A M E R I C A
"I am sure you will." I smile back at her before I look back at Zion, "Your tattoos has stories too?"
"Most." Zion answers quick. "But I have some tattoos which does not really mean anything."
I nod and turned to Neal who commented, "I just don't know why a lot of men and women fancy having tattoos on their skin."
"You're just scared of needles, Neal." Olivia stated which makes everyone laugh since Neal and Georgina-Rose were the only ones who does not have a tattoo in their circle, including me.
Zion looks at me, "If you'll have a tattoo, what would you want to be tatted on your skin?"
I breathe, "Geez, I don't know. I mean, no one has really asked me that before."
Diana leans towards me, "Friendly advice, never tattoo your boyfriend's name on your skin. Most horrible idea ever." She says before showing her inner arm which has a name Michael on it.
Zion laughs as he continues to poke fun at Diana. "We all have stories." She says to him.
"Speaking of stories." Georgina-Rose suddenly says out loud which caught all of our attention. I turned my attention to her and she was still looking at Harry who is still staring at me. I don't know what's up with her but I can really feel that she does not like me at all.
She turns to me, "We never knew your story Merry."
I blinked at her while everyone turned their attention at me.
"Oh yeah, you and Harry never shared your story." Neal says as a matter-of-factly.
"Let's not force her if she is not ready to tell her story, Georgie." Diana defended me.
Olivia nods, "Yeah, I mean it is not really necessary to share."
"But aren't we all interested to know? I mean we all came here to escape from something. I mean, I told you guys about my abusive father which is something more personal. Zion shared about his drug addiction." Georgina-Rose speaks a longer sentence and it's as if she was squeezing juice out of me.
There was silence among us.
"What about you Merry?" She asks me with serious eyes.
"She does not need to tell us right away. We're still strangers to her. She has the right to keep it to herself if she does not let anyone know." Harry commented and his voice sounded strict as he stares at her. Harry already has an idea what happened to me because I told her the reason why I came here.
"But isn't it much easier to tell strangers stories about ourselves since they're really the ones who does not really know us anyways and they never judge you because they don't know you." Georgina-Rose answers him instantly.
"Just drop it Georgie." Diana sounded annoyed.
"It's fine." I blurt out, holding her arm while I smile. "I mean, she is right anyways. Every one of you shared your stories. My story is nothing really… life-changing." I continued.
Diana moves closer to me, "Are you sure you want to share it?"
I nod, "Of course."
Diana smiles at me, "Don't worry, I will hug you if you will cry."
I smiled back at her as I tried to organize my thoughts inside my head without wanting to cry remembering that horrible night. "Before I came to LUAHU, I experienced being cheated on and catching my boyfriend having sex with his co-worker in our own bedroom."
Olivia and Diana gasped as they began to curse about Charles even though they don't know him.
I can feel Harry's eyes glued on me as I narrate my story before I came to this island and his emerald eyes were glistening against the blazing the fire as it makes me feel conscious, "His name was Charles and we were together for four years. I was on my business trip in Atlanta and since there was a storm hitting North Carolina, I didn't want to be in Atlanta for two more days since most of the flights were already cancelled so I re-booked an earlier flight back home also to surprise my boyfriend who thought I was arriving late due to the storm but I was the one who was surprised when I saw him having sex with another woman on our own bed." I smile at myself as I play with my fingers over my thighs.
"What an asshole." Neal commented as he now stopped playing his guitar.
I smiled sadly at Neal as Diana begins to wrap her arms around me to comfort me. "You poor angel."
"Thank you Diana." I tell her.
"You deserve someone way better than that guy, America." Zion comforts me.
"I know but after breaking up with Charles, I was too afraid to fall in love again. The thought of falling in love just makes me so scared. I was in so much pain and I am still trying to mend my broken heart so I don't know how to love someone new. I try not to question myself and where have I done wrong that made him cheat on me."
Diana tugs my arm, "It was not your fault. Never question your worth over a man who does not even see your real value."
I smile at Diana who is rubbing my spine and I really appreciate how nice she is to me. "I really wanted to have this solo trip because I knew I needed to get away from everything to clear my mind off of the things that bothers me, to find myself and my happiness again. I also wanted to have some time alone so I can allow myself to forgive him when I go back to North Carolina."
"Are you planning to get back together with him?" My eyes moved to Harry when he asked me.
The entire circle was silent.
"I don't think I would still want to be with him." I answer softy but surely. "I mean, how can I be with a guy who once broken my trust? He had an affair with her for five months behind my back and the thought of it makes me sick. How can I allow myself to trust him again after catching him?"
Olivia smiles at me dearly, "You're a very strong woman, Merry. I really admire you for that. If it was me on your shoes, I think I would still get back with him because you spend so much time together and the feelings do not just go away too easily. You spent four years together, so many memories."
"But."Neal butts in "Just because they have spent years together does not mean she needs to forgive so easily. I mean, she caught him having sex with a woman in their own place on top of their own bed. That is way over the border line of relationship."
Harry nods while he purse his lips, "It does not matter how long you have known the person but what matters is how your person has been treating you and how your person has been making you feel. Whether if it's four years, ten years or twenty, if your person is not treating you the way you should be treated, then it will never work because you will never be happy in that kind of relationship."
I see most of them nodding aside from Georgina-Rose.
"Relationship is supposed to be give and take. It's not only give and give all the time." He adds.
"Wow Harry, I didn't know you were so insightful about relationships." Olivia teases.
Neal and Zion laughs, trying to make the heavyhearted situation feel a little lighter.
"You should have a hotline for your love guru advice." Diana jokes.
Harry rolls his eyes at his friends.
I laugh with them as I smile at Harry, "Thank you Harry."
"You deserve someone who will treat you way better than Charles, America." He tells me seriously.
"Hey hey hey." Diana chimes with a smirk, "Are you implying Harry that America needs someone like you?" She nudges my side as I feel my cheeks beginning to feel a little warmer.