Behind The Scenes

Chapter 3

"So, who's that guy you were talking to?" Chanel asks with a sly smile as we load our plates with food from the buffet.

"Huh? What guy?" I say innocently.

She rolls her eyes. "I'm talking about the guy you were flirting with in the water, splashing each other and all that jazz."

I shrug, putting some chicken ceasar salad on my plate. "His name's Ollie. No big deal."

"Yes big deal," Chanel says, raising an eyebrow. "He was hot! And I couldn't help noticing his gorgeous  body..."

"Chanel, I will throw this chicken at you," I threaten.

"No you won't, you want to eat it too badly," Chanel says bluntly.

She's right, of course, but I can just as easily throw something not as nice at her.

We sit down at out table and I gaze around the room. It's not as if I'm looking for a someone with a name beginning with 'O'...

"He's behind you, but don't look," Chanel tells me subtly. I groan in frustration.

"Am I really that transparent?"

Chanel nods wisely. "Just so you know, he's looking at you."

My heart speeds up and my stomach explodes with butterflies. "Really? Are you kidding?"

"No, but you need to be less keen," she tells me with an almost stern look. "I'm serious. Make him chase you, darling."

I glare at her. "Since when are you an expert on guys?"

Since she became gorgeous,  I answered my own question. 

"Honey, I have dated too many guys to count. So–" We are interrupted by Milo and Ollie invading our table.

"Hi guys," Ollie says and sits down with his food without invitation. Milo soon follows suit after holding eye contact with Chanel for a while. I can't help raking my eyes over his dark brown hair and gorgeous blue eyes which twinkle with mischief–

I need top stop staring at him like a creepy stalker. 

"Hi guys," Chanel says, throwing a flirty smile at both of them. They both seem a little stunned at first, then Ollie looks at me and raises one eyebrow. I try my very best not to laugh out loud.

Throughout the meal (which was lunch) we made jokes and laughed a lot with both Milo and Ollie. I get to know them better – Milo is the more flirty, bad-boy type, and Ollie is the cute, funny, cheeky one. I'm not sure which one is my type, but the both seem attractive in more ways than one to me. As for Chanel, I see her eyes completely fixed on Milo the whole time.

"So." Milo leans back in his chair. "What are you guys up to tonight?"

Chanel shrugs, and I stay silent. "We're probably going to be chilling down by the pool or something."

"Well..." Milo glances from Chanel to me, then back to Chanel. "We're heading down to the beach. You want to join us?"

Ollie meets my eyes with a pleading look. I guess he doesn't want to be a third wheel...

"Yeah, we'll come along," I answer for Chanel. Ollie looks so relieved, and I flash a grin at him.

Later that day, Chanel and I head down to the beach before the guys. The sun beats down on us and I quickly put on my sunglasses. Looking out to sea, I see a movement in the water. Is that a ... fin or something? I tap Chanel and point to the 'fin'. 

"Oh my god, what if it's a shark?" Chanel shrieks dramatically.

"Calm down," I say, rolling my eyes, but in my head I wonder the same thing. I hate sharks. They creep me out so much.

I look more closely, but it's gone. Suddenly I want to shout at everyone to get out of the water, but then it's back. And as my gaze becomes more focused I see the fin isn't like the dorsal fin of a shark. Far from it. More like the tail of a fish when it comes to the surface but then dives back down...

"You know what? I don't think it's a shark," I reassure a still panicked Chanel. "Looks more like a fish to me."

Chanel exhales. "You're probably right. Would a shark be this shallow, anyway?"

I shake my head. Panic over. But still, there's something weird about that ... fish tail or whatever. Seems connected to me, almost.

I laugh inside my head. Yup, Harla, that's right, you're a fish.

As if.

The guys join us maybe a half hour later. The sun is starting to set, so it's all looking nice and romantic. Perfect.

I hope you realise the sarcasm.

Milo sits himself next to Chanel, nice and close and comfortable. Ollie collapses on the sand next to me with a sigh. 

This is a little awkward. Kind of like a double date...

Fun times. 

I notice Ollie is really quite close to me. Not that I'm going to complain.

"Anyone feeling like skinny dipping?" Milo grins at us. I roll my eyes along with Ollie.

Chanel whacks him gently on the shoulder. "Please tell us you're joking."

"Yes, of course." He winks at her. Yeah. Of course he was joking.

Jerk. 

I look up as the sun slowly sinks into the sea. It casts beautiful rays across the  water and that's when I see a shape in the evening light.

The same one as earlier.

"What is that?" I say curiously, leaning forwards.

I look around and see Chanel resting her head on Milo's shoulder and he is looking at her with an almost smug expression. 

Are you kidding me.

I turn to Ollie in exasperation, and discover he's looking at me intently. Whatever words I was about to say disappear on my tongue, and I meet his gaze. His warm, captivating gaze. 

So I've known this guy for, what, not even a day, and we both seem to be under each other's spells. I shake myself out of it. This is ridiculous.

"Anyone want to go for a swim?" I say spontaneusly, beginning to pull off my top – I have a bikini on underneath. Before I can remove it completely, it gets stuck.

Perfect.

"Oh god," I mutter, trying to free myself. This is embarrassing. I hear Ollie laugh. 

"Let me help you." 

I feel hands grip my top and lift it gently over my head. When my top's off I smile gratefully at Ollie, and discover he's nearer to me than I thought. My breathing hitches slightly. I glance towards Milo and Chanel.

They're kissing.

Seriously? On the first night?

I won't lie when I say my best friend is a little bit of a slut. Well, not a slut exactly... she will just kiss a guy when she finds out that they're nice.

'Nice'. 

I see Ollie still looking at me, and he sees my hesitation. He leans back immediately, but as I look around me I see a moon rising up and I gain confidence. I lean forwards again, feeling stupid but kind of brave, and I look into Ollie's eyes. He really is gorgeous.

I'm in for one hell of a holiday.

 thanks for reading <3