*****
The water was soothing to my body. I hadn’t had the chance to swim in the ocean in months, and finally being able to let myself enjoy the waves caressing my skin felt like meeting and old and dear friend. A friend who I had missed for such a long time, who had been taken from me.
Getting undressed and stepping into the warm water, letting it pull me away, felt liberating.
It must’ve been more than an hour since I left the house today. Ever since Jack had seen that I didn’t cheat on him, he had stopped worrying about syncing our days off. Although that just meant that I would be free just once every two weeks, I was happy. I could live in that day, not merely survive. I could do the things I loved, like now, if I was careful not to give myself away in front of Jack.
It was the first time I had come to the beach since meeting Daniel there. I had found myself looking for him, as if he would magically decide to walk on the beach at the same time I was there. After a while, I gave up, telling myself that I was only being silly.
I swam some more, getting my body thoroughly tired before turning on my back and floating lazily.
“Hey! I’ve been looking for you,” Daniel shouted from the beach.
“You were?” I asked, suddenly happy as a child. His presence had cheered me up instantly and, I didn’t know what it was, but I was feeling more daring than my usual self.
“Yeah. I wanted to ask you about the other day.”
“What about the other day?”
Suddenly, my good feeling was starting to dissipate. If he actually asked about that day in the supermarket, I had to lie. But lying to him felt wrong.
“About that day in the supermarket,” he uttered the dreaded words.
“What about that day?” I asked, my voice weak.
“You looked … upset. I could even say distressed. Was it because of the man next to you?”
“Noo!” I tried to laugh it off. “I mean, he is a bit jealous, but he’s fine. I wanted to thank you for not saying anything.”
“That’s not jealousy, Melissa. That’s abuse.”
“Pfff, abuse? No, not Jack.” I was laughing, but it felt foreign. Maybe I should distract him. “Come join me in the water! It’s weird to shout at each other.”
He chuckled and got rid of his t-shirt, then hurried to my side.
“So, you like to swim, eh?” he joked, tugging me by the hand under the water.
“Oh, no! You didn’t! I was a champion in high school,” I warned him, before swimming away.
“You were? Shall we race, then? See who’s better?”
I laughed at his challenge. “Fine. Show me what you got.”
“If I were you, I wouldn’t be so cocky.”
“Oh? And why is that?”
“I told you, I’m a Navy SEAL. Do you think you could beat that?”
“We’ll see,” I said and swam away.
I had fun that afternoon. We raced, he won, I challenged him again, we tried to drown each other. A happy day altogether.
I was tired and hungry. I got out of the ocean and squeezed the water out of my curls. I knew the salt would ruin it, but I didn’t care. I would do some deep conditioning at home and Jack wouldn’t know a thing about my escapade.
“Come on! Are you going to sleep in there?” I shouted at Daniel.
The sun was setting behind him, but I could still see the harsh expression in his eyes.
“I’m going to kill him,” he growled as he got out of the water.
My bruises! He had seen my bruises. In my stupidity, I had forgotten about them.
“No! Daniel, wait!”
“He’s an animal. I’ll kill him like one!” he shouted back. He wasn’t even going to get dressed to go into town, that’s how mad he was. “Where does he live?”
“I’m not telling you. Please, listen to me.”
“He did this to you. How could you not tell me?”
I looked down, searching for my words. Why didn’t I just tell him and get it over with? And then it all came to me.
“I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I won’t. I’ll crush him …”
“No. He’s not alone. He has people who help him. Dangerous people.”
“You can go to the police.”
“No, I can’t. I don’t know all of them, just some. And they will come after me. I will have to deal with many more like him. It’s easier to bear with just the one, right?”
“That’s not a life, Melissa,” he said, grabbing my hands. I looked away, fighting the tears back. “I can help you. I am a decorated officer. Any cop will listen to me. I can protect you.”
“You can’t. You’ll get hurt. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“But, you don’t under—”
“Please. Promise me you won’t do anything.” I was looking into his eyes now. I wanted him to see that I meant what I said.
He remained quiet, his eyes relating his disapproval. I feared for him and the decision he would make.
“Fine. As much as it hurts me to step on my principles, on the very thing that makes up who I am, I will not go after him.”
“Thank you,” I breathed easily.
“For now. And for you. I don’t understand your reasons, maybe you don’t either, but I will stand down. I need to find out more about him anyway. At least tell me his name.”
“Jack Driscoll,” I whispered, feeling guilty for the sin of disclosing this information. It felt like betrayal.
“Thank you.”
He lifted my chin and kissed my eyes. I was crying now, all my energy eaten up by the struggle inside me. I leaned on his chest and closed my eyes as he hugged me tightly.