It was a small chapel, with a terracotta tile floor and dark oaken pews, Spanish frescos adorning the walls with depictions of saints, whose beatific gazes seemed unnaturally turned towards me. I said a brief prayer, asking God’s forgiveness for the path I had chosen, though I couldn’t remember ever having precisely chosen it, and for strength to confront both the future I had rashly invited, and the face in the mirror I increasingly couldn’t recognize. At the end of the day, we found a seafood restaurant with a lobster tank flanking the foyer and a stuffed blue marlin suspended above the bar. The men, and not a few of the women in the restaurant openly stared as Sabelle made her entrance. Not for the first time, I wondered to what extent she was aware of the effect she had on strangers, which could fairly be said to have been hypnotic, but to look at her just then it was clear she had no idea whatsoever. Our table had a view of the long, white-sand beach that stretched north for miles and could have been lifted from a Gauguin painting. The hostess seated us with an imperious flourish. Remembering our dear little waiter that first night in the city, I imagined her announcing, “If you don’t like the view, we will change it for you.” “Tell me you love everything about me,” my lovely demanded in a brisk, triumphant voice. “I love everything about you.” “Even the horrid, wicked bits?” “Those especially.” How quickly it had all happened. We had only known each other for six weeks, actually a little less. But then I told myself time is elastic. Lives change in a heartbeat, days contain years. “You folks on your honeymoon?” an elderly man sitting with his wife at an adjacent table asked. “Sabelle gave me a sidelong wink and hushed conspiratorially. “How did you guess?” “Maude and I have been married for thirty-seven years,” the man replied. “You get so you can recognize the signs. You all have that look.” “Do we?” my putative wife replied, kicking my shin rather hard under the table. Her subterfuge reddened my cheeks, but I couldn’t see any real harm in it, inasmuch as we would likely never see those people again. To be honest, it was rather exciting. At that moment I wouldn’t have minded if the whole room thought us betrothed. *****
Posted on: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 19:29:44 +0000
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