by Dee King
“You just sealed your fate! Now you will deal with the consequences!”
“Bring it! I’m not scared of you, or anyone else!” Lighting crashes over my head. I look up, but before I can say anything else to Alex he is gone.
“I am so sorry, Chris.”
“That was intense! What was that about?” Chris is rubbing his hand where he had hit Alex.
“Nothing. He is just a jerk!” I throw my bag into the back of my Jeep.
“I am sorry.”
“I just didn’t know you could hit like that! WOW! I hit him, he barely moved, but WOW you knocked him off balance. I’m pretty damn proud right now.” I hug Chris. “Thank you for defending me. Really.”
“You obviously didn’t need me to help, but glad I was here.” He hugs me back. “I forgot to tell you.”
“Tell me what, Chris?”
“I got that internship.”
“NO WAY! In Italy?”
“Yep, that’s the one. I leave a couple days after graduation.”
“Wait? You are leaving too?”
“Yes. I know. I can’t believe I am going to be there for a year, but if I want to be able to get my dream job, I have to do this.”
“I know you do. I know you have to do what you love. Cars are what you love. Working for Ferrari will definitely get you where you need to be. I am excited for you!” I squeeze him just a little bit harder.
“I am going to fly out with Chloe.”
“What?”
“Yes. I am going to finally tell her I love her and we have planned to meet up quite a bit while she is in Paris.”
“Oh. Oh, that’s really great! I am really happy for you! The both of you!” We hug each other tightly.
“I have to go get my speech, but I will talk to you later, k?”
“Okay. Love you, Chris.”
“I love you, little sister.” He says with a grin across his face.
Hearing the news of Chris leaving too makes my drive to Sebastian’s even slower. I think about all the times we have shared. The realization that my life is changing is overwhelming.
I start to feel my lip quiver as the tears roll down my face. I don’t even wipe my face I just let the tears fall.
Parking beside Sebastian’s Lamborghini, I decide I might want to check myself out in the mirror.
My eyes look bloodshot, my makeup is askew and I try to find a tissue in my bag.
I find one. I wipe my face, add a little lip gloss and pinch my cheeks.
I walk to the large mahogany front door, staring at myself through the glass. I see my silhouette.
Long blonde hair, a typical surfer’s body, and sparkling blue eyes. I have never felt beautiful. I move my skirt to be straight, standing tall with my white wedges on.
I see someone staring back at me.
Happy.
Glowing.
It’s me.
My life may be changing, but I am finding happiness inside of me.
I see Sebastian walking towards the door.
“Hi, Love.” He says as he opens the door.
“Hi, Sebastian.” I walk inside, “You really have to stop calling me that.” I turn to him.
“Why?”
“It’s just.. weird.” The corners of my mouth perk up.
“Okay, what about babe?” He shuts the door behind me.
“No. How about Selene?”
“Everyone calls you that. I want something that stands out!” He steps close to me.
“How about... Charming Selene.” I look at him.
“Your kidding, right?”
“No. That’s what I shall call you. My charming Selene.”
“Let’s just stick with Selene.” I lightly tap him on the arm. He walks in front of me to the living room. I see a bag on the table. Out of the corner of my eyes I can see Sebastian’s dogs. They are so calm. I turn around to pet them.
“WHOA!” I stand back up immediately.
“What? What’s wrong?” Sebastian ask as he goes to the dog or dogs, I can not tell what that is.
“Um, what is that? I thought you had three dogs?” “I do. To humans. To you, a goddess, you see it as what he is.”
“Okay... what is it?” I feel my hands shaking as I kneel down to pet it.
“This is a cerberus. He is a guard dog.”
“Oh okay. A guard dog with three heads and one body. That makes sense.” I shake my head no. He laughs.
“They won’t bite. They love you.”
“How can you tell?” I pet the middle one lightly on the head. He licks my hand.
“Because I love you. They are to protect me, this house, you.”
“Me? Why me?”
“Like I said because I love you, they do.”
“Okay, well, I still am not sure about all this, but he, they do seem to like me.” I say while the dog is trying to lick my face.
“That’s enough, Cerberus. Go lay down.” He points to the biggest dog bed I have ever seen. The dog wags his tail as he goes to his bed. I stand, still admiring this beast. I turn to see Sebastian holding the overnight bag in his hand.
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“You will have to wait and see.”
“I am not a fan of surprises. Just so you know.”
“You will have to get over that. I have to put this bag in my car, and we are ready.”
“Okay. I am still a little nervous about this.” I shy away from him.
“Don’t be. It’s going to be fun.” He sounds almost giddy, “Ready?”
“I guess.” I follow behind him out the front door. He opens the passenger side door for me. I turn to him as I step inside.
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“Yes I did. You deserve only the best.” He shuts the door for me. He climbs into the driver’s seat, and starts the car.
“Wow! This car purrs.”
“Yea, it does. I love this machine.” He says as he backs out of the driveway. We start driving out of town. I feel a little more anxious.
