Lonely Together

30

MARIAH

The third morning of the trip, I woke up in bed all alone since Valentino had already left for two meetings about his business.

I sent a few texts to Myles, Ashti, and Amber who I hadn't talked to while on the trip yet, before replying to my parents and sisters. I knew they would go crazy if I didn't at least let them know I was alive.

"Mariah!" Myles screamed through the phone, practically breaking my eardrums as I made myself breakfast. "How has the trip been? Is your back broken yet?" He let out a gasp before continuing with, "Have you worn the lingerie yet?"

"Good, yes, and no," I replied nonchalantly as I heard him scream through the phone, saying something in Spanish.

We talked for a bit more as I told him what we had done so far and that Valentino had something big for his business today. When we hung up, I grabbed the smoothie I had made myself and took a seat on the back porch.

I always prided myself on having a good intuition, and I could tell something had been bothering Valentino for the past day. Sure, he had a big event coming up which caused stress, but I also noticed that whenever he talked about his family, his emotion completely switched. I knew he didn't get along with his brothers, but it seemed deeper than that.

For the rest of the morning, I spent my time in the pool on the deck talking to Ashti and Amber over they phone. They both thought Valentino would ask me to be his girlfriend soon, which was absolutely sending them into a frenzy.

"First comes a trip to Hawaii, next comes boyfriend and girlfriend, next comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage," Ashti sung over the phone, making us all burst out in laughter.

"You're crazy. But I'll call you two later, I have to go!"

As soon as I hung up, I began getting ready for the day. He told me to dress fancy—whatever that meant—so I slipped into a silky, dark green gown and a pair of tan heels before doing my makeup and accessorizing.

Of course, I didn't want to be late for his event so I rushed out to the car and drove there as fast as I could—driving safely of course. When I got there, he was already waiting for me near the parking lot, dressed in a tux that looked perfect on him.

"Sei bellissima, you look gorgeous," he spoke as I approached him, letting his eyes roam my entire frame.

"You know I have no clue what you just said," I giggled as he pressed a kiss to my jaw before moving down to my neck.

"I said you look gorgeous, love. And I'm so glad you're here."

I looked past him to see what looked like a park, filled with a bunch of people dressed native Hawaiian attire while others were just in tuxes and gowns like he and I. There were even a bunch of reporters there.

"What is this?" I questioned breathlessly as he walked me towards it, taking in all the features of it.

In the middle of the park was a community garden where people were already walking around and looking at it. Littered around the park were plaques and artifacts that all depicted the native Hawaiian culture of the people who inhabited the island before colonizers showed up. It truly was a beautiful park, with an added butterfly garden and a small moat that outlined the perimeter of the park before connecting with a fountain.

"This is the conservation sight I planned. My father got an offer on this land when it was sold and let my brothers and I choose what we wanted to do. We all gave our choices and the people here liked my idea the most so we chose to build it."