Nicole's eyes fluttered open as she woke up to the sound of the birds singing and the sunlight peeking through the hotel room's windows. 

What are blackout curtains for? She thought to herself  while she lazily dragged her hand to the black bedside table to grab her phone and check the time. It was 08:24 A.M. 

She groaned and rolled to the side to face her boyfriend, Matt, who was still sleeping peacefully despite the light that met the darkness in the room. She felt the urge to wake him up and head downstairs with him to get breakfast and get ready to spend another day at the beach, but she also felt like that would be selfish of her so she rested her back against the surprisingly comfortable mattress and faced the ceiling, sighing. 

She could not go back to sleep and just laying in bed doing nothing while staring at a white wall was so not her thing, she was so not that type of girl. She needed to do something with her time, so she sat up on her bed and grabbed her white laptop that was sitting next to her phone and started typing away, as fast as her fingers would let her, and yet not quick enough to catch up with how fast her mind was going. 

The London sky was the perfect mix of purple and blue, you know, that color that you can't quite identify? All Rachel knew was that she loved the sight and it inspired her to pick up her camera and snap a shot at the perfect skyline of one of the most beautiful cities in the world. 

She didn't choose to be a photographer in the lands of her majesty, but destiny certainly did and it brought her to the place where she'd find the love of her life.

She scrunched her nose at the words she put on the screen and after a quick thought about what the beginning of chapter ten sounded like she continued her line of thought and kept on typing.

She wasn't a writer per say - she wanted to be one and was working for it but that dream proved to be a lot harder than she thought it would be when she started typing the first words of the first chapter, thinking in all her innocence that that was all it took for an editor to actually choose her and her book and publish them. Meanwhile her bills and her rent weren't going to pay themselves so she spent eight hours of her days, if not more, at a law firm where she worked as a personal assistant slash confidant slash secretary to Diane Fitzgerald, a corporate lawyer and her best friend since kindergarten. 

It was a job good enough to cover her monthly bills and some shopping sprees she went on Saturdays with said best friend, plus it had a good health insurance but it was still something she had to drag herself to wake up in the morning to do. It wasn't like writing. It wasn't her passion.

At eight-thirty in the morning of her last day in paradise - aka the Bahamas - with her boyfriend next to her in a heavenly place, only a few steps away from the beach, all she could and wanted to do at the moment was write, write and write. It was her passion, ever since she was a child she's always loved reading books and writing little stories and now, at the young age of twenty-four she was finally starting to make her dream come true. 

Once she could finish the draft of the whole novel to present to the publisher she could actually get somewhere with her writing and do what she's always wanted to do her whole life. 

While she typed furiously on the keyboard, like she always did when she had an idea and felt inspired and on a roll, as she was going halfway through her tenth chapter, she felt a body moving next to her. It was Matt but she didn't bother to say much, just in case he wanted to go back to sleep, and instead she tried to apply less pressure on the keyboard so the sound wouldn't wake him up. She failed to do so, Matt was up already and with his face still buried in the white fabric of the pillow, he put one arm around her stomach. 

"What time is it?" He asked, his voice raspy and barely audible. 

"Almost nine. I was up early so I decided to get some work done." She explained, still not taking her eyes off of the screen and still typing fast and furiously. It's a thing. That's what she always said every time Matt or someone else bothered her about it. 

"You're writing again? And this early? Come on Nic, we're on vacation!" Matt propped up on one elbow and stared at her face, still only focused on the screen. 

He had been dating Nicole for the past three years and he was well aware of how much the book meant to her and he knew that writing was her lifetime dream, but he wasn't the most supportive boyfriend when it came to that. He was four years older than her, being twenty-eight and was living his dream by working at a design firm in Silicon Valley as a software engineer. Yep, he was a geek and so not her type, but she loved him. The fact that he was already doing what he wanted for a living this early in life was satisfying enough for him and it truly fulfilled him but it also clouded his thoughts when it came to his girlfriend - she was just not there yet and most of the times he couldn't understand that and often judged her for it. 

