Wildest Dreams

5

Over the next several months, after we were done filming for the day, James would take me to different spots around the camp. A lot of the time I just wanted to go back to where he first took me, to see the sunset.

I'd also discovered there was a waterfall nearby where we watched the sunset. It started as a stream making its way through the woods, split into littles divots then skydived off the cliff into a beautiful waterfall. It was stunning. Sometimes we swam in the stream, or rather played in it and splashed each other. The waterfall made a pool at the base of the cliff, so we'd swim in there sometimes too, in the cool shade of the mountain. It was the most fun I'd had in ages.

One thing I really enjoyed doing with him was animal watching. We take the Jeep and park out in the fields of dried grass. I would look through binoculars and spot different animals. I saw so many I began to keep a list: lion, cheetah, elephant, hyena, giraffes, zebras. I even saw a snake or two, but I kept far, far away from them. I knew they were harmful.

I knew my family back home would love to see them so I found a camera in the camp and took several snapshots of every animal. They came out wonderfully and I made a little scrapbook of them. I wrote descriptions under each snapshot of what the animal was. I also collected little flowers I found and dried and pressed them.

I also took pictures of James. How could I not? He was the source of my joy here in Africa, my love, my life. Not to mention he was devastatingly handsome. Every chance I could, I took photos of him. Most of the time he did not know they were being taken. I took one of him standing in front of the sunset, his figure darkened out with the sun shining behind. It was my favorite photo. I put that photo in my scrapbook too, captioning it, "he's so tall and handsome as hell." My other favorite one was a photo I took of him making an obscene gesture at Oliver, who was telling him he needed to stop drinking so much beer. I kept that in my book too. I wrote under it, "he's so bad, but he does it so well."

I tried to keep writing Noah and my family. I hadn't forgot him. I tried, but eventually there was just nothing new to report to him, other than James. And he couldn't know about James. I didn't want him to feel bad. He wrote several times too. In one letter, he mentioned a girl named Lillian. I had never heard of her before. But then his letters became less and less, and he mentioned Lillian more and more, and I knew. I knew we had ended. So I stopped sending him letters, too. There was no hope for us when I came back. Of course, that's why we had broken up. But it was still sad.

Despite that, I was never sad for long. James was always around me, more and more. I loved it. I enjoyed his company, and by the way we did things, I think he was my boyfriend and I was his girlfriend. That made me happy above all else.

Oliver noticed it too. He told me, "Scarlet, you seem happier than I've ever seen you. Especially considering I've only ever known you for these months we've been in Africa. Regardless!"

And when he learned James and I were together, when we'd shoot, he'd say things like, "Will the lovebirds please report to set?" It made me giddy with love.

But what made me pause was the fact that the film would be done in a few short months. How would we continue? I knew I truly loved James. The love I had felt for Noah was nothing compared to the love I felt for James. And I was sure he loved me like that, too. But we were both from different places; our homes, our families and friends, were in different places. How would we make it work? I could see the end as it begins.

I never mentioned any of this to James. I didn't know how to. I didn't know what I would've said. I thought maybe this thing we had was better to be contained in Africa. What happens in Africa, stays in Africa.

Nevertheless, I decided to just enjoy my time with him and Africa. We spent nearly every minute together. We went on Jeep rides into the village where we would buy food, prepare it at the camp, and drive off somewhere to have a picnic. We would play with the village children, who taught us games and showed us their homes and their animals. It was the best time.

During all that time spent with James, I learned about his life. He was 25 years old. He had three sisters and one brother. He was the second oldest, his brother being the first. His mother was named Patty, his father Gerald. His childhood home was a small yellow house with a wraparound porch in rural New York. Now he lives in California. He had a pet horse named Snickers who was brown with white speckles. Snickers liked to eat apples. Snickers also bit James once, on the hand, where there is a scar to prove it.

I learned he had a girlfriend several years ago, named Margot. He seemed to talk about her fondly, with reminiscing love and regret. He even showed me a picture of her. It was a Polaroid snapshot and she was smiling widely, laughing, I think. She was absolutely beautiful. She had wavy blond hair and stunning blue eyes. They made me think of the ocean. In the photo her eyes were laughing too, and I honestly couldn't look away. She was so gorgeous.

I wasn't jealous of her, I can promise you that. I honestly wished I knew her. From the way James talked about her, she seemed like a wonderfully kind and funny person.

"But Scarlet, you know I love you, right?" James said, tucking the photo away and taking my face in his hands.

"I know," I smiled. James smiled back and kissed me.

I loved him too.

"My one condition is say you'll remember me standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset, darling," I said as my character, Grace Goodall. We were in a scene. I was pressed up against James, speaking to him, looking directly into his eyes. "That's all I want,"

"Say you'll see me again even if it's just in your wildest dreams." He said to me. "That's what I want, my love,"

"Wildest dreams," I whispered, gazing into his beautiful eyes. I dramatically looked away, tilting my head down. His finger went under my chin and he lifted it up, kissing me.