Part I:
I could still hear the pounding of the
rain outside. It’s not that loud anymore, but it’s still there. I breathed in
then, and the smell of someone’s cologne filled my nostrils. And now I think of
it, I feel warm. Warmer than I should be.
I blinked my eyes open and what first
registered through my mind was the polo. Over the baggy shirt I owned that I
wore, I now have a checkered black and white polo, buttoned all the way up to
the base of my throat.
That’s number one on the warm issue.
The number two was much more
unbelievable.
I’m now on the driver’s seat, on
sleeping Sky’s lap and somehow cuddled up to his chest. I almost groaned out
loud; every damned time I fall to sleep, something happens. And it always
doesn’t fail to surprise me. I didn’t try to move – he might wake up. His long
arms are around me and his cheek on my head.
As much as I would sell my soul
countless times to go back to sleep, I know it’s impossible. I relaxed my cheek
on his shoulder, closing my eyes and tried to convince myself that this kind of
cuddling isn’t nice.
I remembered what Imah said – “Did someone ever tell you how bad you lie?”
I rolled my eyes. My imagination has
the tendency to be extremely helpful at times of urgency.
“It
would be easier to live like without regrets, you know. Or restraints.”
Restraint. I hate that word so much.
I’m not the kind of person who makes rash decisions. I always think things through. I bit my lip. It’s hard to think when
I could feel his chest rising and falling and when he’s so close to me. I
closed my eyes and opened them again, rubbing my hands together. If only I
could get out of this situation now.
A small voice laughed in my head. It
seemed to say, Do you really want to?
I pursed my lips.
No.
No, I don’t.
Part II:
It seemed like eternity before I felt
him stirring. I acted as if everything’s normal and adjusted myself so I can
face him. He was still blinking sleep away from his eyes and there was still
rain outside. He removed one arm from me and adjusted his glasses, slowly
focusing on me. He put his arm back around me and held me tighter, then after a
second, he smiled.
I smiled as well, almost chuckling.
“Good morning, sunshine.” then I arched an eyebrow. “Your good mood’s back.”
His smile turned wider. “The sleep
helped.”
“Would you care to explain how I got
here?” he chuckled at my question but just shook his head, not answering my
query and he buried his face by the length of my hair. I felt a smile tugging
at my lips and I now saw no reason to hide it. I straightened my legs and – to hell with it – hugged him properly,
putting my arms around his neck and he tightened his arms around me again.
I rocked us both slightly side to
side, laughing quietly and hearing him join in. The patting of the rain on the
windows and roof sounds very calming and melodic. I said to him, “Do you know
how much I hate you?”
“For what exactly?” he asked,
chuckling.
I laughed – a weird laugh. “See, you
make me feel…”
“Happy?”
“Sometimes.” I answered. He laughed
merrily as he kissed my temple. “I think I make you feel.”
“Feel what?”
“Just feel.”
I pursed my lips. “You confuse me,
though.” He asked, “Is that a good thing?”
“I honestly don’t know.”
He pulled back and held me at arm’s
length, those emerald eyes boring into mine. He was smiling and he asked with
an eyebrow raised, “Should we go into details?”
“Maybe, but not now.”
“You’re such a little devil.” he said,
coming closer to me and rubbing the tip of his nose to mine. I laughed aloud to
his face. “I’m an angel sometimes.”
His eyes sparkled at the statement. “I
know.” I laughed louder and I bit my lip as I heard Dash whimpering, almost
waking from his sleep. Sky looked at my head then and twirled a strand with his
finger. When he faced me again, his gaze was serious. He sighed, but then it
was followed by a tender smile.
“I might be pushing too far, but
Ryne,” he paused and looked at me with those timeless eyes.
“I think I’m falling for you.”
Part III:
Part III:
It’s funny how something so beautiful
could start from just six words. Just six words. I looked at him, a smile of
both happiness and deep anxiousness on my face. How come I didn’t see this
coming?
He said to me, “But I don’t want to
mess this up.” he paused then added, “And I just want you to know that I’m
patient.” I nodded soundlessly. I wanted to ask how long was it before his time
with me would be over, but I didn’t. Deep inside, I know we don’t have much
time, we don’t have anything. But I don’t want to think about that. There’s
just now. Just now.
I pursed my lips and smiled at him. “I
did tell you that you confuse me,
didn’t I?” He chuckled. “Yes, you did.” An idea seemed to struck him right
then. He tilted his head to the side.
“Have you ever heard me sing?”
My jaw dropped. Sky can sing? That’s
like Hitler giving of candies. I burst out laughing. That was something. “You
never told me you can sing.” I accused. He smiled and responded, “Do you want
to hear a sample?” I grinned. “I’d love to.”
He sat up straighter then, and
enclosed me in the circle of his arms. His voice, rich and melodic, started to
hit the tones with the lyrics of the song I’ve listened to countless of times –
“You’re
better than the best
I’m
lucky just to linger in your light
Cooler
than the flipside of my pillow
Completely
unaware
Nothing
can compare to where you send me
Let’s
me know that it’s okay, yeah it’s okay
And
the moment when my good times start to fade
You
make me smile like the sun
Fall
out of bed
Sing
like a bird, dizzy in my head
Spin
like a record, crazy on a Sunday night
You
make me dance like a fool
Forget
how to breathe
Shine
like gold, buzz like a bee
Just
the thought of you can drive me wild
Oh,
you make me smile.”
Then he smiled proudly at me. I never,
never knew he could do that. I was
still staring at him and after a while, he gave in to the laugh he’d been
holding back.
