candy bars and discovered that they were better, more delicious than any candy bars we’d ever eaten before. “Yum!” we chimed together and started laughing again. Michael held up one finger and put it to my lips to silence me so that I could actually hear his words.
“I think we’re in for an interesting day; everything has changed.”
“Yep,” I agreed. I looked at my watch and saw that it was 1:30. We would be in Hilo for another 4 and half hours. I was concerned that Michael would miss his opportunity to visit the island.
“Michael, you said that you’d never been to the island of Hawaii, not that I would ever think of telling you what to do but who knows when you will be in this part of the world again. Do you really want to pass up this chance?”
His vulnerability showing he said, “I have reservations about leaving the ship.” He stopped and wrestled with the idea of telling me more.
“Somewhere in the back of my mind I’m thinking the ship may have something to do with the connect and I don’t want to mess with it even though just about every move we’ve made today has messed with our connection and proven favorable.”
“Without considering the connection, would you want to see the island?”
I’d been there a couple of times and seen all that I wanted to see so there was no draw left for me but I wasn’t thinking of me.
We slipped into a comfortable silence again and even though I was waiting for an answer, I used the time to ponder Michael’s idea of the ship having something to do with the connect. He would have to give me more information because no matter how I looked at it I couldn’t see the correlation.
“I’m kind of drained trying to understand what is happening between us and don’t want to face any new challenges right now. I am where I want to be. Maybe we can venture out in Nawiliwili tomorrow.” He had a ‘what do you think’ look on his face.
“I’m with you obviously.”
I was thrilled when he used the word ‘we’ in reference to getting off the ship on Kauai. That gave me something to think about and maybe talk about later.
The room service staff arrived with our lunch. Michael went to the door to let them in and I cleared the table to receive lunch. Both of us thrilled at the freedom but were equally happy about the strong connection that remained between us.
Lunch was an animated affair; we sat opposite each other which enabled us to have eye contact much easier than sitting with our shoulders together where we had to crane our necks to see the face of the other. It was so much easier.
We lingered over our meal enjoying the easiness of it all. We ate everything and then cleared the table, putting the entire mess of dishes on the tray and in the hall. Something I recognized while we were dispensing with that chore was that we both accepted the chore as our own. That joint effort created a sense of purpose with no feel of work.
“How about a bowl?” I suggested.
“I could handle that; are there any more Snickers?” his sweet tooth showing.
Searching in my bag I couldn’t find one, so I dumped the entire content on the table. Michael spied the lone Snickers before I did and grabbed it. I laughed. I said, “You might want to save that for after the bowl.” Since that was the last Snickers, I had a mission if we got off the ship in Kauai to replace it.
The pipe was ready for us from the night before. I handed it to Michael, “Green.” I wanted the best for him. He said, “After you.” He wanted the same for me. I put a light to the pipe and inhaled deeply then handed it over to Michael and he did the same. We managed the routine in comfortable silence until we met dust.
I needed to use the bathroom and got up to go when I heard Michael behind me, “Is that my shirt?” an odd edge to his voice.
“Oh wow, yeah, I forgot to ask if I could borrow it until I got a clean one from my own cabin. I’m so sorry.” My slip in etiquette felt like a mini betrayal.
“Is it ok, I’ll go right now and get a clean shirt and I’ll get this one laundered, really I’m so sorry? It’s just that I didn’t have a clean shirt to wear after my shower and I didn’t want you to see me in just my bra. Of course, now I wouldn’t mind one bit.”
So, in front of him I pulled the shirt over my head tossed it to him, smiled, and made my way to the bathroom.
In the reflection of the window I saw Michael bring the shirt to his face and inhale deeply. He didn’t follow but I felt his eyes on me and the pleasure of his continual pull on my senses.
After taking care of my business I scrutinized my face in the mirror. “What’s with the grin?” I asked myself. I looked closely into my eyes but I was seeing his eyes smiling back at me. If I could keep those eyes for my own, he would always be with me. I directed my focus to my hair. It was shining and soft, a bit messed up but still a nice compliment to my newly tanned face. I brushed my teeth, washed my hands, and applied lotion then headed back to the balcony.
Michael had his eyes closed listening to classical music when I returned so I decided to go next door and get a clean shirt. Before I got through the skinny door I heard Michael ask, “Didn’t you want me to come with you?”
“Absolutely, I didn’t want to disturb your meditation.”
The slider was open the way Denice had left it that morning giving us easy access. We were struck with how neat, almost untouched, the room looked. Michael investigated what was going on in the frig and I moved to the wardrobe. I’d been allotted the two bottom drawers. Not remembering what I’d brought meant I’d have to search to find something suitable.
“I see pink in there; you should wear pink today.” He reached around me and pulled the pink object out of the drawer. It was a little pink shell that I wore to bed sometimes because the fabric was luxuriously soft on my skin. I’d never worn it in public. He held it open for me to put on and I slipped my arms and head through the opening. He pulled it down to finish the job. There was that naughty little boy look in his eyes again. He was too cute for my own good.
My smile showed him I understood that look but I moved around him and out of the wardrobe because I could. It was lovely to be in control of my own movement. My sister said she would be taking a nap before her dinner with Manny, it was nearly 4, and I’d rather be on the balcony when she returned. Even though it wasn’t necessary, Michael took my hand. Before we got to the slider he stopped me and asked if I needed to get anything else.
“Like what?”
“You should collect what you need for tonight and for tomorrow morning and maybe even what you’d need to get off the ship and go into Nawiliwili.” He said it like ‘oh, duh.’
Confused yet again, wondering why now that we could suffer a disconnect because we were still connected, didn’t he use the freedom to be free of me – that’s odd but accurate – so, hello and welcome to our own private twilight zone.
He watched the confusion on my face awhile before he had an inkling of why. Wow, I thought I was slow but I wondered if my slowness was as endearing to everyone else as his was to me. I liked the idea that he just assumed that I would sleep over again and shower and get ready for the shore excursion with him – that we would be together even though we were not bound by anything visible.
“Helen,”
