Sunshine and Rum

She rose up out of the ocean like a goddess, water droplets falling away like diamonds scattered around. She was one with the water, it caressed her body like a lover. She was breath taking and I couldn't believe my luck. The minute my toes buried in the sand, the sound of the surf hit my ears, I could taste the salt on my tongue. There she was. Like a starburst or a light show my eyes where drawn to her an I was mesmerized. Captivated, completely taken.

Awash in sensation, every fiber of my being yearned to touch her, smell her, hear her say my name. Yes, her lips forming each letter of my name as though she where tasting each individual letter.

Her skin was a beautiful carmel color, soft an firm, her muscles defined but her curves subtle. Her hair was as black as a ravens wing with hints of blue when she turned an full bodied, all curls and bounce. Eyes so green I'd imagine the emerald lands of Ireland would be jealous.

I knew not her name, nor what her voice sounded like. Though I had many a daydream of her since first spying her there popping up out of the water like a sea nymph. Her spirit was so tangible, so carefree and alive. She was so present in the moment but it seemed so much more than that. The way she breathed, walked and the way she laughed. It was like world was more awake.

The flowers stood up and took notice of her! Seeming to breath her in like she was the very essence required for them to thrive. I could relate to that. My eyes followed her.

We had spent nearly the entire morning together; I had divulged my entire childhood- the youngest of 6 girls I was very in touch with my feminine side and this often lead to ridicule growing up, including the early preadolescent years that can be excruciatingly painful- bullying is to be expected when all the children in a small town know you live in a house full of girls! Everyday was like winning the lottery, would it be the grand prize swirly in the public bathroom, 2nd place stuffed in a locker in the girls dressing room or 3rd place massive wedgie while giving the school morning announcements!, then my college haze of library study hours an nerdy D&D parties- I had mistakenly thought here I had finally found my people but even still I was rejected. We laughed and I even cried. All of this of course happened in tiny moments that felt like eternity and where held completely in my imagination.

This beautiful woman this impossible creature was a stranger to me. The practical side of me demand attention! Shouting that I snap out of this vacation induced hallucination; it was dangerous and I could get myself killed! Or worse wake up in my tiki hut bathtub full of ice missing a kidney! Honestly though how missing a kidney is worse than death; I'm not sure.

I'm an CPA by trade. Always been good with numbers, the neatness of them. How you can always find order and control with numbers. Everyday is exactly the same. 6am to 9pm

My client list rarely changes and when I take a new client I look at their past 4yrs first before meeting them.

I like order. I like control. This vacation was a spontaneous decision. A spontaneous decision not even made by me. There was a pot luck at the office, everyone was to bring something with a surprise raffle endorsement to celebrate being open 10 years as a small business and scoring a major corporate company deal; meaning big fish lots of money. 10 years open, in a 4 story building, minus the 4th floor which held the boardroom and the C-suites. The 3rd and 2nd floors held the CPA offices and there are 150 of us; CPA I mean. So this surprise raffle endorsement that lead to the vacation that was a spontaneous decision not made by me; 74 people on the 3rd floor put my name in the raffle. The odds where in my favor.

74 to 99

Great odds; number win again because of control. Still not something I would have chosen for myself. I voted for the HR lady, she was back from pregnancy leave, if anyone needed a vacation she did.

Yet I won much to my dismay an per the rules of the raffle endorsement, I had to pack a bag and board a plane. Talk about anxiety.

1 round trip ticket for a 2 week fully paid vacation and I would have 24 hour direct access to the beach from my own personal beach cabana, aka tiki hut.

I was on a small island just off the coast of Jamaica, by boat it was a couple hunderd miles, with an even smaller population.

