Only Once

Chapter Twenty-Five: Hawaii

Chapter Twenty-Five: Hawaii

Everything seemed to be perfect. Simply, marvellously, absolutely perfect.

That was all Erika could think about as she gently pushed her designer sunglasses further up her nose and leaned back on the colourful beach towel she was lying on. She tilted her head back and angled it toward the sun; she smiled as the warm rays kissed at her face.

So far, she had been in Maili, Hawaii for four days and each day seemed to be better than the last. She had spent her time doing nothing and simply having a good time. Yesterday, for example, she had gone to the resort’s spa with her mother and sister and gotten a lovely pedicure and manicure. The day before that, they’d gone into town where they’d purchased some new clothes and eaten lunch at a lovely restaurant with a cute waiter. And here she was now, lazily lying on the beach with no worries.

The resort they were staying at was also wonderful. They had two spacious, well-decorated suites; one for the parents and one for the kids. Their suites seemed to be equipped with everything, from a television to a mini fridge to a Jacuzzi. Truth be told, she would’ve been perfectly content if she spent her entire stay in that suite.  

“Bitch, screen me up.”

Erika’s eyes fluttered open and from behind her sunglasses, she could see her older sister standing before her and peering down at her with a teasing smile.

“You’re blocking my sun.” She complained.

“Screen me up!” Diana repeated and waved the bottle of sunscreen she was holding in her hand. “I’ll do you too. I mean, we don’t want to get burns, right?”

Erika reluctantly sighed but started to rub sunscreen on her sister’s tan and slim back nonetheless. 

“Where’s Luka?” Erika asked and peered around in search for their brother after they were both freshly protected from the sun.

Diana shrugged and got up. She stretched her long body and shook back her recently highlighted straight and silky, blonde hair.

“There he is!” Erika exclaimed and pointed to their brother who was taking shaded shelter beneath a coconut tree and had his nose buried in a book.

“Oh my god,” Diana covered her mouth in surprise. “Is he actually reading?”

“Yes, it appears he is.” The disgust couldn’t be missed from Erika’s voice. “What the heck!”

“He should be having fun!” Diana whined. “Why is he reading?”

Erika didn’t say anything and watched their brother for a moment instead. There he was, seated beneath the tree, paler than ever and lost in his book. They had been provided the opportunity to escape from the harsh winters of their home to a sunny, tropic paradise and yet there he was doing something as boring as reading. Luka Russo was wasting his trip doing something he could have easily done in his bedroom back at home.

This angered Erika and she found herself standing up.

“Come on,” she said and peered down to make sure her bright blue bikini was covering everything it was supposed to. “Let’s go knock some sense into him.”

“Okay!” Diana agreed with a wide smile.

With that said, the girls began to run toward their brother. Erika didn’t bother slipping into her flip-flops and instead let her toes sink into the plush sand as she took long glides to get to him.

“Luka!” they screamed in unison as they approached him and Diana even went as far as making loud tribal and primitive like noises.

Luka’s head snapped up and he immediately shut the book and tossed it aside when he spotted them.