Arranged

Chapter 6

The next day I went for a run at five o'clock. I didn't know the neighbourhood so well, so I took the beach. By the time I was done I felt more relaxed, and it was almost seven. I quickly took a shower, and knocked at Liam's door.
"Hi" I greeted. He didn't look happy though. His hair looked like it had been finger-combed more than once, and he had a slight shade of dark circles from the little sleep we got which made his blue eyes profound. I didn't care that he wasn't smiling, this look had my stomach dancing and he looked really nice.
"Where were you?" he asked ignoring my greeting. Shit, I thought. He came looking for me, or even worse Mateo.
"I went for a run." I answered but he had turned his back already, and got in the room. I followed him, and closed the door behind me.
" That could have waited. We are leaving in 30 minutes." He disappeared in the other room, and I left as well. I still don't know what's wrong with him. I changed into black leggings, a red v neck shirt, and my white converse. I let my hair down, took my bags, and headed downstairs where he was already waiting for me.
Once we checked in and were waiting in the lounge, I received a call from my mom.
"Hey mom." I said happy she actually didn't forget about me.
"Hey honey, how are you?" she asked. I looked at Liam sitting next to me but he was taking a nap, his head resting on the travel pillow. I got up, and stepped away so not to wake him up.
"I'm alright. How are you and dad?"
"Still in Cali, how is Liam?" she asked.
"He is okay, just a bit tired." I answered frankly.
"Hey sweetheart, having fun?" my dad took over the phone.
"Uh-huh. Something like that . Go to go now they're calling our flight. Love you bye. " I quickly said, and cut the line. I have never been a good liar especially to my dad, and he could spot me right at it even on the phone. I returned to my seat, and they called our flight for real this time. It was loud enough to wake him up and I was grateful for it because didn't know how he would take me doing that. On the plane, it was my turn to go since I only had four hours of sleep.
*********
As she slowly closed her eyes, the plane took off and she was already gone. Liam noticed she was asleep, and looked away taking out his laptop to answer a few emails. His CFO was retiring soon, and he needed to get one as soon as possible. There was a gap in the statements every year, and he didn't know what was wrong. Antonio was too old now to solve this. As he thought about it, there was a turbulence and he felt a lightweight on his right shoulder. Looking over, it was Skylar's head. Her dark hair fell over her face, and her mouth was slightly parted. Her long eyelashes flickered now and then and he just couldn't stop looking. She looked mesmerizing. Her hair kept slowly sliding over and he pushed it back, tusking it behind her ear. He looked back at his laptop, but he couldn't focus anymore, and looked back at her. He had to admit she was beautiful, but he wasn't ready to open that door yet, and he almost hated his great-grandfather for making him do this when he had other cousins. He closed his laptop, and looked out the window.
*********
I felt myself shaken awake. I opened my eyes, and it took me a minute to realise I was in a plane. I noticed my head was slanted, and on shoulders. Realising whose they might belonged to, I got up and looked at him. He had turned in time. "Sorry" I whispered straightening up and looking away. I rubbed my eyes, and run my fingers through my hair. It was going to be a long flight. I thought to myself. I picked my phone, and went through my text messages. I had a bad habit of never checking them, but I didn't blame myself though I liked phone calls better. There were three. One from Stacy, Juan, and another unknown number. I opened Stacy's first.
'Hey girl, hope you're surviving. I'll make it soon to wherever you are just text me where, and I hoped Victoria choked on her own tongue. Love you.' I couldn't help but hold a laugh in. I replied, even though I knew it wouldn't go through until we landed. I opened Juan's who I completely forgot to text yesterday.
'You were supposed to text to let me know you are safe.' One said
'Never mind, anyways I hope you are not dead yet I would hate to lose you again.' I frowned at that. What the hell did he mean lose me again? I ignored it. I suppose I didn't mention I was leaving yesterday to him. I texted him.
'Sorry Carlito, I fell asleep. I left this morning to Honolulu, I forgot to mention that. I'm pretty sure we'll meet again.' I opened the next one, and my heart sank.
