Pepa knew paradise when she saw one. A small beach town located at the southern tip of the country, Kovalam was filled with tourists and fishermen. Six months ago, Pepa moved into Kovalam with her boyfriend Air. Pepa and Air lived beyond the tourists traps, in the hinterlands. Time in Kovalam went by idly cycling around town, watching sunset at the lighthouse on the eastern beach and sunrise from atop the promontory looking over at the black sands of the western beach, waves lapping the coastline. Friendship came easy to Air and he made friends with the local fishermen over shared cigarettes. Pepa loved walking around on brick roads lined with coconut groves. The sound of waves crashing on shoreline never dulled wherever they went, the sun making everything golden in its twilight hours. There wasn’t any question about it, this was paradise.
Pepa and Air had been together for five years. It started at the mall, he was her barista and she was charmed. Pepa had resigned herself to never finding a man she would respect and be attracted to. Air simply didn’t want to anchor himself, hence a relationship was completely out of the question for him. It would have been an inconvenience had they not liked each other so much so that they changed their plans, got over their resignations and fell into the comfort of the other’s arm.