Chapter Thirty-Five

Iopened my eyes to the shadows of the bungalow. It was still dark, the constant sound of crashing waves murmuring outside. I picked up my phone and tried to work out how long I had slept—more than twelve hours as it turned out. Then, I checked when sunrise was. Just forty minutes away.

I slipped out of bed and slowly walked around the room, taking in the details that time. The wooden panels along the walls were well cared for, a dark blue velvet settee stood by the foot of the bed, along with a small wooden table, carved in intricate patterns.

When I stepped outside, the private pool shimmered in the low light, casting hues of green and blue onto the walls of the bungalow.

The sound of the ocean was almost teasing. So I walked back inside and dug out my swimsuit, changed, grabbed a towel, and marched outside.

The hotel premises were carefully lit, all trails adorned by strings of lights. The reception building was dimmed, and other bungalows hid among the trees. I followed the sound of waves.

When the path gave way to the beach, I slipped off my flip-flops and bore my toes into the cool sand. I stepped closer to the waves, the ocean finally licking at my feet. The water was warm, soothing. I snapped a photo and sent it to Arthur.

The beach was deserted except for one man sitting on a yoga mat. The darkness was slowly lifting, giving way to a new day, but it was still impossible to see more than the man's outline. I turned in the other direction, so as not to disturb his privacy, and stood knee-deep in the water, facing the shimmering light on the horizon.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Everything about my life was finally not terrifying or coated in sadness. I was doing well in a job I loved. I had met a man, a friend.

More than a friend, my mind whispered.

But I was not ready to label anything yet. I was ready to travel. I was already traveling! I felt a new possibility tingling at my fingertips as I slowly started trusting life. The waves that licked my calves just proved that I had so many beautiful things in life still to encounter.

"Emily?"

I was jerked out of my blissful thoughts by the sound of an unfamiliar voice. I turned around and saw a tall man standing a few feet away on the shore. His shaved head and dark beard explained why he knew my name.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," said Benjamin Oliver, the CEO of the multimillion-dollar company that had bought our app for integration.

I walked back to the edge of the water and shook his huge hand. It was warm.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Benjamin said. I nodded, following his gaze to the almost blinding light on the horizon.

"I come every morning to the ocean to meet the day. Sri Lanka soothes the soul, you know," he said.

"I can imagine," I said.

I had read as many articles on Benjamin as I could before we finished the sale. He was a wolf in the business world, but one day he cracked. The pressure and constant running around almost stopped his heart. So he reorganized his position in the many companies he owned, and for a few years worked remotely, managing businesses from all over the world.

"How long have you been living here?" I asked.

"Soon it'll be two years. And I don't plan to move, it's just too perfect here. Sri Lanka brought not only peace to my life, but my Muse," Benjamin said.

"Muse?"

"Yes, my fiancée. You'll get to meet her later today," he said. "I'm so glad all of you could come. I just hope this little trip will inspire your team to find the right balance between work and life. I believe that only when that balance is found, is the job done most productively."

I agreed.

"Well, enjoy your morning, and I look forward to seeing you at breakfast," Benjamin said. "Welcome to Sri Lanka."

His voice was calm, velvety, a startling difference from the one I had heard on the videos of speeches he had given. Before his heart attack, he was a shark, ready to bite; during our brief moment, he was ... relaxed.

Benjamin smiled at me, walked back to his yoga mat, rolled it up, and moved back to the hotel entrance. But right at the edge, he stopped and turned back, to the sliver of sun that appeared on the horizon. He stood there for a minute, then waved at me and disappeared between the green leaves.

Sri Lanka helped him find peace, and love as it seemed. I didn't want to run to the edge of the Earth to find all those things. Not that I was interested in love anymore. Yeah, right, the voice in my head sang as the sun crept up. But peace, I wanted that. I didn't want to run anymore, run for money, run for recognition, trying to be the best at what I did. I just wanted to sit in my Mustang and drive. Maybe my happiness was not abroad in beautiful scenery, but at home, just driving to see the stars. And maybe, just maybe, a smug British man could be by my side.

It was impossibly beautiful there on the beach, but all that shimmering sunrise did to me was clear my head and help me realize that maybe, I had already found everything I needed.

That was until my carefully constructed happiness and peace shattered over the hard Sri Lanka stone.