Page 26 of Escape To Paradise
“Wait till I mix you a drink.”
“I can’t wait.”
“So, go on with your story.” This time, his full attention was on me.
“I found out he wasn’t faithful, so I left and took a break, not only from him but from America.” I took another sip. He was right. Malbec wasn’t a spectacular wine, but it was sufficient enough.
“And now you’re here in the Caribbean. It seems you made the right choice. What’s your plan after your ‘break’?” Julian asked.
“Well, I plan on just living day by day for now.”
“Good for you.”
Julian was dangerously close. I could smell his cologne and his natural manly scent—warm woodsy, citrusy smell. He smelled good. I imagined I smelled like food; I still hadn’t taken a shower after working.
Over the distance, the ocean was calm, and there was a light breeze. We just sat there, enjoying the moment. I could hear the girls giggling from a distance.
Soon, it was past midnight, and the girls bid the both of us goodnight. I looked at Julian. He seemed caught up in his own thoughts. His cocktail glass was long dry.
“You’re not going to bed?” I asked.
“I’m a night owl. I’ll go to bed in a little bit. I usually go to bed by 3 a.m.”
“What time do you wake up?” I wanted to get to know him better.
“Well, late. I’m grumpy in the morning, if you want to know. I like to sleep in. Around 10 or 11 a.m. is when I’m usually up. How about you?”
“I usually am asleep by this time. Then I wake up at five in the morning and grab a cup of coffee. I love waking up when the whole world is still sleeping or starting to get up.” I remembered the good old days when I was still running my restaurant. I was always excited to get to work. Now, I’m excited to get up early so I can watch the sunrise. I didn’t mention this to Julian, though.
“Goodnight then. I don’t want to keep you up late. I’ll probably just fiddle with my phone.”
I bid Julian goodnight. I went down to our room and changed out of my work clothes. Then I took a quick shower and put on my pajamas. The girls were still giggling and talking amongst themselves.
“What are you guys giggling about?” I asked them as I hopped into my bed.
“Julian is so cute, and you guys look cute together,” Zofia said. “We were gossiping about you two.”
“Girls, girls. You know it’s never going to happen. Julian probably has a girlfriend.”
“We’ve been looking at his Instagram profile,” Kathleen added. “Don’t think he has someone. He does have pictures of his travels, though. He looks dreamy.”
“I admit he does look dreamy. And he smells good too.”
“What does he smell like?” Zofia asked.
“He smells like a nice-smelling, good-looking man,” I said.
“With muscles!” Kathleen giggled.
“Yes, with muscles.”
“It says on his profile that he’s from New York.”
“Funny, I didn’t detect a hint of New York accent,” I said, and then remembered he mentioned about moving from New York to Florida. I was almost tempted to get my phone out to check his profile out. But I decided against it; sleep was calling to me. “I’m going to sleep now, girls. Don’t stay up too late. We still have work tomorrow.”
“Yes, boss!” Kathleen said with a giggle.
***
