Embers | Jalex

two.

I winced as the bright sunlight made contact with my eyes.

I elongated my arm, reaching for Nathan, but I felt nothing but warm sheets. I instantly shot up, darting my head around in each direction in search of Nathan.

I walked over to the wall to see a letter pinned to a pin-board on the wall.

Hey babe, going to get some groceries. Be back soon.
Nathan x

I flicked the letter aside and turned to face the view. The whole wall was glass, with a sliding door included, leading out towards to a back beach. I stretched my arms up and reached side to side, letting out an odd sound.

I stepped into the bathroom, and turned on the shower. The room was instantly steamy, and the hot beads of water dropped down my body. After about six minutes, I decided to hop on out of the shower. I came to look at myself in the mirror, staring at the huge mark spread across my torso. It seemed to appear that it has gotten darker overnight.

I quickly slipped into a pair of black jeans and a white t-shirt. I opened the locked bathroom door, letting an abundance of steam enter the hotel room.

I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do without Nathan here. I mean I'm pretty sure I couldn't just leave, but I didn't want to stay locked up. Plus Nathan doesn't really like when I go out without him, I guess he just has protective traits.

I was interrupted by my phone vibrating on the bed side table.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey Alex, it's me, Nathan," he said laughing at the confused tone in my voice.

"Sorry I totally forgot to look at the Caller ID,"
I apologised. "What's up?"

"Oh, I just finished shopping for some food, and now I'm just having some lunch," he chimed into the phone. "You're still at the hotel, right?"

"Yeah, I'm here. Can I come out and meet you?" I asked, popping on some converse.

'No.' He said rather bluntly, but I can understand. Maybe he wanted some alone time. "Just make sure the room is clean for when I get back."

"Alright, love you."

"Love you too."

We were cut off by a beep, signalising the end of the call.

I sighed and fell back into the bed, throwing my phone across the mattress.

I instantly sprung up and began to start making the bed. I equally spread out all corners and tucked them in, throwing the duvet over the top and making the pillows appear more presentable.

I looked around, the room was quite clean considering we only got here yesterday afternoon. There were a few stray articles of clothing that I picked up and organised.

After staying in the room for about three hours, there was still no sign of Nathan. Boredom was quick to jump up on me, and I weighed out all possible options for things to do. My eyes kept focusing on the trail leading out to the back beach. I'm sure Nathan wouldn't mind if I just went for a quick walk.

I opened up the large glass door and stepped outside. The humidity here was unbelievable. I'm pretty sure it wasn't even a hot day, but the humid air made me think otherwise.

I followed the small sandy path. Overall it was about a 4 minute walk and I was suddenly hit by cliffs and crashing waters. I was amazed by the scene in front of me, once again.

I took off my shoes and headed straight for the water. It was very cool, a contrast to what the air was feeling.

"I thought I told you to stay at the hotel?"

I spun around on my heels, facing Nathan.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I just - I wanted - I was just bored," I stuttered.

"You could of told me you had plans of leaving?" He said with a hint of anger in his voice

'Oh, I-I'm sorry it won't happen again.' I stammered out quickly.

'We're going back to hotel, I was thinking we could go out tonight.' Nathan said casually.

I nodded my head with agreement, we walked back the hotel room in silence and started getting ready. I wish I had had more time to explore that area.

-

We sat down by the bar to order some drinks. I went for a beer, and Nathan went for a Bloody Mary. Alcohol, personally, wasn't my favourite. I had nothing against anyone who decided to drink it, I just didn't like it.

I looked out over the dance floor to see many people aggressively dancing to the beat of the music.

I couldn't help but laugh at their intoxication. The room suddenly started to build up in heat. There were probably about 200 people in this cramped space.

I looked back over to Nathan, who had just received his drink. "Wanna dance?"

"No, I'm okay at the moment," I smiled, taking a sip of my beer.

"Of course," he sighed, walking in another direction.

I was a little bit let down that he didn't want to spend this time with me, but I guess Brazil is somewhere new to him too and he wants to experience it just as much as I did.

I wish that I was still at that back beach, the sunset would of been amazing.

I looked over to see Nathan heading back in my direction with a guilty smile on his face. "You didn't think I'd actually leave you?"

I smiled, but didn't say anything.

The air rapidly became thicker and I had to excuse myself. I wasn't used to environments like this, I always felt super claustrophobic. Nathan nodded and took the seat I was occupying.

I finally saw the bright sign on the wall on the other side of the room and I found my way over.

I pushed open the heavy door and adjusted myself in the mirror. I walked over to one of the urinals, happy the room was empty.

I heard the door open and close behind me. Of course I couldn't have 3 minutes of my own time. I didn't look in the direction of door, keeping focused on my, well you know.

A tall figure stood next to me. I kept my eyes focused and didn't look up. The fact there was 6 other urinals in the room, and this person chose to stand here was a bit weird in my opinion.

I finally decided to look over to the boy who was looking straight back at me.

"Hey, I'm Jack."