Page 33 of Vitamin Sea

S oft snores broke through Chloe’s dream and she opened her eyes slowly.

A feeling of relaxation washed over her as she reflected on the previous day.

She and Jack had had an absolute blast. There were no awkward moments, no moments where she felt ill at ease; for whatever reason, the two of them just worked.

She rolled over, knowing full well she was a mess of makeup, having not washed it off before she fell asleep. Jack, who appeared to have a smudge of lipstick on his cheek, was snoring peacefully beside her.

The night had been nothing short of electric. And while she knew that the butterflies she felt could signal a warning—they usually came about when people met someone they were crazy about—she was enjoying the feeling.

Her mom’s cringe-worthy advice to get over someone by getting under someone else did have an element of truth to it, Chloe acknowledged.

Although she knew it wouldn’t have worked the same way if she had gone out to a bar and picked up the first man who looked her way.

For her it took time, and healing. Not to mention meeting the right person.

She took a deep breath, and a small smile spread across her face as she listened to the soft snoring of the handsome man beside her.

They had ended the night in bed after a wine-fueled bubble bath.

Fluffy bathrobes lay discarded on the floor on either side of the bed and half-full wine glasses sat on their nightstands.

The high thread-count sheets and velvet-soft blanket made her feel like she was lying on a cloud, and suddenly she was transported to a different time.

Liam was there, cuddling with Chloe on the couch in their condo. There was a ring on her finger and a baby girl in the next room.

She awoke with a jolt, her heart beating wildly.

It had been two months since she had had a Liam dream.

Nightmare, she corrected herself.

Although this nightmare had her feeling anything but bad.

In fact, she was unhappy to find that the dream brought back a deep feeling of yearning, which gave her an entirely new set of issues to process.

It was funny how your subconscious could do that to you.

It could take one perfectly happy moment and throw a wrench in it.

Although, she reflected, maybe it had more to do with her mind further processing the breakup. Jack was the only person aside from Liam she had slept with in more than five years.

She fell asleep again and woke up a little while later to find Jack watching her sleep.

But not in a creepy way. In a sweet “I’m really into you and think you look adorable when you’re unconscious” kind of way.

“Hi,” he said softly as she breathed in deeply, a small smile playing around her mouth.

“Hi,” she whispered back.

“You were snoring like a freight train,” he said teasingly.

“Noooo,” Chloe said in embarrassment.

Jack chuckled.

“You weren’t. You were quiet as a church mouse,” he said. “You look very sweet when you’re sleeping,” he observed.

Chloe blushed.

“Come here.” He reached his arm up and she crawled over and nuzzled herself into the crook in his shoulder. Jack put his arm around her and planted a kiss on top of her head.

“Yesterday was great,” he said.

“I had such a fun time,” Chloe agreed.

There was a pause, and she could tell that Jack wanted to say something

“Listen, Chloe,” he hesitated, “the last few days have been amazing. I don’t know where this is going, but I really like you.”

The butterflies in Chloe’s stomach started to flutter.

“I really like you too,” she said sincerely. “I’m so happy we met. Even if this is all it ends up being, I’ve had such a great time getting to know you this week.”

“Well, I promise you I’m not going to ghost you.” He squeezed her closely. “I want to see you when we’re both back home.”

Chloe smiled and snuggled in closer.

She suddenly heard the door to their bungalow open, which was followed by Lala’s voice.

“Chlo?”

Chloe didn’t respond for a second, unsure of what to say.

“Um, I’m in here—don’t come in!” she added sounding guilty.

“Ohhh!” Lala’s voice suddenly took on a playful tone. “I see a man’s shoes. You went to Coco Beach!” she exclaimed loudly.

Chloe slapped her hand to her face and shook her head.

“Lala?” Chloe raised her voice through the door.

“Yes, Chlo?”

“I love you, but could you kindly fuck off for thirty

minutes?”

There was a short burst of laughter before Lala replied.

“You got it, Chlo. I’m just going to grab my bathing suit. If you need anything, I’ll be at the pool.”

Several seconds later, Chloe heard the door to their villa close.

Jack left shortly after that with Chloe’s number in his phone. She didn’t have a phone to text him with, but that would be remedied as soon as she was back in Toronto.

“Have a safe flight, Chlo.” He gave her a warm hug and a quick kiss before heading out.

“Thank you.” She smiled. “I hope you and Daniel enjoy the rest of your trip.”

He grinned back. “Something tells me we’re going to enjoy it a whole lot less without you and Lala around.”

Afterwards, Chloe packed up her bags, dropped them with the concierge, and headed to the pool.

