Tropical Lost Love

Melanie sat at her desk in her dorm room. She had just returned from her trip to Hawaii, where she spent a week of beach, sunshine, and an unsuspecting encounter. She wanted to return to the islands, but to save up for the journey would take months. As she brushed her brown wavy hair back behind her ear, she stared at a small puka shell that sat on her desk. A tear glistened in the corner of one of her brown eyes as she reminisced the meaning behind the shell.

Five Days Earlier

Melanie and Daphne, her best friend of two years since entering college, were sunbathing at Makaha Beach. They had the week’s vacation planned out an agreed to visit Makaha in hopes of avoiding crowded beaches. With only a few days remaining to their vacation, they rented a car and drove up to Waianae, the west side of Oahu. Luckily, the beach occupants were scarce and they had their choice of anywhere on the fine white sand.

Two hours of soaking under the sun and random college gossip, Daphne’s coffee crave nudged her. She smiled and looked over to Melanie. “Didn’t we pass a Starbucks on our way to the beach?”

“Yeah, we did, but we already have seltzers,” Melanie reminded, attempting to divert the direction the conversation was heading.

“True, but…” Daphne paused to build anticipation. “You know what I could go for?

The friends stared at each other. “Caramel Macchiato!” They both announced simultaneously. Daphne laughed, while Melanie threw her hand over her face. The Inevitable Daphne Starbucks run.

Daphne made a pity face with sad puppy eyes to swoon over Melanie. “Pwease?” adding a baby voice, “help support this jonesing caffeine addict satisfy her craving.”

The radiance of the sad eyes and folded hands was too much. Melanie bursted with laughter. “Alright, girl, I got you. Just make sure you put the order in on the app. I’ll pick it up while you stay and watch out stuff.”

Melanie brushed the sand off and hopped in the car. Starbucks was only a few miles away. Once she arrived, Melanie’s stomach wanted to see what would be in the Ready to Eat fridge which houses bistro bentos, sandwiches, and juices. She spotted a Grilled Cheese sandwich and remembered how appeasing the grease bomb is She jumped in behind the lunch line.

Suddenly, a voice boomed from behind her, “Kamalei!” She turned around to a slim Polynesian woman with long curly hair and enchanting brown eyes.

“Oh, sorry,” the woman blushed. “I thought you was my sister.” The woman smiled and stared briefly at Melanie before turning to exit the store. Melanie shook her head, but smiled. Secretly, she wished she was the sister. The beauty of the mysterious woman lingered on her mind long after she retrieved the orders and headed back to Makaha Beach.

Minutes later, she was back on the beach, satiated by the grilled cheese and refreshed by her own beverage. Daphne was still sitting near their belongings, but she had a visitor with her. He looked Hawaiian. Curious, Melanie quickly strode over to deliver food and meet the dark skinned male.

“Mel, this is Makana,” Daphne introduced.

It was a very typical move by Daphne. She had a innate ability of meeting new men every time they traveled. It was almost like a gift. She was a beacon of light to any available men in the area. Makaha beach was no exception, in spite of their efforts to be away from others.

“How’zit,” Makana smiled with gleaming white pearls from his mouth, throwing the famous shaka sign.

Daphne, beaming ear to ear, whispered, “he’s a lifeguard, but on vacation.”

Melanie instantly began feeling Third Wheel Syndrome. Makana and Daphne were very focused on each other, swimming, talking, laughing, they rarely paid any attention to Melanie. Melanie acquiesced the two love birds and used the alone time to her advantage by deluging deep in the novel she brought.

When dinner time approached, Daphne returned to Melanie, “Makana wants to take us to dinner. He has a friend for you to meet too, if you’re interested,” she invited, flightily.

Over the course of the two year friendship, Melanie never shared with Daphne her authentic self for fear it would end their relationship. Daphne’s bubbly personality was more important to have in Melanie’s life than to lose it. The simple truth was: Melanie was romantically interested in women. Their friendship emerged from an initial crush she had on Daphne. She overcame her feelings, but at the expense of withholding the truth. This secret that Melanie retained often coerced her into blind dates with men, for the sake of Daphne. This time around, she was prepared to decline.

