Pieces of You (20 page)

Lying in his hospital bed, Mark did not move or respond but he was experiencing an event in a possible future with Janine and they were having a wonderful time.

“My darling, Janie, this has been my dream since I left you in Detroit. I know I kept my doctor’s appointment in Florida and I remember my doctor insisting that I return to Geneva immediately.

“
I even recall the trip there, a phone call to you and taking a train to my son’s home. My memories of everything after that are bizarre—a dream, surely, but parts of it seemed so real. Even now, it’s hard for me to distinguish between reality and my imagination but the only thing I need to be sure of is that you are real and we are together.”

As Mark said this, he moved so close to Janine that a coin could not have easily passed between them.

“Do you feel this?” Janine asked.

“Oh my dear… my baby…my dear, dear Janie!” Mark’s response was ecstatic. In the next few moments, agony and bliss overlapped, revealing and affirming that tasting paradise was possible, even on a despoiled planet.

***

In the interludes between lovemaking, Mark and Janine talked of many things. They explored what a shared future might mean and how it would affect their work and relationships; most of all, how it could fulfill their dreams of great love.

During these conversations, Janine could feel Mark’s spirit flowing into her, smoothing over the damaged parts and filling the empty spaces. The quality of their communication was more harmonious than she had ever achieved in her marriages. She prayed it would never end.

After a delightful breakfast in bed, Mark said to her, “If you could do anything today without considering the cost, the time required, or the suitability, what would it be?

“
I’m not saying I could do truly impossible things, but I would happily sacrifice to please you.”

“Well, there is one thing I always dreamed of doing with the man I love. On one of the most romantic records I‘ve owned, Rod McKuen’s
“
The Sea
,”
Rod croons of making love by the sea.  Could we? Maybe even with the sound of
“T
he Sea
”
as accompaniment?”

“Just tell me which sea.  One of the Seven Seas: the Arctic, Antarctic, North or South Atlantic, North or South Pacific, or the Indian Ocean? Or one of the 13 major seas of the world: South China, Caribbean, Mediterranean, Bering, Gulf of Mexico, Arabian Sea, Red Sea, Andaman… ”

“Whoa! Could you also name the cities along all the world’s major seas? Even if you know—don’t start! I don’t want to waste time and delay my dream coming true. The adventurer in me wants to try one I know nothing about. That leaves just twelve of the thirteen. The Andaman Sea sounds mysterious and romantic. Could we at least research its potential?”

In a couple of hours Mark was back with pamphlets and even a proposal from a travel agent.

“Listen to this:
Hidden away by the white sands of the beautiful Ao Kiew Beach at the southern tip of Thailand’s Samet Island, Paradiso is the discerning traveler's paradise… a national park with restricted access and limited development.

Idyllic seaside location complemented by luxurious five-star facilities and impeccable service.

If secluded seaside luxury is what you're looking for, Paradiso is truly a heaven on earth. 

“According to the travel agent, the island’s weather is tropical all year but we can enjoy the peak period if we go now.

“
We could also visit Bangkok for the annual kite fighting contest. How would you like to see a sky filled with vibrantly colored kites so large that it takes a team to fly each one?”

“I’d love that, Mark! What a spectacle that must be! I think I saw a scene like that in The Kite Runner.”

“Oh yeah, I saw that, too. It says here that the contest is won by the team who forces the opposition's kite to land in their half of a field.”

“I love the idea of experiencing paradise with my man, and when we need a little diversion, kite fighting might be just the thing. Consigned to humble observer, you could imagine yourself as a masculine kite, displaying your magnificence over the earth while fighting to force the feminine kite; me, of course, down into your territory.”

“Could I force you into my territory in the next five minutes, Lover Girl?”

***

Planning a trip often turns out to be the best part, especially if expectations are exceptionally idealistic
,
but this wasn’t true of Mark and Janie’s discovery of the Paradiso
R
esort.  Just when they couldn’t imagine life being any better, they arrived in a little island paradise near Bangkok. After a light lunch of Satay and Koong Houm Pa, an egg roll of fried shrimp and pork, they snuggled into the double hammock on their private deck overlooking the sea. Janine looked languidly up at Mark, a warm smile in her eyes.

“I’ve felt delightfully sensual and, yes, even rather attractive since I met you. How do you do it? How do you overlook the wrinkles and bulges?”

“I wouldn’t want to overlook anything about you, Janie. When the wrinkles and bulges begin to appear, I’ll love each one of them.”

“Sweet One, I’m not demanding that you opt for realism. I’d rather you never removed those rose-colored glasses. Being cherished is such a beautiful feeling.

