The sun sank into a red sky which promised more good weather tomorrow. The palm trees gently swayed in the evening breeze. It had been a perfect day, one when people fall in love or flirt with the idea of happy ever after. Rene placed her cocktail on the bamboo table and felt the coolness of the glass beneath her fingers, as the warm evening air caressed her bare shoulders. Her smart evening attire made her feel feminine and cherished. This was a long, long way from the reality of a life where no-one took the time to smell the roses. This week, Rene would smell those roses, and certainly get intoxicated by their odor if life permitted.
Back at the office, the girls would be rushing around as usual. The only difference now was that they would have to do Rene's work as well. It was only a fleeting thought, but upon rising the next morning, Rene's mind wandered back to the world of cubicles and computer screens. Somehow it all seemed very surreal. How could you spend your whole life sitting behind a screen? People did, and of course she would continue to do so when she got home, though for the moment, she was on vacation, and the thought slipped away as she made her way to the restaurant for breakfast.
Blake was good looking. You could see the girls on the corner table ogling him as if he was on the menu. Rene smiled wryly. She too would love to be sat at his table, though was too old and wise to let it show too much. He was suave and sophisticated, his Cartier watch shining against the bronzed skin of his wrist, then contrasted again the whiteness and purity of cotton in a stark and classic white. He was a gentleman, the kind women dream about but who never cross a lady's path. It was as if the fantasy was richer than the reality, and Rene liked it that way. It was safe.
Against the soft sea sounds and the distant laughter of lovers, Rene was happy. The beach stretched out for miles, white sand against blue skies. Here, the warm air caressed her body, and the sun warmed her skin. She didn't have to think of Alex. Alex was supposed to be here. He was supposed to be her husband though at the last minute, he had not turned up at the church. She was supposed to be broken hearted, though the advice of girlfriends to take that flight to this tropical paradise has been the best advice she had taken for years. Somehow it didn't matter any more. Nothing was going to change Alex's mind and she wasn't even sure she wanted to any more.
Wherever Rene went on the island she saw Blake. Somehow this image filled her waking moments and took away any hurt she was supposed to feel. Perhaps it was a way to cope with reality, pushing it into the background in favor of the impossibly romantic notion of her and Blake. His smile warmed her heart. His stature made her think naughty thoughts that no-one should be allowed. Blake was that unblemished dream, untarnished affair of the heart that no-one could spoil.
The night of the storm, there was a knock at the door. The calm and still palm trees shook to their very roots, and the leaves threatened as the sky became darkened by clouds. Rene went to bed early. She didn't want to hear speculation about tornadoes and high tides. It would ruin the moment. After three martinis, she was ready for sleep. As the night wind chilled the air and the curtains moved in rhythm with its whistling, Rene heard the door of her apartment and in a state of confusion answered it.
He stood at the door with not a word between them. Taking him by the hand, she walked him to the bed and wrapped him within her warmth. His breathing sounded against her breast. Her heart felt light as night turned into darkness and silence and the passion of the moment filled her with hope, dreams and a fresh feeling of being alive. Even the skin against her own made her shiver with an anticipation which enfolded her until they were both joined as one, lost in each other and weathering the storm together. There, within the apartment, everything felt right and for the first time in so long Rene felt complete not because of Blake but in spite of him. Hers was a victory only women knew when allowed to live fantasies and grasp them with both hands.
When the calm of morning brought with it the sounds of motion, Rene awoke. She felt the pillow beside her and motioned her hand over the indentation in the pillow, as if someone had laid there beside her. She showered and washed her hair, taking extra time to look her best. Today was her final farewell to paradise and she wanted to look her best. The scent of him was still in her nostrils, the warmth and vibrancy of their motions still made her dizzy. Her legs trembled as she thought about it.
At the breakfast table, she sat alone. Looking over towards Blake's table, she noted his watch against his skin one more time. Oblivious to those around him, Blake was absorbed in the newspaper or talked on his cellphone in a voice she had never really known, and tones which were unfamiliar to her. No words had ever been spoken, no dreams shared, though the memory of the night before was somehow enough.
The plane would be delayed. Everyone said that the storms had passed, and Rene knew in her heart that they had. With those storms had come dreams as sweet as she had ever known. Even Blake didn't share them, but what the storms of winter had done was leave something much more real than the fantasy of the night before. Rene smiled as she stepped up those familiar steps of the plane. She was complete and nothing the real world could do to her would hurt any more. The imagination is a powerful tool against reality, and the storm of the summer had passed.