PRESENT
Sun rays kissed my skin as if asking to 'rise and shine '. I shifted a bit and slowly opened my eyes. Getting up, I saw the other side to be empty. Well, I didn't take him to be an early riser.
Doing my morning routine I went to the kitchen to prepare tea. Liam still hadn't arrived. I took my cup and went to the balcony to enjoy the morning vibes and the sea. Then my eyes fell on Liam who was working out on the beach. Sunrays hit his skin and it shined due to the sweat beads. Though he was far away, I could clearly see the chiselled body and his perfect abs. He definitely had changed a lot in the past two years.
Suddenly a girl approached him in just a two piece bikini. My hold on the cup tightened. They started talking and she began laughing hysterically. I mentally gagged at her flirting skills. But nevertheless, it didn't stop from getting me angry. Effing bimbos. I shook my head and went inside unable to take the scene in front of me.
Walking in I thought I should get a refreshing bath in the Jacuzzi. After 20 minutes, I was finally done. Mental note to self : Get a Jacuzzi in Michigan home.
Walking out, I decided to towel dry my hair. When I reached living room area, Liam was already sipping tea.
" Good morning. " ,he chirped.
Nope. I'm not going to talk to him. First a Melissa, now just some random bimbo. Who does he take me as? A girl who'll go through all this bull shit?
I gave a tight smile and went to the make up table. Small talks is all he gets. Don't give any reactions Ashley. The sun was blazing in all its glory here. If you don't use sunscreen, you'll definitely have a third degree burn. Okay, that was exaggerating.
Applying tons of sunscreen, I finally went to him as my stomach growled a little.
" If you're done, then let's go have breakfast. I'm hungry. ", I said.
He hummed and got up.
*******
Breakfast was pretty much the same. All silent, except for Liam's phone calls. I was minding my business when again his phone rang. I rolled my eyes and went back to eating my scrambled eggs.
" Hey Mel. ", he chirped.
My eyes widened while still looking at the plate and my fork stopped abruptly. Dear lord, help me.
" Yes. I'm fine. How are you?"
"Did you have your breakfast? "
"Don't stress yourself out. And take care, okay? "
He sounded like a protective person. Somewhere deep down inside, I felt my heart break. My plate was blurry in my vision and afraid that I might burst into tears I quickly got up and walked outside.
I felt footsteps behind me and quickly blinked away some stray tears. Seriously Ashley! Get a grip.
"Hey. You okay? "
" Yep. I'm fine feeling a bit home sick. ", I answered.
He looked at me still not convinced. But then he gave a slight nod.
"So what do we have for today? "
He smirked, " You'll see Payne. "
I followed him, all confused .
*****
The car ride was pretty much silent. I didn't want to make any conversation with him. I mentally wanted to squeeze the life out of him. We were going to a private island today. No prizes for guessing who's it is.
Hint : Starts with L ends with M.
But to me it was more like : Starts with J and ends with K.
We had to take a ferry to reach and the port was at the long distance form where we were staying. I leaned my head on the back rest and looked at the sky. It was completely blue with white clouds at places. The sea below shimmered at the reflection of the sun. I gradually closed my eyes taking in the moments.
••••••••
I seriously wish college will be over now. But hey, it's just four months here. I can't really complain. Two more years and eight more months! Can you believe it? Ughhh!!
I walked towards my locker only to be greeted by the devil. I'm not interested in her rambling. Can't she take the hint already? Oh wait, I wonder if she even has some brains to do the same.
She was standing opposite to my locker giving me the stink eye. I mentally scoffed and opened my locker. Something wet touched my cheek and that's when I realised that there was sprayer inside the locker that sprayed onto me as I opened the door.
Laughing hysterically, she stood behind me with two other bimbos. Typical.
" Oops, Payne. Not a good day, huh? "
I never was a girl of great words. In fact, I was the kind of person who would sit in the corner and cry but not fight. I was shy. Too shy, actually. And reminiscing about the reason didn't help at all as I could feel tears stinging my eyes.
Shaking my head, I turned around and put out the sprayer and went to keep my books inside the locker. Giving her a reaction would just be a waste of time. Quickly grabbing my books I went towards the destined class. Just Another day of problems .
Lunch break came quicker than I thought. Walking out of the class, my breathing hitched. Standing in front of me were Liam and Isabella making out. Yes, the devil and my crush. I know it sounds outrageous and cliche but that's how my life is. The football jock with the popular girl and then me, a normal person. I had already given up my hopes on telling Liam I loved him. Like Joey would say, it's all a moo point.
