A stranger sat at her table claiming to be her soulmate. 


Evie blinked and for a second she swore she could hear the drip of the water that was melting the napkin under her drink. 


You heard the guy, she thought, but it was hard to focus. Her sister, Kate, had just stormed off, leaving her breakfast unfinished at the table. Evie’s message had been clear: she hated Kate’s boyfriend and he was ruining their trip. Evie had been careful to dance around the word hate, but she had brought to the table Jack’s awful treatment of the front desk receptionist on day one, and his refusal to let anyone sleep in on day two- offenses that didn’t even include many more gathered from the past two years. The last thing Evie needed right now was to get hit on. Or maybe, this is exactly what I need, a low risk distraction. I can play along.


“Soul mate feels pretty serious” she said, frowning her dark eyebrows. “At best, it’s a cheesy pick-up line, at worst, I am about to be kidnapped.”


He smiled and she could tell that he wanted to laugh but held back.


The wind from the nearby ocean blew the curtain near them and streaks of light fell on his face. He is quite handsome, even for a potential serial killer, Evie thought. She looked at him closely and quickly so he wouldn’t notice her staring. He had caramel skin and eyes shaped like half-moons. His shoulders were broad but relaxed, it was as if his body was mirroring the mood of the island. He looked familiar, like most people in the Rosa Palm resort did after three nights. 


The stranger pointed at his feet, he was wearing sandals by a popular brand that named all their shoes after world cities, his were the Arizona’s in a dark charcoal color. Evie was wearing the same ones, many sizes smaller. “I meant to say, ‘sole’ mates, I should have clarified.” He placed one hand on his forehead, rubbing it as if to indicate instant regret over the pick-up line. 


“I am sorry, that was lame.” He said moving his hand to the stubble that grew around his lips like a welcoming shadow.


Evie managed a smirk and shook her head playfully. Is he serious? she thought, but there was something disarming about him. Maybe, it was the fact he was capable of a little shame, there was something sexy in that, something humble.


After letting him squirm for a few seconds, Evie spoke. 


“I am going to pretend you never said that, but I must confess that if I could work my corporate job in these shoes, I would. I guess you can say I respect your taste in shoes”. She had been half-heartedly munching on the last of her breakfast before he had sat down wondering if Kate would return. All that was left were some delicious fried plantains that she was now subtly pushing to the side. She wanted to hear what the stranger had to say.


“Corporate huh? Let me guess, lawyer?” He quickly asked, as if to escape the embarrassment of his opening line.


A sarcastic “ha!” escaped Evie. 


“No, not even close. But my jerk of a brother-in-law is.” This time she could not help but roll her eyes. “I am in advertisement. How about you? What do you do when you aren’t vacationing?”. 


“How do you know I am on vacation? I could work here for all you know?”, he teased.


“You would risk your job for me? A girl in Arizona sandals eating breakfast alone?”. Evie realized suddenly that she was flirting back.


“Worth it, if you ask me”. He said, looking at her before breaking his eye contact to look outside the window. The waves of his hair seemed so effortless, as if he had gotten out of bed and tossed the comb aside in favor of his hand.


He continued, “I don’t work here, although I kind of wish I did. I teach Spanish at a private school in New York and sometimes Latin.” The second half of his answer seemed to be casually tossed in there to impress her.


The stranger had brought his coffee with him when he sat down at her table. The lips that spoke Spanish and occasionally Latin were being warmed by sips of the drink.


“I can see how it would be hard to teach Spanish in Puerto Rico.” Evie said with playful sarcasm. He laughed and again placed his hand near his mouth, holding his chin up in a way that Evie found surprisingly sexy. He seemed to be enjoying his day and for a brief second Evie was jealous of his carefree attitude. Immediately after her argument with her sister, Evie had felt a strong need to lay down but now she sensed a burst of energy entering her body.


“Well, maybe there is something else I can teach. I have a background in biology, and I can cook a mean carne asada. Do you think I should ask for an application at this hotel?”, he said. As he spoke, an attractive group of women passed by dressed for the beach. One of them looked at the stranger, but his eyes didn’t leave Evie’s gaze.


