Forbidden

71. There's Also Sunsets

Olivia and Max hopped in the back of the jeep to be taken to the mysterious location. They were still in the middle of the desert so Olivia guessed they weren't leaving yet. When they were about to arrive Olivia saw something through the car window.

"Wait, are we flying on a hot air balloon?!" she asked in shock and excitement as she noticed one a bit further into the distance through the car window.

Max leaned to her side to look through her window "No love, I think that's somebody else's" he said seriously.

"Oh, okay, that's fine" said Olivia brushing it off, trying to hide her disappointment but not quite managing to fool Max.

"I'm just kidding" he said as he started laughing "Yeah that's ours".

Olivia looked at him brightly "Seriously? You are not messing with me?"

"Seriously Olivia. Do you like it?" he asked.

"I love it" said Olivia honestly as she looked through the car window with a huge smile and excitement on her face.

Once they got off the car and arrived to the hot air balloon, the balloon guide gave them some safety instructions for their ride. It would be just the two of them and the balloon guide. The balloon had bright colors of red, orange, yellow and white. It matched cohesively with the rest of the desert landscape.

As the hot air balloon rose in the sky Olivia got this amazing feeling of freedom, looking around her she saw the entire world become smaller. The beautiful dunes and the desert that extended for miles became minuscule, all her worries started to seem so insignificant: Ashley's whereabouts, beginning a new job at Mercedes, Checo's contract. They were all left behind on the ground. What did any of it matter when the world was so large, extensive and infinite? What mattered the most to her in that moment was standing right next to her, everything else disappeared from her view as the balloon left it all behind.

"This is incredible Max, thank you" said Olivia honestly.

"I'm glad you like it Olivia" said Max with a soft smile.

As they soared through the air for awhile the sky started changing, the sun started to set on the west, leaving for the day. The rays of sunlight illuminated everything around them with magnificent yellow sun-rays. Max and Olivia stood on the same side of the balloon basket, only a few centimeters away as they watched the sunset. It was incredible, the clouds on the sky turned bright orange and its shadows dark purple and blue. Little gaps of the blue sky were visible between the clouds, which went from yellow to orange, from orange to pink.

Max and Olivia, who were so used to watching sunrises with each other, now watched their first sunset together. "It's so beautiful" said Olivia in awe.

"It's truly lovely" agreed Max.

Olivia didn't want to miss a second of it. She knew that just like any sunrise, sunsets change every second and you must pay true attention or you'll miss it. Still, she turned to Max next to her. The golden and pink hue showering him. His hair looked more golden, his skin more tanned, the cold waters of his eyes looked warmer.

He turned to look at her and a soft smile appeared on his face. He looked so ethereal, like he wasn't even real. "What?" he asked with a smile, his eyes bright under the golden sun.

"Nothing" Olivia shrugged. The yellow sun rays made her dark eyes appear light brown and the light bouncing off her dark hair made its shade change to brown with golden highlights coming from the west. "I just.. I love you" she said simply. She said it all the time, but it was more like a reflex, something you get used to saying. This time she wanted him to know how much she actually meant it.