He kept coming to sit beside her to talk, thinking that because she was on her own she needed the company. All he was doing however was interrupting her reading. With nothing really in common, she humored him, knowing that if she played along he would eventually go away. She mentioned going into the water, the sea always inviting. It was hard to miss the big flippers leaning against her chair, and after a glance in their direction, he offered to take her snorkeling. She paused for a second; the last thing she wanted to do was to play fake courtly games whilst in her beloved water. However like a dolphin she longed for fun, to spin around in aqua bliss with a mate, play tag, race, squeak. For days now she had been diving progressively deeper, and by holding her breath, had reached the edge of the reef shelf, too scared to go any further on her own.
He was already waiting when she got to edge of the pier, insisting he help her adjust her mask after they were both in the water. With hands on her face and his body deliberately pressing against hers, he tried to kiss her. Instinctively turning away, she took a dive and submerged herself, hoping that he would follow. He didn’t. Instead he waited till she came to the surface then took her hand, pulling her progressively away from the shore. She was relaxing. He took her other hand and pulled the loose arm over his shoulders. Beneath them the reef shelf started to drop away, revealing the darker blue of vastness. Her hand gently moved over his shoulder to touch his chest, his thick neck reassuring with its strength. She had hardly been this close to a man in years; choosing to stay alone after her husband had left, too scared to give herself to anyone she did not truly care about. The blue got deeper. Their bodies brushed together. Legs moving through one another, tangled fins, breathing the only sound. He half turned around, and unable to kiss each other their necks touched. Faces gently caressed, her hand running its way from the base of his back up over his shoulder and along the arm, revealing the whole of her torso to his. His hair, cropped short to his head weaved into her fingers, the movement slowed down by the thickness of the water. She wanted and needed. She longed. Looking into the blue she imagined taking a breath and diving down hand in hand, together like dolphins exploring the deep.
Forgetting the threshold they would love each other forever; remembering it, they would fall out of love as soon as they came up for air.