"I know, I know.... But I was up early and I felt inspired, had some ideas and I just had to write them down and then it just flowed, you know?" She explained herself, again, while clicking on the save button to save the file.

No, he didn't know. But he didn't say anything and only nodded in agreement. 

She closed her laptop and simply put it at the edge of the bed and turned to him, leaning in to kiss his lips.

"Morning." She said, smiling against him when they parted.

"Good morning to you too Miss Big Shot." He said playfully, before leaning to kiss her for the second time.

"Don't call me that, you might jinx it!" She said with a smile plastered on her face, while she wrapped her hand around one of his black curls.

"Okay, okay...!" He held his hand high in defense, before chuckling and pulling her closer to him. She slid down below him, opening her legs so he could fit in between them while he kissed her lips passionately. Their tongues fought for dominance while their hands traveled each other's bodies, pulling, tugging, ripping any sort of clothing that was in the way of their heated skin. 

"You know," He started after pulling back a little, gasping for air. "Today is gonna be a pretty good day."

"Really? How would you know that mister?" She teased him, with a smirk on her face and traced her index finger alongside his strong jaw while waiting for his answer. 

He was hot, she had to admit it. Not her type, but still pretty good looking.

"I just do." He leaned down to peck her lips. "And I think a pretty good day should have a pretty good start."

"You mind showing me how good is gonna be this start?" She teased again while lurching her hips upwards. He wasted no more time with flirting and attacked her neck with hungry kisses that he knew would leave its mark afterwards, but with the sound of his girlfriend's loud moans invading his ear and undoubtedly busting his ego, he knew he was on the right path to provide her the fantastic morning she deserved. 

She felt shivers running along her spine while at the same time she felt his lips trailing down her neck and resting on her chest before he attacked one of her nipples with his hot mouth while he did the same to the other with his free hand. 

Nicole could feel him smirk against her skin as she kept moaning, each time louder and louder. Knowing exactly what she wanted and needed, he moved his mouth lower, his lips on her skin felt painfully slow to her liking and she groaned until he reached the place she needed and wanted him the most.

Not too long after, he was still inside her as he let her ride out her orgasm while Nicole spent some time to regain oxygen in her lungs, her shallow breaths now getting deeper and deeper and after letting out a content sigh he pulled himself out from inside her, causing the girl to shift a little as he moved.

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, isn't it what they say?"

* * *

The sound of the ocean waves crashing onto the shore was relaxing, they were sweet and they were full of love and they were Nicole's very favorite sound. She felt like she was in heaven, looking at another one of her favorite things in the world - the view of the sun disappearing into the horizon, slowly fading away leaving only its rays floating on the ocean. 

She really thought she had all she needed in that moment. What else could she need or want? She had her boyfriend holding her hand as they walked alongside the shore and left their foot prints in the wet sand only to be erased by another strong wave that, as it crashed, filled her ears with the sound that she felt like had the power to lit a match inside her brain. And all that while the sun was setting. Those were the simple things she truly loved and cherished and valued in her life and having someone she loved so deeply to share it with her was just the icing on the cake.

If she was being honest, she had never fit Matt into the sappy and romantic category of men but he had been surprising her with gestures like these over the three years they'd been together and she was definitely not complaining at all.

"You know, you got me to enjoy this. Walking on the beach, watching the sunset..." She smiled to herself - it was almost as if he could read her mind and she loved that. 

He stopped in his tracks, holding both of her hands as they stood still across from each other, paralleled to the sun, and continued his speech. "I was an insensitive guy, never cared for others, but you changed that. You made me a better man, you made me want to become a better man and that's not something easy to do. Not just to me but to any person."

He was pouring his heart out to Nicole, or at least he was trying his hard and doing the best he could, which to her was enough. She knew exactly how he was and what he was like when they first started going out so, although this didn't seem like a grand, romantic gesture, she could only be happy that he was at least trying. 

As much as she was loving the moment, when a wave crashed on her she looked at their surroundings and she had to stop him right then and there.

"Hey hey babe... Don't you think we should be heading back to the hotel?" She asked as she glanced down at her limbs and noticed the dress was sticking to her legs like glue after another strong, big wave hit her.

