Chapter 3: Still Breathing In The Universe

The October weather was perfect early in the morning. Damian stood at the airport, having decided to take a break from work. He arrived too early for the flight to the Maldives and joined the group of people waiting.

Damian felt something strange about the day as the sky was full of colors, and he wondered if it was a sign of love. Everyone stared at the sky, admiring the beautiful rainbow. Damian felt it was a good sign that true love was near, and then he saw Carina.

He couldn't believe he was picturing her in slow motion. Her beauty was blinding, and at that moment, the world stopped moving. He felt not only a spark but sparks. She threw her hair back, and it fluttered in the air in slow motion. Just then, he saw her smile, the smile that could light up a thousand skies.

He walked towards the group of people, and a woman said, "I am your biggest fan. I love this part in your book which says - love is being crazy about someone, a state of sleeplessness and distraction. Love is delicate, elusive, and above all, spontaneous. Love thrives on honesty, sincerity, coupled with being mutually responsible and also, concern. It comes, at first sight, most times, but for it to grow, you must flourish it by putting your open heart and soul into it. I remember that particular line, it is poetry, maybe you should try writing poetry."

Carina smiled. They were oblivious that she was currently facing writer's block and was traveling to the Maldives to clear her head.

Damian remembered the poem he fell in love with months ago, the poem that captured his heart. Damian is easily moved by poetry, he loves creativity, he loves intelligence, and the woman he was staring at speechless portrayed both creativity and intelligence.

Carina said, "Thank you guys for..." As she continued talking, Damian's eyes fixed on her, the way she spoke eloquently, like a television star, full of maturity and poise, he thought.

Suddenly his phone began to ring, he left the group to answer the call, and when he turned back, everyone had gone their separate ways, including Carina.

Throughout the flight and that day, they didn't meet. Damian did not see Carina again until they bumped into each other two days later.

"You!" Carina exclaimed. "I met you the other day at the airport."

"I'm glad you remembered. I'm Damian, by the way. And you're..."

Carina burst out laughing. "Seriously, you don't know my name."

"I'm serious, I don't," Damian said.

"I am the most popular author right now. Search for Carina Sanders on Google, and you will get to see my book too," she said and suddenly walked into the store.

As she walked in, she heard the sound of music, something beautiful and romantic. The sound reminded her of the music box she had as a kid that she loved so much. Damian walked in as the sound swept him off his feet. He began following the sound, its sweet melody reminded him of when he used to play with a music box.

They bumped into each other once again. Carina wanted to say something, but she was interrupted by the shopkeeper. "I guess you guys are looking for this," he said, bringing out the music box.

"I want it," Damian and Carina both said together.

"Oh... we only have one of these, and it's been here for months. It was made by an old couple who died some months ago. It will be hard to find this anywhere. You both like it, but one person must sacrifice for the other. The man should sacrifice," he said.

"He's right, Damian. A man sacrifices, and besides, this reminds me of my childhood," Carina said.

"It reminds me of mine too," Damian said, taking the box and holding it while glancing at her. "It brings back sweet memories."

Carina felt a connection between them. She touched the box and said, "It's beautiful."

"Yes," Damian murmured. "Beautiful."

He opened the music box, and their gazes met and held. The store grew suddenly too warm, too still. The smell of the music box surrounded them, almost overpowering in its sweetness.

"I feel like I've seen you somewhere," Carina said.

The shopkeeper smiled. "It's obvious. You guys are meant to be."

"He's right, Carina. We are meant to be," Damian said.

"If it's true, then we will meet again," Carina said.

"I'll leave it to fate, perhaps to write our love story." He handed her the music box and left the store.

***

The next day, they met at a bookshop. Damian didn't see her at first. He was going through a series of books, looking for his taste when Carina sighted him. She approached him, saying, "You were right after all."

Damian turned and smiled. "We meet yet again."

"Yeah!" Carina said, a smile plastering on her face. "So what's your taste?"

"Romance," Damian answered.

As he said that, Carina realized they had things in common. Just the other day, the music box reminded them of their childhood days, and now they love the same genre of book.

"That's my favorite too," she chuckled. "Your favorite author apart from romance? Like politics or poets."

"Foster and Woolf," Damian said.

"I also love the Bloomsbury group," Carina said with excitement, chuckling. "So you must also be an admirer of Maynard Keynes."

"Absolutely. I admire his economics."

They both laughed, wondering what they would find in common next. They went on talking from there, grabbed lunch, and spent time in his hotel room.

Carina smiled, holding a disc, and said, "The Beatles."

"I guess they're your favorite like they're mine. Do you want to hear?" Damian asked.

