I dove under the water and surfaced back up. Diving under deeper again than re-surfacing when my breath was depleted. Each time I felt like a new person as I breathed in the fresh ocean oxygen. I floated on my back and closed my eyes. I thought of Carlos and laughed.

Last night had been fun. I liked that about living here. There was never an awkward moment of expecting too much from someone and getting let down. It was a free for all. Everyone loved to fuck, exchanging phone numbers was not an ordinary thing and relationships were hardly ever even considered. It made nightlife fun but I knew it was beginning to get old. I knew there was something stirring inside of me. I knew I wanted to find a mate and have a baby.

Considering I was a nomad, I would have no problem getting up and changing my lifestyle for someone I loved. I touched my abs lightly, especially if they gifted me with a child of my own to bear.

I had been putting aside money for quite awhile now. My life was fairly simplistic. The only time I splurged was on a night out drinking, and still that was not enough to break the bank. I didn’t have a plan. I just knew I was saving for something important. I would know it when the time came, and I was beginning to think that time would be sooner than later. A well deserved vacation to satisfy my desires perhaps. Let the fire that had sparked between Justin and I burn.

I swam back to shore to towel off and get some breakfast. When I got back to my cabina I heard my phone ding.

New Message Justin Laws

“You’re amazing, I can’t stop thinking about you.”

Those words were enough to make me book a flight tomorrow. “You know you’re driving me crazy,” I replied, wincing as I typed. How had this cyber relationship with my ex become so strong so fast? I guess it hadn’t always been online, we had been in love, a lifetime ago. “I want to meet again,” I said. I needed to know if this was going to be real or not. Even if the first time around he had broken my heart, my feelings were too strong to ignore.

My stomach was growling at me, I went out on the street to find some food, this time taking my phone with me. I was about thirty seconds down the street when I ran into a co-worker and friend of mine, Ali. “Hey ma’ lady!”

“Rory!” She squealed back. “So…how was last night? Is there something you want to tell me?” Ending her sentence with an exaggerated wink.

“Um… no?” Oh shit, that’s right, Carlos. Did word around this little town actually spread that fast?

“Oh really,” clearing her throat as she said it.

“Ok, calm down, yes I know what you’re talking about, but you can relax, nothing happened.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes! He’s so not my type.”

“Your type? What does that even mean!”

“I dunno, I’m just not into him.”

“Like you have a type! When you first got here you would fuck anything that walked under this sun.” I denied it, but it was fairly true.

When I first arrived to the town I had just broken off a two-year relationship and was looking to have some fun. My ex prior to moving down south had cheated on me with several ‘playmates’ throughout our time together. I only found out through a random series of events that lead to a surprise visit at his house at 10am where I found a naked man in his bed. It was almost like he wanted to get caught.

That wasn’t the reason I moved here though. It was however, most likely, the reason for my promiscuity in this foreign town. I would party every night, go home with local strangers, sleep with anyone that was remotely good looking and interested. It was fun. I only started to slow my roll after about five months of living here. It all started to catch up with me. I was running into men I had slept with all over town. I didn’t care much, but there could sometimes be awkward unwanted situations that would arise in the grocery store, the bank, or other mundane locations and that was something I did not need in my life.

After I started transitioning into a long-term expat I decided to give up my promiscuous ways so I could buy my groceries in peace.

“I’m not interested in random, meaningless sex anymore,” I whined to Ali. “I want a man, I want a mate.” I pushed out my bottom lip in a sad pout.

“I don’t believe that for a second.”

My mind pictured Justin. “Well, actually, I’ve been talking to someone.”

She burst out laughing, “Like who! A shrink?”

“No! A guy!”

“Oh,” wrapping up her hysterical laughter, “Who?”

“Someone from my home town; he’s in the army,” I gushed.

“So how is that going to work?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t thought it through, we just started talking and maybe I could fall for him.”

“That is a pretty loose expectation, Rory.”

I knew she was right. But there was just something so familiar and genuine about the emotions I was having, and he seemed to feel the same. I was daydreaming about it all, staring off into space.

“So, you’re just going to pick up and move north again because of some random guy?”

He’s not that random I thought to myself but when she put it like that it did seem crazy. It’s not like I was going to live here forever. I wasn’t even legal, just living off a tourist visa that I continuously renewed. “I don’t know Ali, what if he’s the one?”

“Ok, keep dreaming.” She replied sarcastically. “Well anyways, good luck with that, I’m off to the beach. I’ll see you at work tonight?”

“Yes, of course, see you there.” I walked off, carrying on my journey for breakfast. I was so busy thinking about what she had said and how ridiculous I sounded that I didn’t feel the vibration in my pocket.