Jamaica Dreaming (Caribbean Heat) (26 page)

Sebastian pulled the straps up and off her shoulders, and rolled her suit down. Julissa fixed her eyes on the far distance as he bared her breasts. Sebastian paused and she knew he was staring at the disfigured flesh he’d revealed. Something soft touched the side swell of her breast. A kiss. Sebastian’s lips on her tortured flesh. Tears stung her eyes. Julissa’s nipples hardened, but he ignored them and continued to roll her swimsuit down until he was pushing it over her thighs. When it fell around her ankles Julissa stepped out of it. Now she was completely naked, totally exposed.

Sebastian continued his intent regard. His fingers traced the scar tissue over her hips, down and around her thighs. His mouth followed his fingers. He knelt before her and kissed her scars, his eyes intent, his expression both tender and fierce. Then, finally, he kissed her feet before straightening up again. Their eyes locked and she thought she could get lost in his dark depths.

“My Julissa.” If the way he’d said her name before had been a verbal caress, now it was more, a promise of love, an expression of intent for the future and always.

“Sebastian.” Julissa wrapped her arms around his neck as his lips claimed hers. They made love there by the pool, the sun beating down on them as Sebastian drove himself into her, over and over, like a homecoming.

Four months later

“I think that’ll work.”

“You don’t like this picture better?”

“It’s okay, but, in that one, she’s smiling too much. It makes her look like she’s in a Colgate ad or something.”

“That’s good. We can do a new slogan. ‘Don’t bleach your skin, bleach your teeth!’”

The two girls erupted in laughter and Julissa’s lips twitched. Though from two very different backgrounds, Tracy and Joyce had gotten on like a house on fire once she’d introduced them to each other at her third Ananda Alert concert. Then, when Sebastian broached his idea of her heading a foundation to help support the Ananda system, Julissa had pointed out she really wanted to do something for girls’ self–esteem. The result was the Star Girls Foundation which had committed to raising a million US dollars for t
he system within one year. The foundation was also running a Be Proud in of the Skin You’re In campaign targeted at girls from eight to eighteen years old.

At first, when Julissa had returned to Chicago and told her friends and family she was moving to Jamaica, they’d been shocked and had tried to dissuade her. You’re throwing your life away for an island fling, her parents had cried, their disappointment evident on their faces. They’d tried to blame her break–up with Earle for her decision to leave the country, but Julissa had reminded them about how aimless and undirected she’d felt after the Event. Sebastian’s new foundation offered her the chance to make something meaningful out of her life. She’d had a terrible accident, but she’d survived. God had pulled her through for a reason and Julissa thought she’d found that reason in running Sebastian’s foundation and helping young, troubled girls find the starlight in themselves.

“What do you think, Julissa?” Tracy demanded. She held up a copy of the poster she and Joyce had been working on. Designed for the Be Proud campaign, it showed a young dark girl with short natural hair, holding her hands up to the sky and seeming to pull a star toward her.

Julissa was impressed. “That’s excellent, girls. Good work!”

The girls beamed. “Go show it to Sean and Jonathan and see what they think.” Jonathan was the Foundation’s public relations officer who also had a graphic design background. When Sean saw some of the cool advertisements Jonathan had come up with he’d asked to understudy him which suited Julissa just fine since the Foundation wasn’t yet fully up and running and the skeleton staff had to double up on responsibilities. Sebastian was just glad because it pulled Sean away from the endless video games.

Julissa was looking forward to the day when they could get a peer education program going, run by a core group of girls who would also be able to elect two representatives to serve on the Foundation’s board. Having girls on the Board would be crucial to empowering them and showing them that, even at their age, they could make a difference for the better.

The Be Proud campaign was changing her, too, Julissa knew. She no longer hid her scars. If she wanted to wear shorts to go downtown on a Saturday, she wore shorts. When she went to the beach, she wore a swimsuit. Yes, people stared, but Julissa had realized she would be a hypocrite if she told girls like Joyce that beauty was only skin deep, but acted like her scars were something to be ashamed of. Just like Joyce had to learn how to accept her dark skin, Julissa had to learn to accept her scars. People who were put off by someone’s dark complexion or by their scars were too shallow to have opinions that mattered, anyway.

A soft knock on her door and her secretary entered bearing a huge bouquet of vividly–colored tropical flowers.

“Who on earth––?”

“I didn’t look at the envelope, but I know who I’m betting on,” her secretary said, smiling. She put the vase down and left.

Julissa plucked the little envelope from its holder and opened it.

“
Happy Anniversary. My love, always. Sebastian
.”

Her phone rang.

“Hello, darling.”

“Sebastian.” She wondered if the warm curling sensation she felt in her stomach whenever she heard his voice would fade with time. Somehow, she doubted it.

“Have my flowers arrived?”

“They just got here but, um, which anniversary is this?” Two weeks ago, he’d sent her a sampler box of Café Britt’s gourmet chocolates with a card wishing her a ‘Happy Anniversary.’ She’d had to think for a few minutes before she realized it was exactly three months since she’d arrived on Jamaica.