'Hey, I don't know why you've been ignoring me. I apologised so many times now. I'm sorry Ximena, please pick up my calls. ' That was Dylan. Shit. I thought. I don't know how he got my new number either. I didn't hate him, but he was an asshole on the last months we dated. The last draw was when he got drunk so bad one time, he tried something he never should have. I blocked the number, and locked my phone. He made me relive painful memories I didn't want to go back to. I closed my eyes, and hoped this flight wasn't going to take any longer.
******
When we finally landed, I was exhausted. Thankfully, the ride to the place wasn't that long. It was a beautiful three bedrooms bungalow on the beach. Each bedroom had its own bathroom, and there were sliding doors everywhere. Apart from the curtains protecting what was on the inside, the bushes and palm trees helped as well. I loved the main bedroom the most. It had the sea right in front of it, with a veranda, and lounge chairs. The bed was huge, and don't get me started on the bathroom. The only problem was there was no tv, and according to the driver who picked us up, the Wi-Fi was going to be off in the next 48 hours.
I took a shower, washed my hair and changed into a white shirt, and a short black denim dress dungarees. I wore my white converse, and took a step outside. The sun was already setting, and the cool breeze run through my wet hair. Best feeling in the world. I passed by the kitchen, and there was a team making dinner already. I greeted them, and heard the doorbell. Who the hell are we expecting now?
I only prayed to God it was Victoria. I opened the door, and it was a guy. He had dark hair, and warm brown eyes. He was fit and tall with a grin on his face and a leather duffel bag over his shoulders. He had this child-like cuteness to him that made him look likeable. He did look older than I was though.
"Hi" I said smiling back at him.
"Hey. Are you Skylar?" he asked eyebrows raised.
"Yeah. Who are you?" I asked surprised he knew me.
"Drake. Liam's friend." He said giving a hand for a shake. I smiled and shook his hand. I opened the door wider, and let him in.
"Welcome." I said smiling at him because his own smile hadn't faded.
"Thank you. So, what have you been up to?" he asked so random I was a bit taken aback. I didn't even know whether he was being serious or not. He turned to look at me, and realising what he said, he corrected himself.
"Sorry, I'm sure you guys don't know yet, but Bisabuelo wanted me here because I'm a close friend, and he said he will ask you to bring someone along too when you landed." He explained. That explained the three bedrooms then. I nodded.
"Liam is in the first room on the left." I said pointing Towards the hallway that led to the bedrooms.
"Thank you very much." He said smiling with all his teeth out. I couldn't help but do the same. As soon as he was gone, I got in my own room now ours, and took my phone. Stacy had already replied.
'Honolulu baby!! I am coming tomorrow. Don't need an invite for that.'
I replied 'Yeah you can stay with us though, we're apparently allowed to have friends over. Can't wait'
Juan had also replied. As soon as I opened to read, he called.
"Ximena!" he shouted in my ears, and I had to take the phone off my ears. I came out of the room, and saw Liam and Drake talking on the couch. I ignored the stares, and put the phone back on my ears.
"Calm down Carlito." I said walking out, so I didn't disturb them.
"What do you mean calm down? We literally met yesterday after 6 years, and you leave without even telling me?"
"I'm truly sorry, I completely forgot." I said smiling at how he sounded like an angry child.
"I know you're smiling. Not funny. Where are you now?" He sighed.
"Honolulu."
"Really? I've got friends there."
"You've got friends everywhere Juan." I said rolling my eyes.
"Well you could be jealous, or I could link you up with them so you have some fun." He replied with sass
"I'm fine, I'm sure Liam knows places we could go." I said and he went quiet on the other end.
"Whatever. So when do I get to see you again?" he asked.
"To be honest I don't know. Once this trip is over, I'll tell you where I am so you can come see me Carlito." I said smiling.
"Who said I was coming to see you?" he said again sounding like a child.
"Well first of all you miss me, and second I'm not about to go wherever you will be so you can tempt me into staying, so see you in next couple years." I said like I was about to end the call.
