Spice of Life

The World is so Big Here

--Louis's POV

"Melanie, you tossed my phone into the WATAAAA! What the heck are you DOING?!" I shouted. I pretended to look angry, making my face go red. It wasn't too hard, considering I had such a beautiful woman next to me. 

Her natural curls hung on the sides of her face while the rest was pulled into a bun. And the dress she was wearing made her look like a Bohemian goddess--I didn't even know Bohemian goddesses existed until I met her. I placed my hands on top of my head as I spoke. I probably looked like a mad-man, but if my phone really got destroyed, I probably would have looked this way anyways.

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry, I--" she rambled, looking flustered.

"I mean, what am I supposed to even do?" I gestured wildly with my arms.

She was quiet, trying not to let tears pool in her eyes. She focused her eyes on the ground. I noticed, so I spoke softer.

"Ok," I sighed what was the most award-winning sigh. Hey Oscars, where's my award? "Do you have a swimsuit on?"

"Of course I'm wearing a swimsuit," she scoffed, "Wait--what does that have to do with--" I smirked, taking off my shirt. "--aaaah!" she shrieked as I charged, grabbing her and pulling off her sundress all in a manner of three seconds before I plummeted into the water with her in my arms. 

When we came up for air, she looked at me with a sarcastically angry face, "We have to stop meeting like this."

"No promises," I winked. She smirked before her face dropped again.

"I'm sorry I ruined your phone." I swam over to the other side of the boat and picked up my phone, which was an apparently buoyant device.

"Oh, this thing?" I raised it in the air as I swam back to her. "Nah, it's fine. It's waterproof."

I got back on the boat with my phone and walked into the kitchen sink to rinse off the salt. Walking back to the deck, I grabbed my towel and dried it off before turning it on.

"See? Samsung, baby."

"What am I gonna do with you?" she said, shaking her head as she finally let go of the breath she was holding. I placed my phone on the bench and got back into the water, gliding over to her. 

"Everything, I hope...see the world, travel with me, do stupid stuff  like this with me," I explained, cradling her face in my hands.

"I will," she said, placing her lips on mine. 

We swam around, each in our own individual spaces of the water for a few minutes. 

--Scary Spice 

As we treaded water for a few minutes, I was able to look at my decorations again and began to fully admire my craftswomanship. The dock lights reflected the water with a warm glow that shined on the water. And my faerie lights added a romantic touch. A perfect set up for a date.

The streets let off a gentle hum from far off conversations and traffic noise, while the waves made soothing sloshes around the boat. 

In the distance was a mountain range. It seemed to stretch on forever. Here it seems like the world is so big. I forget that sometimes. Here there are so many places to be within one country alone. So many activities. Press interviews, fan interactions, and tour seem like my entire world until I remember just how big it is.

It scares me how long it took me to realize this. Now I realize that I need to be more present. Because when my world is quiet, I can actually think about what the world has to offer. 

 "We can literally go anywhere we want and do anything we want, and we can afford it," I said, my eyes widening, "But all we do is tour and press interviews."

"You're right," Louis said, laying on his back, "how could we let ourselves forget about this?" He gestured towards the mountains. 

We quietly treaded through the water as we thought about it for a while. A voice interrupted our thoughts.

"Mel! It's me and Niall!" Melanie C. shouted at us. 

She was holding a wicker bag filled with what looked like towels. Her slides flapped noisily as she walked with Niall at her side. Her hair was tied into a bun, like mine, and she was wearing a white cotton dress with Adidas printed on the front in black letters, and black sleeves. Black and red stripes trailed on the left and right sides of her dress. 

Sporty but chic. My twin's got style.

"Hey twin! Come on over you two!" They climbed onto the boat noisily. 

"Didn't you get our text? We said we got here earlier than we planned."

"Traffic was lighter than we expected," Niall said.

Louis and I swam to the stairs and climbed up the side of the boat. We grabbed our towels to dry off. 

"We were swimming..." Louis said.

"Unexpectedly...," I grinned at him at the thought of our incident and he smiled back knowingly.

"Order for Mr...Kuznetsov...??" We heard from behind us. We quickly turned around and a white male with a balding spot stood on the walkway with his arms full of a cheese platter. He looked as if he was in his late sixties.

"Yep, that's me," Louis raised his hand. 

"What--" Melanie started. 

"Shh, you'll understand it soon enough," Niall reasoned.

The man pulled the rest of our food from the catering bag at his feet, and Louis exchanged his cash with a quick "Thank you," before he walked away.

"Kuznetsov?" I said as he turned around to face us.

"Yeah, it's Russian."

"You're not Russian."

"It means 'blacksmith'."

"You are nowhere near a blacksmith."

"I fixed my phone, didn't I?" He smirked, holding his phone in one hand. I chuckled, rolling my eyes. "This is how I keep my cover from being blown."

"We sometimes give ourselves fake names to avoid fans from catching us," Niall explained.

"Does it work?" Melanie asked.

"Only if we specially request for guys like him to serve us."

"Guys who don't know or care about One Direction. Plus there's a confidentiality contract," Niall said.

"But changing your name for the order makes it more fun anyways," Louis grinned.