Chapter Text
October 2018, New York
Suyin had visited America many times, as she told Jonas. Her father owned many condos and homes in the states, even. But the way in which she spoke of her family’s fortune to Jonas was always drenched in humility and a lowered head.
It was her habit to do so when speaking of her father, Jonas noticed. She was doing it again, and he could even tell with her back facing him, her own pretty eyes facing the window of the luxurious apartment. The sun bathed her silhouette well with its golden aura while his coarse hands met her shoulder blades then her forearms as he embraced her from behind.
She didn’t react — Jonas knew his hands were more familiar to her than her own features. He felt her loosen herself in his arms and her hair brush against his own neck. Coconut. It always smelled like coconuts.
“You were saying?” He cooed, his eyes closed as to enhance the feel of her smooth skin. His lips met her head in the form of a delicate kiss.
She sighed, sounding glad that his hold took her out of her ruminations. Jonas could practically feel her smile decorate her canvas.
He hadn’t felt something move within himself in probably years.
Not since he and Lori’s divorce, probably.
A cold night he used to be, but in that moment, paired with the heat of the star above them, he could feel himself transform into daylight.
As if his fingers had minds of their own they twirled in Suyin’s dark hair and with swift motion all her locks were turned over her right shoulder. Jonas needed to melt into her skin and to feel her. His lover.
His lips indulged her neck, pecks of kisses peppering her all over.
Suyin hummed, and Jonas could tell she was beginning to get lost in the romantic haze.
“I miss Meiying,” she said, almost sorrowful.
The kisses stopped.
“Well, that sure is a thing to say to ruin the mood,” he uttered in a playful tone.
A light laugh left Suyin. She turned to him, grinning. “I don’t remember the last time I was away from her for this long. I am a little bit worried, as you can imagine.”
“Oh, I can. But surely you trust your brother just a little?”
“I’m not sure I can..” she looked back at the buzzling crowd and traffic of the city. The sun was going down and drowning everything in an orange hue. “He’s a little wild. Always a bit too wild for baba’s liking.”
“What, you think he’s going to teach her to fight bears?”
Suyin giggled. “No, no. I just don’t want his reckless nature to rub off on Meiying. He’s sort of the black sheep of the family.”
Jonas was the black sheep of his family.
“You two would probably get along,” Suyin said as if she had read his mind. She turned around to face him.
“Do you think Meiying will grow up to be okay?”
“Of course, why wouldn’t she?”
Jonas immediately regretted speaking such words. Everyone and their mother knew that Meiying’s psyche was under pressure. Suyin herself would regularly ask him if he ever saw her secretly shed tears when she thought no pair of eyes would be on her. Jonas would tell her that Meiying was a tough cookie, and that tough cookies knew to meet grief with resilience.
No words came from Suyin, but her face spoke a million words. She lowered her head and Jonas knew he made a mistake, but then her almond eyes met his electric ones.
“I’m so glad you’re here with me,” she said with honey in her diction. She brought her hand to his cheek, and he bent down to meet her in a sweet touch, their lips brought together by an invisible string. Jonas wrapped his hands around her waist, and brought her warmth to him as if it was a dying wish.
Suyin returned the favor and grasped his strong arms and rubbed her hands all over his heavy breathing chest. With every frantic move she made Jonas only competed further. He was gripping her every curve and every inch of skin. The urge was growing, but it was not time yet.
The entanglement ended and Jonas separated himself from her nectared lips, not that he desired so. His hands grabbed her wrists as if they were precious jewels. He looked into her eyes and with a deepended raspy tone, said “get yourself dressed, we’re going out tonight.”
-
How many years had gone by where Jonas was used to stinky men around him, ramen meals, and cheap beer that tasted of piss? A city was barely a recovering concept to him, and so were restaurants and formal wear. He used to live a life of proper when he was a deep sea diver, but his fall from grace leading to his travel to Thailand was a tough adjustment. No longer were the suits and date nights with Lori.
So when he stood before Suyin and admired the way the new black Dior trumpet dress he had gifted her stuck to her curves, deja vu hit him like a wave. But also something different. Deep affection, lust, and contentment all rolled into one. Life burned him but also healed him, dropping a star onto his lap.
