Ruins of Autumn

31• Strategy In The Pool

    The light golden rays of the sun found Leonora Agolli in a great mood the next morning, and she stood motionless for a few moments with her eyes still unopened completely towards the large window. The dusty, translucent gold curtains must have been opened by Blerimi, as he knew how much she liked to wake up to the sun rising on the horizon.
 
    The comfort of her naked body under the white sheet added to her sense of peace with herself, and she turned to her right. Blerimi was still asleep facing her, but woke up, though Leonora tried, as slowly as possible, not to make a noise while getting closer to him, and a smile crossed his face as he met her gentle gaze.
 
    "You have taken quite personally the compliment of being like a dessert, and now you really look like one."
 
    She let out a small laugh at his compliment and moved closer to hug him.
 
    "Good morning," she sheltered her head between his neck and chest, and closed her eyes, also embraced by the beauty of living apart from his arms.
 
    "Good morning, Leonora," he kissed her on the forehead and held her tight. "I see that you have made peace with waking up early."
 
    "Yes," she moved her head back to look at him. "Now I enjoy every moment of my life because I'm with you."
 
    "And? Finish the sentence."
 
    "I finished it," Leonora answered, surprised.
 
    "No, that was the first half. Don't be shy. Tell me which moments you like the most."
 
    She turned her eyes to the ceiling, and her lips were arched by the happiness created by the man next to her.
 
    "In those special moments, I will tell you," she kept the flirtation on the air. "Now I would like to get ready to prepare breakfast. How about we eat in the backyard?" Leonora looked at him.
 
    "I say, let's do what makes you happy. Then I am happy, too." Blerimi touched her hair next to her neck while she glanced at him, hypnotised even more by how much she was loved by him and the long-awaited way he showed his love to her. 
 
    "Okay," she kissed him on the right cheek, and they both got up from the bed.
 
    Breakfast didn't take long to be prepared, and they assumed that getting ready for their honeymoon trip wouldn't take more time either, because they had almost everything ready and just one last check in case they had forgotten anything left to do.
 
    They had agreed to spend their honeymoon and summer vacation on the island of Boracay in the Philippines and return to America for her birthday.
 
    The Asian place was as impressive as they had expected from the photos in the brochure they had received, to have more information about that destination and were more assured that they had made the right choice when they walked through the light beige sand and the clear blue with a sweet shade of green water. They allowed themselves to enjoy those hot summer days without any restrictions or interruptions from thoughts of the past, but only to create the most beautiful memories together. 
 
    Leonora could hardly wait for swimming to become part of her memories, which she had already mastered, and together with Blerimi, they had agreed to race in the pool of the hotel where they were staying.
 
    "Count from three backward, and then we begin," suggested Blerimi.
 
    "OK," Leonora agreed.
 
    They prepared to jump, and she started counting.
 
    "Three... two... one..."
 
    Blerimi jumped into the pool as soon as he heard the word one.
 
    "Wait," she called, alarmed.
 
    He stopped swimming towards the finish line and immediately turned back. "What?"
 
    "I was going to mention zero, too." Leonora laughed after that explanation and kept laughing, even when Blerimi got out of the pool.
 
    "Count from three to one."
 
    "Fine," she giggled, and she started counting. "Three... two... ... ... one!"
 
    They jumped into the pool and swam to the other side. She raised her head above the water and noticed that Blerimi was swimming faster. She managed to reach him and pulled his left arm to slow him down. She smirked when he turned around in confusion, and she headed for the end but was stopped by his arms around her body.
 
    "Blerim, you're cheating." Leonora put her hands on his chest to break away from his embrace.
 
    "Like you did."
 
    "Mine is called strategy." Leonora denied the accusation and tried to leave. "Can you let me win, please?" she asked resignedly, trying longer.
 
    "Not at all, manipulator."
 
    "Oh, yeah? Then I am mad at you," declared Leonora, strict about her decision. "But kiss me, and we make up immediately," she offered the chance playfully while putting her arms around his neck.
 
    "I don't think I want to make up with you," Blerimi guessed, and he tried to leave without her.
 
    "No, no. You want to; you just don't know it." Leonora hugged him closer to her, and he laughed out loud, delighted by her cheeky behaviour.
 
    "How do you manage to make me love you more every second that passes?" He put a few bunches of wet hair behind his left ear and kissed her. 
 
••••
    Leonora's argument for buying the cherry-coloured dress with narrow straps, length above the ankles, and a slit along the left leg was its suitability to her movements when she danced, and Blerimi was convinced by the positive impression of that dress, thanks to that reason, that she should wear it for that evening when they went out, and Leonora bought it.
 
    They entered the bar next to each other and studied the surrounding environment with a glance: the lights of the projectors, which turned off and on in a fraction of a second, as if there was an electricity problem; people dancing on the dance floor; and others, who were talking dismissively to the music of up.
 
    Leonora was forced to move her arm away from his to answer the new message on her phone.
 
    "It's Denada," she said. "Can you order the drinks while I talk to her?"
 
    "If you want, I can come with you, and we'll enter the bar together." Blerimi offered.
 
    "No, there's no need. I won't be late."
 
    "Okay," he smiled at her and accepted the waiter's direction to their table.
 
    He ordered his and Leonora's favourite drink and looked out the door to her reception. She appeared after a few moments with the phone in her hand and walked towards him without breaking her seductive gaze from her husband, who was giving her the same gaze. Leonora stopped and checked the phone.
 
    Blerimi got ready to stand up and go near her, but was prevented by an unknown woman sitting next to him.
 
    "That lady has a wedding ring on her finger," the blonde referred in English as if with pity to Leonora, who was typing on the phone. "But I don't," she showed with a sweet and suggestive smile the fingers of her left hand, which she placed on her leg next to the short blue dress she was wearing, combined with the dark colour of her small eyes. 
 
