Operation Marriage

Chapter Ten - Operation Honeymoon

NOTE: I've just noticed how many typos I've made throughout this book! It's practically embarrassing now :/ I promise that I'll go back and change as many as I can. Feel free to point out any mistakes that you find (kindly) as it will really help. Thank you! :)

By the way, I'm writing this one on the wattpad app so I can't see how many words I've written, so I'm sorry if it's short...I'll get to the actual chapter, now :P

Chapter Ten - Operation Honeymoon

"D'you reckon you'd die if I threw you off the side of this cliff?" Devon asked, ruining the tranquil and somewhat wonderful moment. I looked over to him, completely unimpressed. His Nikon camera was hanging around his neck, level with his stomach, and he was clutching it with both hands, looking over the edge of the cliff at the harsh, rocky seas below. I had been gazing at the spectacular view of the sunset, the wind blowing about in my fringe and then Devon just had to come up with that. "But seriously, do you think you would die? Or would you escape with serious injuries? I would have to call the air ambulance and they'd be fishing you out of the water and you might die while in flight!" He then stopped and shuddered, edging closer towards me. "Okay, I won't throw you off the cliff. I just scared myself with the thought of it."

I smiled and looked back at the view. "Hey, can you get a picture of the sunset for my mum? I think she'd want one for her desk, she loves landscapes and nature." I said. Devon smiled and nodded. He gently pushed me back so I was dangerously near the edge of the cliff. He then adjusted me, biting down on his lip in concentration as he turned me so I was facing him. "I didn't say I wanted to be in it, I mean, I might be blocking the-"

"Just be quiet or I will push you off the cliff." Devon said, backing up. He then lifted the camera to his eyes, bending down slightly. After a couple of seconds he lifted his head out from behind the camera, but he still kept it in place. "Come on, smile! You're seeing seeing the sunset, you're on your honeymoon, you're happy! You can do better that, I know you can." Devon then grinned and disappeared behind his camera once more. I rolled my eyes and smiled. I heard Devon clicking the camera. "Relax!" He called out. I slumped my shoulders slightly. I heard him click it once more, before appearing once more. He checked the picture and smiled. I scurried over and looked at the screen. The picture actually looked quite nice, what with the colours of the sky and the descending sun. The whisps of hair that didn't quite fit in my ponytail fluttered in the sunlight, and my fringe was blowing about. I was smiling happily and naturally. It was actually quite a nice photo of me as well as the view...that definitely showed Devon's photography skills.

"It actually...it actually looks good..." I said, sounding genuinely shocked. Devon smirked.

"Well, what can I say, I only keep photos on my camera if they are the definition of perfection." Devon then looked up (accidentally) into my eyes, and it was literally like a cheesy scene from a movie, except with less sparks. I rolled my eyes and slapped his chest lightly. Devon laughed and exited the viewing mode on his camera, letting it hang on its strap. "You know, I totally just complemented you, like, you're welcome."

"Oh, er, thanks." I said, as if Devon had just passed the ketchup or something. But he hadn't just passed the ketchup, he had also passed the mustard. Devon never complemented me. Other girls would have been squealing if he had said that to them, but I chose to not truly accept it and just let it pass by. But it dis sort of make me feel a little happy. But he was teasing me, I could just tell...or was he? Shut up, head.

Devon rolled his eyes and then yawned, looking out to the quickly darkening sky. "I think we've been on this coastal walk long enough. I want to be able to find my way back to the hotel without falling off a cliff and escaping with serious injuries." I snorted slightly as we made our way back along the cliff path, pointing out different views, even though we'd already seen them. It was rather pleasant; Devon took photos, I tripped over, Devon picked me up and had to hold my forearm like you had to do with little kids and we both managed to get back to the hotel in one piece...more or less. I mean, I had bruised my knee, but I was still intact.

We staggered up to our hotel room, both of us equally as exhausted as each other. I then pulled out my pyjamas from my suitcase and got changed in the bathroom, as to not cause any awkward situations. I slipped on my pyjama shorts and my t-shirt, then braided my hair over my shoulder to keep it neat. I then opened the bathroom door. Devon had already gotten changed into a pair of knee length shorts and a dark grey t-shirt. He was sat on the floor with the journal, his camera and a swish looking Apple MacBook Pro.

"What are you doing now?" I asked him as I put my clothes away. Devon looked up at me as I sat myself down opposite him. He shrugged and plugged his Nikon into his laptop. He then waited for a bit, before clicking the picture of the drive, and opening the pictures, saving them to a new folder that he called 'Operation Honeymoon'. He moved that folder into a previous folder named 'Operation Marriage'. I noted that his desktop was very organised, his wallpaper a picture of a little girl with short, dark hair in bunches with a big, brown dog in the snow. I guessed the girl was Devon's sister and the dog was his old Rhodesian Ridgeback, Hooch.

"I'm going to connect my laptop to the hotel printer and print off the pictures. Then I'm going to collect them so we can glue them in for the first day of our honeymoon." He explained, clicking various thing  here and there on his laptop.

"You're going in your pyjamas with bare feet?" I asked him. Devon gave me a look.

"Well, yeah. I'm not exactly going to walk down the corridor in my underwear, am I? You can stay here so you can let me back in. I won't be too long." With that, Devon got up and walked out of our hotel room. I sighed and shuffled over to our journal. I looked through it again. I had to give it to him, Devon was good with a paintbrush. I traced a finger over the individual petals of the sunflower on the first page, admiring the strokes that had been used to build up the colour and texture of the sunflower. It looked realistic and it was definitely beautiful.

I turned the page over and looked at the pictures and annotations and, of course, the paintings that Devon had done. I didn't know why, but looking at Devon's little bits of artwork actually made me feel a little bit more respect for the boy. He must have spent hours practising, painting, expressing his emotions with a pencil and paintbrush. I wondered what made him choose to become good at art; whether it ran in the family or if he wanted to escape reality and build his own little world within a canvas. Each of Devon's strokes in each of his paintings were intricate, bringing the pictures together and to life. This made the petals look as if they could be picked off of the page, or that the patterns were going to swirl themselves up into real life.

I read all the captions, annotations and anecdotes and found myself laughing at them. They were actually quite amusing and snarky, giving the journal a bit of interesting colour and flare, creating a wonderful contrast with Devon's professional looking paintings. Our marriage was definitely not professional, far from it, and that was definitely reflected in our journal.

And surprisingly, I liked it that way.