She and Lala were stretched out on loungers soaking up their last opportunity to grab some rays. Chloe’s carry-on bag sat beside her, and they both had lime margaritas.

Lala had given her a proper ribbing about Jack and then pressed her for all the details. She had also dished on her day with Daniel.

“This has been the best trip ever.” Lala raised her glass in toast. “To best friends, beach days, and hot men!”

“Ladies,” a sixty-something-year-old man walking by shot them a sexy smile, “I’m flattered.”

The girls looked at each other in horror and then burst into giggles when the man, who was now walking with a lot more swagger, was out of sight.

They lay back down and Lala started scrolling on her phone.

Chloe’s mind wandered to when she and Lala had first arrived at the resort.

A smirk came to her lips at the memory of how she and Lala had reacted upon realizing they were staying at a naturist resort.

Despite initially being more than a little freaked out, Chloe had quickly gotten used to it and found all the other guests to be friendly and, surprisingly, pretty normal.

Aside from the whole no-clothes thing. She still didn’t understand their lifestyle but, she realized, she didn’t have to.

It all boiled down to respecting other people’s choices even if they weren’t her thing.

A thought suddenly struck her.

It was their last day at the resort, and while she had experienced most of what Costa Morpho had to offer, there was still one thing left.

“Lala?” She sat up and looked at her friend.

Lala turned her head and pulled up her sunglasses.

“What’s up?”

“It’s our last day here and all.” She took a moment. “And I feel like there’s still one thing we have to do.”

Her friend gave her a quizzical look.

Chloe reached behind her back and undid the bow holding her bikini ties together before reaching for the tie around her neck.

“Yessssssss!” Lala said loudly. She pumped her fist in victory as Chloe pulled off her top and held it in the air. “She did it!!!”

This was it. She had done it. She was naked from her bikini bottoms up. She was Chloe—unbound and unwound—and she was feeling exhilarated.

She became aware all at once of people around her clapping and hollering in support of her carpe diem moment. Chloe blushed at the attention before taking a seated mock bow as Lala pulled her top off too.

“That’s the spirit!” someone yelled from the pool.

“Solidarity, my friend,” Lala said with a grin. “Fuck. When I think back to the state you were in in February, if someone had told me seven months later you would be topless at a nude resort after having a hot vacation fling, I would have called the psych ward.”

Chloe smiled.

“It’s thanks in no small part to you, La,” she said gratefully. “Seriously. And I’m so happy you could come on this assignment.”

“Hold on!” Lala said, struck with sudden inspiration. She unlocked her phone and then trained it on Chloe. “Smile, Chlo! For The Gram.”

Chloe, sunglasses on her face, smiled wide and held her bikini top up high again as Lala clicked away.

“The girls are never going to believe this,” Lala said. She turned the camera to selfie mode and snapped a topless pic of the two of them together. “Say ‘no tan lines!’”

“No tan lines!” Chloe beamed.

◆◆◆

Their flight left late that evening and as they waited for their car to the airport, Chloe felt a sense of melancholy.

Being able to get away with her best friend, almost drowning, meeting an amazing man, and experiencing a naturist resort for the first time—it had been an unbelievable week and had given her a new lease on life. So why did she feel so sad?

The week had been transformational. That was exactly what she had hoped for but hadn’t really believe would happen. Still, it was undeniable she was leaving Costa Rica as a different person than she had been when she arrived.

Maybe that was the reason for the melancholy, she thought. She was in mourning. For the old Chloe.

On the plane ride back in the nearly pitch-black cabin, Lala snored beside her.

Soft rock emanated from her AirPods as she reminisced about the week.

She was so grateful about the way things had turned out, both with her work assignment and with regards to her relationship with Liam.

Somehow, despite months of feeling hopeless and burdened by the knowledge that the future she had envisioned for herself was gone, she felt lighter.

Which seemed very odd.

But maybe it was a part of reaching acceptance. She had zero control over how things had panned out with her ex. The only thing she had control of was herself.

She was still living in Liam’s condo as per the terms of their agreement, which Karam had negotiated on his behalf.

Liam had agreed to let her stay there until she was able to secure something long-term and, truthfully, she hadn’t been looking.

Her ex hadn’t made an issue of it, which she assumed was due to a guilty conscience, but Chloe finally felt like she was ready for a change.

Whether that meant evicting her current tenant and moving back into her old condo, continuing to rent out her place while renting a different condo, or selling her condo altogether, she didn’t know.

But one thing she did know was that it was time for her to move out and move on.