Love Story

Chapter One

She took one step closer to the cliff.

The ocean was beautiful. It was majestic. She closed her eyes, and for a moment the confusion inside of her subsided. 

The beach below her was small, and from the little restaurant, a shack with just a few chairs and tables in the sand, emanated the smell of grilled fish.

She had come out here to get some air, but really to escape the family dinner that was about to start in her father's house.

Her father was on some sort of redemption trip, making up for lost time, as if that was going to work.

„You're going to like it," her sister Suzanne had said, but Kate had had her doubts, about this trip as about pretty much everything that had happened in the last seven years. And it wasn't like she'd had a choice. Her father and his soon-to-be new wife had bought a house in Portugal where he eventually wanted to retire. More than 5600 miles from San Francisco, from her friends, from everything she knew. It also meant more than eleven flight hours away from her mom.

When it came to her parents, she was stuck between a rock and a hard place. A father who had never been there, chasing money and women, in that order. And a mother who held on to the memories of her failed marriage, drowning their life in so much sorrow that Kate could not remember a time when things had ever been different, lighter.

The sky was turning pink at the horizon. The beach was fairly empty except for a few couples who held each other while staring out to sea, as if the orange sun that was about to dip into the water held some sort of a promise for them. It was stupid. People were always stupid when it came to sunsets.

„How do you like it, Katie?" Suzanne had stepped up behind her and put her hand on her shoulder.

„I hate it," Kate said, pushed off her sister's hand. "What are you doing here?"

"We were worried about you, so I started looking for you."

"I'm fine," Kate said, not meaning it, but she didn't want to get into another discussion with Suzanne how she should be this way, not that. "I'll be at the house soon," she added. "I just wanted to stretch out my legs after the long flight."

Without waiting for a response from her sister, Kate turned around and made her way down the sandy steps to the beach. She knew Suzanne was still watching her, but would return home soon. Five years older than Kate, she had been daddy's darling for as long as Kate could remember. And she had moved out before things at home really downspiraled and Kate was left to deal with the mess.

"Nice boots."

Kate decided to ignore where the voice was coming from and kept walking.

"I just wonder what's worse," the guy who had started talking to her continued, "to go to the beach fully dressed or to look so angry on a day like this."

Kate stopped and looked at him. He was sitting in a chair at one of the old tables in the restaurant and was running a fishing line through his hands. His skin was deeply tanned as if he spent a lot of time outdoors. He was wearing nothing but red swim boxers that accentuated his flat belly and muscular built.

"And how is any of this your business?" Kate asked, annoyed.

He raised his hands and flashed her a perfect smile. "Hey, hey, no need to be so fierce. We're pretty friendly around here."

"There's a thin lime between being friendly and  being obnoxious," Kate snorted. "And besides, how would you know anything about what kind of a day I'm having?"

"I don't," he said, and added, more serious now, "I didn't mean to intrude or upset you. I just thought you needed some cheering up."

"Thank you," she said sarcastically. Then she turned to walk to the beach, wishing he'd go back to his fishing line and stop talking to her.

The water was at low tide, leaving a wide glistening wet surface on the sand reflecting the sky. Kate sat down on a rock at the back of the beach and put down the bag she'd been carrying since the flight, including all of her personal items like passport, phone, and diary. She hadn't put it down once since she'd arrived, not while her father gave her a tour of the house nor when Sam, his girlfriend, served everyone cold lemonade on the terrace. Since she'd arrived at the airport she'd been considering taking the next flight back home several times already.

The sound of the ocean waves lapping onto shore and then subsiding at a regular pace surprisingly started to make her feel at ease. She looked around. The beach was surrounded by steep, sand-colored cliffs. It was mostly empty now, with only two couples and one family left, their kids chasing small birds at the water's edge.

She closed her eyes and wished she could stay like this forever, alone, and at peace.

"Glad to see it's starting to sink in." There it was again, the annoying voice from the annoying guy from before. Why did he have to keep bothering her?

"The magic of this place," he added. "You look a lot more relaxed than you did before."

Her eyes still closed, she wished that he would just walk away. She wanted nothing more than that. But he didn't, of course. She could still feel his presence.

She opened her eyes and looked at him. "Why can't you leave me alone?"

He shrugged his shoulders and smiled. Was this guy always smiling? Pathetic. "We don't see a lot of people like you around here."

Kate looked back out onto the ocean. At the horizon, the sky was turning a dark red and blue. "What do I need to do for you to leave me alone?"

"Just give me one smile."

Kate sighed. "Seriously? What is wrong with you?"

"Me?" He laughed. "What is wrong with me? You are the one showing up at the beach like you're on your way to a funeral, all dressed in black, looking like someone's died."

"Maybe someone did."

"Who?"

"I wouldn't tell you even if it was any of your business."

They stared at each other for a couple of moments, neither saying a word. Kate noticed that he had changed into actual clothes, knee-long jeans and a white shirt, which made him look good in a preppy kind of way. A look her sister might like.

"Listen," Kate said. "I didn't come here for some lame chit chat on the beach. I mean it. Leave me alone." She grabbed her bag, got up and walked away.