    "I know she is married. I have put that ring on her finger."
 
    Blerimi gave only that explanation and stood up to go to his wife.
 
    "What's the matter? Is everything okay?"
 
    "Yes." Leonora kissed him and stretched her arms around his neck to hug him.
 
    She fixed her gaze on the unknown blonde, who was looking at her as if she weren't impressed at all by the elegant body and the innocently warm feminine beauty that the redhead had, but she couldn't hide her envy towards her and thought that the man was not to blame, that he didn't want to be separated from Leonora's presence.
 
    "Should I take out the claws against any woman to show who you belong to?" Leonora asked Blerimi, ready to carry out such an action.
 
    "You don't have to. I told them," he assured her. "But... you can demonstrate that fact to me."
 
    She beamed at his words and nodded in approval. 
 
    "Shall we go somewhere else, if you want?" Blerimi suggested.
 
    "Do you want to make me jealous somewhere else?" Leonora raised her eyebrows stingily.
 
    "Never," he instantly denied. "I will never make you jealous. Just the thought of you doubting my love and being hurt because of my fault is torture enough for me. I only love you, Leonora."
 
    She felt the truth of that statement, like she felt her breathing. "Let's leave," she agreed, jubilant.
 
    Blerimi paid the bill, and they left the bar.
 
    Perhaps if they had casually glanced around, they would have noticed Marinela Huba on the other side of the road, staring at them, completely bewildered by their presence there embracing each other, but they just went to their car and left to celebrate elsewhere. 
 
    Marinela neither conjectured theories nor hypothesised about them. She immediately thought that Leonora and Blerimi had killed her husband, Agustini, and his brother, Albioni, to live peacefully together, and the thirst for revenge created like lightning in a dark, cloudy sky prompted her to follow them with her car.
 
    The indisputable decision to kill them both, while her hands were firmly on the steering wheel and the rage was screaming at her, to break the silence and to shout with all the power she had from the hatred full of malice that Leonora had ruined her life with the murder of Agustini, began to shake like a boat in a stormy sea when ideas of how to destroy their lives before finally getting rid of them came to her.
 
    They had done everything to have a happy life together? She would take that very thing out of their hands—first happiness and then life itself.
 
    After three hours, she parked the car just outside the hotel where she realised they were staying, and, tense with the imprisoned force like a chained, rebel dragon, even more dangerously in need to break free from those chains, she planned what to do.
 
••••
    Blerimi joined his lips with hers, and when he felt Leonora's hands around his neck and behind his head, he continued their kiss even longer. She followed his pace, letting out a deep breath as he leaned her body against the wall of the entrance to their room next to the main door, and they kissed again.
 
    "Let's go to the bedroom."
 
    "No. Stay here," Leonora asked, and she took off his jacket.
 
    He helped her unfasten the buttons of his white shirt, leaving only her to loosen the belt of his trousers. He moved closer to her, took place in all her thoughts, drunk on the fascination of his full gaze and desire for her, the scent of his perfume, and the touch of his hands on her skin, and lifted the red dress along her hips to the level of her waist, so that it would be easier for Leonora to put her legs around his waist. 
 
    They looked at each other without breaking their eyes for a long time, as if they were in a competition to see who could express their emotions the longest without giving in to their feelings and closing their eyes.
 
    "Blerim!" Leonora dropped her head back with her eyelids closed to lean against the wall, and he smiled triumphantly.
 
    He only gave her a few moments to catch her breath before kissing her, and his lips found her neck as she rested her arms on his husband's shoulders as well, tight fingers threading through his hair until she felt she had no strength left but only to breathe.
 
    She remained silent for a few moments, gathering herself into his embrace and kissing him on the cheek.
 
    "Can you take me to bed?" Leonora looked into his eyes when she spoke, recalling the moments before. 
 
    He gave her the same look, kissed her softly, and took her in his arms, so they headed for the bed. She rested her head on his shoulder while keeping her body tight with her hands around his neck and her legs around his waist. She kissed his neck and rested her head on his shoulder again.
 
    "I love you."
 
    Blerimi's words, whispered sweetly in her right ear, managed to make her smile rather happily.
 
    "I love you too, Blerim."
 
    He removed the blankets, slowly laid her on the bed, and took off her heels.
 
    "Nora," he called in a soft voice, as soon as he noticed her eyes closing. "Get up to wash your face."
 
    "I'll get up later," she didn't open her eyes.
 
    "I don't think you'll be able to wake up before tomorrow. Come. I'll help you."
 
    Leonora looked at him lazily and got up just like that. Blerimi brought her a white nightgown, helped her take off the red party dress and put on the white nightgown, brushed his teeth with her in the bathroom, held her hair behind her back when she washed her face, and tried to wash quickly his face so that he would not be delayed any longer because Leonora seemed willing to sleep while standing up, and after a few minutes he lied down beside her on the bed in their room.
 
    She immediately found a place in his arms and closed her eyes.
 
    "I'm sorry."
 
    Blerimi's sudden request became an obstacle between her and sleep, and Leonora was confused by the deep remorse she saw in his eyes.
 
    "About what?"
 
    "That I haven't met you before."
 
    "Blerim, it hasn't been up to you," she touched his face, wanting to convince him, with a look too, that she had never made him guilty for meeting her in unfavourable circumstances for them, and they had been forced to live all that time apart from each other when perhaps they could have met a long time ago if only she hadn't had so many toxic people in her life. 
 
    "I love you," he avoided a more detailed explanation with those words, and Leonora kissed him.
 
    "I love you, too. I always will," she vowed.