Abby

The next day was another day of hustling and bustling. If Colin had already talked to the security staff on the ship, it didn’t seem like they were doing their job. I had to fight off the crowd just to stay next to Colin on our way to breakfast, and I almost lost him when we were disembarking the ship. We had docked at St. Lucia for the day and had planned an ocean excursion. One that would put us right there at the coral reef so we could snorkel and enjoy the fish.

But the crowds were relentless and it was hard to even keep hold of his hand.

We piled onto the bus that was going to take us to our excursion and the crowd was insane. The bus was packed with people asking him questions, and some even leaned over me to try and get a picture with him. It was like I wasn’t even there. Like they had no regard for my presence whatsoever.

Finally, Colin had apparently had enough.

“Excuse me, could I have everyone’s attention?”

He stood up on the bus as people began recording his every move.

“My beautiful fiancé and I are trying to enjoy our day here on this wonderful island. Some of you have even been leaning over her to get pictures with me. While I enjoy all of the support you all show me on a daily basis, I can’t allow you to disregard her in this manner. She is here trying to enjoy her first cruise ever, and she can’t even have my attention. I cherish you all, and your support is priceless to me. But please, let Abby and I enjoy our time together.”

He sat back down in his seat before he pulled me close to his side. I could tell a few people were shocked and upset, but they didn’t try to approach us any longer. I cuddled into him close and nuzzled his neck with my nose as pride surged in my chest.

He had stood up and defended me, effectively choosing me over them.

The rest of the bus ride was fairly silent. We traveled the island and looked out the windows. My hand caressed Colin’s thigh as his fingers traced pictures on my arm. The beauty of the island was spectacular, and I tried to let it overwhelm me rather than the attention we were getting from everyone around us. We wound through thick brush and traveled quaint roads through tiny little towns, but I could smell the ocean as we approached it.

I gasped at how crystal clear the waters were as we readied ourselves to snorkel.

Feeling slightly silly, I put on the ridiculous flippers and goggles. I had a breathing tube held in my hand as Colin and I waddled our way to the water. I could tell people were still taking pictures of us, but I couldn’t blame them in that moment. I’m sure we looked spectacularly ridiculous, especially as we tried to kiss while wearing those insanely big goggles.

“You know, I should gather up all these fan photos and make our first vacation album out of them,” I said, grinning.

Colin looked upon me with something akin to relief in his eyes.

“What?” I asked.

“You have no idea how wonderful it is to see that sparkle back in your eyes,” he said.

“I’m sorry, Colin. For last night. For what I said and how I spoke to you. I was so angry at everything and I took it out on you. That wasn’t fair. I said things I shouldn’t have, and I don’t know how I can make it up to you. I’m just not used to all this attention, and the way they just— pulled me from you yesterday. It scared me. It scared me really badly.”

“I know,” he said, as he cupped my cheek. “It wasn’t until I realized they were actually leaning over you today that I understood what was going on. What you were actually enduring. When my fame first kicked in, they wanted to be around me. I never experienced being shoved off to the side. Not like they were doing to you. I’m sorry I didn’t see it sooner, Abby. I was thinking that I’d gotten used to it, so you could too, but I didn’t realize it wasn’t the same experience at all. I’m sorry it just didn’t click.”

“I’m just overwhelmed,” I said, breathlessly. “Just give me some time to deal with it. I’m sure it’ll still make me angry and I’ll need someone to talk to.”

“You mean yell at,” he said, grinning.

“Dick.” He bent down to kiss me again, our lips connecting as people took more pictures. His kiss had the ability to do that. To rip me out of my reality and plunge me into a world where it was only the two of us. We were standing at the ocean’s edge, on one of the most beautiful islands in the Caribbean, with flippers on our feet, goggles in our way, and breathing tubes in our hands.

And yet, it felt much like we were back in a dingy road trip motel room, with nothing but our bodies to keep us warm, and no one in sight for miles.

“I’m sorry I can’t make this better. If there was something I could do to fix it, I would,” Colin said.

“Your little speech on the bus was a nice start,” I said, smirking. “And—you were right.”

“I was what?” he asked.

“You were right.”

“Come again?”

“You really are a dick,” I said, giggling. “What you said last night about me having to get used to it—it was spot on. I have to find a way to cope if this is going to work, and running away isn’t the answer.”

“Colin? Abby? Is that you?”

I turned my head at the familiar voices and smiled when I saw Bernie and Doris.

“Hey!” I said, as they waddled towards us. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Bernie’s here to try his hand at snorkeling or whatever,” Doris said. “I’m here to enjoy my rented float and never-ending rum punch.”

“Sounds like my kind of woman,” Colin said, grinning. “You guys wanna come out with us?”

