Page 44 of Rio
He looks out of place here.Too clean.Too perfect.Too photoshopped, amidst all this joyful, colorful chaos weaving around him.
Our eyes meet.He doesn’t move, but even with the short distance between us, I can tell that something in his expression shifts.I don’t know how long he’s been watching me or if he’s just as surprised to see me, but now that our eyes are locked, time seems to stop.
I look away first.It feels like I’ve been holding my breath and I need a big, desperate intake of air to fill my lungs.I dare not look at him again, but force myself to watch Edwin play football.
I’m suddenly conscious of the powder soft sand under my feet, and the rays of the sun on my skin.I take a shaky sip of rum.Still feeling conscious and still wondering if he’s looking my way.I’m barefoot, and wearing a sundress—not my usual work clothes.Maybe that’s what he sees that’s different.
Vilma laughs, then jumps up and joins the football game.I turn to look at Rio again, but he’s gone, and a tidal wave of disappointment washes over me.But then he reappears in front of me, looking entirely comfortable in a chair that isn’t his.
Just like he did at the Miami restaurant.
“Let me guess, you had a meeting across the street and you happened to see me.”
“The world doesn’t revolve around you.”He gives me a cheesy grin.“But you still remember that night, huh?”
“It’s like a nightmare I can’t wake up from.”
He slides out his long legs, making himself even more comfortable than he has any right to be.Edwin and Vilma come back, hot and breathless after their game of football.I don’t bother to make introductions, but he does.
“Rio.”He offers his hand.“I’m a friend of Raquel’s.”
Edwin and Vilma introduce themselves and sit down, reaching for their paper cups.
“I didn’t think this was your scene,” Rio says to me.
“This?”I wave my hand around.“Friends, food, drinks, gorgeous scenery.It’s very much my scene.Shame you had to crash it,again.”
“This is a small place, and my hotel isn’t far from here.I’m staying on the Placencia Peninsula.”
“You’re staying there?”Vilma asks.
Edwin looks impressed.“Nice string of hotels along there.”
I can’t help myself.“Only the best for—” I’m about to spurt off something when I stop.Edwin and Vilma don’t know who he is.They don’t know that he’s on the other side.I shouldn’t be seen with him.I need to be professional and keep my distance as much as I can.“I didn’t think street stalls and fairy lights was your scene,” I say, instead.
“It’s not so bad.”His eyes rove over my sundress.“You don’t look very lawyerly today.”His gaze burns into my skin and I take another long sip of my rum punch.The music pushes up a notch, and Edwin and Vilma get up and join a group of people who have also suddenly jumped up and started dancing.
“Why don’t you show us your moves?”I dare Rio.
He sits back into the chair, crosses his ankles, and laces his hands behind his head.“I can’t dance on sand.I’d rather just sit here and admire the view.”
“Come on.”Vilma holds out her hand for me to get up.The rum has loosened me up, and I don’t feel like it’s the end of a normal working day.It feels more like being on vacation.With a dash of daring, I get up.The vibe, the crowd, the music, it pulls me, but the way Rio watches me is what tips me over the edge.His gaze slides over me, and suddenly, I want him to see me like this, unapologetically wild and free.The shackles of my usual work day restraint undone.
I jump up, accepting Vilma’s request.The rum has gotten to my head, because I wouldn’t be so eager to get up and dance on the sand otherwise.It’s not easy, but the rum punch courses through my veins, and with the sun starting to dip seemingly into the sea, my carefully constructed guardrails fall away.Buoyed up by being a million miles away from Pierce, and being with people who are easy to get along with, where I don’t need to dodge comments rife with sexual innuendo, I’m swept up in a wave of gratitude.
I’m basking under Rio’s intense, watchful gaze.Something about me and him, running into each other unexpectedly, on so many occasions, feels strange, and yet familiar.I can’t get a handle on it, but it’s there, an invisible force that connects us and becomes stronger with each meeting.Building, to what, I don’t know.
I start to dance, swaying my hips, moving my arms, feeling unashamedly free.laughing and feeling free.Dancing with abandon.Vilma and Edwin are letting loose beside me, their smiles wide and unfiltered.The crowd is alive, pulsing with heat and rhythm.There’s a buzz in the air—maybe it’s the rum punch, or the beauty of the setting sun, or just the pure joy of being barefoot on the sand, surrounded by strangers who feel like friends.
A group of young guys join us.Loud and raucous, they look like tourists.Someone grabs my hand, reeling me towards him.I don’t like it, and wrench my hand free.He puts his hands up, in a surrender pose, and steps back.He’s cute, too young for me, and now he looks genuinely alarmed that he might have offended me.
“Sorry,” he shouts, over the music.“Feels like a carnival, ya know.”His twangy accent makes me think he could be Australian.I nod, and continue dancing.He doesn’t reach for my hand again, and maintains the distance between us.
But in the next moment, Rio steps in.His face is like thunder.He eyeballs the other guy, scaring him off until he’s forced to turn his back to us, and move back to his friends.
“Thought you didn’t dance, Tarzan,” I shout, while still dancing.Rio cups his hand to his ear, like he can’t hear.I lean forward.Without my killer heels I have to tiptoe to reach his ear.“I thought you didn’t dance, Tarzan.”
“I’m not dancing.”He stands there, arms folded, territorial and possessive, like I’m his property, and he’s watching over me.Ordinarily, this would set off alarm bells.Piss me off, but it’s Rio.We have a history now, sort of.And I like him being possessive, even though it goes against my grain.Everything about this man goes against my values, and yet, I find myself drawn to him in ways I can’t explain.