“You look wonderful,” he said, hands in the pockets of his dress pants, as he walked to her. Her collarbone stuck out razor sharp, and the bodice pushed up her skin in a seductive way. To go with in contrast with the dress were diamond shaped earrings that glistened every turn she made and a dashing necklace to compliment her neck. It was a look that Jonas never thought of when the name Suyin would pop into his mind, but he couldn’t say that the visible contradiction made him uncomfortable. He found it utterly sexy and womanly, even.
Blood rushed to her cheeks when he held up her chin so fast it could melt his heart.
“I am not used to being like this,” she whispered. She screamed insecurity, but Jonas aimed to soothe it.
“Don’t feel conscious,” a corner of his mouth curled up. “You’re beautiful no matter what.”
Suyin chuckled. “Shut up.”
“I mean it, This dress. Looks good on you. Wouldn’t want it to be any other way.”
Suyin’s maroon lips stretched wider.
-
The moon adorned the sky like a god looking over a town. Strings of lights which accompanied several vines hung over the outdoor patio and bejeweled the scenery nicely. A handsome man played the saxophone, blessing the audience with the musings of his every movement and providing a smooth ambience to Jonas and Suyin’s special time together.
With each glance to his lovely Suyin, serenity overcame Jonas. Even the way she brought the tiny soup spoon to her dainty lips was an act to be adored.
She must’ve known that he was gawking a bit too much at her, because she decided to break the tension. “Ever been to New York?”
“Maybe once or twice, with Lori,” he said with casualty, knowing that Lori was not some off-limits subject to avoid. Suyin trusted him, and he trusted her. He continued. “You’ve never told me about you and your former husband.”
“He was my first love as a young girl in secondary school.” She also spoke with tranquility, clearly okay with revealing healed scars. “But as we all know, young love tends to just stay like that. Young. Never growing beyond what it is.”
Jonas nodded. “You are right. Lori and I also were highschool sweethearts.”
“Well, look at that,” Suyin smiled, “we have parallel lives. You were a deep sea diver, I grew up and became a marine biologist. You were married to a young love, and so was I. Seems like fate, doesn’t it?”
“Ah, fate,” Jonas tilted his head. “Never really been a huge fan.”
Suyin grew tense, and Jonas could tell because of the way her jaw jolted. “But this..what we have, it seems like it’s meant to be, doesn’t it?”
“Maybe. Although it took a 80 feet shark for it to come into fruition.”
Suyin pursed her lips cheekily. “Jonas, we agreed no mention of sharks when we arrived.”
He smiled sheepishly and tapped the wooden table. “You’re right, you’re right. No more talk of the incident.”
Suyin threw him a look of approval and took a sip of her soup. She then looked back to Jonas, looking quite starstruck. “What did you want to be as a child? You know, before you settled down as an ocean explorer.”
Remnants of his childhood took Jonas over. When was the last time he thought back to his lunchbox days, back when God existed and back when the world was just?
He smiled in innocence. “I recall fancying myself a navy officer.”
“Really?” Suyin said, rather surprised.
“Really.” Jonas took a deep breath. “I wanted to help others. What about you? I know you have been diving since you were 5.”
“Yes I did. Everywhere I looked the sea was there.”
The music somehow got louder, taking the couple’s attention.
Bodies of womanly and manly fashion alike took to the floor, their heels and feet tapping against the concrete floor as they danced to their hearts’ content.
Jonas looked into Suyin's eyes once again. Under the moonlight Aphrodite couldn’t compare to her. Or under any sort of light for that matter. “Why do you love the sea so much? Other than the fact that it’s all you know.”
She sipped on her red wine, its essence getting lost in the color of her lips. “I suppose I find it calm. Warming. Even welcoming. A whole new world that we know nothing of. That we take for granted.”
“You are right about that. I thought the same in my younger days.” Jonas looked down to this half-eaten food.
“Now it’s time for me to ask a question,” Suyin smiled, placing her chin on top of her fist, looking at Jonas all giddy. “Why do you love to brood so much?”
A few wrinkles came to the corners of Jonas’ mouth. Suyin was always pointing out his stone nature. He leaned on the table. “When life gives you lemons, sometimes those lemons kick you in the ass.”
Suyin smiled, diverting her gaze from him. “Well sometimes those lemons are tasty.”
