"Give me a few minutes."
The moment they got inside the building, Cherry dashed off to the toilet.
Locking the door behind her, she cursed silently as she dialed a number on her phone.
'beep, beep'
The moment the person at the other line picked the call
"Oh thank goodness." she said out loud.
"You okay sis?"
It was Tom she called, she just wanted to confirm something.
"Yes" she said, but it didn't seem that way cause her breathing was not stable.
"Hey Tom, just wanted to know, which part of the Island are you at?"
"South. Why? Wonna come join me?"
"Oh shit, fuck me."
"You sure you're okay? There was a hint of worry in Tom's voice.
" I'm at the Eastern part with Jiang. "
" Jiang? "
She chuckled a bit when she heard how surprised her brother was.
" Yes, and I don't feel comfortable around him. "
" You don't?"
" Yes. "
There was a moment of silence
"You know what sis?"
"What?"
"Find someone."
"Someone?"
"Yes, maybe someone who came alone, in fact you could join a group."
"And won't he question that?"
"If he does, just tell him 'the more the merrier'."
Cherry could finally relax, why didn't she think of that before. The smile on her face was quick to disappear with the next question Tom asked.
"Did he do something stupid to you?"
"What! No, we just came together."
"How did you two even meet?"
"Don't know, just saw him standing at the door, about to knock when I wanted leave."
"Okay then. Go out there and find a companion."
Cherry smiled to herself, thanking him before hanging the call.
Stepping out, she saw a young girl her age applying some makeup at the mirror.
Cherry kept looking at her and was wondering how to approach her.
" Unfortunately sis, I'm not into girls, so maybe you should stop staring at me, you know, I can see you through the mirror."
Cherry's face flushed red out of embarrassment.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way."
"I was just joking," she turns to face Cherry "you look like you wonna ask me something." she said scrutinizing Cherry's face.
"I'm Cherry."
"Stella." she took Cherry's outstretched hand and shook it.
"So what question do you have for me?" saying this, Stella turned back to continue her makeup.
"Well, I was wondering if you came alone." Cherry replied nervously.
Stella raised an eyebrow and grew a bit suspicious of Cherry's motive of approaching her.
"What's gonna happen if I came alone?"
"I was gonna ask you to join my group."
"Group?"
"Actually, it's just me and a friend."
"Oh, I see."
"No, you don't."
"Uh!"
"Sorry, I didn't mean it that way. Thing is, I don't want to be alone with him, so can you join us?"
"You don't wonna be alone with him?"
"Yes."
"Why? Your ex boyfriend or your friend's boyfriend whose got feelings for you?"
"None, I just met him."
"Then just leave him"
"He's not someone I can offend. "
Stella looked at Cherry's eyes to confirm if she was speaking the truth. And her eyes didn't say otherwise.
"Fine, let's go show this guy what we girls are made of."
*
Jiang could not tell how he felt at that moment. Was it anger, loneliness, sadness, he just could not tell, but he sure wasn't liking what Cherry did. Who knows, she might have mingled with others, or maybe she even took the back door and left him as a center of attention.
He had not disguised himself as he didn't see a need to do that on this Island, so a lot of people recognized him at first glance. People, especially ladies tried approaching him, but glaring at them coldly, they wouldn't dare come near him.
He was still getting mad at himself for not going after Cherry in the first place, when he heard someone call his name. Turning back, he saw Cherry with a lady, he glared at the lady, but she didn't flinch.
"Jiang, meet Stella."
"What's the meaning of this Cherry?"
"The more, the merrier." saying this, she chuckled, while walking away with Stella, completely forgetting his existence.
Jiang cursed under his breath as he went after them.
This scene felt like a movie to the other tourists, especially those who tried approaching him. They could not get themselves to believe that there were girls who could ignore Jiang's charm and treat him like a dog.