“We’d love to. You guys can help keep an eye on Bernie. He’s seventy two, but he thinks he’s still twenty two.”

“The only way to do it, in my eyes,” I said.

“We got married when we were twenty two, Doris. You keep me young,” Bernie said.

“You didn’t say that fifty years ago,” Doris said.

“Nope. But we got to know each other eventually,” Bernie said.

“Wait, what?” I asked.

“What do you mean?” Colin asked.

“Oh, you kids these days think love is all about courtship and marrying your best friend. But back in our day? We were the tail-end of the generation that still married for property and convenience.”

I felt my jaw hit the ground as we slowly walked ourselves into the ocean.

“Wait. Did the two of you have some sort of—arranged marriage?” I asked.

“Of sorts. Our families would both benefit from us marrying, so we had a couple of months to get to know one another before we tied the knot,” Bernie said.

“You’re kidding,” I said. “Two months before the two of you got married.”

“As crazy as it sounds, yes,” Doris said. “We didn’t really know each other on our wedding day, but it was fated.”

“It wasn’t fated. We made it fated,” Bernie said.

“That doesn’t make sense, Bernie.”

“Yes it does. It means we made the best out of the scenario. We put in the work, we fought through the bad times, and we never went back on the promises we made to each other that day,” Bernie said.

“What promises were those?” I asked.

“Wedding vows, sweetheart. They’re called ‘vows’ for a reason,” Doris said.

“For better and worse. Richer and poorer. Those things,” Bernie said.

“Don’t forget ‘til death do us part,” Doris said, mumbling.

Colin bit back a chuckle as I continued to stare at them.

“Abby, we made a promise to one another to never leave the other’s side. Marriage isn’t just about love and romance. It’s about hard work. It’s about compromise. It’s about knowing that things will never be perfect. There were times where I couldn’t stand to even look at Bernie. But even in those times when a part of me hated him, I still cared for him. He gave himself over to me as my life partner the day we got married.”

“And to this day, we’re still getting to know each other,” Bernie said. “People change over the years. Their likes change. I’m constantly learning about my wife, and she’s constantly learning about me.”

“Sounds exactly how it should be,” Colin said, as he threaded his arm around my waist.

“Our life hasn’t been easy. I’ve done plenty of things I didn’t agree with and he’s eaten plenty of dinners he hated,” Doris said.

“I told her never to make baked spaghetti again,” Bernie said.

I giggled as I leaned my head back onto Colin’s chest.

“But we’re soulmates,” Doris said.

“But we’re soulmates because we made it that way,” Bernie said.

“He doesn’t like romance,” Doris said.

“I just don’t like romance that dims the truth on things. Marriage is hard work. Even people who meet each other and fall in love instantly still struggle and have dark times. And sometimes, those dark times can make it seem like things are impossible and will never get better,” Bernie said.

“But they do,” Doris said. “They always do.”

I had no idea what to say. I was in awe of the couple standing in front of us. I watched as Bernie helped Doris onto her float, making sure her hair was out of the way and that she was comfortable. With the way they smiled and interacted with one another, I would’ve thought they were love-at-first-site soulmates. Not people who were thrust together for the convenience of their families.

Just watching how happy they were challenged everything I had ever thought about marriage.

“Abby?” Colin asked.

“Yes?”

“I have a crazy idea,” he said.

“What?”

“Why don’t we get married at the next stop?”

I turned around in his arms as my eyes widened.

“Wait, there’s another stop on this cruise?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said, chuckling. “Basseterre, Saint Kitts. If you think St. Lucia’s beautiful, then I can’t wait for you to see that island. It would be the perfect wedding destination, exactly what you deserve.”

“Colin, that’s really quick. And none of our family will be there. My parents—they’ll miss everything,” I said.

“I want to marry you,” he said, as he took my hands. “All of you. The good, the bad, and the scared. I know we can do this. I know we can make it. It’ll take work, and it’ll take running towards each other instead of away, but I have faith in us. I have faith in love. I love you, Abby. I want to do life with you. No matter what it brings and no matter what weather we have to battle alongside each other.”

I clenched his hands tightly as Doris and Bernie stared at us.

“Can I think about it first?” I asked.

“Of course you can,” he said, as he pressed a kiss to my forehead. “We don’t dock in Basseterre until tomorrow.”

I sighed heavily before I turned and took in Bernie and Doris. He was swimming alongside her, pulling her out into the ocean as she gazed down at the fish. He was pointing out things to her and she was smiling broadly as he kicked her along with his flippers. I laced my fingers with Colin as I watched them drift off into the ocean together, their bodies heading for the coral reef as I smiled.

“Do you think that could be us one day?” I asked.

Colin brought my hand to his lips for a kiss as my eyes turned up to his.

“I know it can,” he said.