LOVE found the way.

It was going to be a bright and sunny day. The early morning sun rose towards the horizon and began to warm this little island paradise. Sparkling was the water as it rippled along the ocean beach. Leslie laid on a towel head down taking a nap as the sun slowly raised it radiated intensity off her well defined body. There were not many people on the beach at the 6:15 am. Suddenly a man approached her.

“Miss, I believe the water is coming in closer to you!”

She didn’t hear him. She was in a deep state of sleep and was not even aware of his presence. He bent over her copper toned body and tapped her on her shoulder. She suddenly awoke and turned over to see.

“Who are you…what do you want!?” She inquires.

“I tried to tell you miss, the tide is coming in slowly, you’ll be flooded with water in a few minutes”

Leslie looked back towards the ocean and she could see the water was only about three feet away from her beach towel.

“I’m sorry, I guess I dosed off for a while, thanks for telling me” she kindly responded.

The man smiled. She saw in a split instance the smile and honesty he had in his face. She had not seen that in a man in quite some time. She wanted to continue a conversation but she thought it would be too forwarding of her. He heart blissfully cringed as the man politely left.

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Leslie came on a vacation to drown the heart ache she once had when she was in Minnesota. She was about to get married to the man she thought was her ultimate dream. One week before the wedding he told her that he was in love with another and was about to marry his college sweetheart instead. She found out that he was seeing this other woman for months while still with her.  Leslie left broken hearted and was totally distraught. Being jilted by her fiancée to marry another woman instead of her, Leslie further felt insecure at twenty-two in that she was not good enough _anymore. Her only solution to her dilemma was to take a long vacation alone and try to clear it all out of her mind.

Her hotel was a short walk from the beach front as she still wondered about the handsome stranger that woke her on the beach. She had promised herself not to be romantically involved with a man as experience tells her that it’s was not the right time. Her wounds were still fresh from the last time a man broke her heart in a thousand pieces. Nevertheless though her mind told her one thing, her heart seems to over ride that principle for now as she pondered the thought of even a simple kiss from this handsome stranger would set her free from her troubles even for a single moment.

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It was soon evening and Leslie decided to go to a night club some minutes away from her hotel. She was able to take a vehicle the hotel provided that shuttles back and forth within the area.  It was a very quaint night club with tropical décor, a band and exotically island dressed people. She wore flowered designed short pants that displayed her smooth tanned legs, a blouse that was somewhat conservative and with her loosely curly brunette hair that dangled just below her shoulders. One could see that her cuteness was emphasized by her bright emerald green eyes as she entered the club. Instead of sitting at the bar she took a small table to enjoy the band and ordered a drink. Minutes later she was invited to the dance floor by a few of the males, all of which Leslie showed no interest. Time just went by as it was getting late; she was contemplating the idea to go back to the hotel. But before that would happen she would be asked again to dance. Declining the invitation with the intention to leave, the man who requested the dance was perturbed and somewhat drunk. He would virtually drag her by the hands to the dance floor against her will with dire protest from Leslie. A confrontation soon developed. Anticipating a turn from what was a happy event, the barman ordered a warning which was not heeded by the man.

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Not long afterwards suddenly he showed up. The man she knew at the beach.

“Miss is this man giving you trouble?” he politely asks.

The drunken man responded to him with an aggressive tone while standing in the middle of the dance floor as the band suddenly stopped.

“Mind your own god dam business!” the man in his half drunken state responded, “you came to the right man if you’re looking for trouble mister”

With an uncoordinated action, the drunken man took a wide swung at him. The stranger ducked and went around the man with a vice like grip with his arms around the man’s throat. The man yells in submission as he falls to the floor. The handsome stranger than turns to Leslie.

“Would you like a lift to the hotel miss?” he said.

“Yes please, and thank you for your help”, Leslie gracefully replied.

“Not a problem”

As he drove the car to the hotel she had to ask who he was.