"Of course," Carina said, still smiling.

Carina watched as he twirled the disc on his index finger and blew imaginary dust from both sides before placing it gently on the record player. Little things like this, the way he touched things and the way he moved, had the strangest, most thrilling effect on her, coupled with other things she admired about him.

Laughing and enjoying each other's company, Damian said softly, reaching out his hands as their favorite song by The Beatles began to play.

"My favorite," they both said together, yet again.

Carina reached for him, and he pulled her up. Her heart was thumping, and her feet shuffled clumsily as he wrapped one arm around her waist. They sang along with the flow of the music. Carina went on to rest her head against his chest with closed eyes, her body swaying a little to the music.

He kissed the top of her head, and after a while, he let go of her waist. Damian said, "I closed my eyes, and I can't stop smiling. I imagined walking with you forever, hand in hand, strolling through beautiful places, laughing and talking."

"Why don't we make it happen now?" Carina said.

All this while they spent together, they didn't bother to ask anything about themselves.

They went hunting - moving in the way of hunters, soft and alert, their eyes on their target, silence chaining their movements. Damian sighted a deer take off at a dead run. He immediately pulled the trigger and missed; the animal was too fast. He pulled the trigger once more, the recoil jerked him backward, but still, he killed it.

Later on, they decided to swim at the hotel. Carina changed into her swimsuit, and Damian appeared only in his underwear. Carina sighted him in his underwear, her resolve of a moment before evaporated in the breath of the October cool air. Her pulse scrambled at his gloriously male body unclothed, save for the underwear. Carina kept telling herself to keep her eyes on his face, but couldn't help but lower them.

He appeared subtly muscled and strong, with the body of a man who had been active all of his life. His skin tan and firm. His broad shoulders and chest tapered down to narrow hips and a flat, hard stomach.

Damian entered the pool, Carina still stood, watching him streaking beneath the surface of the water to emerge halfway across the pool, watching his shoulders rising like a great whale and his arms windmilling in a butterfly stroke.

Damian's face popped out of the water as he said, "Are you going to stand there all day watching me, or are you going to come to join me and swim?"

She smiled and joined him in the pool.

"I loved the way you talked about love in your book," Damian said, his body so close to her.

"I guess everybody loved that line," Carina said.

"But you didn't mention that the state of love is temporary. You went further to write the symptoms of the love state, excluding agitation, fever, loss of appetite, and alternations of euphoria," Damian said.

"I don't know about your love state, but what I am certain of is sleeplessness and distraction that I wrote in my book. Yours is unromantic. If I added that, it would ruin my book."

He laughed. "Forget that I said that."

Carina said, "My swimsuit is too revealing, but you weren't lusting after my body or making any advances like touching my body."

"I am not the kind of man who personifies sex. I don't like to see a stark naked woman, nor am I necessarily keen to see a woman in panties and a bra. I do not lose my head when a woman's skirt blows up in a high wind, revealing all she's got. I do not enjoy the sight of gorgeous breasts spilling from the top of a woman's dress or forcing their way through a tight sweater. I do not revel in the sight of a woman's swaying bottom."

She smiled, feeling her love for him grow.

"There's a place I want to show you," Damian said.

"Where?" Carina asked.

After they dressed, Damian took her to the woods. "Look at this tree," he said, pointing.

Carina had never seen a tree as tall as this one. She couldn't believe she was staring at a hundred-foot-tall tree. Carina held Damian's hand and said, "It's amazing."

"It's called the kissing tree," Damian said, and Carina swallowed at the sound of the kiss. "We will carve our names on this tree, and then we will have our first kiss. Our first kiss should be nothing short of magic, don't you think so?"

Carina's cheeks were full of color as they both carved their names into the tree. She could see the thousands of lovers' names already etched into the bark. Carina's face was close to Damian's, and she thought of kissing him, not caring to look at his face, expecting to see an expression of aesthetic delight. Her heart beat faster and faster as thoughts of their first kiss raced through her mind.

Before she could withdraw her mind from far-off places, Damian's arms were around her. He imagined her lips touching his, her eyes closing, and all the other sounds of the world going silent. Carina took a deep breath as Damian bent her head back across his arm and kissed her, softly at first, and then with a swift gradation of intensity that made her cling to him as the only thing in a dizzy, swaying world. When they shared their first kiss, their souls opened, and they tasted feelings and saw every color of the rainbow in a sensual way. They felt like they were levitating off the ground and floating in the air. Their feelings were indescribable, and no figure of speech could do them justice. It was like an aphrodisiac mixed with a Pandora's box effect, and fireworks were glowing inside them.