Kendall Emeretta's orderly world is disrupted by the arrival of Wesley Archer, a threat who grins in the face of chaos. As her morals are compromised and ambitions blurred, will Kendall realise the art of maturity is more than a shiny new pair of Lo...
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A Richer Shade of Gold Chapter Twenty-Three
Sachi Kimura was in Olivia and Xavier's French class. It was Olivia who had informed Kendall when she asked if they wanted to ask anyone else to tag along. Matt Brawn was also in that class, although Olivia had said his French wasn't the strongest. Sachi brought him along too. Sachi, Matt and Xavier piled into one of the rental cars and followed the other rental car that had Kendall, Olivia and Wesley.
Wesley was right, it just took under an hour to get to the spa.
Kendall wanted to cry when they finally pulled into the parking lot of the Scandinave Spa. It looked like exactly what she needed. As soon as the six went through the reception and payed for the unlimited day pass, they all separated like oil in a glass of water. Kendall made her way to the change rooms and emerged moments later, making her way to the hot springs that were located outside. Of course, with her luck, her cramps were starting to cease in the last ten minutes of arriving.
Kendall peeled the white robe off of her body and placed it on one of the lounge chairs beside the pool. She was in a plain black and white floral one piece. The sleeved were long on it, reaching her wrists. Kendall knew that it would be cold in Quebec so she didn't stupidly pack a stringy bikini. Although she hadn't worn a bikini for a few years now.
Minutes went by quickly in her time alone in the hot spring. Kendall felt her fingers starting to wrinkle. She had spent a considerable amount of time floating on her back with her eyes closed in the hot spring. It was a relaxing experience. Her tense muscles were looser now and her body felt weightless. She was laying there all alone when she felt something grip her waist and pull her under.
Her muscles tensed up as her eyes shot open, depicting nothing but the turbid water. Her heart was racing a million miles per hour, thumping hard against her chest. Her throat felt constricted and her stomach ached — and not because of the cramps. Kendall's limbs were frantic as she thrashed to be free, although she wasn't even sure if she was being held at that point. She kicked and momentarily forgot she was underwater, swallowing some as she opened her mouth to scream.
Her eyes squeezed shut when she recalled the memories of that day. All the rough water, the sun blazing down on them. The screaming and the thrashing. She tried to push back the thoughts like she had for the past seven years but for the first time in a while, she couldn't. Kendall felt the urge to cough but she couldn't, she was still submerged. Her kicking had stopped now, and the white foam and bubbles had cleared a little. She could see a shadow above her now, their arms reaching out to pull her up by the waist.
Kendall took a big breath, surfacing with a large gasp as she lunged for the side of the hot spring. The pool itself was shallow, maybe reaching her shoulders. Kendall coughed uncontrollably, clutching hard onto the edge. Every time she tried to take another breath of air, her throat would give out and she would splutter again. She felt the presence of someone behind her but was too occupied to turn around to discover the identity of the person who just tried to drown her before turning around to save her.
