“R…” I called his name softly without realizing it.
Reiner’s attention returned to me immediately when he heard me say his name. Now that his attention was one me, I realized that I didn’t have anything to say to him. I wanted to ask him if something was bothering him, but I knew that he would probably tell me that it was nothing for me to worry about.
“Umm…thank you for bringing me here, getting me the books…and everything…” I thanked him once again.
“All that’s left now is for us to sunbathe together and chat…” Reiner replied as he lay down on the towel.
I didn’t quite understand what he meant by that, but I decided to lay down next to him. The sun caressed our skin, and we were indeed sunbathing while we enjoyed the comfort of each other’s company. As for the chatting part, we’ve done quite a lot of that already since the date started. Reiner reached for my hand and held it firmly in his as we lay there side by side. I waited for him to explain his words from earlier, but it didn’t seem like Reiner thought that there was any need to.
“What do you mean? You know…what you said earlier…” I asked as I turned to look at his face.
Reiner’s eyes were closed, and he seemed very relaxed. I knew that he heard me because we were too close for him to miss hearing my words even with the wind blowing.
“You don’t remember?” he asked, and his blue eyes opened and stared right back at me.
What don’t I remember?
Reiner smiled when he saw the clueless look that I had on my face. Honestly, I had no idea what he was referring to. I just stared back at him with a blank look in my eyes as I waited for him to explain everything to me. Reiner smiled gently before he gave my hand a squeeze.
“I want to go to the beach. We can play in the water and sunbathe together while we read books and chat…” Reiner said as if recounting words that he had heard before.
Were those words mine? Did I say that?
“I said that?” I asked as my mind raced back along memory lane to figure out when I said those words.
“You did. Still don’t remember?” he replied as he grinned at me.
I knew that he wanted me to remember on my own. Then it hit me. Just when I said those words to him.
“I remember now. It slipped my mind but honestly, I never expected that you would remember let alone do all of this…” I replied softly as the reality of what Reiner had tried to do began to sink in.
We were driving out on a date that I had semi-forced upon him after I’ve been grounded to the mansion for around a month after leaving the hospital. Reiner was very strict back then about my recovery from the fire. Arguably, he was still very strict even now. Those words that he just recited were what I told him during our drive. It was what I wanted to do with him on our next date together. Back then, he teased me for thinking about our next date when the first one hasn’t even really started yet.
He remembered…even more than I did…
I looked down at the book in my other hand and smiled as I felt tears sting the back of my eyes. He got it all right down to the letter. We are at a beach. We did play in the water. We are sunbathing together; I have a book in my hand, and we are chatting.
“You know…you don’t need to do anymore to win me over,” I said as I turned on my side so that I could keep my eyes on his handsome face.
“I’m not doing this to win you over,” he replied without hesitation.
Really?
“Then, what are you trying to do?” I asked as I narrowed my eyes at him.
“…good question,” he replied before his eyes slid closed once more.
I knew that I wouldn’t be getting more answers from him, but I didn’t mind. In that moment, I just enjoyed watching his restful face as he lay by my side with his eyes closed. Taking advantage of the fact that he had his eyes closed, I inched closer until I lay my head on his shoulder. I snuggled closer to him before I whispered a soft ‘thank you’ into his ear.
…
“The sunset is so pretty!” I exclaimed as I spread my arms wide and lifted it up above my head towards the sky.
I’ve seen many sunsets in my life but this one must have been the best one so far. After lazing around on the beach with Reiner most of the afternoon, the sun was about to set. I thought that we would simply watch the sunset together on the beach, but Reiner had other plans in mind. Still clad in nothing but my bikini, he led me up a trail after wrapping a light shawl around my waist to provide some coverage.
It wasn’t like there was anyone else to feast their eyes on my lack of clothing besides Reiner, but I was willing to keep it on if it made him feel better. The path was narrow and not exactly smooth, so it was a great idea that I had my flipflops on. It was a walk up and about a few minutes in, I was beginning to feel like I wouldn’t make it to our destination.
“Get on,” Reiner said as he squatted down in front of me with his back turned towards me.
“This is turning into a ‘ride Reiner’s back’ day for me…” I said teasingly.
“I can carry you over my shoulder like a sack instead. What would you prefer?” he said, only half-jokingly.
After pulling a pouty face at him to show my slight dissatisfaction, I climbed onto his back. Reiner stood up with me on his back effortlessly. I guess it didn’t matter if we were in the water or not. The walk became fun for me after that because I wasn’t tired and struggling to keep my balance all the time. Being on Reiner’s back also gave me the chance to look around and enjoy the nature around us.
–To be continued…