Another strong wave came from the saxophone player, filling the crowd with more energy than before. More people were going to the floor, eager to connect with their partners in slow dance.
Suyin nodded and pierced her eyes onto the couples before them. “Ever dance?”
Jonas smirked, his eyes piqued in interest and revelation. “Don’t tell me you all people dance?”
Suyin lifted an eyebrow. “Why is that a surprise?”
“Well, you’re usually all..timid and quiet.” He shrugged.
“But I am elegant.”
“That you are,’ Jonas muttered, appreciating the beauty before him. With a stretch of his hand he gestured with his head to the dance floor. “Let’s say you show me a couple of your moves.”
He half-expected her to shy away, to say that she wasn’t exactly feeling it and that she could wait another night. But instead her heels hit the ground and she stood tall right before him, fitting her hand in his like a puzzle piece.
Even with heels lavishing her feet she was nowhere near Jonas’ level, but he knew that she liked it that way. They made their way onto the dance floor, Jonas twirling her over and bringing her body to his. His hand slid behind her waist as his free one consumed hers.
Jonas noticed her eyes look up to him and then at the stars, and he knew she was entranced.
-
“You splashed your wine on him and it got on me!” Suyin’s ever-loving laugh boomed through the hallway of the apartment, Jonas rolling his eyes. Full of laughter after a few drinks, she always was. Although, he couldn’t exactly fully blame her for teasing his embarrassing mistake back at the restaurant. Still, he let it go as she unlocked the door. Even as a drunken mess she could pass as graceful. The keys fumbled in her fingers, but she managed to get a good hold of the doorknob.
As they entered the place the cold air hit them both. Suyin grunted and practically ripped her heels from her soles. “Being a woman is very hard,” she said, stumbling into the living room and flopping into the couch. “But it is very wonderful.”
Jonas hummed as he sat down, freeing his own feet from his dress shoes. “So is being a man.”
The minute his eyes left his shoes Suyin had already melted into him. Several moments passed by in which words didn’t need to be spoken. She smelled of wine and coconut, and he weirdly found the combination of scent quite pleasant. He loved it. He loved her.
No, he dared not think such thoughts. Only one or two months of them knowing each other had passed. How could he already love her? He was being silly. Surely.
“Jonas?”
“Yes?” He looked down at her head, which was rubbing right against his chest.
“This was a wonderful night,” she muttered.
“Yes it was.”
He didn’t make the move. He didn’t have to.
Suyin looked up and brought his lips to hers. A few small pecks came, but he could feel her growing need for him and she started to tug at his shirt. Then she rubbed his thigh.
He pulled away from her, but only by a few inches. Her dark eyes pleaded more of him as he breathed, “are you sure?”
“Don’t ask dumb questions, Jonas. I am only a bit tipsy,” she said as she crashed her lips against his.
He pulled away again. “Just a little bit?”
She made a pinching gesture with her fingers. “Just a little bit,” she then giggled as she cupped his cheeks and bit at his lips.
He felt the urge grow from his heart to his lower torso. It was at that moment he found his hands almost pinching into her skin. First was her waist, then her bum, then her thighs. God, she was perfect. He needed to remember to remind her more of the fact.
The zipper of her dress was free to mess with, and he took the chance. He unzipped the back and she breathed in anticipation as the fabric from her bodice loosened away from her breasts.
“Lay down,” he huffed into her mouth.
And she did.
But not before ridding her body of the dress.
She laid bare and ready against the sofa, her chest coming up and down in havoc.
Jonas was about to explode. He took off the dress pants and underwear in a hurry, and while doing so he heard a light chuckle escape Suyin’s lips.
“Excited?” She teased, grazing her own hand across her naked breast and stomach.
“Not just that,” he muttered, bringing his hand to her cheek, rubbing it in tranquility. “You are so beautiful.”
And he meant it. So serene she was. So perfect.
He slowly got on top of her, ready to show her how a man could love a woman. He noticed her eyes widened and her cheeks reddened at his size, but she said nothing.
Her legs made way for his torso and he positioned himself. He looked down at her eyes, her nose, her eyelashes that could hypnotize any fool, and gave her the most passionate kiss he could ever give.
And then he made her his is under the stars of New York City.