“
I just don’t want you to wake up one day and ask yourself what you ever saw in me. I couldn’t bear your rejection!”

“No tinted glasses needed, my dear. A blind person couldn’t miss your beauty. Your appeal to me is so much more than just physical, although your face and body are incredible. I know you’ve heard this before, but I want to confirm that you are aging beautifully.”

“Having you in my life, Mark, compensates for every problem I’ve faced. I now believe that whatever is worthy of being done is within my power. I hope I don’t sound like an arrogant female. It’s just that I’ve never felt this confident before. I know that if I fall
,
you will pick me up.”

Mark brushed the hair off Janine’s forehead, kissed the cleared spot and said, “Guaranteed!”

“I wish I had an original way of describing what you mean to me but the words of a Bette Midler song will have to do: ‘
Y
ou are the wind beneath my wings.’” 

Mark hugged her to him. The shine in his eyes brought tears to hers.

“My dear Janie, you are the most extraordinary woman I’ve known.  I’m grateful and amazed that we found each other. It makes me believe in miracles.” 

As he said this, Mark covered her body with his as the slight breeze rocked them gently in the hammock. Smiling up at him with her hand massaging the middle of his back, Janine was rewarded with a look of tenderness rarely seen this side of heaven. In the background, she could swear she heard a chorus singing Leonard Cohen’s song ‘and every breath we drew was Hallelujah.’

Sitting up to look around, Janine noticed only a slim brown bird, a nightingale. It made her think of Milton’s Sonnet to the Nightingale:

‘O nightingale, that on yon bloomy spray,

Warblest at eve, when all the woods are still;

Thou with fresh hope the lover's heart dost fill…,’

She took its presence as a sign. Although the little bird was only warbling softly, she heard it as a concert almost causing her to miss the words Mark whispered in her ear.
             

“Janine, I want to make love to you by the sea, but I want it to be more than a passionate interlude. I want us to give ourselves to each other in ways that can only happen when lovers promise their love for all time. I want the unity of a vow. Will you be my wife?”
             

Those five words held a beauty and promise never captured by the greatest of all composers and painters. Mozart couldn’t compete, even with his most famous concerto; neither could the soft loveliness of a Monet.

Tears danced along her cheeks. Mark took this to mean yes and reached for the little box he had slipped behind some plants on the balcony. The sparkling ring he placed on her finger glinted with one traditional diamond in a modern setting, really more of a sculpture than a ring. Celestial art formed by human hands.

When Mark got up to find some Kleenex, Janine stared at this symbol of their promise to each other and remembered other promises, never kept. Why would this time be different?

Maybe because her experiences assured her that this was a much deeper commitment, perhaps because this was not about pleasing or impressing anyone else
,
or maybe even because she had the courage to ask herself why.

Suddenly, a knowing, clear and strong, settled into her soul, replacing every remnant of doubt.

‘There is nothing that will quench my love for you.’ she silently promised her new fiancé.

When Mark returned with a whole box of Kleenex and a bottle of champagne, a gift of the resort’s management, Janine had to express her feelings, or burst.

“Mark, can you remember precisely how you felt when you walked across the stage to receive your diploma, or when you saw your own little boy for the first time? Do you remember at least one
of your
fifteen minutes of fame?”

Mark nodded
,
his face lit by a broad grin.

“All right then, can you combine all those emotions and add these two: the way you feel when you hear a piece of music that transports you to a better place
;
and the soaring in your spirit when gazing at an extraordinarily clear summer’s night sky, one sheltering uncountable numbers of stars and a perfect full moon?”

The look on his face told her that he was
experiencing
what she had described.

“Now you have a little taste of how I felt when you placed that ring on my left hand.”

Mark squeezed that hand and shed a tear or few of his own before he, too, let his heart speak.

“Do you want to know when I first knew I would love you?”

“When we first made love?

“No, no, way before that. Do you remember our walk around the fountain in Marshall the day we met?”

“Uh huh, I sure do! What are you saying?”

“That I can pinpoint the exact moment the feeling began. I’m not declaring I fully loved you then, I just knew that I would. The realization came to me a couple of hours before our first kiss. That kiss was just the exclamation point.”

“Nice! I remember thinking it was perfection among kisses.”

Mark gave her an instant replay and then went on.

“As we strolled around that replica of the ‘Temple of Love’ in Marie Antoinette's garden, something about you touched me deeply.

“
It wasn’t a specific word or look; more like a sensation. Or maybe it was a command from whatever might have inhabited the ‘Temple of Love’ that day.”

“I knew she heard me—”

“Whatever the source, submitting to it was the smartest thing I ever did. And the most unusual—I’m not usually impulsive.”