Snippet from Chapter One

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Becca

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FROM THIS DAY FORWARD, I promise to love and cherish myself. I promise to take care of my own heart in sickness and in health. I drink the fizzy nectar down and grab a full bottle and head to the cliff.

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No one notices that I leave. I'm all alone in this beautiful foreign country. Life can be pretty wonderful and pretty shitty at the same time.

 

I plop down on the edge of the cliff and pop the top of my champagne. I watch the cork fly far and then head down to the water.

 

The beach is quiet. The water is like glass. Several hundred feet off shore a sizable yacht is anchored.

 

"What the fuck?"

 

I shield the sun from my eyes. Someone is swimming away from the boat. I spent a few summers life-guarding, and I know this distance is dangerous even for an experienced swimmer.

 

I look back at the wedding party, and again, I don't want to ruin someone else's day, especially my best friend's. We could end up with a wedding crasher or worse, a dead body. The Cartiers are loaded. I wonder if thieves ever swim ashore to break into the estate.

 

I take off my shoes, put down the champagne, hold up my dress, and follow the path down to the water. When I reach the beach, I can't see the man anymore. Then his head pops up, and he splashes and yells for help. I strip off my dress and dive into the water.

 

"Hold on," I call out to him.

 

I swim harder than I have ever swum before. It doesn't take long before my legs are burning. I keep stopping to check to see where his is. He keeps splashing and yelling. As I get closer, I remember all my life guard training, and I remember to be careful of when getting close to someone who's drowning. Some people panic and end up trying to stay afloat by pushing you under. I don't want to drown, not today.

 

All my training kicks in. I reach him. He's big, a brute really. He's coughing and grasping at me. His hands run down my body and he accidentally gropes my right boob, making it fall from my bra.

 

There's no time to fix it.

 

"Stop," I say.

 

He continues to splash. I go underwater and grab him under the arms and lay his back across the front of my body. He continues to cough but complies.

 

"Hold on," I say. "I've got you."

 

The man relaxes, and with our bodies pressed together, I notice he's in a blue tux. A nice tux. His bowtie is still intact.

 

"Can you kick?" I ask.

 

He doesn't answer. It takes all my strength, but I get us back to the shallow water.

 

I ask him, "Can you walk?"

 

He doesn't answer. I don't know if he speaks English.

 

Soon he finds his footing and stands up. He has to be at least a foot taller than I am. I wrap my arm around his back to make sure he doesn't fall, and I pull his other arm around my shoulder. Thank God I'm in shape because this man is a beast. The top of my head barely touches his armpit.

 

When we reach the shore, he collapses onto the sad, and I stand over him. The sun is setting behind me, but I want to keep the sun out of his face.

 

He sits up and brushes his hair out of his eyes. He quickly looks down. "Thank you," he says.

 

He doesn't have a French accent. Italian maybe?

 

"What were you doing out there?" I ask.

 

He shakes his head. He gestures towards me or the water or the boat. With his head down, he pulls off his jacket and hands it to me. He removes his tie. His wet shirt clings to him. I know I shouldn't be thinking this, but this man is a crazy ripped. I wish I'd been touching him in better circumstances. His legs are like tree trunks. His chest is like stone wall. He reminds me of all those lumberjacks and firemen on TikTok. If I was more daring or had more to drink, I'd mount him right here. Then I remember, I did have a lot to drink recently, so that's why I'm forgetting I hate men right now.

 

I look down and I realize I'm standing in front of this man in my underwear, and to make matters worse, my boob is hanging out.

 

"Fuck," I say.

 

He laughs. I pull his jacket to my chest. That's why he handed it to me. I scamper over to my dress, fix my bra, and pull the yellow gown over my head making sure everything is back in place. I pull my hair into a bun and turn around. The beach is empty again. I'm standing there soaking wet with a giant jacket in my hands. I look around, but he's vanished. I look back out into the water.

 

A small boat, I'm assuming from the yacht, races towards me. I drape his jacket over my shoulders. If I head back up, these people may follow me and again ruin the wedding, so I stand my ground and wait for them to pull ashore.

 

I have no idea what I'm getting myself into.

 

As the sun sets, I hold my breath and wish someone would ride in and save me.

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End of Snippet

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