"You are so mean woman, anyways I definitely will. I've to go now. Don't forget to text a friend."
"Bye Bye Carlito."
"Bye woman." He said pretending to be pissed, and I laughed cutting the line. Maybe I should call him more often. His mood swings just made me smile again. I walked to the back of the bungalow, where there was another veranda. I sat on of the chairs, and watched the waves, the splashing sounds so relaxing. The sky had an orange canvas, with a pink bottom, and a purple mix. This was so good, I closed my eyes and breathed.
"Hey." The voice made me jump in my seat as I opened my eyes. I turned to Drake, who was looking amused with a smile.
"Sorry, may I sit?" he gestured to the seat by me. I nodded.
"So how are you?" he asked.
"I'm good. How are you?"
"I'm alive." He replied smiling. This was the kind of reply from no one at all. I smiled.
"How was the trip so far?" he asked another question when I thought he was going to be quiet like me. I looked at him then.
"I'm still alive. Surviving." I replied like him, and he chuckled.
"He can be off mood sometimes, but it'll pass." Sometimes. I thought. More like every time. I know his friend didn't like me for sure.
"Uh huh." I nodded.
" If you are Colombian right? How long have you lived here?"
" 10 years." I answered.
"And what did you study after that?" I couldn't believe how genuinely interested he was.
"Finance."
"You're kidding." He said looking like he didn't believe me.
"Why?" I asked amused.
"You don't look like Finance."
"Maybe that's because I'm a human being and not a subject." I joked. He grinned.
"No but seriously. I would give you Business management, or even doctor."
"Can I also ask questions now?" I asked laughing. He nodded "Of course."
"Where exactly are you from?"
"I grew up here like you. Born in Bucaramanga, dad from Colombia, mom also but half Italian. Which is why I kind of work there, in her family business."
"Short and concise history" I said smiling.
"I know right."
"My great-grandma had some Italian in her as well." I said. He raised his eyebrows.
"Maybe that's why we vibe like this eh?" he asked
"Completely off but okay." I laughed, he smiled too.
"So that's how you guys met? In Italy?" I asked and he nodded.
"Something like that. We met in College or was it high school?" he asked himself.
"Already having memory issues at you age." I said giggling, not knowing his age.
"How old am I?"
"I don't know." I answered shrugging.
"Take a wild guess." He said putting his hands at the back of his hand.
"40"
"Jesus Christ!" he exclaimed and I laughed.
"Okay 35." I said joking again, he didn't look above thirty.
"Close enough, 29 ." I was kind of surprised. He didn't act nor talk like someone almost hitting his thirties.
"How's that close enough?" I asked not bothering to ask Liam's age, afraid to know.
"I don't want you adding age to me anymore." He said turning to me now.
"Is it still rude to ask a woman's age?" he asked, and I nodded. "Damn." He said
"I can tell you if you guess right." I said with a small smile.
"19" I shook my head frowning knowing he was kidding. "Thank you for the complement though. It isn't easy to look young these days." I said flipping my hair.
He laughed. "Am I close though?" he asked and I nodded.
He paused for a moment. "23"
"Ding ding ding." I clapped. He also pretended to flip long hair, and it cracked me up.
Just then, a lady came in to announce dinner. We both got up, and headed inside. I was still smiling because that gesture was still in my head.
"Why are you still smiling Mate?"
"Mate? You studied in England then?"
"Yes." He said. That was another thing off my get-to-know-Liam list.
"It's your little gesture." I said giggling.
"That should be left between us lady." He warned smiling.
"Yes mate." I replied still smiling. Once we got in the kitchen, Liam was already at the table but he was looking serious, and on the phone. I sat across him, and Drake went for the fridge, taking a bottle of water. He came back to sit by me. Liam just kept talking in Italian though. Drake squinted his eyes at him. He raised his hand, and like puppets, mimicked what Liam was saying closing and opening his hand with his thumb and the rest of his fingers. I held in a laugh, and bit my lips smiling. Liam caught him doing it and glared, but he still continued. He stood up, and walked out, flipping Drake's water over while he took a sip, and I couldn't hold it anymore. I laughed at his shocked face.
