I was in a dream-like state. The kind you can only be in when your inhibitions have been lowered as a result of the last full day of vacation in a foreign country. I was beginning to feel a certain lag from the week’s events but not enough to stop me from taking in these last few hours. I had to separate from my friends as I felt they were on a different level than where I needed to be. They wouldn’t appreciate tomando el sol, the turquoise and white ocean crashing on the sandy beach, those friends all too consumed in the view of the opposite sex back the resort pool.  In this moment I just needed to take the time to experience my point in time and space.

                I started running, sand kicking up behind me until I was far enough away that I could no longer see the resort. I sat down and gazed into the horizon. The heat of the summer sun on my skin was relieved by the waves engulfing my legs. Exhaustion came over me and I pushed my body far enough away on the sand that the waves couldn’t touch me. I laid my head down and drifted off.

                It was no longer than twenty minutes later when a very strong tide crashed into me, abruptly waking me up. Immediately I was rejuvenated, as though that wave was a part of me. It had just played into my destiny. I stood up and took off running again. I had no destination, just felt the need to exert a sudden burst of energy when, from the ocean I could hear someone calling out.

“Como se llama?!” I looked back and a Latino guapo was standing in the water. He was calling out to me. From where I was standing I could already see that he was tall with a rock solid body.

“Valerie! Como se llama?” I called back to him as I turned and began jogging towards him. He pushed through the ocean waves as he ran towards me. We met in the middle with a giant embrace as though we had met before and were finally reuniting.

“Ricardo. Eras bonita. Hablas espanol?” I guess my bright blonde hair gave him reason to doubt that Spanish was my first language.

“Poquito.” I said with a smile. “Hablas ingles?”

“No, no se ingles.” It became apparent right away this entire meeting would be in Spanish.

“Que haces? Estabas corriendo como si tenia un lugar para estar.” He continued. I could see that by now we had an audience of a group of guys 20 feet away.

“No, no tengo un lugar estar. Me gusta corriendo es todo.”

I noticed he had a great smile, his teeth were aligned perfectly and were bright white. We started walking towards the group of guys watching us. He introduced me to his friends.

“Ella habla espanol bien! Mas que Ricardo puede hablar ingles!” His friends said after exchanging names and pleasantries. They seemed impressed.

“Donde estan tus amigos? O estas aqui solo?

“No, mis amigos son a la….resort… pero son… pendejos.” I said.

The group erupted in laughter and they handed me a Modelo. We toasted and talked a little bit longer, although the communication was limited and simplified for my benefit. Ricardo grabbed my hand and together we ran back into the water. We splashed each other and laughed like children. A wave hit me and I started to fall back. He grabbed me before I could fall. He wrapped his arms around me and we kissed. A tide rolled in that lifted us off our feet, but we held onto each other. I took his hand and ran back to the shore.

“Ay Ricardo!” His friends called out as we reached the shoreline. We walked towards them. 

 “Vamos a Playa de Carmen en una hora. Valerie vas a venir con nosotros?”

“No no puedo, mis amigos y yo tenemos planes para cena. Lo siento bebe.” I said putting my arms around Ricardo.

“Pero tus amigos son pendejos. Eso es lo que ha dicho,” one of the friends countered.

“Yo se, pero no puedo.” I replied with a smile. There was no way I was going off with a group of strangers to a location 45 minutes away, in Mexico, but I did appreciate the invite. His friends continued to try and convince me to go.

“Esta bien. Ven conmigo.” Ricardo said understandingly and grabbed my hand, again we left the group, but we went the opposite way, to sit further up the beach, under an umbrella. We knew we didn’t have much time together. We laid down on our sides facing each other. He put his hand on my side and leaned forward and kissed me passionately. After some time, I pulled away and he laid down on his back and I put my head on his chest.

“De donde eras Valerie?” He asked.

“Soy de Austin Texas. Tu?”

“Monterrey. Vistando a Cancun hoy, pero estamos quedando en Playa del Carmen para este semana.”

“No se si puedo ver ti despues hoy, voy a los estados unidos manana. Estoy triste.” I said putting my hand on his. “Tienes un facebook?”

He replied with a lengthy answer I could barely understand so I repeated back to him my understanding of what he said.

“Creo que yo se lo que dijiste. Muchos gentes en Mexico no tienen un facebook porque es no seguridad porque los cartels? Verdad?”

“Si no es seguro.” He replied and looked into my eyes. I looked back at him. Despite the circumstance we both smiled and kissed, thankful for this moment.

“Como triste. Quiero te ver uno tiempo otra.” With my limited vocabulary I could only convey so much.

 I sat up on my side again facing him and he reached out and put his hand on my cheek and pulled me towards him again. We kissed and he leaned forward further. I traced the muscles of his back with my hands as he kissed my neck. We were the only two people on the beach in that moment. But just for a moment. I knew that we could not get carried away, not here, not now. I pulled away and he laid back on his side, and I sat up. He put his arms around my waist his head resting on my leg. I played with his hair. I’m sure we talked longer but honestly it was clear we both were just taking in those last moments together. Finally we stood up and walked back over to his friends. They were blaring their music and finishing off the last of the beer, ready to go back to Playa. They handed me another Modelo and I gave Ricardo my phone number and a hug before I took off running again, back to my resort, alone. When I found my friends at the resort they laughed at me for having a random Modelo and asked where I got it.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”               

I’ll never see Ricardo from Monterrey again, I realized later that when I gave him my phone number I did not put a 1 in front of the number for the international code. If he did ever try to call me again he probably thought I gave him the wrong number.  Sometimes somethings are better left alone. I say that because no one is perfect, but that moment was. A drop of the most beautiful dream I’ve ever had, but it was our reality.