“Daphne, you are amazing,” Melanie complimented. “You have a gift for this, you know.”

“I know!”

“ Sorry, but I’m not in the mood for dating tonight. I think I just want to go to the hotel. You can go if you still want to.” Melanie suggested politely. “Just make sure you text me throughout the date so I know you’re not with some crazy guy. I’ll come get you if it’s an emergency.”

“I know you will,” Daphne smiled. “I’ll be in touch, promise. You want me to help with the stuff?”

“Duh!”

Together with the help of Makana, they packed up their beach belongings and hugged before Melanie drove off, leaving Daphne with her Hawaiian host. Starbucks came back into view minutes later and Melanie flashed back to the mistaken identity. The woman who was looking for her sister replayed through her mind. Absent-mindedly, she glanced around the area, knowing the odds of seeing the Polynesian was well under a thousandth of a percent. As she passed Starbucks, she popped her AirPods on and drove back to the hotel to wait for Daphne.

Daphne returned back to the hotel four hours later and the two discussed their plans for the next day. Daphne wanted to return to Makaha Beach.

“Weren’t we supposed to go to the North Shore?” Melanie emphasized eagerly.

“Yeah, but Makana got called in tomorrow. It’s an emergency and now he’ll be at the beach all day.” Daphne whined.

“You sound like a lovestruck teenager,” Melanie teased. “He won’t be able to hang out with you, you know.”

“I know, but maybe we can be there by the afternoon. He finishes at five, so if we’re there then I can go out with him again. He’s planning to take me to Roy’s Steakhouse, which is supposed to be a really posh restaurant.”

Melanie shook her head disappointedly. What was initially planned to be a girls’ getaway had transformed into Daphne’s Island Dating Venture. Melanie’s prognostications for the remainder of the trip would be her with an overwhelming amount of alone time.

“Fine, we’ll go back to Makaha tomorrow.” Melanie reluctantly agree. But, you’re on your own after that. Since we’re here I want to check out some of the other tourist attractions like Sea Life Park, or even that waterpark we passed by on the highway.”

“Deal,” Daphne danced to the thought of seeing Makana again.

After enduring a two hour drive, an irritable Melanie watched Daphne gleefully dart from the car to the lifeguard stand. Makana had started closing up the tower. Once finished, he and Daphne rushed off for an evening of heart to heart communication. Melanie glanced down at her phone. With nearly two hours of sunlight left, she decided to remain at the beach to watch the sunset.

The beach had more people ranging from tourists to local children who frolic in the gentle push of the waves. Melanie began to feel the serenity of the ocean and the warmth of the gentle touch from the autumn breeze caressing her as it flew past her and out to the sea. She closed her eyes and began to daydream of falling in love. Not lust, as Daphne was accustomed to, but love. Touching heart to heart with another female and developing a meaningful relationship. She was abruptly brought out of her dreams when a voice caught her attention.

“Kamalei!” An impossible voice she recognized because it was the same voice with the same name from the day before. She glanced around for the source, recalling the odds of hearing the voice or seeing the face of its source.

It was her, the Polynesian woman she saw at Starbucks. Melanie’s stomach flipped. She felt her heart beating overtime. She wanted to respond to the call, even though she was not Kamalei. She glanced towards the horizon to think about what she should do. She knew there was at least an hour of sunlight before the sun would hide below the horizon and she would be forced to return to Tourist Town, Waikiki. Venus danced in the sky above, near the sun she was staring at. It seemed to whisper words of wisdom, encouraging her to acknowledge the call. When Melanie looked back down the beach, the Polynesian woman was standing near her.

“Kama—” the voice repeated. She met eyes with Melanie. “You?”

Melanie instantly turned burning red. To her astonishment, Kamalei’s sister also turned red. “…Hello.”

“Hi.”

“I take it you’re looking for your sister again?” Melanie spat, hoping to easy the mood between them.

“Yeah.”

