Love Me Tender (On Hold)

The sand

We sat there, side by side, watching my grandfather and the strange man ride slowly back to the boat in our small outing raft. There had been enough room for all of us, barely, but Paulo had insisted I wait on the beach with him, he had also insisted that Grandfather take the gun with him.

"This is no good, no good at all." Paulo's voice was gruff. "You should have let me shoot him..." My hand swung out and cracked him on the shoulder. He didn't even flinch. "How can you say that? Did you see him? It's obvious he's been here a while, alone." I gestured around to the island. "He just thought I was a hallucination." His face twisted into a grimace. Then his lips formed a tight line.

"Yes, yes I did see him. I saw him attack you, Mirah. And I know you are not the type to provoke such a thing." He paused. "Did you?" I leaned my head on his shoulder. "No, I did nothing. At least, I think I did nothing."

"Hmmm?" He turned his face to look down at me. I blushed, "Maybe he was mad because I was cutting his flowers?" Paulo's barking laugh could probably have been heard by the rest of the crew all the way out on the boat. I know I had to have turned an awful shade. "Only you," and he touched the tip of my nose, "would worry about offending someone with gardening." He laughed again. I frowned. Well it wasn't really our island in the first place, just a pit stop. So maybe he felt territorial, how should I know?

I crossed my arms in front of me, he laughed, then threw one of his arms around me. "You are such a silly girl." My jaw dropped. "I. AM. NOT." He dropped his arm, "You're not silly?" He winked and smiled a crooked smile. "NO," I shoved his arm away. "I'm not a girl." He tilted his head to one side. "Then you are one funny looking dude." I stood up, stomping my foot. "You know what I meant!"

He looked at me, really looked at me. My hands on my hips probably was not helping my defense. I must have looked like a five year old throwing a tantrum. He sighed. "I know, I know Amore. You are not just a girl." His use of my grandfathers pet name made me pause. He stood up and I took one involuntary step back.

"That is maybe why I... Well.....I got a little upset, when I saw you like that." He pointed back to the small hill where the stranger had knocked me down. "I know I am out of line, but maybe you should consider bunking with Angie and Kaitlyn until we get rid of our uninvited guest." I understood his words, but his tone.... He sounded... jealous.

Paulo had been working for my grandfather since he was twelve, and he and I had been buddies since, well, since I could remember. But he was also ten years older than me. There was no way he could possibly feel like....like that. Not towards me. I had never had a boyfriend, probably the result of me being shipped from school straight to Grandfathers boat. And most likely because my grandfather, along with most of the crew, would probably slaughter anyone who showed any signs of interest. Losing our family had been a struggle, and I was sure no one on board wanted to see me grow up and move away, which would surely devastate my grandfather. I shook my head, looking down, it was silly to think that Paulo liked me.

He walked over and put his hands on my shoulders. "No worries okay? I'm sure it will all be fine. Maybe Gerard will cook him up for dinner, eh? And we won't have to worry about it." My head snapped up, but his face was happily apologetic. He grabbed me in a bear hug and laughed at me again. No, Paulo was definitely a good friend, and nothing more.

We heard the motor of the out boat and started walking down the beach. I regretted losing the flowers. They would have looked lovely on the dinner table tonight. I sighed, and Paulo shook his head. "I know, me too." "Huh? What?" "Well this means we have to head back towards the mainland, we can't keep him. Our trip will have to be cut in half now." He groaned.

"Maybe I could just throw him overbo..." I slapped him across the arm again, the tips of my fingers making a cracking sound on his skin.

"Ouch, ei-way Mirah! That one hurt!" He rubbed the bare skin on his arm repeatedly. Served him right. Shipwrecking a poor man who'd probably been here for, well, far too long. How mean was he really? His crooked smile made me smile too, and I pinched his arm where I had hit him. He winced. Somewhere down deep, the tiny sadistic side of me laughed.

"What are you doing to him?" My grandfathers voice sounded entirely too happy. Paulo stepped into the water, holding the boat still so I could climb in. "She was just telling me how happy she is to have a visitor." My mouth fell open. I was going to murder him. Tonight. Maybe in his sleep. No, even better, I would have Gerard cook HIM up for dinner. He chuckled darkly at the shocked look on my face. Oh yeah, he had it coming.

"Well I certainly hope so, we've not had a different face on our boat in quite some time." He sounded much, much too happy. The rest of the ride was silent. I'm sure Paulo was thinking of a hundred different places to hide.

And I was thinking of a hundred different ways to abuse him. He glanced at me once, and I smiled at him, a very wicked smile, so he would know how bad it would be. His eyes bulged for a moment and I giggled.