But nevertheless, his actions never missed to hurt me. I walked towards the canteen and stood in line.
" Oh well, if it's not the crybaby Ashley? ", I heard a screeching voice from behind me. No cookie points for guessing who that was.
I didn't turn around and placed my order. From the looks of it, she was pissed.
" Now what Payne cat got your tongue? Didn't your momma teach you manners? ", she shrieked.
By now everyone was looking at us. That's it. I'm done being vulnerable.
" Actually Isabella, my momma taught me to not talk to mentally challenged people or bimbos. And looking at you, I'm getting a vibe of both. So, adios. " , I winked and took my tray with me as I approached a table. She was flushed and people were whistling. If looks could kill, I'd surely be dead. But I was loving the new found feeling. It was like I was myself again. The old me.
I saw people looking at me ,and one of them was Liam. He held a look I couldn't decipher. But I quickly looked down as I felt the heat rising up my cheeks.
I woke up to someone shaking me. I growled a bit and snuggled into the leather seats .
"Ma'am? Ma'am wake up. Are you okay? "
I slowly opened my eyes and saw Leon standing with a worried look.
" Have we reached, Leon? ", I asked rubbing my eyes.
" Yes ma'am. "
I got out and saw that we had reached the port. Liam wasn't anywhere near.
" He has already boarded the ferry. And it leaves in five minutes. ", Leon informed.
" Oh. Well oka- wait what?! In five minutes?? It leaves in five minutes?! Why didn't you wake me up earlier? ",I panicked.
" Well ma'am, I tried. But you..." ,he trailed off with a scared look. Yes, I'm scary when angry.
" It's okay Leon. I'm sorry I lashed out on you. Take care. ", I shouted as I ran towards the ferry that already had whistled and was moving away.
" Waiiiitttttt!! ", I shouted at no one. Clutching my bag tightly I gave a big push as I reached the edge. I directly landed on the wooden plank, butt first. Getting up I slightly dusted my dress and looked for any scratches. Luckily there were none and fortunately no one was there to witness my stunt and clumsiness.
" Nice jump. ", or so I thought.
" Shut up traitor. ", I said angrily. I was in no mood to talk nonsense with him.
" Oops. Woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Or should I say car? ", he piped.
" Well, if you were kind enough to wake me up in time, probably none of this would happen!" ,I was now fuming.
" 'Kind enough '? Ashley I don't think you understand what's going on. I clearly am not marrying you to make your life better. Did you forget the day of engagement already? I'm here to make your life miserable. " ,he said and started walking towards me.
" And talking about 'this' ", he continued moving his hands to describe the situation that happened, " you have no idea how much I'm liking it all. Every. Single. Bit. Of. It. " ,he whispered into my ears making a shiver run down my spine.
********
We reached the island within half an hour, a torturous half an hour, I might add. It was already afternoon now and I was too hungry. I needed to feed the cat inside me.
" Can we have lunch first? "
" Nope. "
" What?! Why? I'm hungry, Liam. I know you're all ballistic on making my life miserable, but I'm seriously hungry here. Even prisoners get food!", I reasoned out.
" If you eat now, you'll get hungry again after the activities. "
" Activities? What activities? ", as soon as I said that he opened a door and we could see a boat and people on it were waving at us .
" We're going snorkelling and deep water diving. And I don't think you should eat and enter the water. ",he said.
" We are going snorkelling!!?", I said excited.
" If you had ears, you'd know that two seconds earlier. "
I rolled my eyes as I was too excited for the trip to even know what he said.
*******
The under water experience was fantabulous! I literally saw a lobster which was only a few centimeters away from me. I touched sea cucumber which was kinda gross-looking and squishy and also A Star fish. Their texture was hard like a rock, unlike what I thought all theses years. It was more or less a great day out and I am extremely hungry now.
It was already four and the sun was setting making a marvelous scene. The horizon was marred with a orangish purple colour and the sea mimicked the sky. After the lunch I left Liam and went to the beach still in my bikini to observe the scenery. Liam was acting weird ever since I stripped out of my top and shorts into my bikini. But I didn't mind the silence ,in fact I was still angry on him because of the thingy that happened in the ferry.
I sat on the big lean back chair on the beach and looked at the scenery. I'm not going to talk with him unless he apologizes. Soon my eyes drooped. After sometime, I felt someone brush my hair away from the face and whisper 'I'm sorry'.