always looked as Mary-Jane and I walked home from our daily adventures.

I looked at Michael, his kind face looked beautifully perfect in the orange light. My heart raced as his eyes met mine. Before then he had been nothing more than a good friend in my naïve mind, but that idea was lost in this moment, for in that moment I realized I was falling in love with him.

The shyness of the day we'd met returned with this realization. I turned away as the sun finally set in left us in near darkness. The way Michael seemed to be hiding disappointment after I pulled away brought me a certain feeling of joy. Had he felt the same way, or was I simply imagining things?

I cursed under my breath as I realized just how late it was. "Sorry," I said, hiding a laugh and placing a hand over my mouth as I realized Michael had heard me.

"My goodness Audrey," He teased. "I've met men with better manners than you."

"I wouldn't be surprised." I said. We both laughed, knowing sadly that there was some truth in what he said.

"Hey Audrey," he said, still smiling over the joke.

"Yes?"

"Last one back to the ship has to explain to Captain Lewis where we've been!" Without another word he took off running through the forest.

"Why you―" I began, then decided it would be best to end that sentence there. I sighed and ran after him.

I felt like a child again as I chased him down the trail, which I was noticing very suddenly was rather rugged. I jumped over tree roots and moved out of the way of briers, trying to keep the skirt of my dress from getting dirty, while also trying to catch up to him.

He continued to run even, even when we'd traded the quiet forest trail for the busy city streets. I imagine we looked quite strange to anyone that saw us, as we ran like children to the harbor, but he didn't care, and I didn't care, so on we ran.

He stopped very suddenly when we reach the harbor, so suddenly I nearly ran right past him. "I win." He said, sounding just as much a child as he acted.

"Only because you got a head start!" I protested, matching his tone.

We laughed, and then he said on a more serious note that he would tell Captain Lewis or Richard―whichever we encountered first―that it had been his fault we were so late.

I argued that he shouldn't have to do that, and he argued that it was the truth, until I at last gave up and gave him his way. By this time we'd nearly reached the ship, and then, he stopped.

"Audrey," He said. "I wanted to thank you for bringing me with you today. I really did have a nice time." He leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. It was quick, and quite possibly meaningless to him, but it was enough to leave my heart racing and my mind in a daze as we returned to the ship and explained to an impatient Richard where we'd been.