Page 28 of Love By The Falls

“Do you want to grab some lunch?”

She looks up, and her brown eyes are warm and soft. “Yeah. I’d like that.”

*

“The fish here has so much flavor,” says Charlotte, taking another forkful of her dinner. We had lunch at this restaurant earlier, but it was a buffet. They serve dinner a la carte.

“My favorite is the Mahi Mahi. It melts in your mouth. They don’t always have it on the menu, though.”

“Well, I’ve never had Mahi Mahi, but this… what is this again?”

I chuckle. She isn’t trying to be funny, but her sense of humor is refreshing. Often people around me pretend they’re more high-brow or cultured than they really are, but Charlotte doesn’t try to be something she’s not. I like that.

“I believe you ordered the snapper.”

She snaps her fingers and smiles. “That’s it.”

She snaps again and snorts. “You know, Simon would be all over me with that one.”

“Simon?”

She shakes her head and smiles through another bite of her dinner. “He’s one of my students. A real pain-in-the-ass, you know. But man, he’s quick on his feet. Sometimes, I make an excuse to leave the classroom so I can laugh out loud.”

“Ah, so you’re one of those teachers, are you?”

“What does that mean?”

“You have the reputation of being the mean one, but inside you’re just as goofy as they are.”

She raises her eyebrows in what I imagine is her haughty impression, but she fails miserably.

“Do the kids actually fall for that?” I tease.

She purses her lips and smirks. “Every time. I can be very convincing in a tight bun and cardigan.”

I laugh and shake my head, enjoying the banter. “Which part of the U.S. are you from?”

She stops laughing and holds her fork in the air. “I… umm…”

Her uneasiness is palpable. “I won’t stalk you, I promise.”

Usually, I’m the one hesitant to talk about myself. When people find out who I am and what I do, they act differently. I rarely ask personal questions, trying to avoid them myself, but this one slipped out. “Never mind.”

She puts down her fork and sighs. “I really am the tight-lipped, button-down teacher. The Charlotte you’re sitting across from now, isn’t me most days. I never do anything goofy or adventurous.”

Now, I’m the one raising my eyebrows. “I don’t know about that. You were pretty adventurous yesterday, and I’m not just talking about the excursion.”

She shakes her head. “That wasn’t me. That was ‘Opposite Charlotte’.”

My face must show my confusion because she holds her hands up. “I’m not crazy, I swear. It’s just something I coined before I left for St. Kitts.” She smiles. “You’re right. Going on this vacation in the first place all alone is something I would never do. But my friends bought me this trip and I’ve never left the country, so I convinced myself I would not be the ‘Responsible One’for a week. I would be completely selfish and be ‘Opposite Charlotte’. Going on an excursion with someone I just met, in a country I’m completely unfamiliar with? Yeah, that’s ‘Opposite Charlotte’.”

“Opposite Charlotte,” I repeat the moniker and like the sound of it. “That could be fun. Do you mean you are going to let yourself do things you normally wouldn’t do?”

“Ah huh,” she nods, and takes another bite of her fish.

“And try things you normally wouldn’t think to try.”

She narrows her eyes. “Maybe.”

---