Mid-Life Crisis Diaries by Geraldine Solon Page A

made their way back to the condo, souvenirs in tow.

C H A P T E R  13

    O nce they were back at the condo, Marsha left to unlock the door while Andre took care of something in the trunk of his car. He was rifling through a wicker tote bag in the back somewhere and had motioned for Marsha to go ahead and let herself in. She set her new bags gingerly on the bed, and smiled at the little indention they made in the comforter. The whole place was already beginning to feel more like home than like vacation. Not that she would ever live in this condominium…but she was beginning to view her entire life as something that she could alter if she wanted to. And that thought was incredibly freeing. There was nothing saying that she couldn’t just stay in Mexico forever and never go back to work. Perhaps she could stay here, write a book or two to live off the royalties, and create an online web presence for herself just like Dr. Lee had done. She could even find a way to work with the woman…though Marsha didn’t want to entertain that thought just yet. She just loved knowing that the possibilities were, for the first time in her life, endless.
    Andre waltzed through the door she’d left open, and clicked it shut behind him. He had his swimsuit in his hand. “I keep a spare in the car,” he grinned.
    “Well it is Puerto Vallarta.” Marsha shrugged. “I would, too.”
    They changed quickly, Marsha in the bathroom and Andre in the living space. Somehow, she didn’t feel the need to say any warnings of I’ll knock three times before I come out in case you’re not ready . She felt comfortable knowing that he was a grown man, and could fend for himself in the presence of a lady.
    Comfortably in her swimsuit, not checking to make sure that everything was as it should be, and instead trusting that the world was as it should be, she went to find Andre. Marsha found him in the spare bedroom, a room that Marsha hadn’t even ventured to, yet. He smiled at her when she walked in, and when he turned she saw that he had the paper sack full of necklaces sitting on top of the large dresser near the wall. He was pulling them out one by one and stringing them carefully into a large jewelry box he’d found.
    “Pretty, right? It’s perfect. And you’ll be here a month, so you might as well.”
    Marsha walked up next to him and stood quietly, running her fingers along the length of the beaded necklaces he’d already hung on little gold hooks. “They look lovely in here.”
    “They look lovely on you .”
    Marsha felt her cheeks flush. She finished taking the remaining necklaces out of the bag for him and handed him each one. Then he took her by the hand and they walked to the beach. The sun would be setting within the hour, so Marsha settled herself for a short swim to relax and Andre looked as if he had the same idea. They walked slowly into the water, holding hands, and then went their separate ways. Marsha automatically, and without feeling like it was a fault, swam away from him and floated on her back for a while.
    Andre also swam alone, relaxing in the evening sun. It was a perfect half hour of swimming, each of them dipping under the water and soaking in the silence, finding comfort in the fact that the other one was there. Eventually, they made their way toward each other and floated side by side for a while before anyone spoke. The small crowd that had gathered on the beach slowly rolled up their beach towels and gathered their sand buckets and began the trek back to where they had come from. But Andre and Marsha stayed, floating side by side in silence, until the place had nearly emptied.
    “What made you first fall in love with Blake, Marsha?” Andre was looking up at the sky that was only just beginning to change colors. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but I was just wondering. What does it take to get a woman like you to fall in love with someone?”
    Marsha laughed and swished her arms