Chapter 3: Chapter 3 SUNRISE

Stephan watched the sunrise as Scarlet slept. Ever since he went back home he appreciated and cherished every sunrise and sunset he had spent with his family. This one marked a new year with his wife, a year he had to love her.

He had done everything he knew Scarlet would want to be done. He had called home and checked on their son and Kayla’s wedding preparations.

Once he had made sure everything was fine and that Scarlet was still sound asleep, he dove into the ocean for a swim. He swam as far as he could, but always made sure he wasn’t that far in case she needed him.

Stephan enjoyed being with other animals because in some strange ludicrous way he felt like he was one of them. He swam down to the ocean bed, not minding the sea predators that were afraid of him more than he was of them.

***

Scarlet woke up when the sun was at its highest point. She couldn’t find Stephan so she sat under the tent and waited, looking towards the ocean. She loved it there, and she loved it even more knowing that this was their special place. She had nothing but happy memories of the oceans. Scarlet had pushed aside her encounter with Zen, eliminating all the bad and leaving the good.

She got up when she saw Stephan emerging from the water, at the shore. She walked towards him, her hair fluttering in the cool breeze.

“I missed you where did you go?” She wrapped her arms around his cool wet body.

“You were asleep so I decided to take a swim. It’s beautiful down there.” He planted a kiss on her forehead. “What do you want to do today? Seeing that you have already wasted half the day sleeping.”

“Hey!” she slapped his chest, “Whose fault is that. You had me awake all night.”

“Not all night. Early morning until dawn.” He corrected her timeline. “And I believe you wanted to be awake.” A cheeky grin spread across his face.

“I was too distracted to check the time, so I admit it was partially my fault.” Scarlet looked down to the ground. Each time she saw that smile, her cheeks pinked up.

She hated how obvious she was at times, but when it came to Stephan her body betrayed her. Its allegiance was always to him.

“By the way, I already called home, our son is fine and Kayla is doing what she does best.”

“That is?”

“Keeping everything in order. She should have joined the army or something. Her talents are being wasted on us mere immortals.” He joked.

“Stephan, stand-up comedy is not your thing.”

“You don’t think I’m funny?”

“No.” Scarlet dropped her arm from his waist and took a few steps away from him.

“I don’t make you laugh?” Stephan advanced towards her slowly, a smile on his face.

“No, not really.” Although she was only teasing him, she was right. Stephan was anything and could be anything he wanted to be, but one thing he was not was funny.

“What if I tickle you?”

This was her cue to run; she couldn’t take anyone tickling her. It made her feel like her insides were vibrating and she could never catch her breath while she laughed; not that she would need to. But still, she couldn’t bear anyone tickling her.

She turned around and ran, not as fast as she was capable of but fast enough. She couldn’t risk being careless, they were on a public beach and anyone could see them.

Stephan chased after her, letting her be a few steps ahead of her. He could easily catch her but he didn’t want to ruin the thrill for her. He chased her around the beach and into the water. And when he had enough of running he swiped her feet and threw her over his shoulders.

“Hey this is the twenty-first century; men don’t put women on their shoulders and drag them to their caves.” Scarlet giggled, as she bobbled up and down with every stride he took.

“But you are forgetting something; I wasn’t born in this century.” He laid her down on the blanket as gently as he could.

Scarlet put her hands over her head and looked up at him, her eyes fixed on the swirling silver in his.

“Now that you have me here, what are we going to do?” her eyes were wide with excitement, a huge contrast to his.

Stephan’s eyes were narrow as if he was squinting to look at her. But even in their slim form, she could still see the fire that burnt in them. It was desire.

She often wondered how they had managed to get to that point. She wondered what would have happened if she had decided to keep living in her deceased parents’ house; if she never worked at the diner or if she and Kayla had never gone into the garage that day.

But she only had one answer, fate. As corny or as cheesy as it sounded he was her fate. The previous year had been proof of that. She reached out her hand and stroked his loose hair, tucking it behind his ear.

“I wish my parents were still alive.” She smiled up at him as a tear rolled down her temple. “Even for a second, so that they could meet their grandson. So that they could meet you and see how happy you make me.”

He leaned into the palm of her hand as she stroked his face, “When I was made into what I am today, I started to believe in a lot of things that seemed unreasonable to me.” He kissed her palm, “So as crazy as it may sound, I know they are watching over you and our son. Not agreeing with every decision you are making but still supporting you.”

Scarlet cleared her throat, trying to swallow the emotion that had built up in it, “That’s not crazy. Us, being here together is. Against all odds, we are still here, in each other’s arms.”

“As we should be.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “I think that is enough communication for today.”

“Communication is very important in a marriage,” she knew where he was heading and she thought she should get them there faster, “Now that we have done the verbal, how about we get to the physical.”

“Do I have your permission to please you?”

“Get to it.”

Scarlet watched as he ran his hands along the outline of her body. She could feel herself shiver in pleasure, she wanted more and she knew he would give her more than she could handle.