RED 2: A Trick of Mirrors [#Wattys2017]

6. A Lovely Day

The muster drill completed, the anchor was lifted and the voice of the captain resonated through the speakers wishing everybody a fun trip. Marco and Marisa moved up to Deck 13, where a more compact expanse crowned the Aquamarine with a mini-golf course and the Moon Rock Club, a circular nightclub with glass walls and a 360-degree view of endless blue. Its retro-futuristic interior made of steel and acrylic provided a rotating bar in the central area and a fake Milky Way over the dance floor.

At daytime the club operated as an observatory turbocharged by the drinks from the bar. That afternoon, the Moon Rock welcomed a scarce clientele — the majority of passengers were on the lower decks pressed against the guardrails taking pictures, filming or watching the moving scenery. Donavon Frankenreiter's Lovely Day set the mood for the days to come.

Sunny skies in your eyes

Summer warmth on your skin

On the horizon the sun rises

What a lovely day to begin

Marco and Marisa sat at table facing the bow with their margaritas in hand while they admired artificial islands and sailboats as the Aquamarine glided in the exit channel. Passengers packed the portside of the ship to wave their goodbyes to the city. To the starboard side, the skyscrapers of Miami Beach came into view. Soon the Aquamarine steered around the white edge of the island toward open waters, leaving behind its sands dotted with colorful lifeguard towers.

"Tell me more about the surprise," Marco said without averting his eyes from the glass pane.

Marisa stared at him and couldn't help but laugh.

"You're so curious. When we first met, I'd never imagine you were like that.

"And how did you imagine me to be?"

She took her time stirring her drink with the straw.

"I don't know... More laid back. Less controlling."

"Me, controlling?" he asked distractedly. "What does that have to do with the surprise?"

"Everything." She smiled without conviction. "You don't like to lose control. If I mention a surprise, you need to find out what it is. I'd better keep quiet."

At those words, Marco fixed his dark eyes on Marisa.

"You have been quiet lately. Too quiet. After our move to Toronto, you've changed. If I knew things would play out this way, I wouldn't have asked you to come with me."

"Having second thoughts, eh?" Marisa gave him a hurtful look and pretended to concentrate on the view.

"Of course not."

Marco reached for her hand. She laid her glass on the table with a thump and ignored him. Along with the vertigo experienced in the cabin, before evaporated at once. What remained was the slime accumulated on the bottom of after.

He regretted having taken her to Canada. That thought consumed Marisa since the night Marco had slept on the sofa. She had accused him of being egocentric and insensitive. He retaliated that he couldn't stand living with an immature woman unprepared for adult life. The next day, while she burned with fever, Marisa hallucinated and heard Marco in the living room shouting curses at her. When he found her prostrated in bed that evening, Marco took her to the emergency care and looked after her. They made peace. His dinner continued to be tucked in the oven and Marisa avoided to disturb him with complaints.

"You know what, Marco? I learned to shut off and not disturb your work work work."

"I didn't force you to go to Toronto. I wouldn't have accepted the offer if you preferred to stay in Brazil. But once I've accepted it, I needed to prove myself, isn't that obvious? You knew that when I took the position the school was in chaos and I had to handle all the problems from the previous administration." He no longer hid his exasperation. "And there's more: it was my responsibility to provide for us. I wasn't any happier than you to be working late hours but I had no choice. You could have made an effort to adapt."

Her cheeks flushing, Marisa clasped her hands together. Marco did his Ph.D. in San Francisco and spoke an impeccable English. Even though Marisa managed to communicate relatively well, her English learned in school hadn't prepared her for everyday life in a foreign country. On one occasion, she went to a bar with Marco and a colleague of his and, amid the loud music, spent hours smiling and nodding with no idea what the man was talking about. On another, she made a call for information and, after asking the person on the other end to repeat a sentence three times, hung up and cried. How was she supposed to function if she was unable to understand what people said?

She moved along that new life with a sense of precariousness, not trusting the steadiness of her steps or the solidity of the terrain. Eventually she calmed down, but disquiet returned when she realized she was on the wrong course and hadn't the faintest idea of the right one. Now Marisa could find her way around the city but not inside her. To make matters worse, the relationship with Marco deteriorated. Life was turning inside out and that scared her. The more Marisa recriminated herself for her inability in solving the situation, the more paralyzed she became. She had never shared her fears with Marco out of shame.

"I did make an effort." She gesticulated exalted. "I made an effort on my own and never felt so isolated."

"Isolated? What about your friends from the English course and college? If we had stayed in Toronto, you could apply for another university and things would go back to normal. You had everything."

"I didn't have you, Marco. And without you, the move to Canada didn't make much sense, did it? As they say, a relationship is like a plant that requires watering every day—"

"I tried my best for you."

"—and our plant started drying out for lack of water."

"What is that supposed to mean?" His expression clouded over.

"Can't you see?"

"What are you talking about, Mari?"

"You can't see or you don't want to?"

Marco clenched one fist, his knuckles whitening.

"Will you stop answering my question with another question?"

"Here's your answer, Marco: if you don't know what that means, neither do I."

"And this is how we're going to restart from zero?"

That question did not demand an answer but more questions.

___________________________________

Things are going to heat up from now on, so watch out!

I used to leave creative and fun footnotes for readers in RED, but I have been so drained out of energy and time for the past 2 years, that writing this story and translating it into English already consumes me.  I had to move 7 times and now I'm about to move for the 8th time in 24 months, and this is just one of the issues I've been handling, say a drop in the ocean...

Anyways, consider yourself hypnotized... Please comment or at least vote for this chapter-- it takes only 1 second of your time and it means the world to me.  Thanks!  :)