Come to think of it, some members of the hotel did warn them about the bad weather approaching, but Nicole just never thought how fast the dark clouds could take over such a beautiful, clear sky.

"The sea is getting a little fussy, no one is at the beach, come on..." She turned around and pulled him with her hand still holding his only to feel him not moving. That was the moment when she turned back around and saw him standing in the same spot, holding a blue velvet box in his free hand. 

She gasped in surprise and stood still, frozen, petrified. She could feel her blood freezing in her veins, or maybe it was still her body reacting to the cold sea water that continued to splash her, she couldn't tell. Her brain had literally stopped working.

"Can you let go of my hand now?" He asked, a goofy yet nervous smile in his face, giving it all away. This was the moment she's been waiting for since she was a little girl and although the circumstances couldn't be further from the ones she's always imagined, she could not care less. 

"Yes! Oh my God!" She let go of his hand and took two steps forward to stand in front of him, just like she was a few seconds ago, and watched him get down on one knee and open the box that revealed a big, shinny diamond ring. 

She didn't stare at the ring for too long, directing her gaze to his eyes, but she could tell it was beautiful in all its simplicity, and definitely big.

"Nicole, you have made me the happiest man on the planet for these past three years." He started. Her hands were shaking and so were his, the water felt so cold they thought their bones might actually freeze. Nonetheless, the hopeless romantic could only smile and listen to him. 

The waves were getting wilder and wilder by the second so that she was already soaking wet from her waist down and Matt was too, except for his head. With a deep breath he continued. 

"You have made me who I am today, everyone you meet, everything you do... you make them better. That's your superpower." He almost fell down with the enormous  strength of the sea wave hitting him on the side. "And I am so glad that I got to meet you and date you and be your boyfriend. I love you so much, and I would love to become your husband. Will you marry me?" 

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" She said repeatedly while she smiled from ear to ear and tried to keep her balance after skipping up and down with excitement like a four year old who had just gotten candy.

Matt was also smiling big, relief showing all over his face. As he started to get the ring out of the box to insert in on her finger, the (un)expected happened and a big, incredibly strong wave hit him so hard he lost balance of himself and it dragged him along for a bit, dragging Nicole as well who was back to skipping up and down like a child, clinging onto his hands like they were her life.

The newly engaged couple was laying on the sand, under the waves, holding their breaths the best they could, getting completely and totally soaking wet from their heads to their toes.

"Are you okay?" She asked with a laugh as they got up as quick as they could taking the opportunity of escaping Mother Nature's vile act once the waves crashed and backed out a little. They kept their hands clasped together as they ran away from the shore, only stopping when they sensed dry sand below their feet. 

They looked at each other, their short and quick breaths mixing.

"Yeah. You?"

She couldn't stop giggling as she removed a green seaweed from his cheek and nodded in response.

Sure, they had been taken down like a domino by the waves and they were both looking like wet dogs, their dark hair looking darker now that it was wet and covered in sand and broken seashells but she could still find something good in it. Actually, in her eyes, this was good. No one got hurt, so, as far as Nicole was concerned this was just romantic and funny, and some great engagement story to tell their kids and grandchildren in the future.

"I'm fine!" She said in between giggles and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her. "I love you." She leaned in and kissed him - a salty kiss that tasted like sea water and blood that had rushed to his lips, and even a few grains of sand - and he kissed her back, until he let go. Matt's breathing capacity wasn't its best at that moment, and neither was Nicole's. 

"Wait," He said after weakly raising his finger. "The ring!"

The force of nature had, too, dragged the oh so precious diamond ring away from them.

 * * *

Author's Note: 

Hey readers! So, the prologue is out - finally - I know I took too long but I just kept editing and editing the chapter.

I hope you liked it and let me just tell you now, this story is going to take such a turn on chapter one! So stay tuned, follow me if you haven't, add this story to your reading list and don't miss the first chapter of this book! 🌊

Also, like always, I ask you to vote, comment and share this story with whoever you want! This is my first ever original story that I'm publishing so help a girl out, pretty please 🙏

Xoxo, Mars