Chapter Nine: Preparation.
Authors note: Sorry I have taken so long between uploads, I have been working so much! Apologies if the format is slightly odd on this, I'm on holiday at the moment and so I'm scrawling new chapters on scraps of paper and uploading them from the notes app on my phone! OL xx
Louisa felt so calm the sound of the waves soothing all her worries, the gentle breeze creating white ripples around her. She reached her hands out to them watching the bubbles dancing on her fingertips under the light of the crescent moon. Running her thumb across her fingertips she could feel the creases the moisture was starting to force them into. She had no idea how long she had been in the water for, but with the moon in relatively the same place she knew it couldn't have been THAT long. "Anyway" she whispered to herself "water is good for you, Martin always drinks it". With the mention of his name she found her eyes awash with warm tears which ran down her cold cheeks. Louisa missed Martin so much already and it had only been a few hours! She decided to lie back in the water to try and look towards his house, the tears were still free falling down her face and dripping into the sea. It felt like the whole sea was just her tears for Martin, she thought that the sea had stripped her of all that emotion and bad energy. It was difficult to stay afloat with the deep gut wrenching sobs which were forcing their way out of her lungs without Louisa even needing to try. She was so sure that she was over tears for Martin and his frustrating ways, clearly not. Louisa felt guilty for storming out of his house... Their house! Storming out without giving him the chance to explain or apologise. Louisa looked back to Martin's house her hair fanning out framing her face like a strange crying mermaid. One longed to be on land with her Prince Charming... Well perhaps not charming but the man she loved and had always been in love with. Louisa's thoughts turned from Martin to Danny Steel, her boyfriend before Martin. Did she ever love Danny? Or was she waiting for something else to come along, and didn't want to be alone? "Yes probably" she sighed to herself dismayed at the conclusion she had just come to! We had fun together she thought to herself, more fun that I've ever had with Martin. But Martin was a quiet and sensitive man, planning and preparing like the surgeon he was whereas Danny was the complete opposite. Danny was so spontaneous always bringing he home flowers and taking her on a spur of the moment mini break holiday. Danny was fickle like that, just going with the flow, Martin was always saving himself for something better for his full attention, Martin was reliable and steadfast. Some people called him boring, her friend Holly certainly thought so and the villagers found him rude and obnoxious. But Louisa saw past these things to the quietly admiring and genuinely caring Martin Ellingham she saw out of surgery hours.
It was at that moment she knew that she had to go to Martin's house and speak to him. He needed to sort things out and get back to normal, after all it was his birthday and she hadn't given him his presents yet. She had left the most expensive one on the bed when she thought she was never coming back but had planned something more romantic for him. That was it. Louisa was going to find Martin and straighten this whole mess out!
First however, she had to get out of the water which would probably prove difficult now her entire body, hair and clothing was sodden. The weight meant that staying afloat with her head above the water in order to swim was practically impossible! Louisa was drifting outward the harbour wall with the tide, and with no means of getting back to shore. Her energy was slowly draining, the water zapping any energy resource which was still available and it seemed like most of her energy was being spent on keeping her warm. Louisa wasn't the strongest swimmer so she kept her head above the water and drifted a little closer towards a boat moored in the bay. Lifting her hand to catch hold of the boat she managed to grip it with her wet and slippery hands. She could hardly feel her hands but she could see from her knuckles turning white that she was gripping hard and was safe... For the time being.
