This is part 2 of a multipart story. To read the beginning of the story head to this page:
https://read.cash/@Kim-Tuyen-Pham/like-the-color-blue-part-1-22204bca
Like The Color Blue - An original story by Kim Tuyen Pham
The next day Mia went to work at around 10 a.m. and the dive center was already full of people. Keira, the manager, was a tall blonde English woman who had a strange deep voice. She was talking to someone on the phone. When she saw Mia approaching she hung up and turned to talk and address her.
“Hey, you’re alright? Had a good rest? There’s a Japanese guest who wants to try diving, he’ll come to the dive center now. Can you take care of him?”.
“Sure, no problem.”
Mia went to the classroom to gather the paperwork. It took her a while since everything was a mess. Everyone was too busy to care about putting things in order. Then she heard Keira’s voice talking to someone: “Yes, please go to the classroom over there, our Japanese instructor Mia is waiting for you.” She looked up and found him standing there, at the door, looking into her eyes.
“Mia, long time no see.” The words sounded stilted and he looked embarrassed. “How have you been?” His voice was still the same. That shyness and hesitation before every question he asked.
“Is that you?”
“Yes it’s me Mia. You still remember my face do you?” There was something like disappointment in Takamura’s voice.
“Yes, I remember you… I…You came here to dive?”
“I came here to see you.”
“I have to work now. I finish at 6…”
“I will wait for you. I will tell your manager I want to invite you to dinner with me as my instructor. I will come here to pick you up when you finish.”
Mia was still looking down at the paperwork when Takamura left. She couldn’t understand how she was feeling. It had been three years since he left Tokyo without saying goodbye to her. She deleted all their pictures. She destroyed everything that belonged to him or reminded her of him except her Facebook account because she
couldn’t bring herself to open it. If she did she would cry like a baby and scream and break things. And hurt herself. Her best friend, Naoko, had to take her to see a psychologist. After a long period of treatment that lasted for 2 years, Mia finally made up her mind that she needed to get out of depression without medication.
She gathered all her money and set out for a trip to Thailand, where she was introduced to diving and absolutely fell in love with it. She stayed for a year to train herself to be a dive instructor. During the Instructor Development Course, she met her roommate Vicky, now her only friend. After they finished the course Vicky told her she got an offer to work as an instructor at a resort in the Maldives and they were also looking for a Japanese-speaking instructor. Mia could come with her if she wanted. Mia thought about it and accepted the offer. She needed a change, Vicky was a good friend, and the Maldives didn’t sound too bad.
“It’s gonna be boring…” Vicky said, “But the resort where we are going is luxurious, with a lot of rich guests. You know a friend of mine, a Chinese girl also, from Jiangsu, she went to work in the Maldives and met a rich guy who came diving with her. He fell in love with her and asked her to marry him afterward. Can you imagine? Amazing… Now she is living in Hong Kong with her rich husband and doesn’t have to do this job anymore. Maybe I will also meet the rich guy of my life in the Maldives…” Vicky used to tell her the story again and again. She was a romantic girl, a little materialistic but not a bad person.
The day passed by very fast somehow. It was already 6 p.m. All the diving equipment was already inside. Takamura was standing next to the door talking to Keira when Mia came out of the classroom.
“Yes, Mia and I were friends in Tokyo. Now I’m living in Switzerland.”
“Oh, there she is!” Said Keira with a smile. “You two have a good time. See you tomorrow Mia.”
Vicky was watching them from the backyard of the dive center. Mia turned back to look and Vicky gave her two thumbs up.
“I haven’t changed into my normal clothes. I’m still wearing a uniform” Mia said.
“Oh, I don’t mind, and I’m sure at the restaurant they won’t mind either. Shall We?”
They were walking together quietly. Mia was looking down at the ground the whole time. She only looked up when they arrived at Holly Reef, the restaurant where Takamura had booked a table for two on the outside veranda looking to the sea. Holly Reef was not the biggest of the 4 restaurants in the resort but it was definitely the most romantic. You could see the breath-taking sunsets and the little baby blacktips swimming in the surf.
Takamura ordered some green salad, lobster as the main course, and a bottle of expensive white wine. They had dinner in silence because Mia didn’t answer most of his questions. She sat quietly and ate her dinner, drank her wine, and avoided looking him in the eyes. When dinner finished Takamura suggested they take a walk down the beach. Mia walked slowly behind him. He suddenly stopped and grabbed her hand.
“Mia, I couldn’t forget you. After three years you are still in my mind.” His voice was trembling with emotion. He looked straight into her eyes. He stood in front of her in the semi darkness and she could smell the same scent she found on his body every time they were together. He moved his hands up to her breasts and caressed them gently like he used to do in her old apartment in Tokyo. She felt herself getting excited.
After he left Tokyo she shut herself down and never had sex again. It had been three years. Now all the touching was waking her up. She fell against him, not knowing if this was the love for Takamura that still palpated in her heart or just lust awakened by skillful and familiar touch. She fell, his face lowering down onto her face, and his tongue opening her lips. They were in a quiet and hidden place on the beach. There was a bench underneath some big trees and surrounded by thick bushes. She led him to the bench and started to unbutton his shirt. He took her shirt off and kissed her breasts. Then he went inside her. They made love with all the passion of Tokyo three years before, like no time separated then and now. It could be minutes as well as eternity. Finally, Takamura let out a grunt and came inside her. She buried her face in his chest but her mind was wandering miles away from her body. She was making love with Takamura of the past, her Takamura, not this man here at this moment. He stood up and helped her to get dressed.
“Mia you are still incredible… Do you hate me?”
“Yes, I hated you. Now I don’t know. You left me and never came back…”
“I’m sorry… My parents gave me an ultimatum that I had to go to Switzerland to take over the family business. And you knew I couldn’t tell them about you… You were an alcoholic and with psychological problems. They wouldn’t have accepted you… They are very strict parents, and they are old fashioned…”
“You don’t have to explain all that, I understand.”
“I’m really sorry… I missed you every single night.”
“How did you find out that I’m working here?”
“Through your Facebook. You still have that Facebook account, and I have been following you on it all these years. A few months ago a girl called Vicky started to put pictures of you and her. I learned that you were going to work in this resort. That’s why I came here, to see you.”
“To see me? For what? Why do you want to see me again?”
“I... I don’t know… I just wanted to see you again. I’m staying for a few days. Do you want to see me again tomorrow?”
“I… If you want…”
To be followed...
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