Melanie quickly remembered they had not introduced themselves. “Sorry, I’m Melanie. I mean, Mel. I mean, Mel for… well, you get the idea.” Her palms were perspiring profusely.

“I’m Mahina. You live around here?” She asked, softly.

“No, actually, I’m visiting from Minnesota. I’m here with my friend. She sort of took off and left me here.”

“Oh, Minnesota. Where’s that? I know it’s the mainland, but where?”

Melanie was taken aback. She never met anyone who was unaware of the location of Minnesota. “It’s in the Midwest. North, near Canada.”

“Wait, near that one big lake, yeah? You get snow up there, yeah?” Mahina sat down next to Melanie.

“Yeah, during the winter time. We used to get it in November, but now it’s usually late December.”

“I never seen snow. I stay here ever since I was born. One day, I like for travel off island.” Mahina shared. The smile and eyes which had visited Melanie the night before were no longer a dream. They were real and existed.

“Well, maybe you can come visit me in Minnesota. I think you would love it, especially in the summer time. Unless you want to see snow.” Melanie offered.

“That would be nice,” she paused. The sky had begun to darken. “Look, I gotta find my sister. Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Sure.” Melanie responded automatically.

“Try come earlier. My sister will be in school. We can hang out longer.”

“Ok, what time?”

“Try come around nine. She starts at eight and I can be here around nine. ‘Kay?”

“Sure.” Melanie agreed enthusiastically. Mahina stood up and sprinted down the beach. She was running towards another young woman who must have been Kamalei. They were both about the same height. Mahina was definitely more athletic than her sister, but they were equally beautiful from Melanie’s vantage point.

As Melanie entered the car and drove off back to the hotel, her cheeks were beginning to hurt from the happiness painted on her face. She knew it would be difficult to sleep; she tried the best she could. As she finally drifted, visions of Mahina continued to dance in her dreams.

Melanie returned to the beach again, as promised to meet up with Mahina. She knew she would be early and had difficulty falling asleep. Her heart was racing giddily with excitement she had not felt since she was in high school. She knew what it was, but refused to proclaim the simple source.

Mahina arrived shortly after nine, breathing hard. It was obvious she had run to the beach.

Melanie offered a seat and a drink. “What school does your sister go to?”

“Waianae High,” Mahina responded, sipping away at the bottled water. Melanie recalled passing a high school further down the road on her way to the beach.

“Is that the high school just down the road?”

“Yeah,” Mahina confirmed. “I ran here from there.”

“You ran? That’s like, what about a mile or two?” Melanie was flabbergasted by the feat. Melanie had an athletic physique, but hated running.

“Ho, brah, I used to run like that all the time during high school.” Mahina giggled.

The two continued talking, sharing their high school stories and adventures. They discovered they were only two years apart, Melanie at twenty-five; Mahina at twenty-three. In between conversations, they would jump in the ocean for a quick swim and to cool off. Each dip in the ocean, their bodies swam closer and closer to each other. Every now and then, Mahina would accidentally touch Melanie, sending goosebumps and tingles all over her body. When on the shore, their anecdotes about the past brought them closer emotionally, than Melanie had anticipated.

The ideas for small surface level talk eventually ended and Melanie wanted a topic with more personal depth. “So, what’s your major?” She dropped.

Mahina’s toothy smile faded slightly, but returned just a quick. “Well, I’m not going to college, yet.”

Regret welled in Melanie. She wanted to avoid creating a bad impression. “Oh. Sorry, I just thought, I mean, that’s ok. Not everyone has to go to college,” Melanie back-pedaled.

Mahina flashed her teeth in confidence. “I want to, it’s just I can’t right now. My family really needs me. Life has been difficult before I had graduated from High School and we had to move around constantly.”

“Oh, again, I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok, you didn’t know.”

“Ok, change of subject. What do you do for fun on this side of the island?” Hoping to restore the romantic mood that was building.

This sparked a new line of discussion. Mahina spoke about the hikes, other beaches; big wave surfing in the winter; and other random events like the firecrackers during New Years.

