In This Wondrous Place

The water was calmly slapping the faded wooden poles of the marina dock when we approached. It was docile enough to where we could see down to the bottom of the sea floor from our perspective. It was lined with shells and metal boat wreckage that had washed in from the ocean. I couldn’t help but wonder if parts of the sailboat were mixed in with the rest of the submerged metal.

“Are you ready?” Chris crossed his arms over his chest and looked out over the covered boats. It was hard to tell what he was thinking from glancing at him, mostly due to his sunglasses covering his light eyes, but I assumed he was trying to tread lightly around the situation. I suddenly felt like a ticking time bomb, with people waiting for me to burst out in hysterics at any moment.

“’Ready’ is a…strong word.” I nervously laughed, retrieving the keys to the boat storage from my pocket.

The key scraped against the inside of the rusty lock as it turned. I cringed at the terrible noise it made, but continued to twist until the lock popped open. I pushed the gate forward and stepped up some creaky stairs before striding along the pier with Chris not far behind.

Unit 15. The flaky white characters were written boldly on the deck in front of my father’s boat. I looked up from them and held my breath as I stared at the beat up vessel before my eyes. I could hardly believe it was the same boat, surely they got it wrong…

“Smooth Sailing” Chris read the name from the port side of the boat. I almost wanted to laugh at the irony.

“That’s it alright.” I ran my fingers along the bent railing on the back of the boat. It had been dinged up pretty bad, but it wouldn’t be too expensive to replace.

We examined the boat together from the dock, each of us making certain observations about the damage while I took a mental note of everything. I regretted not charging my phone before leaving or else I could’ve kept a checklist of things to fix on there. Oh well.

“Could you,” I paused, thinking over my question, “maybe hop on and check out the flooring and inside cabin?”

Chris nodded.

“Of course.” He stepped easily onto the boat and down the fiberglass steps. I saw him thoroughly inspect the remaining parts of the boat that could not be seen from my place on the dock and, after several minutes, he popped his head out from the cabin entrance. With his hand placed casually on the upper door frame and a half smile appearing on his face, I began to think about how wonderful a photo this would make. Chris just seemed so at ease that I was actually a bit envious.
“So, what’s the damage?” I put a hand on my hip and shaded my eyes from the sun with the other.

Chris began listing some minor replacements that may need to be done and that there were a few scratches. Otherwise, according to him, the boat wasn’t in as bad of shape as we thought.

“Here,” He took off his own sunglasses and slid them onto my face before I could protest, “Better?”

“Much, but you really don’t have to—“

“No arguing,” He waved me off jokingly and threw an arm around my shoulders, “How about some lunch? Today is Fish Friday at the marina café.” His smile was radiant at the mention of food.

“Hey,” I turned to look at him and he dropped his arm, to my dismay, “What exactly are we doing?”

Chris laughed, “Well, I was hoping we were going to gorge on some fish sandwiches, but—“

“You know what I mean,” I playfully elbowed him in his unsurprisingly firm abdomen.

He glanced down at me and reached over to tuck a stray strand of hair behind my ear. I closed my eyes at the feel of his warm fingers brushing over the sensitive skin of my temple. As he finished, his hand rested lightly on my cheek. I leaned into it and smiled, enjoying the tender gesture.

“What is it that you want, Emery?” Chris had a soft tone and I could tell that he was genuinely curious. What did I want?

“I just…” my thoughts were frustrating to put into words, “I want…” my heart suddenly acted without my brain. Before I realized what I was doing, I had hopped up and kissed the Australian man in front of me on his lips.

Chris relaxed into it and wrapped a hand around the crook of my neck, pulling me closer to him. Our lips danced around each other and I struggled to not deepen it even more. My heart was beating nearly out of my chest, partially from nervousness and partially from the excitement of it all. I decided to end the kiss before getting too carried away.

“I want that.” I whispered breathlessly, coming down from my tiptoes.

Chris leaned down and pressed his forehead to mine in response. I didn’t count the seconds that we stood there like that, but it was probably a minute or two before we both pulled away.

“Now about Fish Friday…” He raised an eyebrow.

