Pirotécnicos en la Playa

Photo by Jingda Chen

What a coup! My best friend, Marlena, invited me to join her on a trip to Cabo for the week around New Year’s. Marlena was originally going with her boyfriend, but the fiend was caught with another girl and that was the end of that relationship.

Undaunted, Marly called me and said, “Hey, Sone,”…my name is Sonya…“Wanna go have some fun on the beach in Cabo during New Year’s week? I have prepaid tickets that John and I bought to go together, but, you know the outcome of that story. The bastard!”

She started to laugh, but really wanted to cry, I imagined, as she continued. “We can find other guys, no problem there. Whatd’ya say?”

Since I am a red-blooded, single female, with time off from studies, who’d been too busy to date, I said, “Of course, I’ll go. Who else will keep you out of trouble?”

Thus, come December 28th, our flight date, we landed in Paradise. The whole flight consisted of a one-sided conversation by Marlena, about her determination to find the love of her life, which entailed catching a cab and hitting the most popular bar in Cabo San Lucas, called Cabo Wabo, reportedly owned by the songster Sammy Hagar.

“Maybe I’ll meet him, and we’ll run off together,” she’d announced.

She could do that if the opportunity presented itself, I had no doubt, as she was a dark-haired, dark-eyed, voluptuous beauty. She was the opposite of me with my fair hair, green eyes, and okay figure. If I were the jealous type, I’d have nothing to do with her when wanting to meet other men, but at that point in time, I, being more interested in my last year of college, and only mildly interested in the opposite sex, didn’t care who Marlena glommed onto. My only interest was in laying on the beach and catching up on my reading, as well as getting some tanning rays.

Our hotel was located in San José del Cabo, which had the best beach and a more laid-back downtown, and I felt very much at home there. Whereas, to Marlena, this smaller community might be too laid-back. She’d want action.

After our arrival, Marlena insisted on going bar hopping to check out what José had to offer, leaving open the possibility of catching a cab to head for San Lucas if the action level didn’t suit her.

We first went to the bar at the hotel, which was right on the beach that made drinking margaritas feel much more authentic, and ordered a platter of nachos to tide us over and to help soak up the alcohol we would intake.

What a high I felt sitting at the glass-topped bamboo table outside the bustling bar with a drink in front of us in the growing paleness from the dropping sun, hearing and seeing the ocean splash up onto the shoreline across the large expanse of sand with a flamenco guitar playing softly in the corner. My heart was filled with love for this place.

Marlena, on the other hand, was antsy, not seeing any suitable single guys to flirt with, so we had to move on and check out each bar we came to.

At the third bar we hit, there was a lot more action, with music that was more to her liking and body movements. She grabbed my hand and we fought our way to the dance floor.

Photo by Michael Discenza

Her moves certainly attracted the right attention, as the next thing we knew we were invited to join a table of four guys, who bought us drinks. Marlena was soon back on the dance floor with the one who’d invited us there in the first place which left me to sit, smile, and make small talk. One of the guys at the table was polite enough to ask me questions about us — the who, what, where, and why kind of topics — while the other two seemed uninterested with their eyes constantly darting about. They wanted someone more like the female who their friend had nabbed, and I wasn’t of that caliber. Soon enough they got up and headed off toward the bar that was laced with single females, leaving their other friend, whose name was Josh, to deal with me.

Since we were not particularly interested in jumping around on the dance floor ourselves, our casual conversation showed that we had enough in common to make the time go by quickly while we waited for our friends. However, after finally finishing my drink, my head was buzzing. I told Josh that I needed to leave, and asked that he please tell Marlena I was going back to the hotel.

Josh insisted on walking me back. A gentleman, as well as a scholar, my mind noted, when he didn’t try to hold my hand or kiss me, or even ask if he could come in when we got to the room. He just politely told me that he enjoyed the visit and would see me around. Uh-huh, I thought. Whatever!

I was able to hit the bed and fall asleep instantly and soundly. I didn’t even hear Marlena come stumbling in.

My roommate was still out cold when I woke up and dressed. I crept out and went downstairs for much-needed sustenance with breakfast. At the same table where we had our drinks the night before, I sat and watched the sun creep higher while spreading its reflection on the calm morning sea. It was magical. I ordered scrambled eggs with bacon, red bell peppers, and avocados, which was delicious and made me feel less fuzzy.

Just as I had finished eating, my plate cleared away and my coffee refilled, not wanting to leave this table until it got too hot, I heard a voice say my name, “Sonya?”