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“You will have to wait and see.” Sebastian says to me while keeping his eyes on the highway.
“Why don’t you just tell me? I really don’t want to go back to your father’s house in the woods.” He begins to laugh.
“No, Selene. We are not going there.” I realize he has just called me, Selene. Not Love, not Charming, just Selene. The smile creeps up across my face.
“What?” He looks at me for a moment.
“Nothing.” I say as I watch the cars passing by on the highway.
“You caught that, huh?” He places one hand on my knee.
“Yes.” I take his hand in mine. We drive for what seems to be hours. I see a port sign. I look over at him.
“Are we going to Catalina Island?” I almost shrill with excitement.
“Maybe?” He lifts his right eyebrow as the corners of his mouth perk upwards.
“No way!” I shriek!
“Yes, just for the day. I hope this is okay?”
“It’s perfect!” I squeal with excitement. We finally get to park the car to walk to the port. He buys the tickets for the ferry. I am admiring the beauty of the water.
“Have you ever been here?” Sebastian whisper’s in my ear.
“No. I always wanted to, though.” I let him hold me in his arms as we travel to the island. I watch the water underneath the boat rise and fall. The most beautiful clear waters I have ever seen are all around us. I can see the island in the distance. Sebastian’s feet start to tap the floor. He must be as excited as I am.
“When we dock, just follow me. I have the day planned.” He taps the bag over his shoulder.
“What’s in there?” I ask while looking at the bag.
“You will see.” He smirks. We arrive at the port. Sebastian takes my hand into his hand as we follow the crowd off the ferry. I am still just in pure awe of the island. There are so many boats at the port. Yachts, speed boats, sma
ll boats, boats with big sails, any boat you can imagine. “So many boats..” Quietly, I say to myself.
“There is quite a few, huh?” We both smile at one another. I look to my right side, and I see golf carts. Many golf carts. I see a little sign on the beach that says Welcome to Avalon.
“We are renting one of those today.” He points to the golf carts.
We make our way to the counter of the store. I walk around the little shop. You can buy post cards, key chains and little cups that read “Catalina Island.” Sebastian walks towards me dangling keys in his.
“Ready?”
“Sure.” I let Sebastian lead the way.
We walk around the golf carts for a few minutes. I see a golf cart that screams Sebastian to me. It’s bright apple red. It has two rows of seats. On the front of the golf cart is what looks like a row bar. Sebastian walks straight to it.
“Will this do?” He looks at me as he climbs into the golf cart with the biggest smile across his face. I climb into the passenger side of the cart. He hands me the bag. I lay it on my lap.
“You can look inside if you want.” He slightly grins.
“No. Not if it’s important to you that I don’t.” I say as I have my hand on the zipper of the bag.
“Go ahead.” He says as we drive off in the golf cart.
I open the bag to find a pair of swimming suits, a cover and two towels. That is all.
“This was the big secret?” I snicker as we keep driving around the island.
“Yep. That was the big secret.” He snorts.
“You are not funny.”
“A little bit.” He keeps laughing at himself.
We park outside of a huge beach home. I look at the three story white home, then to Sebastian.
“Are we just parking here to walk somewhere else?” I remember that I am wearing my white wedges today. My feet already ache just thinking of walking all day in these shoes.
“No. We are going to change clothes here.” He does that eyebrow wink again.
I suddenly feel very aware of the situation we are in. I step out of the golf cart. I take the overnight bag and toss it over my shoulder. Sebastian walks around the golf cart to my side. He takes the bag.
“I got this.” He carries the bag in one hand, then takes my right hand into his. I follow him to the steps of this enormous beach home.
The home has a beautiful balcony. Two black whicker chairs with a wine barrel as the little table in the middle.
The view is out of this world. I release his hand and slowly walk to the edge of the balcony overlooking the ocean. The water is crystal clear. The waves are crashing upon the sandy beach. It’s magnificent.
“Beautiful isn’t it?” Sebastian asks.
“Breathtaking is more like it.” I do not even look in his direction as I am submersed in this view. I hear him walk away. I stand there, admiring, watching.
“Hey, do you want to change or stand there?” He pats the bag over his shoulder.
“Okay, but where? Out here?” I barely get the word’s out for the cracking of my voice. He laughs.
“Although I would love to see that view, no. Inside.” He points to the stark white door. I feel silly just for asking that. He takes another set of keys out of his pocket. He places the key inside the door and slowly opens it.
“Who’s house is this?” I look at Sebastian as I walk inside.
“A friend’s.” He hardly acknowledges what I have said.
“Seriously. Who’s house is this? I can not be caught breaking and entering.” He drops the bag on the ground and begins to hold his side as the laughter flows from his mouth.
“Selene. Oh my gods. You crack me up!” He keeps laughing. I am still not amused.
“I am serious.” I start to walk back towards the door we just came in.
“It’s Ian’s father’s.” He is breathless from laughing so hard.
“Ian’s father? You mean Aries?” I raise both my eyebrows in surprise.