This woman though, no that wasn't accurate enough. This Sun Goddess straight from Mount Olympus acted like a native but the locals seemed just as enthralled by as I. We hadn't meet, not a word shared between us but I felt so drawn to her, captivated. The rational side of me kept telling me to just approach her, start up a conversation. Not to leer at her like some creep with a fetish. The not so rational side kept insisting that we just get a little closer first, we hadn't seen her face yet. She hadn't noticed us yet, so we could just keep following her. Oh why did she have to smell like sunshine and rum? Briefly I closed my eyes to inhale her lingering scent, when warning bells started going off inside my head. Did a branch just break behind me.

My eyes snapped open and I turned around sharply, there standing in front of me was the woman.

The Sun Goddess straight from Mount Olympus. The smell of sunshine and rum was so much stronger and I smelled coconuts too. Oh heaven have mercy how could she be so beautiful?

If you could imagine just for a moment a stormy day, thunder and lighting, the power of the wind is so fierce its ripping limbs from trees. Rain is coming down is sheets so fast the ground can not soak it in. Yet there is a break an the sun comes out chasing all the clouds away, in the distances you many still hear thunder but a rainbow appears. This woman was like that. She was like a rainbow after the rain with distance thunder in the background. She stepped closer to me and instantly I stepped towards her. Momentarily I thought this strange, I should've step back out of her range not closer into her, I don't know her and now I'm putting myself in the danger zone. The space between us narrowed it felt as though the temperature around us heated.

I swallowed, opened my mouth to speak and the Goddess before me said, "Why do you shy away from me?"

Stunned, absolutely undoubtedly 100% stunned. It was like she sang the words instead of speaking.

"Who are you?" I asked with the shaky voice of an adolescent per-teen.

Cocking her head to the side slightly she smirked at me and I felt my heart seize.

"You answer my question with a question, evasive. My name is Rayne, you are?"

"Maryha, my name is Maryha, stars you're beautiful!" I said in a rush breathless, surprised I hadn't stammered. Rayne smiled even more at my compliment an again she asked, "Why do you shy away from me? Why do slink around following me? Not just approach me and say Hola?"

"I could listen to you recite War&Peace, your voice is like magic. I've never seen anyone like you before."

"Why you don't answer my questions?" said Rayne

Taking a deep breath; surprised that my nerves hadn't turned me into a stammering shaky mess, I answer her.

"I honestly don't know. You are as stunning as Sun and I felt like Icarus. You make me feel things, I've never admitted out loud to anyone not even my family. You're a stranger to me; yet I feel as though I've known you my whole life. It doesn't make sense and honestly it scares me!"

Her mouth curved into a full smile now, a little dimple appeared on her left cheek and her eyes sparkled. "Perhaps in another life we did know one another, yes? Be that so hard to believe? You have a very romantic way with words Maryha" said Rayne as she stealthly moved closer, we were separated by only a few breathes now. I could literally reach out an trace her bottom lip with my thumb she was that close, to my surprise it was as if my arm had disconnected from my body as I saw it raise slowly up an do as I just imagined. There my thumb was tracing her bottom lip; feeling that smooth plump skin that I had wished to trace. Would she taste like sunshine and rum like she smelled? Just as quickly the thought came if left because Rayne grazed her teeth against my enemy thumb an everything left me. Thought. Breath. Name. Fear. Caution. Everything become solely focused on Rayne an how could I get her to graze her teeth against me again.

Like she knew the power of what that small simple thing did, she said "I will search for you through 1,000 worlds and 10,000 lifetimes until I find you.."

Sharply I look up at her, my heart beating fast painfully so replying, "I will wait for you in all of them.."

She crashed into me, our heat was so intense, engulfing everything around us like an inferno. Her lips against mine as though she where trying to memorize the shape an taste of me.

Pulling back, simultaneously gasping for air, I asked her "Are you real? Is this happening? How did I know to say that?"

She looked at me and instantly I regreted saying anything. "It's time to go"

"Huh?"

"It's time to go Ma'am"

"Huh? I, I uuh don't understand"

"Ma'am it's departure time. The plane has landed. We need you exit the plane please"