T. Leigh - A Tragic Wreck

The following morning, Alexander was up at dawn as he took in the beautiful sunrise over the ocean. He grabbed a cup of coffee and, as he sat on the balcony enjoying the gentle breeze, he reminisced about all the mornings he shared coffee in bed with Olivia. This is paradise , he thought.

Several stories below his suite, people started to wander about on the beach. Tourists and locals seemed to be out getting their morning exercise. His thoughts returned to Olivia, wondering if she was out for a run. He grabbed his laptop and decided to continue doing a bit of research on the island to see if he could figure out where she lived.

Until the previous day, none of her credit cards had been used since she left Boston in October. The day she fled, there was a hefty cash withdrawal from one of her bank accounts. That was the last activity he could find. She clearly didn’t want to leave a paper trail. So why now? Alexander was thrilled that there finally was a clue as to where she was. Now he could at least try to find her. He secretly wished he had Carol go with him. He couldn’t think clearly when it came to Olivia, and he needed someone to remain level-headed.

His cell phone rang, breaking him out of his thoughts. “Good morning, Alex,” Chelsea crooned.

“Hi.” He was a little nervous speaking with her after her revelation to him the day before. He never thought that she was interested in a relationship with him. He didn’t have to worry about her only wanting to be with him for his money. She also came from money, but he thought all she was interested in was the occasional hook-up. Granted, recently, it had become more than just an occasional thing.

“I just wanted to call and say that I was thinking about you…”

“Chelsea…” Alexander interrupted.

“Alex, please,” she said, her voice strong. “Let me finish. I have no problem telling you my feelings. If you don’t return them, I’m okay with that. I was just thinking about you and I want you to be able to do whatever you feel you need to do. Just know that, no matter what your decision is, I will always be here for you. I won’t run. I will never push you away. The thing is, over the past several years, I’ve come to care for you during our occasional encounters. I should have said something sooner, but I didn’t want you to think I was some clingy girl who went from just wanting a once-in-a-while hook-up to suddenly wanting more.”

The line was quiet for several long moments while Alexander processed her words, thinking that maybe he could start to feel something for Chelsea. He didn’t feel the fireworks like he did with Olivia, but there was something there. “So, you do want something more?” he finally asked, breaking the awkward silence.

Chelsea exhaled loudly. “I do. And I know that, right now, you’re not ready to make that decision. But know that when you come back, I’ll be here. And if, at that point, you’re ready for something more, then I am, too. Until then, know that I’m thinking about you and missing your touch. Good-bye, Alex.”

“Good-bye, Chelsea,” he whispered softly, placing his cell phone on the lounge table next to him, thinking about Chelsea. And Olivia.

As he grabbed his laptop and powered it up, he heard the familiar sound of a woman’s laugh. God, I love that sound , he thought as his body came alive with electricity. It had been over a month since he had felt that sensation. Looking out over the horizon, his heart raced as he searched for the source of that laughter. He heard that sound in his dreams every night. Only one person had a laugh that beautiful. He was certain his Olivia was near. Grabbing his coffee, he walked over to the edge of his balcony, taking in several people running on the beach.

That’s when his heart almost stopped.

There she was, running up the shoreline toward his hotel. He stilled, watching as she placed one leg in front of the other in rapid succession, her hips moving in perfect rhythm. She made running look so easy.

His brain tried to tell his body to move, to run out of his suite and onto the beach. But he remained completely frozen, shock etched across his strong face. He stared as Olivia stopped running, looking in the direction that she had just come from. He could almost feel her smile as she stood gazing up the beach, laughing at something. Alexander followed her eyes to see a relatively tall man running toward her, obviously having trouble keeping up. He kept watching as she took a deep breath, the smile gone from her face. She slowly turned and looked out over the ocean.

And that’s when Alexander saw it. The sadness. The hurt. The loss. He knew that look all too well.

Because it was the same way he felt.

~~~~~~~~~~

Olivia looked toward the shore, waiting for Cam. As she watched a few small children run out from the back of the Ritz and into the ocean, their parents trying to catch up, she felt that familiar tingling sensation. Her eyes began searching the beach as if certain that he was there. But how could that be? She hadn’t told anyone where she was, and she had made it quite clear that it was time to move on. But there was an electricity in the air that Olivia hadn’t felt since the day she left Boston.

She scanned the beach, half expecting to see Alexander running up to her. She secretly wanted to see him, to run into his arms, have him swing her around and declare his undying love to her. But that only happened in the movies, not real life. And her life was as real as it got.

She looked out over the ocean waves, and the sadness took over. Her smile disappeared and that’s when she felt it…the emptiness. She thought she had felt empty before, but this was a new kind of emptiness. She realized how big of a mistake she made when she left Alexander, and she began to regret that decision. But there was no way he would take her back, knowing that the risk of her doing the same thing all over again was so high.

No. Olivia had made her decision and she would have to live with it. Those five little words still played over and over in her head… It will destroy me, too .

Hearing a child scream in excitement, she turned. People strolled along the white sand beach behind her. Tourists sat on their balconies of the Ritz, most likely enjoying their morning coffee. She wanted to cry when she thought about all those mornings she drank her coffee in bed with Alexander.

Her heart dropped when she noticed someone on the top floor of the Ritz, standing on a wrap-around balcony, staring down at her. It was too far away for her to make out who it was, but the stature was eerily familiar. Or maybe she just so desperately wanted Alexander to come searching for her, even though she had told him to move on.

“Jesus, you’re fast, Libby,” Cam said, finally catching up to her as she stared at the top floor of the swanky hotel, not responding, a blank look on her face. He wrapped his arm around her waist and gently kissed the top of her forehead. “You okay?” he asked, noticing her lack of reaction to him.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” She squinted, still looking at the man standing on the balcony, knowing there was something so familiar about whomever it was. She closed her eyes, trying to clear her head. She felt as if she was losing her mind. She needed to forget about Alexander. She saw him everywhere and it needed to stop.

Turning to Cam, she placed a gentle kiss on his lips, making him smile. “Ready to go back?”

“No,” he laughed. “But I guess I don’t have a choice, do I?”

“Not really!” she shouted as she took off running, glancing back over her shoulder at the balcony on the top floor of the Ritz, unable to shake the feeling that Alexander was nearby.