Hello
“Oh? So you don’t have faith in me?” Alex chuckled. “C’mon now, you know I’m good with my hands.” The sentence had more innuendo than Alex meant to say. In a way it was true, during their week stay in St. Thomas their nights and dusky early mornings were spent bringing the other to wondrous heights of pleasure. Alexander had to get the image of a naked writhing Angelica out of his head. But every time he looked at her, the image of her ‘o’ face was plastered all over his brain. “It could be. But who says that Eliza and John have to be there? We can stay here during the week and see them on the weekend. Besides, we both agreed that when we were older that we should stay in the lake house. Wouldn’t want to put our childish dreams aside now should we?”
Maybe Alex didn’t want to dodge the bullet? Maybe he wanted the pleasure of just being by Angelica’s side? Maybe he just wanted her? The good and the bad. Alexander didn’t care if Angelica would do things that would annoy him, as long as he was with her, he would be fine. “That doesn’t seem half bad. One day of pure torture for a lifetime of happiness. I’d take that trade any day.” He almost didn’t realize what he insinuated with that sentence. “I mean, Eliza didn’t stress at all during our wedding. We had a simple ceremony, and we’re still happy now so yeah.” That was so weak Alexander, you can sound a little more convincing than that. He told himself. But he didn’t want to talk about Eliza, he wanted to talk about them. “Nope!” He took the photo out of her hands. “I’m not letting you burn it. Think of the children, they’d want to see this gem.” He stuck his tongue out to tease her and then started to go through all the pictures in the box with her. There were some old polaroids from when his father gave him a polaroid for his birthday. He used up all the film in one day to take pictures of her, the two of them went to a small beach and stayed until sunset. Alexander couldn’t explain to his father why he used all his film, so he never asked for another roll again. They went through all sorts of memories. There were the intimate ones when Alex’s mother would take snaps of the two of them cuddling while they slept, the funny ones where they caught each other at a bad time, and nostalgic ones from memories that could not just be recreated. Alexander realized that he had spent a lot of time with Angelica. Did they ever hang out with other people?
At the bottom of the box, there was a thick envelope. Alexander never noticed this before, and it was almost like it was placed there. “What is this?” He wondered aloud, as he took the envelope out of the box. “What is this-Oh.” In his neat cursive handwriting, the words ‘St. Thomas’ were elegantly stroked out on the paper. “Uh…” He looked at Angelica warily. “Do you want to look at these?” Alexander had no idea what was in the envelope, and he hoped to God the first image was tame enough for them to reminisce about with ease. “Because if so…” He handed her the envelope. “…I’d like for you to do the honors of picking out the first picture.”
“Suuuuure.” She replied, laughing awkwardly. There was a weird undercurrent of tension now in the room. The innuendo was clear, but she wasn’t going to take the bait. It would be inappropriate, right? “Boy quit playing.” Alexander kept saying things that had her feeling....she didn’t even know how to explain it. It was like a warm sensation spread all over her body and she was sure if she was a lighter complexion she would be red. “Childish dreams are just that, childish. Isn’t that right? I highly doubt they would agree to an arrangement like that. I bet Eliza has a hard enough time keeping the women off you as it is.
A smile tugged at her lips when he said he’d take the day or torture for a lifetime of happiness. Forever the charmer. Angelica pouted when he took the picture from her. “The children have plenty of pictures to see. That doesn’t have to be one of them.” She knew she was fighting a lost cause. When he got his mind on something, there was no turning back. It felt a little weird looking at all the pictures of them. Sure she had her pictures, but she didn’t look at them much. It felt like they were from an old life, but she could never make herself part with them either. You could clearly see they spent a majority of their time together. He was truly her best friend and her confidant. She trusted him with everything at one point in her life.
She was so focused on the other photos that she didn’t notice him slightly freeze up at first. It was when she felt his gaze that she gave him her attention before looking down at the envelope in his hand. Angelica felt herself stop breathing for a second when she saw ‘St. Thomas’ written on it. That trip to St. Thomas was something she didn’t think about at all. She knew if she did it was possible old feelings would pop up again. But that had to be absurd. She was a grown ass woman, a grown ass married woman with children. She could handle looking at some photos. She took the envelop out of his hands, ignoring how hers shook a little and opened it up. Her fingers ran gently over the photos inside before she randomly picked one and turned it over. It was her. Well her back. Her naked back. She had a sheet wrapped around herself and she was looking out the french doors, that lead to a balcony, at the view of the ocean and the sun. It was a gorgeous shot. Her hair was big and curly and it fanned out over her back. Her thumb ran over the picture as she remembered that day.
The tiny click of the camera brought her out of her repreieve. Angelica just wanted to take in the nature and the beauty of the island. This trip was a great idea and she couldn’t be happier to be on it with one of the most important people in her life. “Alexander!” She admonished, as she turned around to see him with a camera in his hand. “Why are you taking a picture of my back? You sure are strange.” She teased, with a smile on her face. She walked away from the window and over to him, holding the sheet in her hand so it wouldn’t fall down. “I think we’ve taken enough photos. Don’t you just wanna enjoy the view?” She asked, eyes panning down his bare chest taking him all in. He only had on his underwear. “I know I am.” She grinned, leaning in to kiss him softly on the lips and using the distraction to take the camera away from him. She plopped down on the bed and started looking at the pictures he’d already taken of them.
