La Mémoire de Lune

CHAPTER 15: If Only He Did

Hope woke up with a good start, she took a deep breath of the fresh air outside and listened to the waves crashing on the shore.

She soon got ready, wearing a bikini underneath her romper, and left her room to grab breakfast. It was, after all, only 8 in the morning.

"Kai, hey, good morning! How long have you been standing there?" Hope asked as she saw Kai leaning against the wall in front of her room.

"Not long, I was about to head down for breakfast when I saw your door open so ta-da! By the way, do we have anything planned for today?"

"As a company? No, today's our free time. We'll have a celebratory dinner later though."

"So you're free today?"

Hope nodded her head, "Why? You plan to take me somewhere?"

"The beach, of course. But, first," Kai pulled the door of the hotel's restaurant for her, "breakfast."

Hope walked in first, her eyes spotting Merille and Evan as soon as she did. She averted her eyes from the two, feeling the familiar pang of hurt when she saw Merille giving Evan googly eyes and Evan smiling at her so brightly.

Kai tugged Hope's hand, making the latter turn her head towards him. He grinned at her before pulling her out of the restaurant, "You know what? I think we should have breakfast by the beach! That would be refreshing, right? I'll get you buko juice too."

She smiled at Kai, nodding her head in agreement, as she let him lead her to the beach.

As promised, Kai bought Hope buko juice. He bought her breakfast actually and made sure Hope ate everything.

Kai let out a subtle smile when Hope looked away, he felt happy that she didn't look so down anymore.

A stroll along the beach followed right after breakfast and, not long after, Kai brought Hope to a jet ski rental.

"I'm not going to ride that."

"Oh come on, please?" Kai gave her the puppy eyes, looking like an adorable man-child.

"Nope, no way."

"Come on, Hope. Trust me, nothing bad will happen," Kai outstretched his hand for Hope to take, "Don't you trust me?"

Hope remembered the words she said to Evan, Kai's words weren't exactly like her words but they had similar contexts.

A sigh left her lips as she directed a playful glare at Kai before giving in. She took off her romper, afraid that it might get wet, and looked back at Kai.

"Hey!" Hope laughed out as she saw Kai checking her out, "My eyes are up here, mister!"

Kai averted his eyes as his ears showed a tinge of red. He looked back at Hope and gave her a wink when he composed himself.

"I know," he said as his hand took a hold of Hope's, guiding her onto the jet ski.

They spent the whole day together with Kai making Hope laugh and smile as though there was no tomorrow. After the pair had fun doing countless water activities, they took a break and grabbed a snack.

A trail of footprints followed the two as they walked along the shore. They spotted a stand doing henna tattoos and so they decided to go for it.

Hope showed Kai a henna of a man's dancing silhouette, "This is yours, it reminds me of you."

Kai smiled at Hope's words before showing her the henna he picked out for her, "This is yours."

"A crescent moon? I love full moons though," Hope sighed and then pouted at Kai.