“I guess I should do that more often.”
“That was amazing!” I regained the power of speech as I praised him. Not anyone
can find a person who could shoot guns and kill people and then do that. He smiled at me still, his eyes
shining.
“That was for you.”
My heart jumped and I gave him a smile
in return. There’s so much I still don’t know about this guy. “Thank you.” I said.
He wicked at me in answer as I folded the long sleeves of the polo to make my
wrists visible, and now that I did that – I turned to him, found him still
staring at me and I asked the obvious,
“This is yours, right?”
He laughed. “I found after some time
that I like seeing you with my clothes on.” I laughed again and asked him
another question before I do something incredibly stupid. “Did you grow up in
England?”
He pursed his lips before he answered.
“The first five years of my life, yes. Enough time to pick up my accent.” he
added. I laughed again and he did the same. “My accent is sexy, don’t you
think?”
I laughed more boisterously this time,
causing Dash to wake up and settle quietly in the backseat, not bothering with
us. Good boy.
“Yes, Sky. Very sexy.”
He winked at me. Again. “It’s one of
my special abilities.” I raised an eyebrow at him. “You make yourself sound
like a Transformer.” I giggled as he rolled his eyes at me. I asked again, “So
how come you’re here, if you aren’t from…here?”
“I don’t know. Maybe because you’re
here.”
I grinned hugely but tried to smother
it – and failed. “Would you please stop being so damned sweet all the time?
Can’t I have – ”
“I have no idea what you’re talking
about.” He responded while smiling, feigning ignorance. He continued as he
kissed the side of my head, “What the hell is ‘sweet’ anyway?” I giggled. “Can
I have a decent conversation now, please?” He hugged me tightly. “What is
decent?” I laughed, finally giving in and hugging him in return. “I give up.
You’re such a little – ”
“Okay, okay. I transferred to
California with my parent on my sixth birthday.” he said, pulling back from the
hug. “Should I continue?”
“Yeah. Go on.”
“I went to school, had friends and
everything. Then on my 14th birthday my parent had an accident. Car
accident.” Oh fuck. I stared at him, but he seemed comfortable with sharing
with me. He automatically put a finger to my lips, knowing I would say
something and he continued speaking,
“My closest living relative was back
in England. So the social workers gave me to a foster home. I had five,
actually.” He chuckled. “Then I settled in one of the five, in North Carolina
and I made some friends again, slowly getting the hang of life. Then when I
turned 18, I got a job, and that’s all it, really.”
I licked my lips uncomfortably. “I had
no idea that you were a…yeah. Sorry.” I feel like kicking myself. What a way to
ruin the mood. Nice going, Ryne. I always end up ruining everything.
“It’s fine, really. It was a long time
ago. Ancient history.” he smiled at me reassuringly and I smiled back as best
as I could. I asked another question to keep both our mind off things. “You
don’t have any siblings, or cousins or anything?” He shrugged it off like it
was nothing and answered, “Nope. Just me. They figured it would be unfair if
only selected people would be given extremely good looks – ”
“And a big ego, apparently – ”
He laughed at what I said and replied,
“Yeah, that too. I have a picture of my family, by the way. Do you want to see
it?” Picture? I lifted an eyebrow at
his smiling face. “Are you serious this time?”
He didn’t answer but put a hand on his
pocket and brought out his wallet. I never really given thought to the wallet
before – except that it contains the money we pay for the really expensive hotels
and the credit cards, of course. I remembered the trip to the Marquette then
and I smiled. It feels as if it just happened yesterday.
“Why are you smiling?”
I turned my gaze to him, still
smiling. “I just remembered when we went to Canberra.” As I talked, he smiled
as well. “It was incredibly perfect. But then you had to get a flu right after
– ”
“If only someone had planned more properly, we wouldn’t have been stuck,
staring at a private plan a million stories above us – ” he quieted me down
with his laughter, mingling with the still-raging rain outside. He took my hand
and kissed it.
“I beg your pardon for the, Your
Highness – ”
“Oh, shut up.” I tried my best to say
that in a scolding way but you know what happened. “Let me see the picture,
will you?”
He flipped the wallet open and
directly below the line of credit cards was the picture of a family of three
good-looking people. The woman who had her hand interlocked with the younger
Sky was the kind of person who certainly turns a lot of heads as she walks by.
Her blonde curls fell to her back and she looked really, really happy. The view behind them was of the blue ocean and the
sky and there was a single white yacht gliding on the blue ocean, creating a
beautiful scene. Sky’s mother had green eyes. Exactly like his. In the picture,
Sky’s father had warm brown eyes and buff figure. His arms were wide and his
frame was quite big but he looked inviting and attractive all the same. And
fatherly, most definitely. The sunlight was glinting off their hair and faces
but they didn’t seem to care. Sky’s dad had his arm around little Sky. And
speaking of,
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but
you’re the cutest five year-old I’ve ever laid eyes on.” He laughed at my
reaction. “How did you know my age?”
“This place is absolutely Britain.”
He smiled as he reminisced about the
place. “Yes,” he said. “Absolutely.”
I hadn’t taken my eyes off the
picture. I wasn’t exaggerating when I said that Sky was extremely cute. His
cheeks were so squishy! I gritted my teeth as I looked at him in the picture.
He was already wearing glasses – made him look a lot cuter, oh Lord. One chubby hand was with his mother and the other
one was holding his father around the waist, as the father put an arm around
his small shoulders. They were all smiling like they’re having the time of
their lives.
Looking at them made me remember a
family of my own.
“You have a beautiful family.”
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