Proxy

Nineteen

I woke up early today only to find Harley outside with a rather familiar man clutching her arm in a forceful way.

"Let go of me!" She ordered.

I walked faster, taking her by my side. The man glared at me but I didn't budge.

"Oh, it's you." Philippe said. He flicked his fingers signalling his goons to leave us alone for privacy. The four of them.nodded in agreement.

"I remember you." I said, placing a protective arm on Harley's shoulder. I felt her relax upon contact and she immediately jerked her arm away from the sicko.

"I heard you'll be staying here for three weeks, Darling." He said, keeping a fixed smile on his face, without looking at me.

Harley looked at me, unsure of what to answer but I took her hand in mine and whispered something to her ear.

I could see the dislike coming from the French guy and Harley left us in a hurry.

"Let's have some serious talk about this. Man to man." I said.

"Do we do this in form of a fight or flight? I take it that you're leaving early, huh? Good luck finding your papers." And he left without hearing what I had to say.

"Why do you like her so much?" I yelled.

Philippe froze on his tracks and looks at me, smirking.

"Let's just say that she looks exactly a lot like my first love. But she left me, too."

"But Harley never left you. She was never yours in the first place."

"I thought she was. But then she did left me." His voice sounded dark and filled with anger but he quickly plastered his face with a smile.

I went back to our cabin and found our papers complete. Maybe he was just messing with us in the first place.

Harley hugged me when she saw me the minute I stepped on the door. She was frantic at first but she slowed down when I sat on the divan and told her to sit.

"Can I talk to you?"

"What for?" She replied.

"Did you had a relationship with him?" She knew who I was referring to and the downcast gaze she gave me was enough to confirm my suspicions.

"Can you let me explain?" She asked.

I nodded.

"I... I thought he loved me. That was before I was employed to be his wife's proxy because she came from an accident. Luckily, she looked like me and with only a little make-up, I managed to fool everyone into thinking that I was Felice, his bride."

She leaned closer to me and I let my arm support her from sobbing.

"And then... Felice died throughout the night after the wedding and Philippe told me he loved me. We were together for a week but then, he started getting violent whenever I fail to do things as well as Felice. For him, she was the perfect one and I was only her proxy even in death. He threatened my only family, my mother and that's why I kept on hiding for months."

"Is that why we couldn't find you anywhere at all even if we're in the city?"

She nodded.

"That man is sick."

"No. He was just... grieving in his own way."

"That hurt you in the process." I countered.

"We should leave." She stood up and took the bags, stuffing everything she can get her hands on.

"Yeah." I agreed. "But not in a week. Please? We need this. I'll always be with you so that he won't get any closer to you. Even if it means we'll be sharing the bed." I grinned.

"Shut up, Barclay!" She laughed.

"Don't use my name that way, it sounded old!" I tickled her furiously until she took back what she said a while ago.

Harley's POV

After touring the whole place, we went to the beach and attended a bonfire where tourists like to gather around. We placed our chairs by the docks and watched the stars lighting up the sky.

Drinks were being passed on to everyone like mad and a DJ was keeping everyone's spirits up. AAlso a group of people were doing body shots.

Philippe was also there with his stare burning holes on my body whenever Barclay gets too close to me.

And it looks like I'm gonna be needing him now more than ever.

I took a few shots of tequila and handed him a bottle of beer. I can hear glasses clicking from the other cluster of people. Some women were throwing up while others were splashing about enjoying a night swimming.

A reggae band played some tunes and I dragged Clay to the center stage as I twirled around him. His gaze never leaving me as I did a little salsa.

It's a good thing that my dance lessons had finally paid off. My skirt flows freely as I let the music get the best of me. I knew that people were watching but I didn't care.

This is Bora-Bora and I'm sure as hell that I'm never gonna be the same Harley as I was back there in the city.

I felt his arm took me by the waist and we were now lost in each other's stare. It's like everyone automatically disappeared with only just the two of us and the soft rhythm of the reggae music.

I didn't know how long the song lasted or how many songs we have lasted. All I remember was that he was carrying me straight to our cabin with a very drunk me, laughing my head off.

"Are you sure about this? I can wait, you know." He said.

But I just giggled and pressed his mouth in mine. Hands on my hips and his mouth glued on mine, the both of us tumbled into the sheets too drunk to even think about anything at all.

But I was a little sober with only a few shots of drinks.

Forget Philippe, forget Savannah, forget Troy, forget work and forget Harley. For now, it's just gonna be me and Clay.

That very night, something happened that shouldn't have happened but I'm finding myself relishing that moment every now and then.