“I work for the hotel you stay at. I’m in charge of all security”

She looked into his blue eyes with contrasting dark hair as he talked. She wanted to ask if he had a wife or girlfriend but she thought it was presumptuous to ask such questions like that at the time. He then led the conversation afterwards.

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“You seem awfully young to go alone in clubs like that. Would it be wrong to ask a pretty girl like you your age?

Leslie blushed at the word pretty. She hadn’t been told that for a long time and it was good to hear that coming from a handsome man like him.

“I’m twenty-two. But you’re a very good looking man yourself”

He smiled like a teenager and almost giggled.

“That was the compliment of the night. I wish the entire female guests at the hotel would say that more often”

“But you are. And I didn’t even get your name. Mine is Leslie”

“I’m Brian, and I’m happy to meet you Leslie”

“I am too indeed happy to meet you Brian”

“So here we are at the hotel”, Brian pulls up the car at the entrance and comes around to open her door.

“You’re such a gentleman. I hope we meet again Brian”

Brian smiled and waves goodbye to her as she turned and walked away. He stared for a few seconds at her gorgeous figure as the sliding doors opened to the hotel and she disappears inside. As he drove away in the car he reminds himself that she is a client of the hotel and he is an employee and personal feeling of that level is counterproductive if he is to do his job and keep it. Brian could have easily started with a kiss before she left but his ethical demeanor got in the way. Brian too was jilted some four months ago. After moving to the island for the job he was in, when he got settled in, his girlfriend of two years was to come to the island to be officially engaged.

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A planned event was done. Days later before that happened she broke the news to him. She didn’t want to go to the island and leave her friends. He soon realized afterwards that she had a few boyfriends. His fiancée to be was not prepared to settle down.

The next morning there was a knock at Leslie’s door. She had requested an early morning breakfast in the room. Leslie was preparing to go to the beach and read a good book. She opened the door. It was Brian.

“Hello Leslie. You left your phone in my car yesterday”, he said casually.

“Wow, didn’t even noticed it was missing, besides I wasn’t expecting anyone to call me, but thanks”

“Well I’m sure you will be using it to call someone in Minnesota sometime soon”

“Nope, don’t have a soul to call except my mom”

“No man?” Brian looks at her with a quaint expression.

“No man!” as she looks back with the same expression.

“I see and you’re all by yourself on this vacation. That took some courage!”

“Not really. This vacation is therapy for me. I once was in love now I’m de-toxing all of that out of my system!”

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“Interesting, I wish I had your courage to fix mine like that”

“Oh you’re coming off of a relationship too”

And with that, Leslie called him inside her hotel room and they exchange stories. She again starts looking in his eyes as she talks. He also felt a bliss coming over him as he listened to her. As the conversation developed they began to get closer to each other..until.. they kissed. Brian couldn’t stop what he truly felt. And Leslie knew it was just a matter of time.

“I am so sorry Leslie, it’s my fault”, Brian started to apologize.

“No no, I shouldn’t have done it; I don’t want to jeopardize your job.

“Well nobody else needs to know it happened. So let’s leave at that, and forget it happened”, he shyly said and walked away.

Brian left and Leslie cancelled going to the beach. She lay on her bed with her eyes towards the ceiling visualizing the kiss she just got from Brian. She was thinking that she didn’t regret kissing him at all. She enjoyed it. She actually wished she could have got another. Then her cell phone rings. She didn’t want to answer it. She thought it was her mom checking up on her. Her mom calls her every morning. It’s usually at least a fifteen minute conversation. Leslie had a few more days more to head back to Minnesota. She decided to finally check the message in her cell phone. She was shocked what she heard

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: Leslie this is Brian, when I left I kept thinking about that kiss. It was the most beautiful thing that happened to me in a long time. If you don’t feel the same I understand but if you do let’s meet tonight..a dinner maybe! Bye.

Leslie began to jump around like a teenager after hearing the message. She began to vocalize her thoughts, “Yes Brian, I do, I do feel the same and I too don’t regret it. I will call you” Leslie calls him but was only able to get his voice message. She left the message for him to pick her up at six for the dinner date.