“Why not? You seem young. This would be the time to take risks”, Evie said. He shared that he was not that young, only 27 he claimed. Evie confessed that she was two years older. Somehow the conversation turned to the topic of families. Evie explained that her mother Emilia was also on the trip and out shopping. The stranger shared his family’s tradition of gathering every two years to escape to a tropical island, no matter how busy they all were. Evie listened with genuine interest.


As he spoke, Evie bite the purple bendy straw that everyone got with their breakfast smoothie, it was a bad habit of hers and she wondered if he had noticed. Her hair had felt oily and she had pulled it back into a ponytail, her vacation sunglasses rested on the top of her head. A part of her felt like removing hair tie and pulling down her sunglasses. She wanted to hide and feel sexy at the same time and her brain could not explain the contradiction. She wanted to admit to him that she was also from New York, albeit not the city but the suburbs. When the stranger mentioned an early morning yoga class, she realized that she may have spotted him there.


“Was it the 8 am ‘Mambo Yoga’ class?”, Evie asked, her eyes gleaming.


He pursed his mouth in a pretend wince, “Unfortunately, yes. First time doing yoga, my family dragged me to it.”


Unfortunately for you, but fortunately for me, she thought. Having arrived late to class, Evie had been forced to lay her mat in the back row. She wasn’t a faithful yogi but she figured she needed an outlet for her pent-up annoyance on the less-than-idyllic trip. She soon realized she had a great view of a cute guy with a nice bum, but could not make out his face. Just his wavy hair and a pair of dark charcoal sandals parked by the side of his mat. 


Evie was about to ask him if his muscles were sore from the class when out of the corner of her eye she saw a long hair brunette enter the dining area. The sight of the brunette broke Evie out of her spell, but it wasn’t Kate. Just a lookalike.


She felt a tinge of pain. 


The stranger followed Evie’s gaze, “I have three sisters, I get it”


“You heard us argue?” 


“Not exactly, but your sister did rush past me and almost made me spill the coffee I was pouring. Trust me that this shirt will not take a coffee stain well. That’s when I spotted you at the table”. Evie took a good look at his shirt, it was a pastel green button-up, the color reminded her of when the grass fades after the Autumn weather ends. He looked at her with more intent. 


Evie sighted. “I am tired of pretending everything is okay. I mean, what if she marries this guy and he doesn’t change?”. From the inside of her pocket she could hear a fluttery cymbal that alerted her of incoming messages. Evie took out her phone to take a quick glance, two incoming messages from Kate.


As if he could read her mind the stranger said, “You got to go, don’t you?”.


“Yes”, she whispered.  Part of her didn’t want to go, she felt a desire to keep the conversation going, but she also knew that it was best to address grievances with her sister immediately after they happened.


“Can I offer you just one piece of advice? As a man with many sisters?” he said. 


“Sure”, Evie said although with some hesitation in her voice. 


“No one will ever be good enough for your sister. But it’s got to be her choice.” He reached out across the table, it seemed he was about to shake her hand but instead Evie let her fingers perch on top of his. Instinctively he stroke them for a millisecond before pulling away and clearing his throat. Surely, he felt what she had felt. It felt like the fire of a candle burning slowly and rapidly at the same time. 


“I should go, I hope I see you around?”, Evie said, her heart still racing.


“Me too, but there is a big problem” he said as he got up with her. “I can solve it really quick, here, give me your phone.”


They were standing by the table and Evie handed over her cell phone unable to stop herself. It didn’t take him long to enter his name and number. She glanced at it and smiled.


“Lucas, huh? It suits you.” Evie said smiling.


“Thanks, I will let my mom know you approve”, Lucas teased. “I believe that I don’t know your name either.”


“It’s Evie”, she said.


“Evie..” he sounded it out, “can I walk you out?”. She liked seeing her name slipping out of his lips, and for a second, she wondered how those same lips would feel pressed against hers. They walked outside the dining area and into the deck area of the resort. The sun was generous to the island and both locals and visitors could be seen eagerly flocking towards the clear waters. Lucas asked her out for dinner, and she agreed to go, on the condition that it would be somewhere outside the resort. As he walked back inside and as she walked towards the sandy beach, she glanced back to check him out, not quite believing her luck. She didn’t expect him to look back, but he did, and neither seem embarrassed to get caught. Ahead of her, Evie spotted Kate. Her sister seemed relaxed underneath an umbrella, reading a book under oversized sunglasses. Evie was prepared to turn things around.