"It's not funny." He said with a frown. I grabbed some tissues and handed them to him still giggling.
Dinner was quiet for about the first five minutes, and the whole time I tired not to laugh what with Drake's frown, and Liam's smirk.
"You should ask her for some advice, she studied Finance, and accounting." He said to Liam whose eyes turned to me then. I looked down at my food.
" I never said accounting." I said looking at Drake who just shrugged. "I'm sure you did that to get that eh?"
"How good are you then?" I turned towards Liam who was now addressing me. I frowned, because I didn't like one bit the disrespectful tone he used. He sounded so sceptical, I lost appetite over anger.
"Give the girl a break man." Drake said putting his arms over my shoulders.
"Good enough to be CFO of my family business." I said returning with a glare. I don't know why I got so angry, but I guess I hated when someone looked down on me. It was okay to be cold and mean but not disrespectful. I took Drake's arm off my shoulder, and left the table. I really needed to cool off and yoga wasn't going to do it so I wore my running clothes, tied my hair up, took my iPod, and left the house even though the sun was already down.
"Skylar!" I heard Drake's voice but I ignored it, and run off.
I stopped when I was tired, and bent down breathing some air. I was run by the beach, so I could get my way back easy. I walked to the beach, and sat on the sand, taking out my earpieces. I took deep breaths, enjoying the fresh breeze that cooled own my skin. The moon tonight, and the sky was clear. I took a picture.
"A girl shouldn't be out here at this time."
I jumped back on my feet and away from the unfamiliar male voice.
"Yo chill, I'm not a ghost." He said sounding amused. I looked and saw his jet black hair, and grey eyes. The clear moon allowed me to see his height, and that he was considerably built so if shit was to go down, I had to make a run for it. He wasn't a ghost alright. He was wearing workout clothes like me and I could see sweat glistening on his forehead. He might not look like a rapist or murderer, but they don't write that on people's foreheads either.
"I'm Jake. Do you live around here girl?" he asked and I shook my head.
"Rajah dat .Do you speak?" Not understanding his first phrase, I slightly cocked my head, giving him a confused look.
"So you're just visiting then? Anyways you look scared so I'm just going to leave you, just go home because it gets busy out here." He said and I felt relieved, he was going to leave.
" 'k den" he said, turned his back, and run off. I waited for his back to disappear before doing the same.
Soon as I passed through the door, Drake was hot on me.
"Where were you? Do you know it gets dangerous out there even though it's considered a paradise? Did you meet anyone? Why the hell would you run off like that?" He asked, and the questions kept coming. He was still in the kitchen when I went I for some water. After taking a few sips I finally asked.
"Are you done?"
"Yes."
"I'm fine, I will tell you next time I go running. I did meet some guy but I didn't understand some things he said, I wasn't speaking either so he just left."
"Okay." He said shrugging and smiling.
"At least someone is looking out." I said throwing away the empty bottle and walking out towards the bedroom, where I was already imagining a nice warm bath.
"About that" he said following me.
"It's fine I-" I stopped mid-sentence when I opened the door. There she was again. Lying on the bed I was supposed to sleep on tonight. She was wearing a provocative lingerie too with a kimono.
"Hey girl." She said smiling mischievously. Liam walked in from the veranda then. I looked at him, then her again. I couldn't even believe what my eyes were seeing.
" Can you close the door? It's getting cold" she smiled again.
I shook my head to wake myself up, and made quick steps for my bags, and left the room leaving the door open.
I ignored Drake, and got in the third bedroom. What have I done to deserve this? I asked myself. I was searching through my past to see whether maybe this was just Karma. He didn't even look apologetic in anyway. I felt tears coming up, but I stopped myself from crying. My hands would really get messed up and I couldn't take that pain along with this emotional stress. I went in for a shower, and let the steaming water run over my whole body. After some recollection, I decided to go out and take some air, but with the cold breeze now, I wore jeans and a sweatshirt. I quietly went around the house to the back and sat down. I could hear Victoria's distant laugh, and the chatter in the kitchen from the people still walking. I closed my eyes and tried meditating. The crashing waves slowly drowned out the noise, and all I could hear was the splashing sounds and the wind in the trees as I took deep breaths.