It was close to her dinner-date and Leslie got dressed and this time she wore an evening dress with a low cut top that shows her breasts partially. She wanted to look sexy for Brian but not too revealing. She fixed her hair in the mirror and put on her ear rings when she hears a door bell. It’s Brian, she thinks. She walks to open the door. It was Brian wearing a dinner jacket, satin shirt with a Spanish ruffle around the neck. His dark hair slick backwards and his blue eyes that was radiating onto her as they both embraced.

“You look stunning my dear”, Brian said stepping back to get a better picture of her on how she looked.

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“Oh, and you are not too bad yourself!” she said with a big smile.

Driving in the car, they talked for a while and then took a slightly longer drive to a favorite restaurant that Brian chose. It was the restaurant of choice that he would have taken his ex –girlfriend pending engagement. Leslie would looked at Brian as he drove the car, looking into his beautiful eyes as Brian glance at her attractiveness and couldn’t imagine a guy would break off a marriage with her. He thought: I could easily fall in love with her if I don’t be careful. Leslie tries to make small talk to calm her down from him.

“This is a beautiful island town, I wish I could stay longer”, she said.

“I love it too, I’ve only been here about five months and I thought I may have gotten home sick by now.”

“You seemed too busy to get home sick”

“I get busy quite a bit. The company is planning to put me in higher management so I’ll be getting more training; they obviously like what I am doing. I may just plan to say here a bit longer”

“I have a job to go home to, nothing fancy, administrative”, Leslies said.

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“If you want you can work here at the hotel, there are a few admin jobs around”

They finally arrived at the restaurant. It was indeed exquisite. The car was valet, the reservations taken and they had their seats. They sat at their table as Leslie commented on how fabulous the restaurant was. But it was when she look at the price at the menu that her feelings were verified. It didn’t seem to bother Brian since he felt that Leslie was special and the more he looked at her the more his heart melted. Just around the middle of the meal, a small group of three musicians came to the table and one of the men took Brian away from the table. They talked for a short minute. Leslie was puzzled to know what was going on. Brian explained to her that because she was new to the restaurant they wanted to play a couple of local songs to them. She was flattered and a little shy on the response but the musicians went ahead. As they played, the music was very melodic and among the words they sang, she would feel the romantic mood that enhanced her feelings. Leslie looked at Brian and he could see she was engulfing to the ambiance of it all: the food, the surrounding and now the music. Her pretty face and green eyes glistened as she looked romantically at Brian. Brian stretched his hand across the table and she held it.

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“I think it’s happening to me again”, she said.

“What’s that?” Brian asked.

“That love bug people talk about”

“Yes I know, I can’t deny that’s happening to me too!”

Her eyes watered more as she attempts to wipe her left eye dry as she listened to the music that captivated her feeling. 

“I’m afraid to fall in love again Brian, I don’t want to be hurt again” Leslie says.

“If I was to tell you some of my stories, you’ll be crying for me instead, my poor heart is a war zone caused by a stilly thing called love” Brian jokingly says to make her laugh a bit.

“Oh really, you have problems of the heart as well!”

“I think we’ve all been hurt”, he says, “there is no formula in finding the right person, it’s the chances we take in life and it all part of living”

Leslie listened to his wisdom and discovered the softer part of Brian. She was now discovering the inner him. He too found out another beauty that lies deep within her. Their personalities, their likes and dislikes, their smiles and laughter along with the love it was all starting to develop. It was a beautiful date for both of them.

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In the next few days that followed, Leslie and Brian were totally enveloped with each other. Every day they took the time to be with each other. Every day the discovered more of each other that enhanced their desire to be with each other. Leslie would lookout to the moonlight on the veranda of the hotel before going to bed thinking of him and Brian would be on his sofa looking at his favorite show on TV, then he would start thinking of Leslie, shuts off the TV with his remote, folds his arms and think of Leslie.