“On this day exactly eighteen months ago, I saw you sing for the first time at Coq D’Or.”

“Oh, Sebastian.” Tears pricked her eyes. How did he always manage to touch her so?

“I love you, Julissa. Now, and forever, and with every breath I take.”

“You’re making me cry,” she whispered, reaching into a drawer to pull out a tissue and dab her eyes.

“New rule,” he said, his voice deepening. “No tears unless I’m there to kiss them away.”

“You’re so good to me. Sometimes, I think I’m dreaming.”

“I like that. Means we’re having the same dream.”

Julissa chuckled through her tears.

They chatted for a little while about what she was doing and how his day was going before ringing off.

Sebastian sighed as he put the phone down and looked out over his view of Kingston harbor. He’d never let it show on his voice or in his face, but it hurt him that Julissa still hadn’t told him that she loved him. He knew she did, he was sure of it in his heart but she’d never said it.

Her feelings shone from her eyes when she looked at him but she just couldn’t seem to say the words. He’d discussed it with his mother who pointed out that, however much Julissa might love him, she was still getting over a break–up that would have shaken her to the core, no matter how quickly it seemed she’d recovered. Julissa needed time to heal from her emotional wounds and Sebastian couldn’t expect too much from her right away.

His sister, Emeka, had been more direct, as was her way. “If, right now, she tells you she loves you…run,” she’d advised, pointing out that any declaration of love Julissa made so soon should be considered suspect.

“She
does
love you,” Emeka had assured him after he’d taken Julissa to her house for dinner a couple months ago. “I can see it in the way she looks at you, but she’s still expecting a catch,” his insightful younger sister said, giving him the benefit of her womanly experience. “She loved Earle, but the man she loved wasn’t real so she’s wondering if you’re real, you get me?” Sebastian did indeed get her but, understanding what held Julissa back from saying the three words he most wanted to hear from her, didn’t make not hearing them any easier.

Later that evening, Sebastian stopped by a wine store to pick up a bottle of champagne. Julissa had invited him over for dinner at the two–bedroom apartment she’d taken in New Kingston. She’d insisted on it over his objections. She could have had her own room at his house, heck, her own wing, but she’d been quite firm about it so the only thing he could do was make sure she found someplace comfortable, safe and secure that was within her budget. He’d been tempted to put her up in one of the luxurious condos recently constructed near his office, and simply pay the difference in rent himself, but he suspected there would be hell to pay if she found out so he’d reluctantly dropped that idea. As he knocked on the door of her modest apartment, he tried to quell his excitement. They spent most nights together but she’d never cooked for him before. Tonight was going to be special.

Sebastian’s breath caught when Julissa opened the door wearing a green halter–top dress and gold sandals. Her hair was caught up in a loose bun on top of her head and she wore minimal make–up, letting her natural beauty shine through.

Her beautiful lips curved into a wide smile and he leaned in for a kiss. The scent of her familiar floral perfume enveloped him as she slid her arms around his neck. Her mouth opened and he felt the heat rise in him as their tongues danced.

“Missed me?” she asked, drawing him inside and closing the door. They hadn’t seen each other since that morning when they’d parted to go to work.

“Too much,” he murmured pulling her back into him, his desire flaring.

He heard Julissa humming deep in her throat as she kissed him, matching his ardor with her own. Their kissing continued for what seemed to them like eons but was, in reality, only minutes.

Julissa was the first to pull away. “The food’s laid out,” she said. “It’ll get cold.”

Sebastian wanted to say “to hell with the food,” he wanted to be inside her, moving with her as he’d never moved before with any other woman. But, that would have to wait. He allowed himself to be led to the small dining room where candles flickered on an elegantly laid table.

Dinner was curried shrimp with plantains, and rice boiled in coconut milk. Sebastian took a couple bites and frowned.

“Yes?” Julissa asked, watching him intently.

“This tastes…it’s like my mother’s.”

Julissa beamed triumphantly. “She gave me the recipe!” she crowed, clapping her hands. “Is it as good as hers?”

Sebastian grinned. “For me, anything you cook will always be better than anyone else’s simply because
you
prepared it.”

Julissa’s joy at his simple but heart–felt compliment shone on her face.

After they’d washed up together, she fiddled with the stereo in the living room and Maxi Priest’s
Close to You
thrummed out into the air. Taking the lead, she pulled Sebastian into her arms, singing the words of the song into his ear. He reared back to look into her eyes and sang the chorus softly with her.

Sebastian knew Julissa wasn’t ready yet and might not be ready for a long time to say the three words he most longed to hear, but that wasn’t important. She was showing him how she felt about him in every other way she could. He would wait Sebastian thought, as his mouth sought hers. He’d wait for as long as it took.

###

To find out more about the
Ananda Alert
system, please like its
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Click
here
to learn more about the issue of missing children on Jamaica. Ten percent of annual proceeds from the sale of
Jamaica Dreaming
will go to
Hear The Children’s Cry
, an umbrella group of organizations devoted to children’s wellbeing. If you’d like to make your own donation, they can be contacted through their website.

***

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