The Beach

Who would have thought that a year ago we would be naïve of what’s to come. I say naïve, because the majority of us were. This pandemic had us scrambling like ants, under an attack, from being killed off. There were threats from our governments all over the world suggesting this pandemic was going to kill millions, if not, billions. A year ago, life was relatively normal. I had just started a new job, I was in a relatively stable relationship and things were looking bright for the both of us. 

            But things can change just like that. 

            You know when you think life is going smooth but all the red flags you had refused to see, were coming out of the wood work and making themselves known? That was my life. I suppose in a Covid world, Covid acted like a cleaner and helped clean out my closet. I said goodbye to an old job, the so-called friends that I had called friends, and people who I thought were going to be my family forever, became throwaways. Sometimes, it’s hard and I suppose when you thought you had loved that person, but didn’t see the love return, is harder than the actual breakup. What can one do to proceed? There were multiple avenues I could have taken but only one was sufficient enough to grow and prosper. I had to say goodbye to the relationship. When the relationship fizzled out and my ex had given me the flick, the parting thing he left me with was hurtful. 

            “… I can’t believe you’re not fighting for us,” he said, through crocodile tears. 

            And I’m not giving you the jurisdiction to have satisfaction that I failed and you didn’t, I said to myself. We both messed up and we both should be admitting fault here. Not just one. Narcissist for you. 

            A year on, I ponder about the year just gone. We were naïve, we didn’t know what the year would pan out. In an ideal world, we would be looking for a house together, be engaged and living the new life of settling down. Oh how times have changed. I laugh to myself as I sit in my new home, staring out at the waves crashing onto the beach. Sea spray spat along the coastline, the sun long gone for the day. The beautiful transition colours from day to night, littering the city life. I sipped the last of my cup of Coke, the burger wrapper scrunched and sitting in my lap. 

            “Who would have thought I would be sitting here by myself, admiring the view?” I said, aloud, swallowing the sweet taste of Coke. 

            “Beautiful view, alright, aye?” a deep voice boomed, from behind. 

            I nearly choked on my Coke. “Uh, hello?”

            A tall man with broad shoulders, a small speck of facial hair, a tuft of hair style with gel, followed by a trail of yummy-smelling cologne, stood next to my park bench. 

            “Hello,” he said, a smile spreading across his face. I saw his strong jaw line in the glowing city light. 

            “Nice night, isn’t it?” I asked, finishing up my Coke. 

            “Sure is,” he said. He took the liberty to sit next to me, on the park bench. “You don’t mind me sitting here?”

            “Nah, all good,” I said, moving my dinner rubbish. 

            “You come here a lot,” he said, pointing out that I live at the beach. “I’ve seen you a bit down here. It’s very peaceful, isn’t it?” 

            I looked at him again. 

            “I’ve been shy to talk to you,” he said, sheepishly. “And you’ve always had music in your ears.”

            I wasn’t too sure if this guy was hitting on me or if he was being nice. I pretended I wasn’t caught up on this and just continued eating my dinner. 

            “What music do you listen too?”

            I replied, “Anything with a good beat. Most of my friends say I’m caught up in the nineties-early noughties, still, coz I love that music.”

            “That’s cool,” he said. “I should really introduce myself, yeah? I’m Marc.”

            “Hello, Marc,” I said, squashing my cup. “I’m Jeffrey.”

            “Hello, Jeff – can I call you that?”

            “Everyone does,” I shrugged, with a smile. 

            “So, what brings you to Napier?” 

            “Life threw me a lemon orchard last year,” I joked. I pushed back into the park bench. “But, then again, the world was thrown multiple lemon orchards last year.”

            “That it did. What happened for you?”

            “I got dumped at the end of level 4, finding accommodation and resettling again became a mission. Eventually, I found a home here but I’m not too sure where I’ll be later on in the year,” I said. 

            “It happened for a reason. I supposed you don’t want to hear that but your break up happened for a reason. Covid-19 just happened to implement it,” Marc said, leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Life is a bitch sometimes. Anywhere in particular you want to move too?”

            “This pandemic shit is just too much. It definitely threw everyone off their axis, including the earth. Given that I only stayed in Hawkes Bay for my ex, now all I want is job security and a place to stay,” I said, stretching out. “At my current job, I have that.” 

            “Essential service?”

            I nodded. Even though he probably couldn’t see it coz it was semi dark now. 

            “It is a crazy time, at the moment. We’re all searching for this new so-called normal,” Marc said. He leant back and pushed into the seat, as well. 

            “I feel like my body is physically here but my spirit is somewhere else,” I said. I started collecting up my rubbish and putting it into the paper bag. “We are all learning again.” 

            He turned to me and started stroking his chin. “And by the sounds of it, your ex cut you up pretty badly?” 

            “He did more than cut me up,” I said, distantly. “But, he’s in the past now. I learnt a lot about him and myself. I took myself out of the limelight, learnt to self-love, learnt that everyone isn’t on the same parallel as good people, and that life can be a piece of shit sometimes. But how we process that shit, will make or break us. You know, when someone has an iPhone or Android they no longer need?”

            “Yes…?” 

            “Well, you know, how they take it to a reseller and trade it in and those phones get either refurbished or thrown out? I like to think I got refurbished in my time I took myself away from the dating life. In that time, like I said, I learnt to live life and be myself. Okay, resources were limited due to Covid but other than that, I think I came out well.”

            “I think so too,” he smiled. He reached out and nudged my shoulder. “You know, I have admired you for the past couple of weeks. I saw you working one day and I was like this man can work. You must work some decent hours, and yet, you still fit in time to come down here and meditate.” 

            I blushed. 

            “You have so much going for you. Don’t ever let anyone, your ex, your enemies bowl you over for it. We’re all going through some bullshit at the moment and like I said before, this is a test. Those bigwig corporations wanna fight over profitability while us folk at the bottom of the food chain, need to filter out the positivity within the negativity. You already have this set in concrete, Jeff.”

            I was almost in tears. This guy didn’t even know me from a bar of soap and he was building me up like he was my mentor. It’s funny who you meet down at the beach. Sometimes you meet the stoners, the lost or you make new friends and I think I made a new friend that night – Marc. 

            “You wanna grab a coffee?” he asked, checking his watch. “I mean, it’s nearly 9 but I’m sure BP coffee will be great?” 

            I smiled. 

            And so we got up off the park bench, I threw away my rubbish and we both walked out towards his car.