One morning Brian went to Leslie and they took a walk along the beach. It was Brian’s day off from work and they had the entire day together. Leslie told Brian that she would miss him immensely when she goes back to Minnesota. Leslie knew it would break her heart. Brian on the other hand did not want her to leave. He was getting quite used to her presence. Their relationship was staring to get complicated.

“Why don’t you get an admin job at the hotel?” Brian asks, “I can pull a few strings and may even get you a good pay rate”

“I don’t know Brian”, She says, “My mom’s in Minnesota and she’s not getting younger, I check up on her periodically also”

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“Well it’s up to you Leslie, I feel we care for each other a whole lot and I don’t want to lose you, I think we have something good going”

“I will call my mom tonight and tell her I met a handsome man and…”

“And tell her that you will have an extended stay here on the island”

“Well, we’ll see.”

Night time came and Leslie said her goodbyes to Brian. But before that she had the most wonderful kiss from him. She almost saw stars as she kissed him at the door of her room with the feeling of a warm embrace. Sadly she looked at him and walks away. She thought: I love him, but my life is so complicated and I don’t want to get hurt. Oh why can’t it be simple?

The next day Leslie called Brian with the news. It was good. Her mom was delighted that she finally has a boyfriend and even thankful that she didn’t need so much babysitting from Leslie anymore. Brian didn’t tell her but before he got the news from her, he was able to set up an interview for her at his hotel. Two days later with Brian, Leslie was able to get the job as an administrative secretary. It was a big jump from her last job. She moved in with Brian with the idea for her to minimize expenses but naturally there were other reasons.

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However, everything was not all perfect for the couple. Leslie worked hard not to disappoint Brian as well as the company. She put in quiet a few hours at work, sometime she worked late in the evening which caused just enough time for them to have dinner and go to bed.  Nevertheless Brian supported her and projected to her that it was always hard at first starting a new job despite them seeing less of each other. A few weeks went by and Leslie was working less and began to see Brian more. She slept in late on weekends and would feel Brian warm presence near to her in the bed. She would slowly wake up as she hugged and kissed him while he was still half asleep. Brian loved the attention she gave him. And then one day it happened. Without telling her she woke up one morning and noticed a ring on her finger. She saw that Brian was not in bed. Leslie ran excitingly to find him.

“Brian, Brian..” she yells.

Brian was making coffee and looked up and saw her running towards him. She jumped and hugged him with total elation.

“Did you put a ring on my finger last night while I was dead asleep?”

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Brian smiled a guilty one.

“I did, sorry I should have asked you but I’m unlike most guys…I know we both love each other and I though…”

“I would have said Yes anyway, I love you and I’m delightfully surprised…we’re engaged!”

They both hugged and kissed each other. She could feel Brian muscular tone body against her and he could feel her beautiful soft sensual one next to his. It was so good. Leslie thought to herself: finally!

The days turned into weeks and weeks soon became three months and Brian and Leslie was as much in love to the day they met. Leslie was doing well in her new job and Brian gained a promotion. Brian was able to meet Leslie’s mom and her mom showed great pleasure in accepting him as her new soon-to-be son-in-law. Brian whose parents had passed away since he was a teenager was able to get his grandmother in the circle of things and his two sisters and a brother. It was not long that both families got together and a wedding was in the plan. Leslie was somewhat nervous; not about the weeding but what if something again happens that cause him to change his mind. Brian calms her jitters and lets her know that “

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our love is for real”.  Finally they were married in style; on an island paradise, with many guests that comprised of friends and family that cheered and celebrated to the new husband and wife.

Sometime later, Leslie would fondly look back to the day that she came on a vacation to get rid of the one man and found out that she ended up falling in love with another. She was not prepared to fall in love again after her first experience with a possible wedding but as love should have it, it was by faith that she met the one that took her heart…Brian. Brian on the other hand was a void waiting to be filled, but filled by the right woman with the right love for him. And as love would have it, they were two hearts began beating as one as love found the away to each other’s hearts. 

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