#11 FOREVER

CHAPTER 6 CAN'T REMEMBER

Rain opens one eye to the bright room then the other, stretching over he reaches for his boyfriend. The space is empty, he looks over and no Payu. Rain shoots up looking around the room. He must be out by the pool. So Rain gets up to use the bathroom before finding him. 10 min later, teeth brushed and face fresh and clean, he sets out to look for Payu. The pool area is empty, he goes back in the room, he must have walked right past him. But after checking every corner of the room and back out to the pool area, Payu was nowhere. Rain decided he must have gone out to get breakfast so he would just call him.
1, 2, 3, 4 rings and no answer, he leaves a message "Hey P' I've been up for about 30 min. Where are you?"
Not wanting to ruin the breakfast that Payu is most definitely getting he doesn't eat anything.
Rain busies himself with picking out an outfit for the day and getting dressed, trying not to look at his phone. Payu will text him or call him back soon. He's just out getting breakfast.
Dressed and ready for the day Rain takes out his phone, sure he must have missed the notification sound. No calls, no texts. Rain just stares at his phone. He puts it back in his pocket and goes to the fridge for a bottle of water, then he walks outside, he meanders slowly down to the road, checking both ways looking for their driver's car. Then he sees a car coming, it's getting closer, and then it drives past him. Not P'Payu.

I'll just go sit in the villa and play a game on my phone, he'll be back soon, is what Rain keeps repeating to himself as he looks at the time every 5 min. Lying down on the bed staring at the ceiling, doing his very best to be patient and not call P' back and leave 100 messages.

Rain startles awake, sitting up and looking around. Checking his phone, he fell asleep for 2 hours. 2 hours and P'Payu is still not back and his phone isn't showing any texts or calls.
Panic starts to worm its way in. Why hasn't he come back yet, why did he not call or text? He presses call, and listens to it ring over and over, then go to voicemail
"P' I'm starting to get worried now, where are you and why aren't you answering my calls. I've been waiting for 3 hours, please call me"
Rain starts pacing, from the bed to the front entrance through the bathroom by the pool and back around to the bed, over and over and over. Heart beginning to race at an unnatural speed. What if something is wrong, what if he got hurt, how will I find out? Walking back out to the road, he sets off on another round of pacing, this time from the road to the back of the villa and back around. His mind thinking up all the awful things that could have happened to him.

What do I do now? How long do I wait? Do I call the police? Do I go looking for him?
No that's stupid, I have no idea where he went.

Rain sits on the bed and turns the TV on, picks some random show just to have voices fill the room trying to make him feel less alone.

Texting: "P' please call me back, I don't know where you are and I'm getting scared"

More pacing, more texts, more voice messages. It's now noon , it's been 4 hours since he woke up. He presses call again but this time it goes straight to voicemail without ringing.

What does that mean, did he shut his phone off, did someone have his phone and they shut it off, did his phone battery die?

Full blown panic sets in now, he hasn't eaten all day and that coupled with worry has him feeling nauseous, he feels like he might either throw up or pass out. He goes to the bathroom and sits on the cold tiles in front of the toilet. Face in his hands Rain starts to cry. Oh my God, what if Payu never comes back, what if he has to go home without him. No I will just stay here until I find him, he has to be here somewhere even if he's hurt, we are on an Island for fucks sake where else could he be. Crying uncontrollably now, he lays down on the floor pressing his cheek to the cool tile, seeking some relief to his rising temperature.