“I have an idea!” Mahina’s eyes lit up. “How about I take you to an old Hawaiian temple tomorrow? My sister doesn’t have school so I have a little more freedom.”

“Ok, that sounds fun! What time should I come?”

“Same time as today, nine?”Mahina suggested. Melanie agreed and Mahina threw her arms around Melanie. Holding Mahina felt like a piece of a missing puzzle that matched perfectly. Almost automatically, she kissed Mahina cheek. Mahina pulled back slightly before pressing her soft lips upon Melanie’s. They exchanged saliva for a couple of minutes before separating.

“I really don’t want to go,” Mahina whispered, “but I need to go help my family. I promise to be here tomorrow at nine.”

“Wait, do you have a phone, in case I’m late?” Melanie asked.

Mahina shook her head sorrowfully, “sorry, but I can’t afford to get one right now. I’m still looking for a job.”

Melanie’s feelings of regret resurfaced. “Ok, I’ll make sure I leave early to arrive here before nine.” Melanie was confident she would make it, the traffic driving to Waianae early in the morning showed no signs of difficulty.

They kissed one final time. Mahina waved and darted off back down the beach as she did the night before.

Saturday morning, Melanie was back at Makaha and Mahina had arrived before her. Her feelings jumped out at her again, screaming what she did not want to acknowledge. Mahina hugged her immediately when she exited the car.

“Hello, beautiful,” Mahina whispered, gently kissing her on the lips and sending joyful shivers throughout Melanie’s body. “Ready?”

“Definitely!” Melanie replied.

“Perfect, we’re going to check it out. In Hawaii, we call it a Hei’au. It has been preserved for centuries and it’s a direct link to our past. I hope you like it.” Mahina shared with pride.

She directed Melanie to a small secluded parking lot near the Hei’au. They exited the car and began hiking through a scarce forest, which followed a dried up stream. After a twenty minute hike and brief history lesson of how housing developments stripped the land of its water resources that supported the early Hawaiian culture and lifestyle, they arrived at a preserved Hei’au ground. A couple of huts were stood near a twenty foot high temple. The temple was constructed out of wood and its skeleton form was all the remained. There were some hibiscus leis carefully placed near the Hei’au out of respect for Hawaiian ancestors. The huts were empty and provided a very clear visual of the height of the early Hawaiians. It appeared the doorway had a five and a half foot opening. The inside was spacious and Mahina explained the different roles of Hawaiian families and tribes. The hut was large enough for a family to reside in.

Luckily they were the only ones present and decided to use the opportunity to learn more about each other. Melanie had brought a small lunch for appreciation to share with Mahina.

“I’m really sorry for asking about college yesterday. I guess I assumed you went because I’m almost done with my BA.” She still felt awful for assuming Mahina’s academic status, but more perplexed by why, especially after the presentation she had provided her during the hike.

“It’s ok. I wanted to go, but my mom and dad got into one major fight. My mom had to leave the house and since then life has just been crazy.” Mahina shared. “I felt bad for my mom, so I offered to help her with my siblings.”

“How many do you have?”

“Five. I’m the oldest and with that comes the kuleana.”

“Koo lay ana?”

Mahina chuckled, “Kuleana! Responsibility.” They both laughed.

They continued eating lunch and by the time they had finished and shared a few affectionate moments. Melanie felt honored by the exclusive tour of Hawaiian culture. True Hawaiian culture, not the glamorous entertaining version. Mahina’s knowledge of her culture stirred deeper amorous emotions within Melanie. As they were walking back to the car, she reached out for Mahina’s hand and held it as Mahina continued with her explanations of the forest around them and the island she resided on. When Mahina had finally reached the end of her impromptu lesson near the car, Melanie kissed her again with gratitude. They decided to return to Makaha for more beach time and another love inducing sunset.

They sat down on the sand under the sun tent to await the falling of the sun.

“What should we do tomorrow?” Melanie said, holding Mahina tightly from the back. The sun gradually sank closer to the horizon.

