Déjà Vu

Chapter 7

I groaned when I hit my foot unintentionally. It took me a few seconds, silently screaming, to get over the pain. "Ugh, I hate it when that happens", I whispered to myself and continued throwing my clothes into my suitcase. It was time for me to fly back home to Austria for a few days before I had to attend the next pre-party. I felt really excited for the next one because it would be in London and I always wanted to visit England one day. When I tried to close my suitcase, I realized that it didn't work. It was just too much in there. With a sudden ambition I jumped onto my suitcase and managed to quickly close the zipper. Relieved I sprang and shouted around but the thought of being trapped in a metallic flying machine later made my legs go weak again. I really hoped I wouldn't start to sweat of fear because than I would have had 2 problems: flying and stinking. "I have to buy deodorant at the airport..."

I dragged my suitcase to the elevator but it seemed like it was already full of people. I watched it close the doors and waited for it to come back. "Tia!! Wait for me!", I hear a familiar voice shout. There was only one person that was allowed to call me Tia. "Angelina!!", I shouted to imitate her. She rolled her eyes and hugged me shortly. "Ayy! Did you really want to go without me?!" Now it was time for both of us to roll our eyes. Joost came running but before he reached us, he slipped and fell down. Angelina and me laughed before we helped him get up. Fortunately he didn't get hurt but that looked just unbelievably funny. Joost swiped imaginary tears from his cheeks with a sad mimic and sighed. "Stop playing, Joost and come!", Angelina called him who was already inside of the elevator. "Did you talk to Marko yet?", she asked me carefully when we drove to the ground floor. I shook my head with a disappointed expression. "I understand", she nodded worriedly and ceased talking. "Where is Apson?", I asked Joost to break the awkward silence. The doors opened and before I could get an answer from him, he ran outside and jumped on Apson who was standing at the reception. "Apson!!", he screamed which made people give him side-eyes. "Waar heb je mijn koffer verstopt??!!! (Where did you hide my suitcase??!!!)", he shouted in Dutch. I was amazed about how much it sounded like German. "What did he say?", Angelina asked me quietly and I laughed. "I'm not sure. It sounded to me like he asked Apson if he was constipated because he ate Joost's suitcase." "What?!" Angelina and me rolled around on the floor laughing. "Why would he eat his suitcase?!", Angelina asked amused with tears in her eyes. "And why does he always wear that bird costume?!" She shrugged her shoulders, still laughing. When we finally calmed down, Mr. Lork approached us. "What's going on here? While Joost and Apson die because of their violent behaviour, you two die because of your laughter", he claimed while he took my suitcase. "And what in the- did you put in their?!", Mr. Lork asked me and pointed to my suitcase. "Everything I need", I countered and chuckled. "Well, that must be a lot..." I followed him but Angelina grabbed my wrist. "My manager and my bodyguards are over there. I think we have to say goodbye already." Her expression was sad but I quickly wrapped my arms around her, pulling her into a hug. "It is only about a week until we'll see again in London", I said and let go of her slowly. "I know, but still!" I giggled and turned around, giving her one last wave. I stopped in front of the fighting Joost and Apson and chuckled. "Bye guys! See yall!", I shouted over the loud screaming. They looked up. Suddenly both of them jumped up on me. I nearly fell when they argued about who was allowed to hug me first. Finally they let me go and I stumbled backwards.
Almost everybody of the competitors said goodbye to me, except for one. Marko. I couldn't spot him anywhere and that made me quite nervous. I even texted him but he didn't answer. Why was he so mad?! I was very tired the other day, so I wasn't in the mood to tell him about my crazy "faint dreams". Another reason was because these dreams included him and that was embarrassing, also I couldn't really explain to myself why I had them. "Mr. Lork?", I asked him and he immediately faced me. "Do you know if Marko already left?" Maybe he knew more than me... "I don't think so because his bodyguards are still here." He was right! I saw Paul standing a few meters away and talking to a receptionist. Without thinking about my next move, I walked over to him. Mr. Lork remained in place with my suitcase beside. "Paul!" He turned around. A smile appeared on his face. Oh no... I remembered our first encounter and my cheeks turned red right away. It would never be not embarrassing... "Hi!", he greeted me, clearly amused. "You're Marko's bodyguard, you surely know where he is, right?" He raised his eyebrow and nodded. "His flight goes at 14 p.m. so he has plenty of time left. Marko said he would go to the beach, why?", he explained to me. I groaned. He had plenty of time but me not. How was I supposed to get to the beach before it was time to drive to the airport?! "Okay, thank you", I said and smiled slightly before I returned to Mr. Lork and Mr. Zujuk who had arrived by then, too. My heart was racing. I really had to rush to get to the beach. "Guys, I'm sorry but I need to find Marko before we go. I'll explain everything later, I promise!", I said and tempted to run but somebody was holding me back by grabbing my wrist. "I'll drive you" It was Mr. Zujuk who told me to follow him. Mr. Lork put my suitcase into the trunk of the car and we got in. "Thank you", I whispered but loud enough for them to hear it.

