Dark Faïz (Book 2) [Completed]

Chapters 14-2

A little cry of surprise escaped me as my feet sank into the fine white sand, lit by thousands of small bluish diamonds, seen moments earlier from the sky. Indeed, the feeling of freshness under the arch of my foot surprised me somewhat. Cut off from the world, I felt like I was somewhere else. I stared at the horizon. The sound of the waves crashing into the sand was the only thing that broke the silence. Eros hid there a real little gem, admirably well maintained. All around us, the luxuriant flora and the big giant granite boulders blended perfectly with the place, as if the decoration had been posed there by the hand of Man. Time had just stopped. My heart had, too. A light breeze then came to bristle the down on my arms, bringing me back to the present moment. I turned towards Faïz, who was picking up one of these fluorescent stones stranded on the sand at the water's edge. I joined him.

"It's magnificent," I said, observing the pebble in the palm of his hand.

"It's the same as our necklace."

Before I had time to compare it, Faïz removed the stone around my neck to put it in his pocket. Confused, I looked at him questioningly.

"I will give you back this necklace one day," he promised me, looking towards the stars.

"When?"

"When you have forgotten everything about us."

"You know that's impossible." I tried to reassure him by wrapping my arms around his chest.

"Really?" asked Faïz, who didn't seem to believe a single word I said.

His soft and unsteady voice broke my heart. At that moment, a painful anxiety took place on his magnificent face.

"How can you think that I could one day deny all these moments spent with you? I can't hate you."

He stared at me with a deep, dark look, as if he wanted to tell me something that terrified him. His fingers came to draw the outline of my face.

"If one day you decide to deny everything, think about this moment. The paradox is that I'm not the man of your life, while you will always be the only woman in mine. I could never hate you."

"This isn't true, I love you! I've loved you from the first day," I replied confidently, to better relieve my conscience.

His lips crashed into mine with such despair that it was almost scary. When Faïz moved his face away from mine, I saw that he had regained control of his emotions. With a half-smile, he asked me,

"What will make you happy once you get back to Los Angeles?"

I walked away from him and turned on myself, spreading my arms as far as possible.

"The sun! The blue sky."

Faïz laughed and put his hands in his pockets, shaking his head.

"Come on, Zoe! You can get used to everything, even that damn fog."

I hopped cheerfully as I looked at him.

"No, no, no."

"OK. Stop jumping, you'll end up hurting yourself. I had no idea that you were missing L.A.'s weather so badly."

He looked up at the starry sky again to delve into his thoughts.

"Blue."

I walked over to him.

"What are you thinking about?"

Faïz seemed to take the time to think about my question, then ended up biting his lower lip to suppress a smile before adding,

"When I was very young, I asked my mother one day why the sky was blue, and she replied that she was coloring it like this, because she knew it was my favorite color."

"It was?"

"Yes," he said, subtly placing his fingers on my eyelids. "Since I have known you, it has changed."

This touching confession left me speechless. The man standing in front of me right now had nothing to do with the man I had met a few months earlier. I tilted my head to the side, moved by his sudden statement.

"Okay, can we continue?" asked Faïz, dragging me by the hand.

"To go where?"

"I told you I wanted to show you something."

"I thought you were talking about this beautiful cove."

"No, it's a little further," replied Faïz, who had already started walking again. "I hope you like extreme sports."

"Uh... No... Not at all!"

"Great," mocked Faïz. "The experience will be all the more enjoyable."

I swallowed, not reassured by his words.