𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 | RAFE CAMERON

Forty Five | S P L I T

    
      It was a Thursday morning. I sat on the pool chair, Tommy snuggled up in my lap, as I read him a story about a troubled boy who is learning to behave well, maybe Tommy will pick up some things from what I read to him and incorporate it into his behaviour. It was a peaceful morning, until I looked up to see Rafe walking towards us with a cup of coffee in his hand.

"Hey," I said, "I missed you this morning. Where were you?"

Rafe shrugged, taking a seat next to us. "I went to see Sofia."

My eyes narrowed, my grip on the book tightening. "Sofia? Seriously Rafe?"

Rafe nodded, oblivious to my anger. "Yeah, I figured she needed someone to talk to. We just grabbed coffee."

"Mommy I miss Sofia." Tommy said, looking up to me.

"I know baby." I smile, then I turn to Rafe again, "You went to see Sofia behind my back? After she stole my ring?"

Rafe raised his hands, defensively. "It's no big deal, Scarlett. She just needed someone to listen."

I scoffed, "Are you kidding me?"

Rafe looked taken aback, but I didn't care. I turned to Tommy, who was watching the scene unfold, "Tommy, sweetie, go inside and get ready for daycare, okay?"

Tommy nodded, scrambling off my lap. As he ran towards the house, I turned back to Rafe, grabbing his arm and taking him to the dock so the neighbours wouldn't hear the mouthful I was about to give him, "Don't you ever go see Sofia without my permission again, Rafe. Got it?"

Rafe smirked, which only made me angrier. "What, are you jealous?"

I rolled my eyes. "Don't be ridiculous."

Rafe shrugged. "Fine, whatever. I'll go take Tommy to daycare while you cool off, yeah?"

I nodded, "Good idea. Go."

I watched Rafe disappear into the house, then took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. Today is supposed to be a peaceful day. Rafe and I were supposed to go the beach with some friends, I of course requested we'd go alone but Rafe was adamant on letting Topper and Kelce join us. So, he had his way.

Soon enough, all of us were at the beach, no Pogues this time. Rafe, Topper, and Kelce were at Toppers truck who was grilling up some hot dogs for us to eat later. Ruthie and I decided to catch some waves as we waited.

I paddled out to where Ruthie was waiting for me, my board gliding smoothly through the water. Ruthie grinned at me as I reached her side. "Ready to catch some waves, Scar?"

I nodded, and we started to paddle, our boards side by side as we waited for the perfect wave.

And then it came, a big one that would take us all the way to shore. We both started to paddle like crazy, our boards moving in sync as we caught the wave.

We stood up, our balance perfect as we rode the wave out. I was whooping with excitement, but then, out of nowhere, Ruthie did something that made my conk out. She ran her board into mine, making us both fall over. I surfaced, furious.

"Watch it, Ruthie!" I yelled, my board floating away from me.

Ruthie surfaced from the water and looked up at me, "Sorry, Scar. I didn't mean to do that."

I glared at her, still fuming. "You're going to have to do better than that if you want to surf with me."

Ruthie nodded, "I'll try to do better, I promise."

I nodded, still feeling annoyed. As we continued to surf, I caught another wave, and I rode it out. Ruthie paddled up beside me, and for a moment, we were surfing in sync. But then, she did it again - she fell over her board, and this time, she took me down with her.