“I can’t tomorrow,” Mahina dropped her head; Melanie intuitively sensed melancholy in the atmosphere. Mahina casted her eyes on the ocean in front of her. “Does it seem odd that we feel this way so quickly?”

It was not the answer she had expected, especially with both knowing their time together was limited. Mahina had a point. The relationship had accelerated faster than they imagined it would.

“I never really felt this way since high school. And not with one wahine. I usually go for men, so this seems so wierd, but in a good way.” Mahina continued.

Melanie empathized instantly. “I know what you mean, but,” she paused, knowing the next few lines were imperative to portray exactly how she felt. “I feel almost as if we were meant to be together. I have felt more like myself with you than I have ever felt before.”

“Yeah, but we no can stay together forever, you know. How we going to keep this going? You leave in two days.” Mahina was trying to rationalize the feelings they were both entangled in.

“Well, there’s email and cell phones. We can always facetime.”

“I no more phone. I need to find one better paying job in order for buy one phone.”

It was the first time they discussed personal issues. Up until now they were both driven by unexplainable feelings. They knew it was beyond lust. The realization of Mahina’s lack of technology would make their relationship near impossible. Melanie thought deeply. She needed to fight for the relationship to build beyond her Hawaiian trip.

“What about writing letters? Snail mail. We can swap addresses and mail letters until you find a job to afford a phone,” Melanie offered.

Mahina forced her lips to stretch to her cheeks, but it was obvious she was withholding information she wanted to share.

“I don’t know,” she hesitated, then suddenly turned around and kissed Melanie again. The sun had finally met with the ocean. The sky became a blend of salmon and peach, matching the internal thoughts of each woman. Seconds transformed into minutes and darkness gradually covered the beach and its occupants. Mahina pulled away from Melanie.

“I no can explain why I no can write to you, Mel. I t’ink we better not see each other tomorrow. I don’t know what this is between us, but I don’t t’ink we get one shot at making it last. It would not be fair to you.” The proclamation impaled Melanie’s heart.

“I know we can make it work, if we try. Before email, there was letter writing,” Melanie suggested delicately, sensing hope of the relationship fading with the remaining sunlight in the sky.

“I no can,” Mahina repeated.

Though she was unable to see her face clearly, Melanie was aware Mahina was crying. The darkness hid her face. Mahina grabbed Melanie’s hand and forced it into a fist enclosing a small round object. Mahina gave her a parting kiss before running off into the darkness. Melanie had no choice but to watch as the woman she had fallen for vanished. She wanted to follow her, but her love and respect for Mahina kept her on the beach.

Melanie sat on the beach crying profusely after the departure. Her hand was still wrapped around the object which Mahina gifted. She slowly walked over to the car. Once inside, she opened her hand and found a small white with brown spots puka shell. She placed it down on the passenger seat and began to drive back to the hotel, pondering what she would do on her final day in Hawaii.

As she drove down the highway leading out of Waianae, she spotted Mahina walking alone toward a boat harbor. From the outside, she could clearly recognize the green vegetation was surrounding a hidden homeless camp. Random supplies such as random crates, wood, and other essentials for survival made it evident people were residing, but it was difficult to determine the living situation.

Melanie turned into the parking lot of the harbor, parked, and watched as Mahina was greeted by a small group of children. Mahina quickly threw her hands over her face, as if wiping it before she disappeared into dense vegetation of trees and bushes near the road.

“She’s homeless?” Melanie muttered silently to herself. It made sense why she was unable to write, correction: receive, letter. Melanie, respecting Mahina’s privacy, decided to return to the hotel. Sadden by discovering the woman she fell in love would be lost forever.

Melanie spent her last heartbroken day alone at the hotel. Daphne returned with stories about her adventure with Makana, but Melanie kept her love affair a secret. They packed up for their departure to Minnesota; Melanie kept the puka shell on her throughout the flight. She pulled it out often and each time it reminded her of Mahina’s smile, hair, and presence. She would treasure the shell forever, remembering the woman who had accepted her on a small island in the middle of the Pacific, an improbable love which never received the opportunity to grow, but would always be cherished deep within their hearts.