Cold in Waikiki Beach

Paradise. Scene Two. Ready? Go!

Waikiki Beach, Hawaii. A few days after the "bagel" incident.

After removing such episode from my mind (after all, if you have experience with frogs you know that the only way out is to try to forget what bothers you and move on), my boyfriend and I are strolling along the beach at sunset.

After a day of sun and sea, things look good. The light is perfect. A guitar is playing in the background. The restaurants are getting ready to welcome people. Candlelights flicker in the warm wind. I love Hawaii.

We walk hand in hand on the beach, savouring the moment.

It is warm, but the evening breeze makes me shiver, so I decide to wear my light sweater over my nice dress.

We keep walking.

A couple walks towards us, in the opposite direction, looking happy and romantic. The guy laughs at something that the girl says. They don't even look at us. They are involved in their own world.

Suddenly my boyfriend lets go of my hand and mumbles:
"Are you cold?".
Dreamily I reply: "A bit, yes. That's why I put my sweater on. The wind is a bit chilly".
He looks slightly troubled. Don't ask me why. I ignore his look and proceed, my eyes fixed on the glorious sunset.

He insists: "But it's not really so cold. Couldn't you take that sweater off?".
Now I am really puzzled. What on earth could be the matter?
"Why would I need to take my sweater off when I'm cold?".
"Nothing, I was just thiking...", he replies.

I know I can go both ways. Keep ignoring this, or start asking questions. Well, I am 24 years old at this time, and I don't know many things that I know now. So, guess what: I ask questions. I inquire. I demand to know. I insist.

And the final, irrevocable, unbelievable answer follows:

"Well, you see...when that couple walked towards us, they did not even look at us. In fact, the guy did not even look at you. And probably he did not look at you because you were wearing that sweater. If you had not been wearing the sweater, you'd have looked much more sexy in the dress, and surely the guy would have looked at you. And it makes me feel so good to have other guys look at you, appreciate you because you look sexy....but this cannot happen while you have the sweater on. Are you sure you are so cold?".

Call me stupid, because I was. I should have dumped him there and then. First the asymmetrical face, then the sweater. All of this, in one of the most romantic places on earth.

But I did not dump him. I called my sister to complain, yes, of course, that same evening. And she herself can tell you what she thought (and still thinks) of this guy. But I stayed with him. For three more years. Why, oh why, can we be so naive?

In Waikiki beach, in a glorious sunset evening, my Paradise was lost.