Let Me In

Sarah’s lips were soft and tasted like her cherry lip balm. The strong and sweet aroma of her flowery perfume had mixed with the warm and musty smell of the salt water mixing with the sand as the breeze hit us. I could feel my heart racing as if it was going to pop out of my chest; I have to admit that I liked that she had taken full charge of the kiss; it definitely made me feel more confident about the whole date. There was this release of tension as we both kissed to what seemed the rhythm of the waves in the background. There was no one around to interrupt the beautiful and perfect moment we had created for ourselves. After a couple of minutes the kiss slowed down, and Sarah’s lips parted from mine; I opened my eyes and found her smiling radiantly. She giggled and looked down at her lap as she ran a finger through her hair and tugged it behind her ear.

“You know you’re beautiful right?” I said, making her blush. “And I truly wonder why the fuck you’re sitting here with me after what I tried to pull on you,”

“You’re more special than you think, Mike Fuentes” she said kissing my cheek and then leaning her head over my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her closer to me as we watched the sun setting over Matador Beach. The orange light emitting from the sun was overwhelming in a powerful and majestic way. The way it blended with the blue hues in the sky and penetrated the cracks between the clouds created shadows and rays of sun that were reflected over the water, creating a beautiful scenery. The rocks seemed to shine too due to the wet patches that were created whenever the waves crashed against them; you could see the different tones and colors from the hundreds of incrusted rocks that had eroded together with the water. The summer breeze was blowing lightly, carrying the smell of the sea and fried fish from the stand just a couple of yards away from us.

“Are you cold?” I asked her as I felt her shiver with the wind. She didn’t really say anything but that was enough of an answer for me. I unwrapped my zipper from around my waist and stood up slightly, just enough to pass it around and nudged Sarah a little so she would stand up. I wrapped the jacket around her and just as she was going to sit next to me, I pulled her a little so she would sit on my legs; she smiled. I placed my head on her shoulder and kissed the side of her face as we finished enjoying the last few minutes of the sunset

”That was probably one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen,” Sarah said, her voice almost murmuring. “thank you,” she continued, pressing her hands softly on mine, which were still wrapped around her. In response I kissed her cheek once more; she giggled and squirmed as she felt a little ticklish but then she just remained quiet for a couple more seconds.

”Do you want to head out for dinner now?” I asked her seeing the time; without noticing it we had been here for about two hours.

”Yeah that sounds good,”

”I know exactly where to take you,”

”May I know this time where you're planning to take me?”

”No,” I finally retorted with a laugh pushing myself up from the Rock and bringing her with me. When her feet touched the ground she jumped a little at the sensation of the cold and humid sand. “You okay?”

”Yeah, it's just wet and cold,” she laughed.

”it's alright I'll take you,” I said and signaled that it was okay if she jumped on my back.

”Mike I haven't had a piggy back ride since middle school,”

”Well, today that changes,” Sarah laughed but excitedly moved behind me and at my count of three she jumped on my back. She began to laugh and scream happily at the childish idea of a piggy back ride and that made me enjoy it more. I couldn't see her expression, but I automatically knew it was priceless. “Take a picture of us, I wanna see your face,” I said as I began to walk a little with her.

"You're so weird, Fuentes,” she said but took her phone out and took a selfie of the two of us. She looked so happy; we looked so happy.

I ran and spun with her on my back, making her laugh, as we made our way back to the car which wasn't really far and so in the matter of five minutes we were already there. She carefully jumped off my back, landed back on the floor and shook the bits of sand she had on her feet before putting on her shoes back on. I opened the door of the car for her and then headed to the driver's seat, ready to take her for some food.

I wanted to take her to my favorite restaurant - a small Mexican diner close to my apartment so we drove back from Malibu almost in silence. Her hand was laid on the center console and so I placed mine on top of hers; she turned to me and from the corner of my eyes I saw a slight smile pop on her face. She was so beautiful and I wasn’t sure she knew that.

Since the restaurant wasn’t in downtown Los Angeles, we made it in just thirty five minutes; and maybe also due to the fact that I believe that speeding times are way too slow and sometimes I like to make my own rules.

”You’re seriously insane,” Sarah said getting out of the car and walking towards me as we headed inside the restaurant.

It was true Mexican food - which I loved. It was owned by a Mexican family and it was so small I think it fitted a max of twenty people. Since I was such a regular, everyone greeted me by my first name.

”Mr. Fuentes! Who’s this lovely lady,” Lucila, the main chef said giving me a tight hug.

”I don’t know, she just started following me around today and I was like well, might as well buy her dinner,” I joked, wrapping my arm around her lower back and pulling her tightly towards me.

”I’m a just another stalker,” Sarah added, playing along with my joke and made Lucila laugh. She then guided us to our booth and took our drink order and left us.

”Now I’m going to tell you about these dishes,” I said as I began to explain every dish to her “Knowing you’re not used to spices, I’d like to warn you that these are true Mexican dishes and they are not for the light hearted,”

”Try me, Fuentes,” she was so feisty sometimes. I loved it.

We ordered a couple of small dishes to share and then began to talk. This was now our time to really get to know each other. We played 21 questions, a fun little game to get to know stupid facts about each other. I found out she prefered cheddar cheese over white american and other stupid facts like purple being her favorite color, mojito being her favorite drink and orcas being her favorite animals.

“Last question, Fuentes. Think real good,”

”Alright, Sarah Hayes. What’s your story?”

”I told you, I came here to tan,” she winked as she told me the same answer she’d given me the night we met.

”For real though, what brought you to LA,” I asked, taking a sip of my water. Her eyes widened and I could tell she began to feel a little uncomfortable and that was the last thing I wanted today, so I was grateful that the food arrived at that moment and I was able to distract her from the question. I told her what dish was what and we began to sample them. Of course her tongue was on fire half the time - as I expected - but she seemed to really enjoy the dinner.

”Jesus this was so spicy,” she began as she took a sip of milk “It’s really good though, I liked it,”

”Well I’m glad,” I responded as Lucila took the last dishes and dropped the check in front of us. Sarah began to take her wallet out and I stopped her.

”What are you thinking?”

”Uhm paying?”

”Hell no, it’s on me,” I argued and eventually she had to give up. After paying, we said our goodbyes to Lucila and the staff and walked back to the car; in about twenty minutes we made it to Sarah’s apartment sadly close to the end of our date. I walked her upstairs and we stood in front of her door, staying in front of each other.

”I had a lot of fun today, Mike,” She said in a soft voice and a smile.

”Well, I’m glad this was all for you,” We stared at each other silently for a couple of seconds, both of us smiling until I just went for it and kissed her. She placed her arms around my neck and I pulled her closer as we kissed. Every time our lips collided there was this spark within me that I hadn’t felt in a long time; a spark that told me that this is the place I was meant to be in.

We kissed for a couple of minutes not caring about our surroundings but when an old man coughed as he passed by us we quickly pulled away.

”Hello Mr. Jay,” Sarah said clearing her throat, turning around, trying to open her door; his death stare was overwhelming and slightly disturbing but after a couple of seconds he left, leaving us laughing at the slightly awkward interruption.

”Does this mean that you’re still interested in kidnapping me and taking me across state borders? she said pushing the door open and leaning against the door frame.

”Kidnapping involves one of the parties being taken against their will, so hopefully not,”

”Definitely not,” she murmured before kissing my lips one more time before she said goodbye and walked inside her apartment, ending the most amazing date I had ever been in.

Notes