Ernesto noted the way she shifted away from him just slightly – a movement that told him she was not frightened of him, but not willing to let him get quite that close. Not yet, anyway. Selenium. He committed her name to his memory. It was an interesting one, and not one he had heard before.

“Selenium,” he replied with a wry smile, pressing her unfamiliar name carefully against his tongue. “Why of course there is, mi querido. You cannot come to the Lagoon and not see the lagoon itself.”

He threw his head back, as if the idea were preposterous, his dirty silver locks falling about his face. He turned to lead her in the direction of the water, where the foliage gradually broke onto a short bank which led right up to the brilliant blue-green of the warm water. The sun left the still surface glinting like diamonds as it filtered through the thick greenery around them.

Ernesto paused at its edge, turning his head to gauge Selenium’s reaction.

“Is this better?” he asked, his expression teasing. “A much more romantic backdrop for conversation, am I right?”

A playful smirk curled at the edges of his lips.

“So, what brought you to the Lagoon today, señorita, if it was not to see this sight?” he continued, tilting his head at her in curiosity.

ernesto
heartbreak is savvy and love is a bitch