Sentilia
Chapter 12

I hated cars now, which was ironic, granted. I was used to going really fast in transporters, and now it was going to take forever to get to the beach, and the longer I was sitting in the car, the more nauseous I felt. Plus I could feel every bump and every crack on the road; it was the rockiest ride I’d ever been on.

I actually wondered if there was any way these things could go faster, since Kleio was controlling it, maybe he was going slowly on purpose? So I asked.

He raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “What? You want me to accelerate? But I thought... Usually ladies are more comfortable at a slower speed since it’s less dangerous... and you get nausea Max, it isn’t going to help...” One look at my face made him change his mind. I think the expression my father used to say, “if looks could kill” would have been an appropriate fit. “Well, okay, but I’m already going 80 miles per hour. I won’t go over 100.” His tone seemed very strict.

He accelerated, and I felt a tiny bit better. I started to feel sick again, but I could recognize the side of the roads; I remembered seeing them from the top of the mountain, with Maia; the red house, the park with the pond. We would be there soon enough; I could hang on for a few more minutes.

We passed beautiful green fields, and I was awestruck at how the simplest thing could be so beautiful. The sun was creeping up slowly in the sky, and it gave the whole picture a golden glow. I wanted to run through the fields, and discover the scent of cut grass and tilled land. But Kleio had other plans for us; he was slowing down now, as we were arriving at our destination.

It was not a part of the beach I recognized. In fact, I wasn’t sure it was the same beach at all. This was a rockier place, called Pebble beach. Boulders were quite numerous, but there was a cleared path all the way to the water. Kleio cut the purr of the engine; I opened my door and caught a whiff of a fishy and salty odor.

Kleio came around, and I stepped out of the car. He stood in front of me and I couldn’t help but ask: “Kleio. Where are we?”

“This is Pebble beach, we’re just...”

I interrupted: “No, Kleio, I mean...where are we? This island... where is it?”

I was suddenly sitting on a rock, a few feet away from where I had been standing. “Whoa...what just...” I turned around to see Kleio sitting beside me, and gave him a quizzical look. He completely ignored me. I assumed it was a glitch in my dream. It had happened to me about an hour or two before, when I was with Elis; but was I crazy to think it was weird timing?

“This is where I keep my boats. Do you see that first dock with the two boats?” I nodded slowly. “The first one is my fishing boat: the orange one. The other one, the sailboat, is just for leisure. I love sailing, don’t you?” He winked. He knew I had never been on the ocean.

I looked at him, suddenly realizing why we were here, completely disapproving.

“I know this is your first time, but I really hope you’ll like it,” he added more seriously.

“Kleio, I’m not so sure...I mean, I get carsick, won’t I also get boatsick?” I was scared, but also curious.

“It’s called getting seasick, Max, and it’s completely safe! C’mon!” He had a cute smirk on his face.

“Fine, K" I said, with a mocking tone. His smile widened.

We started walking towards the docks. From the beach now, I could feel it was a bit windy. I guessed it was an excellent time to sail. The sky was still a cloudless blue, so I figured there was no danger of a storm.

As we walked, he started talking. “I used to come here with Elis a lot. We would just sit down on the edge of the docks and stay there, silent. It was our time to be alone, to think about everything or about nothing. He used to be like my brother.” He stared at the ground for a moment, and then looked up at the horizon. “We stopped coming here when Elis started working. He said he didn’t have time to waste while people needed him. He wouldn’t take time for himself. But you know, I needed him too; he was my family. It was especially bad when his parents died; everything got worst. He kept everything buried inside, he never talked to anyone about it, not even his sister: it was like it never happened. Anyway... I still came here often after that. It was the only place I felt less lonely. It’s funny, because I couldn’t be more alone.” He extended his arms and half-turned, showing me what he meant. The place looked deserted.

I didn’t know how to comfort him. I’d never really had close friends or a sibling, so I didn’t know what it felt like, to lose someone so important in your life. I hesitantly took his hand in mine for a moment, hoping it would be enough. We stopped walking; we had reached the edge of the water.

