I earned this vacation.
It had been over a year since my divorce, and since that time I had turned from being a bitter man to one who was truly enjoying life again. The change in jobs plus the unexpected single life had helped transform me, and so, while tasting a local brew, looking out over the Pacific Ocean, I told myself that I earned every second of this vacation. Another fringe benefit of my new bachelorhood was that I found the time to exercise - and was, at 42, in the best shape I'd ever been in my entire life.
I chose Costa Rica, but not the areas which were the playgrounds of the rich, or lazy. I chose an area at the very end of the road, with very few amenities. 1 restaraunt/bar (Tico's) served the small town, and the only lodgings were tiny houses nestled even farther off the beaten path which were only accessible by foot. One had to leave their car at Tico's and walk a few hundred yards to get to their jungle seaside abodes.
I sat in the open air veranda, surrounded by only a few others like myself, some were locals, others were just looking to decompress. The book in my hands was by no means heavy reading, 'The Wildlife of Costa Rica'. The few 'real' books that I brought along I saved for the plane trips back home. Here, I just wanted to soak in all that I could - incuding the local food, fauna, and drink, the latter of which I was savoring greatly.
A couple came in and sat at the table next to mine. He seemed to be about my age (42), she was definitely younger, perhaps in her early or mid thirties. Rather than sitting facing each other she sat facing to the outside - with him to her right. My back was to their table, but I could hear their conversation well enough. At one point I heard her tell him:
"Stephan, that's the bird we saw before!"
I looked outside to see it, but with it being night I was a bit confused, until I heard her say:
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be reading over your shoulder, but I saw that picture, and recognized that bird."
I looked over to her, and saw her smiling eyes, and smiled back. Her face was framed in hair that had been curled by the humidity, and tousled by the ocean winds. She was about 5'4" tall, and a physique which was both fit, and wonderfully curvy at the same time.
"This is a mecca for all sorts of wildlife." I said. "My name is Liam, did you both just arrive here?"
She told me they had, and that her name was Suzanne, her husband's Stephan. They were only in this part of Costa Rica for a day and a half before moving on to other regions. I turned my chair and joined the two of them at their request. Having been alone for the last 5 days here it was a welcome change from my solitude.
When the waiter came by I ordered a round of drinks for all 3 of us. Suzanne simply exuded life. Her eyes were full of energy and smiles, her body moved as if she were going to break into dance at any moment, and even the whispy sundress she was wearing was full of colors. As she leaned forwards to talk and sip her drink I found myself working hard to not get caught looking at her lithe body.
Stephan, on the other hand, seemed like he would be far more at home at one of those luxury spas up the coast, where everything was groomed and efficient, and the local 'flavor' was sifted out. He only seemed to join the conversation when he was asked direct questions, otherwise he busied himself with his laptop. ('It's hard on him to be away from his work." Suzanne said about him).
But, this was fine with me, as I was so thoroughly enjoying her company. Other than a quick weekend 'fling' with one of my graduate assistants 8 months ago, I had buried myself in my other interests, but seeing Suzanne, made me realize how much was missing from my life. Her interests were as varied as mine, and when she found that I was a professor of 'creative writing' at a small college, she shared her enthusiasm with me even going toe to toe with me debating the merits of certain authors. I found myself grinning broadly at her while she talked with me - so enjoying the reparte with such an attractive woman.
'What's so funny?' she asked, noticing my grin.
"It's such a nice change having discussions like this with a real woman, rather than a college student. My life tends to be twenty-something year olds these days."
"Are you calling me old?" - She was grinning now.
"How about 'older?" I said, playing the game with her.
"Well, it can't be all bad being around those college girls can it?" She said, looking directly into my eyes.
"Been there, done that, - not interested in going back" I smiled, challenging her look.
She raised her eyebrows in amusement, and something else which I couldn't quite figure out.
"Well, to change the subject," she said while still looking directly at me, "I want to take a guided hike tomorrow, and thought that you might be able to tell me who would be a good person to do it?"
I pointed to a tall, very fit man at the bar, complete with dreadlocks, - "He's the guy, I've used him twice this week already, but to warn you, he leaves very early. Are you sure you'll both be up to leaving at 6 in the morning?"
"I'm a morning person, I'm usually up that early. And, it''ll be just me going solo, Stephen will be parking himself either here, or on the beach if the sun isn't too strong." With that she went over to the bar to talk to Toma. Stephan and I sat in silence at the table, as he did not seem the least bit interested in talking with me, nor did he seem to notice any of the sparks that had been flying across the table between his wife and me..
Suzanne returned, with a drink for herself, and another one for me.
"Payback for the tip!" she smiled as she sat down.
"He's got a fairly large group going tomorrow, but I'll join in too"
We continued chatting for another half hour, and I could feel my pulse livening as I sat there with her. I kept repeating to myself that this was silly, she's married, he's sitting right across from me, but I couldn't stop myself from flirting with her, or catching her eye. Finally, I stood and told them that I was heading back to my house, before the moonlight was lost, as I didn't have a flashlight along. Stephan shook my hand, and then Suzanne did the same, grasping it lightly with both hands. A shock ran through my body at her touch, and I hoped she (or her husband) didn't notice. I bid them goodnight - hoping to catch them tomorrow.
The next morning I rose early as I usually did there to catch the awakening of the earth. My trail today was into the forest, then back along the coast, about 5 miles in all. The nice thing about the coast trails were that you could hike in shorts and a tshirt - not having to worry about snakes, or mosquitoes. So, I felt light on my feet and was loving every moment. Sometime around mid morning, I was heading back along the coast, having just climbed one of the many finger points between the secluded beaches. I had my binoculars out and was scanning ahead for anything interesting, but what I saw was a complete shock. On the beach below was one of the twenty-something year old college girls I had seen earlier, with one of the locals from the bar. They had spent the night on the beach, and he was laying on his back. She was touching him, pumping him with her hand. The sight of her white hand, moving on his black body was shocking in it's sexuality. She had her side of the sleeping bag half covering her, with one beautiful breast bared.. His side had the covers pulled back completely - he was thoroughly enjoying what she was doing. The openness with which she touched him, and the ease in which she let herself be naked was erotic. I was mesmerized watching her, when suddenly I heard a voice behind me.
"Well, did you find any good wildlife?"
It was Suzanne. I put my binoculars down, feeling myself blush at what I had been doing. She told me how she had decided to head off on her own, since the group was so large, and noisy. Toma pointed her to the path that led to the ocean, and that was how she ended up with me.
"Come on!" she said, pulling me by my hand - "lets walk together."
I pulled her back playfully saying:
"Well, there's a bit of wildlife down there that I don't think we should disturb"
Her binoculars were in her backpack, where she had also stored her long pants and other clothes from the forest part of the hike. I handed her mine which were still around my neck - and I leaned forward so she could see.
"You dirty old man!" she laughed. "So, that's what you do out here." She then laughed, letting me know she was playing with me. Still looking through the binoculars she said,
"hmm... I would think that sand would get into places one wouldn't want it to."