Mr. Zujuk drove fast but still careful. We arrived at the beach in 13 minutes which was a new record. Before I jumped out of the car, they wished me good luck. "Go find your man!", I heard Mr. Lork shouting from behind and I laughed. I started running. The sand was soft underneath my shoes, that made it hard for me to speed up. I decided to take my shoes off. It was warm but not too hot, the wind was strong and the sky was covered by clouds. It felt like it was about to rain. My eyes searched for Marko. It was pretty early in the morning so there were only a few people walking beside the sea. The waves were high, I really hadn't the urge to swim in there. "Where are you?!", I whispered to myself with a frustrated expression. Suddenly I spotted a person sitting in the sand with pale white messy hair. Was it him? I approached the person and with every step I got closer to him, I got surer about my assumption. "Marko", I whispered and he winced. He turned his head around and as he caught sight of me, his eyes widened. I sat down beside him, leaving a distance between us. It was silent for a few minutes before I spoke up. "I'm sorry that I was so rude the other day at the hospital. I was tired and confused and...I'm really sorry", I apologized. He slowly faced me and we locked eyes. I heard him sigh. "I'm sorry for my childish behaviour. I actually wanted to approach you but I felt so embarrassed because of my leaving after you told me to shut up. Of course, you were tired and I annoyed you with my questions... I mean, you went through a rough time before and I overwhelmed you despite it." His words took a huge load from my mind. "Oh, you don't know how relieved I'm right now... I thought I have to leave without making up with you." I wrapped my arms around him. Before I could even realize what I was doing, he hugged me back. My heart sped up and my breath hitched. That hug wasn't a normal hug, it felt so intimidating. The tension was thick, sucking the air away from my lungs. I was kneeling beside him, his arms were wrapped around my waist and his face was too close to my heart. I had the feeling he could hear it. Suddenly the strength left my legs and I fell back down on my heels. The previous height difference between us was gone and our faces were just inches apart when I pulled away. I could feel his breath on my lips, it was racing and smelled like he ate a mint gum earlier. My arms were still around his neck and his on my waist. Marko didn't break the eye contact when he was coming closer and closer. I leaned back until I found myself lying down on the sand. He hovered over me with his leg between mine and his gaze switching between my eyes and my lips. I tried to stop my legs from trembling but the whole situation made me nervous or rather woke a whole new emotion in me. That wasn't right. All of that wasn't right. "Marko", I whispered. He groaned as an answer. "Stop." His eyes immediately snapped to mine. That was when he realized what he was doing. He gasped and got off of me right away, standing up and patting the imaginary dust from his clothes. The wind blew through his white hair, leaving them even more messy than they were before. I chuckled and got up, too. "I'm late for my flight, I need to hurry", I said amused. I finally found my confidence again he took from me. Marko nodded, clearly out of things. "We'll see again in a week!", I shouted before I turned around and walked away. "Ah, and don't you dare to not answer me when I text you!", I added giggling. He managed to scoff and waved me goodbye. When he was out of sight I hid behind a corner of a building's wall and put a hand on my heart. That speed surely wasn't healthy. "There it is, my confidence, floating away", I thought which made me grin. My smile faded immediately. "What the hell did just happen?! OH. MY. GOD!", I silently screamed. My cheeks were insanely hot, I just knew I looked like a tomato. "Okay, calm down, calm down" That wasn't as easy as said. "Celestia! What are you doing here? Did you find him?" I winced when Mr. Lork suddenly stood beside me. "U-Uh, yes. Uhm, let's just go back to the car", I replied and pushed him forward.

I really had to digest all of that first...

╰☆☆Author's note☆☆╮

Hi, guys!
I hope you're enjoying my fanfiction so far. I just wanted to tell y'all that Joost will also be attending the pre-party in London. I know, it was not like that irl but we all want Joost to stay, right? ;⁠-⁠)
Anyways this chapter was a little more "risky", I hope you liked that because I did when I wrote it :⁠-⁠D.
See y'all again in the next chapter!