Forever After

Margarita walked out the gentle surf, got to her favorite palm and stretched on the soft sand in the fluttering shade. As usual, she did not have a towel, but Margarita knew the warm breeze will dry her skin quickly. And the hair… well, her hair was long now, so it’d take a while to dry.

The beach was not crowded, and the group of well-tanned college students in bright swimming suites playing volleyball a couple hundred feet away did not seem to pay her any attention. Which was good. By now Margarita was used to not being noticed much, but she still felt uncomfortable being topless.

The sea was so clear it was hard to tell where the beach ended and the water began. Out in the distance, beyond the reef, a school of dolphins were playing in the waves. A mile away a mossy emerald of the next island was surrounded by white boats – the beach bar there was famous. Paradise. Her paradise. Now and forever.

Powdery sand ate the sound of the footsteps, and Margarita was startled when a male said quietly: “Well, hello there, Em. I believe this is yours.” Instinctively she hugged herself to cover up, but then her eyes grew huge: “Em? You?”

The man sat heavily on the sand next to her, dropping bikini top in her lap. He looked older than she remembered, pale and tired, with a long shaggy beard. Probably just off the plane, Margarita thought, and then her breath caught: “You can see me? Emmanuel, you…”

The man nodded. “Yes, me. We picked a bad day to argue, and you picked a bad moment to run into the surf. They don’t put those red flags out just for decoration.” He shook his head. “I never was much of a swimmer, but I almost managed to reach you. Grabbed at you but only got the strings” - he pointed at the bikini top. – “Your hair was shorter then. The top came undone somehow – the waves were huge. You probably don’t remember - you were flailing your arms and coughing and fighting me and the waves…”

“And then?” – Margarita realized she was silently crying. – “What happened then?”

Emmanuel shrugged. “I got caught up in some current. So I drowned miles from here, in the middle of the sea. With only the waves and the wind for company. Ha. Took me forever to get back to the island – you know how it is, hard to get away from the body if there’s any body left to speak of. Those little crab things down there… they were hungry, but they took their time. You should probably put that thing on,” – he nodded at the top. – “I love your boobs, but it feels strange, with all the people around…”

Margarita wiped her face, smiled and tried to tie the strings behind her back. Amazing how quickly one forgot how to do the simplest things. And her hair kept getting in the way. “And now what?” – she asked, mostly to say something.

“Oh, I don’t know…” – Emmanuel gently tugged at a caught strand of her hair and let it hang free. – “I am now officially single. You, probably, are too, unless you think that husband of yours is still waiting around. So we don’t need to hide anymore, go on the, ahem, business trips… We wanted our chance at paradise, and here we are. If you ask me.”

“All right.” – Margarita stood up and smiled down at him. – “But if you flirt with one mermaid, I’ll make sure you are in hell. Forever after.”