the Devil and the Sea

37| Sneaky couple

"What happened?" he asks anxiously.

Although I want him to be alarmed, in fact, he seems to be holding himself quite cold. I cannot soberly assess where my imagination ends and reality begins.

"Ricky's brains out because I'm talking to you." I talk and light a cigarette along the way.

"And what does he say?"

"He sees how we flirt with each other. Something like that." I shrug, then brush off the ashes.

I exhale imposingly and meet Vincent's gaze from under lowered eyelashes. He looks like he forgot what he just wanted to say. I grin and feel like a fool, because in the presence of Vincent, a smile is a frequent guest on my face.

"I don't want to talk about him anymore, okay?" I whisper and Vincent nods, still looking at me.

His eyes look black and bottomless in this twilight, and I'm excited to know what secrets those blue eyes hold. A light breeze blows from the sea and carries Vincent's scent to me.

"Why did you come?" I ask dispassionately, having smoked half a cigarette.

"I wanted to talk to you, find out what happened."

"That's it."

"Well, yes, you looked very angry," he voices the observation with a smile, and I am glad that every time I appear in his line of sight, Vincent is watching me.

I silently smile, extinguish the cigarette butt on the ground and dispose of it with a snap of my finger. Vincent squats in front of me and changes the subject:

"What do you dream about?"

Blue eyes, like two blades pierce mine. I chuckle sheepishly before answering. I shake my head, brushing my hair behind my back.

"It's a rather difficult question, so I can't answer it right away. I dream a lot."

"For example," Vincent looks up at the sky and then back at me, "where would you like to live?"

"In the center of some metropolis, in a huge apartment on the top floor, with panoramic windows so that you can freely admire the sunsets and lights of the night city from above," I blurt out in one breath.

Vincent closes his eyelids, a reverent expression on his face.

"I would like the same thing." We laugh. We have a similar dream.

Vincent looks into my eyes and I feel good like never before. Vincent's gaze is such that for a moment this dream seems available, one has only to lend a hand.

"Vincent, where are you?" Raul calls him.

I get a vague sense of Ricky's presence, but I make no attempt to verify my guesses. Sooner or later he will catch me with Vincent, so what difference does it make, now or later?

"I will call you as promised." Vincent says.

"Good."

"Where will we meet?"

"Right here at the crossroads," I point to the intersection of roads, "and then we'll decide."

Vincent looks at me intently. What is he waiting for? Should I say something? I turn to face him and look back.

"I want to kiss you." His voice is so penetrating.

"Kiss." I say and grin from my carelessness.

"They will see us," he sighs noisily and looks somewhere over me, and then returns his gaze to me again.

I silently roll my eyes.

"I wish I could come up and kiss you at any moment."

I feel the blood rush to my face and in anticipation, I automatically open my lips. Vincent just stands up and I feel disappointment squeezing my chest. I roll my eyes and tilt my head back, annoyed at his over-cautiousness.