"Aren't you cold?" a sudden voice said. I jumped a little in my seat, and I heard him chuckle.
"You've got to stop sneaking up on me like that, at least make some noise." I said watching him seat.
"Next time. Don't you want to go inside?" he asked. We heard laughter again. I looked at him and shook my head.
"C'mon, I brought some fun board games with me, I can't play alone." He pleaded. I nodded. I couldn't sleep anyway.
What he called fun, was in fact scrabble. He set it up in his own bedroom, on a table, and he had this big smile on his face.
"Is this what you call fun? You do act your age after-all." I teased sitting down and putting letters in my case.
"Sometimes. I do have adult games. "He said taking another box blow the table it was rated 18+ . "But they are for adult parties." He grinned mischievously. I slowly nodded giggling.
"I get what you mean. What language?" I asked referring to the board.
"You choose." He said with a hint of pride.
"Someone's feeling cocky eh? You're that good huh?"
"Well if I may say so myself."
"Spanish."
"Let us begin."
30 minutes into the game, I couldn't stop laughing at his facial expressions. He looked so damn serious, and he was still struggling to put together another word.
"Spanish isn't your Forte Mr Drake." I said smiling at him. He just grimaced, and kept searching. I heard voices outside, and that of Victoria but they were muffled by the closed door. I looked down at my hands then wondering what I was doing wrong. I don't think someone could just not like another person out of nowhere. So if it wasn't him then maybe I did something.
"Hola lady, I'm done." Drake snapped me out of my trance. I looked at the long word he spelt, but I had strong letters that I already had in place, so I just put them below his word. They multiplied, and I put my points down.
"What the- how do you do that?" He asked shocked. I shrugged smiling, and went back thinking.
"A penny for your thought." I looked at him, and he leaned back in his chair.
"Oh I just-"
"I meant your mind." He said smiling. I understood what he said then. Maybe my face gave me away. I heard voices again, and looked at him.
"Do you think it's something I did?" I asked him then, and he frowned looking confused.
"To Liam. Maybe I offended him, or I don't know m-"
"No." he cut me off shaking his head. He looked sorry, but that's not what I wanted. I needed answers.
"Then what?"
"Nothing, you are innocent. He just got issues. He can be very cold about them too. But he's a good guy."
"That's hard to believe." I said looking down again. "You just got me more confused. What issues?"
"I'd rather not say now. Do you want a hug instead?" he suggested sympathetically.
"I need one." I said giving him a small smile. He walked towards me, bent down, and gave me a warm hug. His door opened then.
"Aren't you guys cute?" I broke away from his hug, and looked at Victoria standing by the door frame.
"Don't you know how to knock?" Drake asked, and for the first time since this morning he looked irritated.
"What Drake were you busy?" she asked sassy, with her arms crossed.
He walked up to the door, and held the handle. "Out."
"Such a gentleman. I'm not in your room anyways." She said pointing at the border line. He smiled. "Right." He said closing, almost slamming the door in her face. He came back to sit looking satisfied.
"Never thought you could get this irritated." I said amazed.
"Do you see her? She's an annoying human."
I giggled. "You know how to put your words." I said, then got up. "I think I'm going to head to bed now."
"Sure. She also drains out people of their energy just from a few words. Did you know?" he said getting up to open the door.
"Fun fact." I said smiling and giving him a hug.
"Thanks for spending time with me."
"It's nothing. Sorry you have to put up with her. Goodnight darling."
"Goodnight." I smiled, and walked through the hallway towards the kitchen to get myself water. I met them both there, but I ignored their presence, and grabbed myself a bottle. I was actually tired, and it was past midnight. I changed into something comfortable, and let sleep takeover.