We made it back to my house from our afternoon at the marina at around 6 in the evening. I had been laughing at a joke that Chris told that included a terrible pun about the ocean when I opened the front door and stepped in, with him not too far behind. I pressed the tip of my right shoe against the back of my left and slid my foot out of the sandal. I followed suit with the other foot and stretched out my toes on the tile flooring. I never really cared for shoes too much here; I prefer to go barefoot whenever I’m near a beach.

“Hey, I just need to check my work email, but want to watch a movie when I’m done?”

He nodded and smiled, kicking off his sandals at my shoe rack. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pecked him quickly on his lips before walking over to my breakfast table and opening up the laptop.

A slew of emails popped up, and I began scrolling through them and picking out the ones for my current project. A message in particular caught my attention, however. It was from someone that I contacted about recent violent clashes in a small village in Burundi. I wasn’t even sure I would get a response from anyone, but sure enough…

Ms. Emery Carmichael,

I am sorry for the delayed response. Your company gave me your mailing address, so I took the liberty of sending some information directly to you. Please use discretion when handling these documents and pictures, it’s not for the faint of heart. A French organization has recently moved into a town called Bisoro to provide free education and reading lessons, but I think there might be something else going on. Please contact me at the number in the packet I’ve sent. I’m in Nairobi working on another story right now, but I can arrange a meeting with the organization if someone from your company is willing to come out.

Talk soon.

Thank you,

Anasa Kirui

I furrowed my brows and rested back in my seat. Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t checked the mail in nearly a week. Normally we only received coupons and promotional items in the mail, nothing of substance, so I rarely checked it. Would it even be here by now? Probably not.

I suddenly felt a pair of hands gently grip my shoulders and begin lightly massaging the tense muscles there. My head tilted back and met the lower abdomen of my favorite dirty blond man. I sighed in enjoyment and closed my eyes, letting him continue to work out the individual knots along the tops of my shoulders and at the base of my neck. His thumbs caressed my spine in a linear motion, the pads trailing a line up and over the individual bumps in a slow, tantalizing manner.

“Do I get to return the favor?” I lazily questioned, reaching up and putting my hands atop his.

“Only if you come over and join me on the couch.” He smirked cheekily and stepped away from me, only turning to open up his arms in a way that conveyed a flirty challenge.

“Alright, Mr. Hemsworth,” I stood up from the table and sauntered over, “you have my attention. What are we watching tonight?”

He pulled me to him on the couch, positioning us comfortably with me next to him. I threw my legs over his lap and snuggled close, breathing in the scent of him on his skin. I wondered what cologne he used as I inhaled; something clean and subtle. It fit him just right.

“I was thinking,” his breath tickled my ear, “that we could watch Independence Day.”

I agreed and he pressed play on the remote. As the film began, I found myself paying more attention to the man beside me than to one of my favorite movies. It was a strange feeling that was swelling in my heart whenever I looked at him; whenever he spoke my name and held me close. The broken pieces of my heart were beginning to sort themselves out, not just because I was falling for Chris, but because he was helping me realize that I can move forward despite everything that has happened.

I reached up and brushed his dirty blond hair with my fingers. He moaned lowly as my nails lightly massaged his scalp and I pressed my lips to the corner of his mouth. Chris turned his head and suddenly kissed me passionately, his mouth yearning for connection with my own. Arms began to wrap fully around me and I felt my body being lifted up. I encircled my legs around his waist and rested my arms on his broad shoulders. For a moment I was suspended in the air, kissing him with all the ferocity that I could muster up. My body needed his in that instant, in a way that was very seemingly primal. I couldn’t think about anything else; anyone else.

I pawed at my blouse, stripping it from my upper body and tossing is haphazardly to the floor below. Chris immediately dropped his lips from my mouth and kissed along my jawline. I angled my head upwards to give him better access to my neck, to which he took full advantage.

“Emery,” he moaned between kisses, clearly aroused. His lips made their way under my jaw and I sucked in a breath at a sudden nibble on the skin of my neck.

“As much as I love this position, I think we might be much more comfortable on my bed.” I suggested, bringing his head up with my fingers to look at me.

“Mmm,” he placed a final kiss on my lips, “are you sure you want this? Because we can stop right here if you’re uncomfortable.”

I nuzzled his nose with my own and hopped down from his arms.

“Come on, Mr. Hemsworth,” I playfully grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the stairs, “I have no intentions of stopping.”