cupid's arrow » bill anderson | mamma mia

fifteen

"I have a surprise for you." Bill said, grabbing my attention. We were still docked in the port, the bustle of the market beginning to quiet down as evening began.

"A surprise?" I asked. He seemed enthused with it. "What is it?"

"Well, I'm not going to tell you, Nancy. It's a surprise! That would defeat the point."

"Oh." I muttered, realising the logic. The surprise explained Bill's absence earlier and I found it cute that he'd gone to all this trouble to arrange something, whatever it was.

"Do you like surprises?" He asked, clearly a little anxious for my response.

"That depends." I teased. "If it's your idea, then I'm sure I'll love it."

Bill nodded and got up, holding his hand out for me. I took it and stood as he produced a piece of black fabric. I was utterly confused by it or it's purpose.

"Please don't tell me you've got some weird kink." I spoke, bewildered by it. Bill gave me a questionable look, casting some doubt over his view of my innocence.

"You can't see where we're going just yet."

I paused, somewhat reluctant. Be spontaneous he'd tell me, and so, I complied. Wasn't spontaneity the entire foundation of this trip? I let out a sigh before nodding to him, "Just don't let me stand in anything. I don't want dog shit on my shoes."

Bill wrapped the blindfold around my eyes and took my hand. I was plunged into darkness. He led me off the boat and guided me carefully, making sure I didn't fall over. I had an vision of him in my head, carefully making sure my every step was safe. He'd blindfolded me — not in that way. After I'd told him to surprise me, he took it to new lengths, literally blindfolding me to prevent me seeing the location before he wanted me to. I could hear him apologising to people as he brought me, a small 'shit, not there' coming out of him every so often as I stepped forward. It was a sight to behold, I was sure of that much. Bill would never settle for anything other than perfect.

We stopped rather suddenly, Bill muttering something inaudible. I could feel my feet sinking somewhat as I shuffled about on the spot, presumably a malleable surface like sand. He let go of my hand and it was only seconds later I felt him fiddling with my shoe, his cold hand wrapped around my ankle.

"What are you doing?" I chuckled. He didn't respond, guiding my hand to his shoulder and signalling that he was removing my shoes. "Is this part of the plan?"

"Yes." Bill replied in a short and direct response. He was being unusually mysterious about the whole thing, though I could somewhat narrow down where we were from the feeling of sand underneath my feet. A flush of warm air hit me softly, breezing over me like someone was dragging a cloth over my body.

"Bill?" I spoke out, unable to find him anywhere. I stretched my hands out in front of me and felt a face, strands of hair finding themselves in my clutch. I assumed it was him; I hadn't heard anyone else talking.

Moments after I'd found the hair, I felt a hand relax on my waist, another fiddling with the blindfold. It had to be him. The fabric fell off my face and I was somewhat blinded, initially, by the sudden light. I felt the other hand return to my waist and it all came into sight; Bill and where he'd brought me.

We were surrounded by the whitest sand I'd ever seen and the darkest sea. It was a almost a lake, the dark blue water surrounded by a line of green, which bordered a yellow coloured water. If I didn't know any better, I'd have thought it was contaminated. It was just us; it seemed all others had disappeared, leaving Bill and I alone once more - not that we struggled for time alone. We spend every waking hour together, the majority of the time alone.

"Hot springs?" I grinned, looking to Bill. He nodded and a small, discreet smile graced his face. I knew he would've been a little worried about my reaction. Though he didn't admit it, he cared too much. He'd taken my short-handed comments about my intrigue of hot springs and turned it into a reality. I was surprised a great deal; I didn't think he'd actually go to the effort of finding one and doing all this.

We could both see the sun setting from where we were, creating somewhat of a scenic view from the springs. Bill removed his shirt and jumped into the springs, smirking at me when he resurfaced.

"Aren't you going to join me?"

I felt a sense of mischevy arise as I took off my necklace, putting it in my shoe for safe keeping. I saw no need to remove my denim shorts or halter neck, something which Bill had clearly hoped for. His face was a picture full of intention which was too explicit to elaborate on.

I put my bare foot in the warm water and followed Bill in, stopping once it had reached my waist. Bill frowned and put his hand out, prompting me to move further.

"Thank you for this." I spoke, wrapping my arms around his neck. The water was just a little too deep for me. The ground was just a few inches too low and Bill noticed this, swiftly pulling my legs around him.

"Do you like it?" He asked, utterly fixated on me. I nodded slowly, biting my lip.

"I've never had as much fun as I've had in the past two weeks." I said, grinning. "I'm just pleased you asked."

"I'm pleased you said yes." He replied. "I was worried you wouldn't."

"Bill Anderson? Worried?" I scoffed, though I understood there to be some truth in his words. I merely hadn't thought he cared about me as much as that when he asked me to come with him.

"Is it such a surprise?"

"You had nothing to be worried about Bill." I assured him. "I could hardly resist."

"Who could?" He said, arching a brow. "I'm handsome.. Strong.. Swedish.. I can sail.."

"You're also the cockiest man I've ever met." I proclaimed, unable to stop a small smile tugging at my lips. I ran my hand up into his hair, fiddling with it. I was surprised it hadn't been wet yet from all the water.

"You say that like it's a bad thing." He teased.

Bill's expression changed from a cocky, smug smirk to a more sincere one. His eyes flickered down to my lips before meeting my eyes, as if to signal that he wanted to kiss me. My breathing slowed as soon as I realised it.

He tilted his head and leaned towards me an inch or so, prompting me to do the same. It was different this time. I'd kissed him a hundred times before but now it felt like it was igniting something in me. It wasn't sloppy or dry, it was intricately calculated, smooth and full of a gentle manner that only Bill possessed. He had a hand on my cheek, gently pushing me towards him as his fingers met my hair, running through it just a little, covering my cheek. I merely tightened my arms around his neck, holding on to him as much as possible. I didn't want it to end, in all honesty. He had this unique ability to make me melt against him whenever he kissed me, making me give in to whatever he wanted. Perhaps this was it. The realisation that I was falling deeply in love with him, which in truth, scared me more than anything. Despite all the fears the kiss provoked within me, I couldn't focus on them now. I wanted to focus on Bill. On how he made me feel. f I could've stayed in that beautiful, serene moment we shared — I would've.