Broken Wings

Part Thirty Four - picking up the pieces

A/N Sorry at the delay after such rapid posting, got a lot on this week, but also the next few chapters are the hard ones for me. I am on the case though. Hope you 'enjoy', despite the subject matter, MZxxx

Chapter Thirty four

Aaron watched Julia running along the sand, Cliffy and Coco nipping at her heels. It had been a relaxing day, just what they both needed, not one mention of the last two days. She'd been tired when they got to the house, her residual hangover still lingering, so he left her to settle in and went to the supermarket.

BY the time he got back she looked a lot brighter, she'd changed into shorts and a t-shirt, but sunglasses covered her eyes.

"We're across the road from the beach, the last thing I want to do on a sunny day is mope about."

That had surprised him, but he'd followed her lead, raiding the garage for a beach umbrella whilst she packed a picnic blanket and some drinks into a bag.

They'd sat and watched plane trails crisscross the sky, and a few yachts flutter on the horizon. They didn't speak about anything more taxing than the weather and their observations.

The house, or rather the condo was part of a block of a dozen homes with a roof top pool, his company home was the largest two story apartment that looked out on to the boardwalk that clung to the edge of the beach. It was filled with walkers, cyclists and families enjoying the summer day. The dogs had spent an hour running in and out of the water enthusiastically and were now flaked out in the shade of the umbrella, their fur covered in sand and salt. Julia was asleep, her head resting against his thigh. She had looked so relaxed he didn't want to wake her, but it was getting hotter, and they hadn't been too dedicated in putting on sunscreen.

So, they'd comeback, fed the dogs, then both curled up on the opposite sofas, curtains pulled back, balcony doors open, and fell asleep.

When they'd woke, she had taken the dogs for an evening stroll whilst he lit the barbeque on the small balcony that was above ground level, giving him a view of her splashing in the surf with the dogs.

He liked seeing her so carefree, her long legs dancing around as her hair billowed in the breeze. She was quite a sight, and he only wished he was a painter to capture that vibrancy, that energy, that freedom. It was subdued usually as she tried to deal with the traumas of life. And he felt the overwhelming need to make this her life, to take her away from the shit that dragged her down. There should be a law that made it illegal for her to be taken from this mental freedom. He shook himself, he'd never been this much of a sap, he had no idea what was happening to him, he'd never felt this protective of someone before. She made him into something he'd never been before, made him want what he'd never wanted before.

As if she knew he was thinking about her, she glanced up, her hand shading the sun from her eyes as she picked him out slowly, then waved. Laughing he raised both arms above his head and waved them, knowing that she was the only one who could see him. Laughing he turned to the barbeque, it was almost hot enough to cook their steak and chicken...and whilst he was focussing on food he could forget what a muppet he'd become. He was doing and saying things that he had never done and said before. 

The sun was setting somewhere in the distance, the night was darkening. Julia looked across the table at Aaron. Since dinner they'd sat opposite each other at the small table on the patio, him checking his emails, her reading a book, about Cleopatra. She was one of her heroes and she'd wanted to settle into the book she found in a store weeks ago, but her head hadn't been in the right place to read.