Chapter 10
“Good!” Antonio said, offering Grace a high five. “Your pronunciation was on key!”
“Danki,” Grace replied, feeling quite proud of herself. “You’re a good teacher.”
“It’s actually amazing how quickly you are learning,” Antonio said. “if I hadn’t learned when I was little, I don’t think I ever would have. It’s a lot of work.”
“I have to learn somehow,” Grace shrugged. “It’s going to be my life, you know.”
Antonio nodded. “About half the people you meet in Aruba will speak English, but for the other half, it is good to be prepared. Now, here is a really important phrase. Mi ta stima bo.”
“Wait, can you say that again? I got completely lost after the “me” part.”
“Mi ta stima bo.” Antonio repeated.
“Mi ta. . .stima bo,” Grace fumbled through the words.
“I’ve been wanting to hear you say that,” Antonio said, smiling at her.
“Why?” Grace asked. “What does it mean?”
“I love you,” Antonio repeated.
Grace’s mouth gaped open for a few moments. “You little jerk,” she said, pushing Antonio’s arm off the table.
“What is that?” Antonio asked. “Jerk? Or do I not want to know?”
“It means the kind of person that tricks you into saying something you don’t want to say,” Grace said, giving Antonio a precocious look.
“Oh, you do not want to say it?” Antonio asked, mocking hurt. “That’s alright. I won’t make you repeat it any more. Next!” They moved onto another phrase, but Grace’s mind still lingered on that one. “Mi ta stima bo.” She wondered what she did feel for Antonio. It certainly wasn’t love, but then Grace began questioning her old relationship with Dylan. Had she loved him as a woman loves a man or as a child loves their idol?
Grace shook her head and tried to focus on what Antonio was saying. “I’m tired of sitting down,” he said. “I think I need to stretch my legs. Do you want to take a walk around the city?”
Grace shook her head as she stood and stretched. “No, but go ahead if you like.”
Antonio smiled mischievously. “How about I give you a lesson then in the native dance? Most girls learn the steps in school when they are eight or nine years old, but it’s never too late to learn, huh?”
Grace shrugged. “Sure, why not?”
Antonio began showing her the position and the basic steps. Grace smiled. “No wonder they teach this to little girls. It’s not so hard.”
Antonio laughed. “I am sorry, but you are dancing like a robot. It’s like each step is mechanical. You’re supposed to be having fun, not be making sure you hit each mark exactly on target.”
Grace blushed, embarrassed at her lack of dancing ability. “Give me some time to get the steps first, then I can be looser,” Grace said.
“Look,” Antonio said. He began dancing the piece himself, moving his hips and gliding around the room.
Grace couldn’t help but laugh in delight. He looked so free and loose when he danced, and Grace felt the difference in her way of dancing. She was so worried about getting the steps right, that she couldn’t go with the beat.
“Let’s do it together,” Antonio said, taking her in his arms. “Step to the side. Roll with it.” Grace did the steps, but Antonio performed. As Grace watched his hips move, she couldn’t help but wish he was moving his hips in that way against her body. She felt unable to speak as she watched him move. Her heart started beating faster, and she looked up at him. How could she tell him what she was thinking?
She couldn’t. That much was clear. Grace continued to do her moves, but she was no longer focusing on herself.
“Chin up,” Antonio said, as though he was not noticing how much he was tempting Grace. “I know you are watching my feet, but try to do the steps without watching me.”
Grace swallowed hard and looked up, moving her feet along the same pattern. Her eyes slowly dropped to Antonio’s hips again, and she wasn’t sure, but she thought she could detect a bulge. Grace stopped herself just short of moaning.
She looked back up at Antonio, and he seemed all in tune to her thoughts right then. He looked right into her eyes, then she felt him press his hips up against her. He was most definitely hard. Grace gasped, and her eyes flew back to meet his.
“Oh, Grace,” Antonio said, leaning down. Grace thought he was going to kiss her, but his mouth went straight to her ear. “You are so tempting right now. I want to have you.”
Grace couldn’t control her moan then. “Okay,” she said in the most unromantic way possible. She didn’t care how she sounded, she just wanted to feel his hands on her body. The music droned on in the background as she kissed him. She allowed her hands to wander down his sides. She felt down the front of his pants and gripped him hard. When he moaned, Grace nearly collapsed.
“Harder,” he said in her ear. Then before Grace had the chance to do anything, he swept her off her feet and into his bedroom. He closed the door behind him, and she lay on the bed looking up at him. He carefully looked her over, and Grace slowly peeled off her shirt. His mouth came down and began alternatively kissing and biting her from her neck down. Grace pushed up to feel him against her, his skin smooth. She felt his tongue in her ear, and it made her shiver. Grace was in heaven.
She lay on the bed, breathing heavily. Slowly, she turned to look at the naked man next to her. He was smiling. Then he opened his arms to her, and she snuggled into them, feeling them wrap around her. Her mind scrambled to recover the words in Papiamento, but her thinking was still too fragmented to think straight. Grace wasn’t even sure if she was ready to say them anyway.
Antonio kissed her neck once then laid his head back on the pillow. Grace turned to look at him. “What are you thinking?” she asked.
“Now, I’m ready for a nap,” he said.
Grace laughed. “I could use one myself.”
“Good night,” Antonio said.
When she awoke, Grace wasn’t sure how she felt. She slipped out of bed and went to the kitchen in search of something to eat.
“I have made one of Antonio’s favorite dishes,” Estefan said from the stove. “They do not serve it here, and I know he must be missing our Aruban food.”
Grace came closer and peered at the dish. It looked spicy, but she was willing to try it. “Maybe I should go wake him up then, so he can eat it while it’s hot.”
Estefan nodded. “If you dare enter the sleeping bear’s cave,” Estefan smiled. Grace shook her head and entered the room again. Although she could not forget the experience she had just shared with this man, she felt as though she were on a different planet as she stepped into the room again.
“Antonio,” she said, standing in the doorway. He rolled over and looked at her.
“I wondered where you had gone,” he said.
“Looks like Estefan has made you something to eat. He thought you might want it while it was hot.”
“Okay, I’ll be in there soon.”
Grace sat down, and Estefan served her a plate. “Do you feel as though you are ready to make the journey to Aruba?” he asked as he served another plate, presumably for Antonio.
“We still have over three weeks, right?” Grace asked, suddenly worried that their time was going to be changed or lessened.
Estefan smiled. “I take it by your answer that you are not quite ready. That’s alright. You still have a few weeks to adjust to the idea.”
Grace nodded and began to eat the food. “Is this the type of food I will be eating in Aruba?” Grace asked.
“Yes, we eat rice almost every day,” Estefan said. “It is a strange day indeed when we do not.”
Grace nodded. “But if I want something else, there will be other options, right?”
Estefan seemed to be considering her options. “Perhaps. But, you will be expected to fit into the customs, not force your own customs upon palace life.”
Grace kept her face down, but she felt upset. Here she was being told she should not force her way of life upon anyone when this whole setup had been forced upon her. The irony life was bringing held no amusement for her.
When Antonio came out of his room, Grace tried to avoid him. She didn’t know how she had felt being with him. Physically, it had felt amazing, but she was not sure how she felt about it other than that. Would Antonio just think that she would sleep with him whenever he wanted now? Grace wasn’t sure she liked the idea.
“I’ll be in my room,” Grace said, placing her dirty dishes in the sink. She quickly exited, turned on the television in her room, and distracted herself from her current situation.