Perfect Waves

Kindred Spirits

I woke up Tuesday at 5am, surprised to see a DM from Esben from earlier in the morning, "Hey, how was the rest of your night?"

"I was super tired so I just came back and went to bed haha." I replied.

"I'm thinking of surfing today. Do you know any good instructors?"

"Yes! You should go talk to Esteban."

My phone buzzed again. It was Nik.

I am so sorry chica, but I can't do the surf lesson today. I have some clients who want to do Xmas dinner tonight, and I need to go do some networking.

I stared at this text. Is this man serious? Can he make ANY plans? I've known him one week and I've already lost count of the times he had cancelled on me. If our plans were so expendable, why make them in the first place?

Instead of replying to Nik. I switched back to my messages with Esben.

"Do you wanna go grab breakfast in a bit?" I asked. He seemed very interesting to talk to, and the nerd in me missed work-related conversations.

"Sure! Where?"

We met up at a health-food café in the middle of the garden of a boutique hotel. Over eggs and avocado and smoothies, I asked about his work and told him about me. I am always skeptical of people who say they're "entrepreneurs," and to be honest the first half hour of our conversation probably sounded like me grilling him about work. I needed to know he was legit at least, after all the charismatic "CEOs" I had met back in Silicon Valley. I did decide that he was, and I apologized for quizzing him. He laughed, and said he understood.

Esben had light blue eyes. Sometimes, they were so light they looked grey. They were icy, and when he laughed his eyes did not. He was a warm individual though, thoughtful, caring, but also efficient, focused, and determined. I liked that a lot. His features were Nordic and sharp, high cheekbones, perfect nose, and he was a health-fanatic who was obsessed with the gym. He was honestly, shockingly handsome. So handsome that my mom, and believe me, my Asian mother is terribly hard to please, told me to go chase after him in London and lock it down after seeing one photo. She wasn't even kidding either. But he was also nerdy, and a tad bit awkward, which added to the charm. The term "douchebag" did not once cross my mind despite how he might've been stereotyped.

Esben said he was glad to meet someone smart in Costa Rica, a law student. That most of the interactions he had here were fun but dreadfully brainless. I was a little taken aback by this blunt assessment, but also happy to meet someone who spoke their mind.

"What are your plans for the day?" He asked me.

"I was thinking of going to Vista de Olas, you want to come with?" Vista de Olas might feel like too romantic of a place, I thought. But then again, Nik and I weren't serious at all, while Esben was someone I'd like to be friends with after we leave Costa Rica for sure. He also had a no-nonsense demeanor, which made things easy and straightforward. Also, I knew he was interested.

"Yea, let's go change and I'll meet you at your hotel?" He said.

"Sounds good."

When I met him at my hotel, he already had a cab waiting for us. I liked how organized and reliable he was, unlike flaky Nik. We spent the afternoon swimming around the infinity pool, goofing around pretending to talk to the two huge dusty blue lizards that frequented the pool-side garden, and drinking smoothies. I found myself laughing non-stop, and eyeing his abs a little too much. At some point by the swim-up bar, our legs touched and I didn't move away. It wasn't long before his arm was around my waist in the pool, and soon we were kissing and posing for photos together, acting way too cute for two people who had just met.