Close encounter - Part II

“Alejandro! Alejandro. Wake up dear…!” Amanda looks out of the window and realizes his brother’s boat is not at the dock. She moves quickly through the corridor; an unmade bed is all she could see. His brother is out too, she says out loud, “Alejandro is with Sandro dear, we’re alone for the rest of the morning. Go back to bed, let me make some coffee.” A barefooted Amada turns on the stove and sights, mesmerized by the calmness of the morning starts humming his favorite tune, the one she used to sing as a child.

“Quem me ensinou a nadar "Who taught me to swim

Quem me ensinou a nadar Who taught me to swim

Foi, foi marinheiro It was a sailor

Foi os peixinhos do mar It was the little fish of the sea

Foi, foi marinheiro It was a sailor

Foi os peixinhos do mar." It was the little fish of the sea."

As soon as the finishes with the last word of the verse, Miguel tenderly hold her in his arm and kiss her on her cheek. “You’re glowing today; I love to see you happy.”

“Well honey, to be back here puts me in a good mood, I can understand why Sandro don’t want to leave this place. This is more than his home, this house, this town, this is him. I can see him all over, he loves to be in tune with the sea. There’s no place like this for such life.”

As she pours the hot dark liquid into the two cups, the nutty smell lingers in the kitchen like a spell casted by a good-spirited witch. They both feel their senses being overpowered by the bitterness of their drink.

“Alejandro must be driving your brother mad, he is always asking questions, he loves to know everything, about everything.”

“He is inside the apartment all the time, he needs this. He’s got like a week preparing this, he loves to be on the boat. Fishing with Sandro will do wonders on him, it always does.”

Since Sandro brought this place, Amanda has been visiting him once a year. It’s the perfect opportunity to give Alejandro a taste of what she had growing up in the East coast of Brazil. The North Carolina vibe seems so distant to the idyllic location of her youth. His brother Sandro could not stay away from water, that why he did everything in his power to land a position in Miami and in a few years, he bought his dream home in the Island of San Andres, Colombia.

“Why don’t we do the same? I can see myself having a slow-paced life near the sea. This place is slowly living in my head more often than none. You’re right, it lures you in.”

With a smirk, in total disbelieve of what she just heard, Amanda is ready to counterattack:

“What’s happening? I don’t know you Miguel, are you the same one I married 13 years ago?"

"I'm here, don't you recognize your husband?" He put himself right in front of her, caressing her right arm with his fingers with extreme care, just like a cello player touching his instrument after a long time without playing.

"Are you the same one that said to me to live by the sea must be a drag? The same one that finds any excuse to get inside and stay in the shade? The very same one that made me move to Charlotte, North Carolina, just because you can’t stand the humid heat of the coast? What’s happening here?”

She moves closer and with fire in her eyes, she kisses Miguel with devilish desire. The couple leave their inhibitions behind as she undresses still kissing him and surrendering herself to her man. She stacks her weight over the counter and let his husband melt into her arms. With only the warm sunrays that enters the window as witness of her crave-driven resolve.

Meanwhile back in the water, Alejandro throw bread crumbs from the port side of the boat.

“What’s that Alejandro?”

“I’m helping you, I’m luring the fish.”

“Stop it, there’s no need to do that. They actually don’t need to know that we’re here. When you fish with a speargun you need to be steath, keep a low profile and be one with your surroundings.”

The boy watches as the crumbs floats at full mercy of the tide. A soft current makes the seaweed dance underneath them. As the minutes pass by, this sense of calmness overtake his senses. It's always good to change completely and leave behind the routine of city life for a life full of adventures under the Caribbean sun...

To be continued.