“Yes. That would be the one. His dad built this house long before the human world even knew about this little island. Of course that was centuries ago, so obviously it has had to change through the years.” He slowly points around the room.
“Why? I mean, why here?”
“He would do his strategy planning for battles here. It was a place where he and your father could work without interruption. Well, until it became such a popular place to visit.”
I stare at the room we are in. I now notice little objects around the room.
An arrow hangs on the wall above the black, leather couch.
Another arrow on the other wall.
A picture of what looks like two men. I walk to the picture on the wall. It looks like Ian and Sebastian.
“Is this you and Ian?” I ask Sebastian while staring at the picture. It looks old, they look older than they are.
“No. That’s my dad and Ian’s.” He walks over to the picture beside me.
“Your kidding?” I stare at the picture.
“No. That’s them. This was taken before we were even born. On this island, I believe. No, wait. That’s on the Mount.”
“You look just like him. I mean really. I thought it was you at first.”
“Wait till you see your dad. It will be like looking at Colin, just a little bit older.” He says as he unzips the bag.
“Really?”
“Yes. I promise, you will know who he is as soon as you see him.” His lips slightly split open to show his teeth through his smile.
“Wow. Okay.” I move away from the photo.
“We can stay here if you want, but I really thought you would want to see the island.”
“Oh, I do.” He lays the bikini on the black couch beside me. It’s red. Fire engine red. It looks more like a bra and underwear than a bathing suit.
I hold it up with my index finger and thumb.
“You call this a bathing suit?”
“I do. It’s perfect. You will look great.” He slowly looks at me as looks me up then down.
“Okay, sure. Where do I change?”
“In the room right there.” I see the door he is pointing at.
“I guess I will be right out. Oh, can I have that swim suit cover up or a towel?” He tosses it to me.
“Thanks.”
“No problem. You don’t need that you know?” I stop before opening the door. “Yes I do.”
“Why? You have a great body. Show it off. Plus, I have seen you in a bikini like a thousand times now. What’s the big deal? Your a surfer for the love of gods?”
“The difference is I wasn’t your girlfriend before.” I walk into the bedroom. I close the door behind me. Holding the red bikini in my hand I walk to the windows.
They over look the ocean. Just like out on the balcony. I stand there for a few moments getting lost in the ocean waves, then I remember what I am doing.
I place the bikini on the giant bed covered in black bedding from the top of the bed to the floor.
Enormous, black pillows line the head of the bed. Four enormous pillows to be exact.
There is one small pillow in the middle. It’s in the shape of an arrow.
I guess he takes being the God of War pretty serious.
I start to smile at myself. I change out of my clothes and lay them neatly on top of the bed. I slowly pull up the bikini bottoms. I look down at myself.
There is no way I am wearing this without the cover. Just no way!
I wrap the cover around my body. I lean down to place my shoes beside the bed. I walk out into the living room area to see Sebastian in just his swim suit. We match. His shorts are fire engine red also. Except along the side is a white stripe.
His back is to me. I can now clearly see his tattoo. I creep up slowly behind him. I get a closer look at it.
It is an anchor. An anchor wrapped with roses. It’s actually very pretty. There is something written inside of the tattoo. Fate.
Sebastian suddenly turns around.
“You finally saw it.” His head looks down at the ground.
“I think it’s beautiful.” I whisper in his ear. His head rises to meet my face.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“I did that this year. For you.”
“For me?”
“Yes. I have never once lied to you. I have been in love with you since I saw you freshman year on the soccer field.” I can feel the blood rushing to my face.
“Why? We didn’t even know each other.”
“I just felt drawn to you. I tried to get your attention all these years, but you never noticed me.” I can see hurt in his eyes as he slumps his shoulders.
“I actually did notice you.” He stands straight.
“Really?”
“Yes. I found this notebook today that Chloe and I had wrote notes in, all the way back from freshman year. I will show you.” I look around for my backpack. I didn’t bring it.
“Crap! I forgot my backpack in my Jeep.”
“It’s okay. You can just tell me what it said.” His shoulders relax.
“It said how I thought you were hot.” I blush.
“You think I am hot?”
“Yes! You already know everyone does though.” I blurt out before I even think of what I should have said.
“I have never seen your face so red as it looks in this moment.” I bashfully look away. I can feel his hand underneath my chin.
“I like you in red.” He leans down and kisses me gently.
Chapter 25 We spend the rest of the afternoon visiting numerous places around the island. We enjoyed our time at Lover’s Cove very much.
We got the chance to go parasailing there. The view from the air was unbelievable. Such natural beauty surrounded us.
One of my favorite parts was the flying fish. Watching Sebastian trying to actually catch one of those with his bare hands was hysterical.
We spent the day laughing, kissing, talking.
This day was a day I will never forget.
We get dressed in our clothes so that we can catch the last ferry ride off the island for the night. I watch the lights coming on along the road while driving the golf cart back to the shop. Hand in hand we walk onto the ferry. I watch the island disappear.
The lights look so far away. Like little stars shining.
