Running from Him by YH Yohi

Chapter 27: Warning

"Enjoying?"

Arin appeared from behind and placed a plate of food in front of her. He seated himself beside Pari while eating his meal, Pari didn't resist she was hungry and needed energy if she was to fight this man. The boat had stopped, the island was still some distance away but they would reach it by sunset.  The pink hued skies spilled over from the sides as the sun rested on the horizon. It was a beautiful.

A thought popped in her head at that moment, had nothing transpired, would their honeymoon feel like this? Serenity- a small world with just two of them?

Pari quickly shook off the thought. There's no point thinking about it anymore, there's no going back. It pained her.

Arin suddenly cleared his throat 'Do you like the ride? seasick?'

Pari just ignored him, munching away without sparing him a glance. She heard him sigh, Arin continued "I always liked the ocean, it looks so unmoving, and still as if its frozen in place"

"Sounds boring to me" Pari retorted. It wasn't true, she liked the calmness, but she didn't want this moment to feel romantic or emotional, that feeling no longer suited their relationship. After Arin went to the extent of kidnapping her, even the little speck of hope that Arin had some fondness for her precipitated like the froth in the ocean. What he had for her was obsession, obsession to control. After all, isn't it a man's sickening instinct to want what they can't have, to keep a woman who dares to defy them under their thumb?

She's seen it far too many times in her line of profession. Men who mistaken obsession and amusement for love, going to the extent of pestering and disrupting the woman's life. 

"True, it's boring but peaceful. I wish my life was like that, stable, quiet, simple" Arin said, his words softened. His voice sounded solemn, nearly getting lost or rather becoming one with the sound of the ocean. Pari turned and looked at him. Arin was always rational, straightforward and objective, this poetic-philosophical side was unusual.

"You can have a life like that" Pari replied looking forward, still not making eye contact.

"Not in this life, ambition complicates life, maybe if I didn't have to be the CEO I could have that"

"And CEOs can't have a peaceful life?"

"No, too much rests on our shoulders"

"That's a silly thought. True life can be hectic, but peace and tranquility aren't gifts that one just gets, nor is it something that automatically fills a void. Even a child is born crying and in pain. You just have to work towards making peace in your mind."

"I tried, doesn't work."

"If you feel like that, then why are you working so hard to be a CEO"

"Because that is my dream, to remain the CEO of AISC. What's your dream?" Arin asked. He drew his legs closer resting his arm on it, tilting his head to see Pari better.

"I'm living it"

"You're satisfied? That's all you want? Isn't there something more you seek"?

"Yes, I do crave for more but I'm happy even if I don't get it."

Pari didn't know why she asked the question she was about to, she didn't want to converse with him like a normal couple, but her curiosity gave way.

"Is being the CEO of AISC really your dream."

"Of course, why do you ask so? Doesn't sound noble enough?"

"No, just that, why would you yearn for peace if you are already living your dream? Shouldn't you be satisfied and content. Or is your dream truly something else?"