Unsure, I took a tiny step onto the small quay, which floated loosely over the water. K encouraged me, saying there was nothing to fear. As I lifted my left foot, a wave came in, and I lost my balance. My right foot slipped, and I almost fell, face first, into the water. K just caught my arm, my face inches from the sharp rocks bordering the edge. I had my legs dangling in the water and I had scraped my right calf badly. He glanced down at me with a horrified face, and without thinking I shrieked: “I’m sorry!”

He lifted me back to secure land, and after a deep breath, he answered: “No, I’m sorry. I should have thought about that. It’s obvious you wouldn’t be stable, you’ve never been on water before.” He grabbed the back of my head, and squeezed me into a tight embrace.

I couldn’t lie to myself, it felt surprisingly good. I felt secure and warm; I held on tighter. Maybe it was because of the adrenaline flowing through my veins, or because I was in a dream —sort of a cotton-ball with a very shallow vision— but when I was with Elis I forgot about Kleio, and when I was with Kleio, I almost forgot about Elis. They both seemed like a distant souvenir, when we were apart. Like they were not real, like they had never existed. So it was a dangerous situation. I had to pay special attention not to get too involved with K. Because it was Elis whom I really liked. Right?

Could I let myself go, get to know both of them and not care about hurting Kleio or Elis because I was in a dream and they weren’t real? I wasn’t sure I could stand the guilt.

After a moment, he let go, but kept his arm tightly wound around my waist. I thought it was a good security precaution.

We slowly walked our way down the wooden dock, passing his first boat on the way. It was a large boat, but it was short. It was bright orange and had a small interior cabin. It was his fishing boat; he was paid to bring fish back for a local market; that was his job. This made me think about them preparing their own food. It was a challenge I wanted to give myself. I asked him if he could teach me.

“Of course, Max,” he had answered, “and I’m pretty good at it too... So, you’ll be learning from the best!” He winked at me.

We stopped walking to face a big beautiful sailboat. The sun reflecting on the white deck was almost blinding. He took my hand before jumping onto the boat. He then lifted me by the waist, and sat me down beside him. The first thing he did was fasten a lifejacket around my waist.

“Ready?” he asked.

I just nodded, unsure if my voice would betray me. I was very apprehensive, but I didn’t want to disappoint him.

“First things first; this sail is the main sail, and this one is called the gibe. Now, do you know how a sailboat works?”

“Really?” I answered, my face incredulous.

“Right.” He turned around and then trailed off, explaining how to set the sails halyard, and how to adjust the sails with the sheets, so he could stay at the helm.

It was important that I know how to trim the sails to catch the wind in a most proper way.

“The wind’s a bit stiff, but pretty steady. It’s predictable.” K was muttering things I didn’t always understand, but the important thing was that he was very calm. So I felt safe. Safe enough to laugh my way through the mistakes I made, while he gently and patiently corrected me, repeating again and again the same basic instructions.

He would roll his eyes while I was having hysterics. He would often lean down to give me a kiss on the forehead, or in my hair. It felt so natural that I didn’t mind. I hadn’t had that much fun...ever. I gave him a wide grin that he answered with an impish smirk.

We were approaching a coast, and I could see, through the crystal clear water pink and red and little blue fish swimming around. Stunning.

We anchored a few yards away from the shore. He scrutinized the water all around us, and after a moment he said: “Let’s go in! Just give me a minute to take the sails in.”

Before I had time to think, a strong wind came in, making the bow swing. This time, K didn’t have time to catch me. It was too late, I turned around and the boom hit me in the gut, sending me flying towards the water.

I didn’t know how to swim, so I panicked for a second, but the vest kept me afloat. K threw himself into the water—kind of a dramatic move, I thought—and swam over to tow me back to the boat. “ARE YOU OKAY? ARE YOU HURT?” I was pinned against him body but he was still shouting, his eyes wide with terror. After I had assured him that I was perfectly fine and bluntly told him to calm down, I saw his lips twitch from the corner of my eye. He was trying to hide the smile playing around the edge of his lips.

“It’s fine, you can laugh K.” I was absolutely sure that blood had stained my cheeks. I was embarrassed, replaying my ungraceful fall from the boat, but also laughing now. I faked a scowl at him, but he saw through me, and his answering laugh echoed mine.