Chapter Twelve: Catching Feelings by Rosaline Saul
The sun hung low over the horizon, its golden light
stretching across the sky in hues of amber and rose, casting a soft glow over
the tranquil beach. Waves lapped gently against the shore, their rhythmic
whispers blending with the distant cries of seagulls.
Isabel sat near the waterline, her knees drawn to her chest, her fingers absently sifting through the cool grains of sand. Each handful slipped through her fingers, falling like an hourglass measuring the weight of her thoughts.
Her mind was still a storm. Seeing Jason at the café had
sent shockwaves through her carefully constructed defences. She had come to
Ibiza to escape him, to leave behind the manipulation, the lies, and the hollow
promises. Yet, there he was, as persistent as a shadow she could not shake. Her
chest tightened with the memory of his voice, smooth and familiar, twisting her
doubts into a knot she could not untangle.
A shadow fell across the sand in front of her. Startled,
Isabel looked up, her breath catching as she recognized the figure.
Christopher.
He stood a few feet away, the setting sun catching in his
dark hair and casting his face in warm light. There was something about his
presence—steady, unassuming, yet magnetic. He met her gaze, and for a moment,
neither of them spoke.
“Hey,” he said softly, his voice blending with the sound of
the waves.
Isabel offered a small smile, though it didn’t reach her
eyes. “Hi.”
Christopher hesitated, as though debating whether to intrude
further, but then he stepped closer and lowered himself onto the sand beside
her. “You okay?” he asked, his tone gentle, free of expectation.
She hesitated, her fingers resuming their slow movements
through the sand. “I don’t know,” she admitted. The words felt fragile, like
shells crushed underfoot. “It’s been a day.”
Christopher’s gaze lingered on her face, reading the tension
etched in her features. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked after a
moment.
Isabel glanced at him, surprised by the sincerity in his
voice. There was no pressure, no prying. Just an openness that invited her to
share as much or as little as she wanted. She looked back at the ocean,
watching the waves shimmer with the last light of the day.
“I came here to escape,” she said finally, her voice low.
“To get away from everything. From him.”
Christopher did not interrupt, sensing there was more she
needed to say.
She drew a shaky breath, her hands clenching briefly before
she released the sand.
“Jason,” she said, the name bitter on her tongue. “We were
together for a year. At first, everything seemed perfect. He was charming,
attentive, said all the right things but it wasn’t long before…” She paused,
her throat tightening. “Before I started noticing things. The way he…
manipulated every situation. Manipulated me. Twisted things. Made me doubt
myself.”
Christopher’s jaw tightened, but he remained silent.
“Truth be told, that one year felt like a lifetime,”
Isabel said, her voice tinged with both anger and sadness. “I didn’t just lose
faith in him. I lost faith in myself. He had this way of turning everything
around, making me feel like I was the problem. If I questioned him, I was
insecure. If I needed reassurance, I was needy. It was… exhausting.” Her hands
stilled, resting in her lap as she stared at the horizon. “By the time I found
out about the other women, I felt like a shell of who I used to be. I didn’t
even recognize myself. I used to be confident, sure of what I wanted but with
him, every instinct I had was questioned, every boundary blurred. He… he took
that from me.”
Christopher’s chest ached at the pain in her voice. He
wanted to reach out, to offer some form of comfort, but he held himself back,
knowing the weight of her story demanded more than empty reassurances.
“Finally leaving him was the hardest thing I’ve ever done,”
Isabel continued, her voice steadying. “I thought… I thought if I could just
get away, I’d finally feel free… But seeing him today…” She shook her head, a
bitter laugh escaping her lips. “It’s like he’s followed me here, like I’ll
never really escape.”
Christopher’s hands rested loosely on his knees, his gaze
fixed on the horizon. “You’re stronger than you think,” he said quietly. “You
walked away from him. That’s not something everyone can do.”
Isabel turned to him, her eyes searching his face. “It
doesn’t feel like strength. It feels like I’m running away.”
“Sometimes running is the only way to survive,” Christopher
replied. “Surviving is strength, and coming here, putting distance between you
and him, that’s brave. Whether you see it or not.”
She looked back at the ocean, her expression softening. “It
doesn’t feel brave,” she whispered. “It feels… overwhelming.”
They sat in silence for a while, the sound of the waves
filling the spaces between their words. The sun dipped lower, its light melting
into the sea.
“Why are you here?” Isabel asked suddenly, her voice cutting
through the quiet. “On the beach, I mean.”
Christopher hesitated, caught off guard by the question. “I
like the quiet,” he said finally. “It’s easier to think out here.”
She glanced at him, a small smile tugging at her lips. “A DJ
looking for quiet. That’s ironic.”
He chuckled softly, the sound low and warm. “I guess it is.”
Isabel studied him for a moment, her curiosity sparking
despite the heaviness in her chest. “Do you ever feel like you’re running away
from something?”
Christopher’s smile faded, replaced by a contemplative look.
“Maybe,” he said after a pause. “But I think sometimes it’s not about running
away. It’s about figuring out what’s worth running toward.”
His words hung in the air, settling over Isabel like a warm
blanket. She let the words sink in, her gaze drifting back to the horizon as
the first stars began to appear in the deepening sky. For the first time in a
long while, she felt a flicker of hope. The feeling was fragile, but real.
Christopher stayed beside her until the last light faded,
their shared silence speaking volumes neither of them could put into words.
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