Photo by Nicole Nagy

I turned to see Josh standing with a coffee cup in his hand.

“Oh, hi! It’s Josh, right?”

“Yeah. Can I join you?”

“Sure,” I told him, unsure how I felt about this intrusion.

“We’re staying in the hotel next door,” he told me as he jerked his head toward the building jutting out just enough to see a corner of blue from our vantage point. “The rest of the guys are still sacked out from their late night, so I decided to go walking on the beach and spotted you sitting here. Hope you don’t mind the interference.”

“No, not at all,” I told him, trying to sound sincere.

He sat down. I watched him as he settled himself onto the chair and placed his cup on the table. He was not oh-my-God-good-looking, like a couple of his friends, but the more I looked at him, there was something appealing that made him interesting to look at. His smile was amazing, I noticed, which lit up his warm, grey eyes when he looked at me, and he had a nice head of sandy blond hair with a touch of red when the sun hit it just right. I guess I’m okay with this guy being here, after all, I told myself.

The conversation began slowly, but after the banalities were out of the way, it soon picked up. The guy was intelligent and witty, and I couldn’t help but think that this was a nice surprise.

After coffee, we shed our shoes and walked along the water’s edge to have it lap at our feet and continued talking. The moment was wonderous seeing the jumping sun rays ripple in the sea, the palm trees swaying over deck chairs along the beach, and this guy next to me. I was liking this trip.

This same routine went on for the next three days, which included some adventurous snorkeling and fun excursions. I rarely saw roommate Marlena, who was off with her newfound love-of-the-moment, which was fine with me. What fun I was having, and how full my heart was feeling. A fun friendship. Who’d have thought? Not me. I kept telling myself, especially since I knew it wasn’t going to last.

New Year’s Eve approached, and we had decided to skip the bar scenes and hoopla of the crowds to have a picnic on the beach and watch the fireworks from a darker place on the sand away from hotel lights. There was no moon that night, so there would be no interference with the sky show.

How right we were to ring in the New Year with this plan. The picnic was fun, eating taquitos, chips, guacamole, and salsa as finger food while enjoying the bottles of red wine we’d chosen to go with our simple, yet delicious fare. A buzz ensued, and we were like giggly teenagers on a first date.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao

When the darkness first began taking over the lighted sky, personal fireworks could be seen in small patches along the beach. It was an awesome moment. Simultaneously, we eased closer together and the kissing began. The contact of our lips was tenuous at first as if trying them on for size until we realized that the fit was superb. When Josh’s lips met mine in a more sincere need, I felt the kiss down to my toes. I never wanted my mouth to leave that pillow of soft wetness with the slight probing tongue, which began exploring in earnest as our mouths moved eagerly together.

Suddenly, we jerked ourselves apart at the startling boom that seemed to have happened right behind us. We looked up at the brightening sky and saw a starburst of pink and blue, and then crystal and green showering the dark sky.

My breath caught. Just as I thought I’d never seen anything more beautiful, more colors came bursting forth just down the beach, and then more and more. Every which way we looked the sky was aflame with startling showers of vibrant hues that doubled in magnitude from their reflections on the water, the likes of which I have never experienced.

There were bright explosions as far as the eye could see toward Cabo San Lucas. The whole coastline of hotels was participating in this contest of who could outdo the other with more and better. My heart was so full of wonder I thought it would explode like the fireworks. Josh must have felt the same, as he turned to me, pushed me down onto the blanket, and kissed me long and hard, while his hand reached down into the elastic of my shorts. His fingers rubbed and probed gently at first, then more eagerly from the receptive gush of wetness he’d produced.

I moaned and began reaching for his hardened protrusion that was poking my abdomen. It definitely needed to be released. I complied by pulling at the tied cord holding his bathing suit in place and tried to slip the garment down. Without breaking apart our lips, he raised his hip and helped me take off that unwanted suit. Our lips were pulled away from the other when he tugged at my shorts and panties. They slipped down easily and then off. He eased my breasts from confinement and moved his face into them, moaning while working his lips around one nipple and then the other. I was squirming.

He parted my legs and knelt in between to position himself. Just as he plunged, my animalistic scream was drowned out by the biggest noise burst yet just above us. My eyes flew open, and Josh raised his head, as we met thrust with thrust while the sky kept exploding and we did the same. At last, we lay spent with colorful bursts all-around showing the same euphoric energy we had just felt.

I awoke on this empty beach with the sun tickling my eyelids. I felt as new as the year. I was thinking about the night when soon Josh’s body moved toward me, and we began again.