the Devil and the Sea

12| Rivalry

The next evening, in the light of the sunset, I head to my secret place to be alone. At the exit from the yard, I notice a couple walking along the embankment in front of my house, in the distance by the light of lanterns. I recognize Marina and, glancing at the second silhouette, I understand that Vincent is walking next to her.

I instantly forget where I was going and automatically hide behind the fence, although I am too far away to be seen.

Crap!

Why the hell are they just walking alone like that? Is there something connecting them? Why didn't Marina tell me about this? Doesn't Vincent have a girlfriend?

I feel a pang of jealousy and laugh at myself. I return home and run into Ricky in the hallway.

"Guess who I just saw and with whom?" I know I'm giving too much of an emotional coloring to my voice, my breathing is not calm, but I'm too excited to hide surprise.

"Um," Ricky peers into my eyes, and I look back impatiently, wanting to share my indignation as quickly as possible. "Whom?" he asks uncertainly.

"Marina with Vincent! They are walking now. Together."

"So what? She finally found herself a boyfriend." Ricky shrugs nonchalantly.

Boyfriend? I narrow my eyes and look away. I don't like the idea that Vincent is dating Marina.

"Were you going somewhere?" I change the subject.

"I wanted to drink coffee." Ricky puts his arm around my shoulders and leads me into the kitchen. "So they were holding hands?"

I frown at the memory. Actually, they didn't. They kept far enough apart that I wouldn't call it a romantic distance, not even a friendly one. They looked awkward together.

"No, but Marina did not tell me anything about this, of course I saw..."

"Did you see what?" Ricky sits down on the corner couch we have in the kitchen, tossing the decorative leather cushions aside.

"That she likes Vincent."

"Let's bring them together, shall we?"

"Wh-what?"

"Well, since Marina likes Vincent, let's help a friend, why not?" Ricky says.

I roll my eyes and, without answering, I start making coffee.

Twenty minutes later the front door opens and Marina comes into my house. Ricky and I look at each other. Marina is clearly not very happy to see our curious glances: apparently, everything is not going as smoothly with her and Vincent as she wanted and it seemed to me. I restrain myself from lashing out with questions.

"Vic, I think I left my phone charger in your room." She says and I nod silently and then go to my room.

I find the charger left hanging in the socket next to the bed and going down the stairs I say:

"Sit with us, make a company."

"Yeah." Marina is dissatisfied, she puts the charger in her purse, and I don't understand whether this is sarcasm or not.

Marina goes to the white dining table in the center of the room and, pushing back one of the eight chairs of the same color, sits down at the table, closer to the sofa. I serve her green tea, and I put coffee on the coffee table with Ricky and sit down on the couch. Taking a sip, I'm about to ask about Vincent and her, but before I can open my mouth, Ricky is ahead of me:

"Where were you?" He turns to Marina, and in anticipation of an answer, he throws my legs on his knees and begins to massage them.

I smile and close my eyelids, showing how pleased I am.