“A virgin! You mean we get to be there when you break your ocean cherry? No diving compares to the open ocean.” Maurice’s face cracked into a grin.
“I’m kind of nervous about the sharks. I hope they leave us alone. I really want to explore the wreckages. I have an underwater camera just for this. Do you think we’ll be okay?” I was wringing my hands in my napkin and noticed that Victoria, the blonde from yesterday was listening in on our conversation with interest.
Maurice and Stuart looked at each other with the shared intimacy of a life together. I felt a pang of jealousy as they burst out laughing.
“Girl, you’ve been watching too much television. This will definitely be an eye opener for you. Sharks are more afraid of you than you are of them. We’ll be in a large group in an area that has been used many times before; you’ll be just fine. Also, you’ll be attached to your buddy. There is nothing to worry about.” Maurice was still chuckling to himself as they got up and left the table. I ducked to hide the blush that was creeping up my neck.
Victoria continued to stare, until she finally stood up, her expression a mixture of disgust and irritation.
“You are really strange,” she said to me with a slight accent I couldn’t quite place. “There are worse things to fear than sharks.”
I was flabbergasted. It was the first I’d really heard her speak, and she didn’t stay long enough to elaborate on her comment. I brushed her off as I got up and went to my room to change, contemplating the dive tomorrow. I prayed that the sharks would stay away. I put on my bathing suit and went to the pool to watch the sunset.
I was still sitting by the pool when Keith found me an hour later.
“I know it isn’t a carved opal, but Happy Birthday, Tash.” He handed me a small wrapped box. My heart fell into my stomach and I hoped that it wasn’t what it looked like.
“Um, Keith, this is…well…” I was so not smooth. He laughed. It was that deep belly laugh that I secretly treasured because he never opened himself up that much to anyone.
“You should see your face. It isn’t that. Just open it.” Inside was a very dainty bracelet with a crescent moon and star. It was sterling silver with a diamond in the center of the star.
“You remembered,” I said with soft surprise. All my life I’d loved the moon. I could sit under the healing lunar light for a lifetime and never tire of it.
“Even if I didn’t, all I had to do was watch you at night. You’re always so peaceful watching the moon. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful as you in moonlight.” My heart did a nasty little flip and I knew I was headed into dangerous territory.
“I have always loved the water and the moon; they have such a harmonious and symbiotic relationship. It makes me feel as if all is right in the world. This is great, thank you, Keith.”
“I love you, Natasha. I think I’ve always loved you. Seeing you again, being with you—it reminds me of what I lost. What we lost. I’m such an ass, and while I don’t expect you to just forgive everything I did to you, I just wanted you to know. I love you. I screwed up before, big time, but I promise to never hurt you like that again.” I placed my finger on his lips, leaned forward, and kissed him softly. I felt hopeful for the first time in years. I wanted to fade away into the warmth of this feeling, but there was still something bothering me.
“Keith?”
“Yeah, babe?”
“A long time ago we talked about romantic things, and I never got around to asking you if you believed in soul mates.” I asked it quietly, adjusting myself to snuggle against him and watch as the stars started peeking out of the darkening sky.
“I don’t think that was a question, but, no, I don’t. I think that two people can become compatible with each other for a time, but no, I don’t think that my soul was split in half and the other half is lost out there without me. I mean, think about it; with the billions of people on the planet, how are you supposed to find the one that carries the other half of your soul? And on the off chance that you did find that person, who’s to say you’re even attracted to them, or that they’re even available? No, I think that two people, who find themselves attracted to each other, grow and develop a lasting relationship based on mutual respect, understanding, and sex. Yes, I think sex is a very big part of a relationship. If you can’t be intimate with the person you love and show them in the most basic of ways that you love them, what’s the point? Did I answer your question?”
“Yes.”
With us being in port, we had the deck to ourselves. We could hear the waves crashing against the ship, and the far-off sounds of thumping music from the clubs that scattered the piers. It was a little piece of heaven. The silence dragged on, his whispered voice seemed loud when he next spoke.
“Well, are you going to tell me, or do I have to pry it out of you?” His heartbeat sped ever so slightly under my ear.
“I do believe in soul mates. It’s one of the few things I still believe in from my childhood. I think that it’s our job to find the other half of our soul and connect for a complete life, however long it lasts. Do you think that even if you don’t believe in the idea of a soul mate, it can be true anyway?”
“Do you mean could we be soul mates? It’s possible. I
