Moving from the bedroom, I walked slowly through the small hall to the living area where I knew I would find Calix. The instant my eyes found his and I saw the blue lighten, I forgot all about my desire for makeup.
“Come here.” Calix said firmly and I realized that I’d stopped walking. Commanding my brain to tell my legs to move, I took a step forward and then another and another and another until I was standing in front of Calix.
He was handsome in his white fitted shirt and dark jeans. He wore a gunmetal gray watch on his thick wrist and my mind flashed back to the first time I’d seen him in the back of the limo. He’d been wearing a gray watch then too. I remembered the way he’d flexed his arm, his wrist stressing against the links of the watch as he watched me take him in - memorizing him. I knew I had succeeded that day in my quest to memorize everything about Calix. I knew every line of his hard face, the angle of his square jaw and the flecks of cerulean in his brilliant eyes. I knew the way he moved and I knew the way he held himself when he was angry, frustrated, ashamed, and tense. I knew his smiles - the smiles that were so beautiful were so terribly rare. I had memorized the way his ebony lashes lay against the smooth golden skin beneath his eyes in sleep and I also knew that when he was holding back, a muscle in his cheek twitched.
I knew this man. The realization was startling down to the very core of my being. I knew him, knew him. I didn’t just know what he liked and didn’t like, but I knew how he moved and how he responded to things before he even responded. Calix didn’t really surprise me anymore, and that in itself was a shock because I hadn’t known Calix more than fourteen days. But I knew that he was beautiful. I knew that although his poison ran deep, was infectious, and held the components to destroy me - that this man was beautiful.
His hand moved to settle against the small of my waist and I realized that he was studying me curiously.
Blushing, I mumbled. “Hi.”
“Hey beautiful.” He smiled. “What’s on your mind?”
“I’m wondering where you’re taking me?” I lied.
He narrowed his eyes, clearly smelling my lie but thankfully choosing not to call me out on it, before replying. “Still a surprise, love.”
I smiled. “I figured.”
He pulled me forward as he walked backwards to a comfortable leather chair. I giggled and he grinned as he settled into the seat beside the window before pulling me down into his lap. “Look,” he pointed to the window and I felt my eyes swing to the glass before my breath caught in my throat.
“Whoa,” I breathed. I saw blue and white. There were lots of both and my heart raced determinedly in my chest. This was familiar from my hours upon hours of internet research. It was one of the many places I longed to visit but could never afford. My breath hitched as I asked. “Where are we?”
“Greece.” Calix finally granted me an answer and I felt my eyes swing back to his as my lips parted. I’d been right.
“We’re honeymooning in Greece?” I whispered, feeling an excitement build within my chest that I knew I had no hope of restraining.
He nodded and his eyes watched as mine filled with tears of happy excitement. A loud, abrupt sounding giggle tore from between my lips and I flung my body hard against his chest, squeezing him tight as his arms moved around my waist and a laugh - a sweet sounding, husky, deep laugh rumbled against my ear. Pulling away from him to practically press my face to the window, I oohed and awed and mumbled to myself as the plane flew over the land of sienna colored sand, white stone buildings and deep blue oceans with speckling’s of blue-green shallow spaces.
A voice sounded over the space, informing us we needed to prepare for landing.
Again, my mouth dropped open and I whispered excitedly. “We have to prepare for landing!” I bounded in Calix’s lap. “In Greece.”
He was grinning widely as he watched my excitement bubble into the space before his hands settle on my hips. “We can’t land anywhere until you get into your seat and put your belt on.”
“Oh,” I froze, before leaping from his lap to dart for my seat. Plopping my rear into the seat, I quickly fastened my belt as Calix watched me with bright, amused eyes. “I’m ready.”
“I see that, love.” He chuckled.
I watched through the window as the plane lowered itself to the ground and from the corner of my eye, I could see that Calix was only watching me. I knew then, that Calix knew me. He knew me in ways I didn’t know him. He knew me in ways I longed deeply to know him. He knew my dreams and he had the ability to make them into reality. I wished I knew his, and possessed even a fragment of hope to make them into reality. I wanted Calix to have everything his heart desired, but more than that, I wanted to be the one who gave him everything he desired. The only issue was that I had nothing to give but myself - and he had already taken me.