the tourist | l.h.

iv

Luke

"Have you tasted the sausages? They're like to die for." Luke said, taking a seat with boys at the breakfast buffet. 

It is now day 2 of their Italy tour and today they were heading out to some islands. Luke looked around and took the ambiance of the hotel whilst Michael, Calum, and Ashton talked about buying matching bucket hats.

As Luke looked around, he saw the girl again. She was sat by the big window of the breakfast area, sipping her coffee and looking through the photos on her camera. 

The longer he observed her, the more she drew him in. There was just something about her that made him want to know more about her.

"Luke! Let's get bucket hats!" Michael squealed, a huge smile plastered on his face. Luke nodded his head, chuckling at how excited he was about bucket hats.

-

"So today, we will be going to the city of Bergamo." Flavio said, standing in front of all the people in the bus, straightening out his dark blue blazer, "Widely acclaimed as a city of rare beauty, Bergamo is famous for its wealth of artistic treasures and enchanting medieval atmosphere. It is a real life tale of two cities: Città Bassa, the busy and modern lower city, and Città Alta, the upper city with its rich heritage of art and history. We will be seeing them both today!"

"I bet you 20 Euros that Flavio has more than 5 blazers in his suitcase." Ashton whispered to Luke, earning a slap on the arm. 

"Don't judge the man. It's a fashion statement." he defended. Luke looked to the back of the bus where the mysterious girl sat again. She looked more- what's a good word?- depressed?

Her little content smile did not appear on her face as she stared out the window, looking at all the beautiful structures the surrounded the city. Luke wondered why she looked so sad, but he had to quickly turn away from her when she caught him staring.

The group was now in the city of Bergamo; Santa Maria Maggiore to be exact. Flavio led the group into the major church of this upper town and told everyone to show some respect to the basilica. 

And, as if on cue, the mysterious girl's phone starts to ring. She fiddled her hand around in her bag, in desperate hopes to stop the phone from it's loud ringing. "Sorry, I'll just take this." she said before exiting the church.

"Alright, let's move on." Flavio says leading the group deeper in to the church. 

The tour of the basilica ended and the girl was still on her phone outside. As the group exited, Luke couldn't help but notice that the girl was speaking in a different language. 

"Pa, wala akong magawa sa sitwasyon ngayon. Binigyan na kita ng pera para sa mga kailangan mo tapos humihingi ka pa rin?" she said, her voice quite loud and angry.

(Translation: Dad, I can't do anything about the situation now. I already gave you money for your needs and you're still asking for more?)

Luke tried to remind himself that it was impolite to eavesdrop. But he didn't realize he was doing so until the girl walked up to him and said, "It's not polite to listen in on other people's conversations." 

She stomped away from him and Luke felt like he was drowning in a pool of guilt. "What was that all about?" Calum asked.

"It's nothing. Let's keep going." he replied, plastering a smile on his face to hide from how he actually felt.

-

The group was now on their way to their next destination: Como, Italy.

They had left Bergamo just a few minutes ago and it was now nearing the evening. The upside was that this trip would only take about 2 hours maximum. 

Everyone in the bus nodded off to sleep except 3 people: Luke, the mysterious girl, and, of course, the bus driver. 

Luke still felt horrible after getting called out like that. It wasn't his intention, he just was confused on why she sounded so angry. Her speaking a different language didn't help either. He decided to push back any nervous feelings he had and straight up apologize to her.

As Luke walked towards her, almost fumbling down a couple times, so many thoughts raced through his mind.

'What if she doesn't want me to apologize?'

'What if she already despises me?'

'What if  I make a fool out of myself for doing this?'

Well, it was too late to turn back because he had already stood by her isle. "Um, could I take seat?" he asked, his hands shaking behind him.

She nodded in response. They sat in silence for a few seconds, although it felt like days. Luke broke the ice and said, "Look, I'm really sorry for eavesdropping. It really wasn't my intention. You just seemed angry and-"

"It's fine." she said, staring blankly at the chair in front of her. "What?"

"I said," she turned to face him, "it's fine. Don't get so worked up about it." 

Luke just sat there, his mouth formed an "o". He wasn't really sure on what to say next. Okay? Thank you? How are you? He couldn't pick a good response.

"Is that all?" she asked him. He felt as if her deep brown eyes would burn into his skin from how deep she was looking at him. "Uh- um, y-yeah. Bye." he stammered.

He stood up as quick as he could without falling down. Lucky for him, he succeeded at doing so. As he walked back to his seat, he couldn't help but think: "Damn, that's now how I wanted it to go."

-

"Alright, everyone! Here are your room keys. Please message me if there are any complications." Flavio said, handing out the plastic cards.

They were now in Como, checking into their new hotel. Huge was an understatement to describe this place. It had high ceilings, gorgeous chandeliers, shiny marble tiles, and a beautiful view of Lake Como.

The boys were excited to finally share a room together. They couldn't stand having to visit each other at night. "This room is HUGE!" Calum says, running in and claiming his bed first. 

Calum was correct. The room had four beds; 2 each on opposite sides, a small kitchen in the corner, and a little sofa with a TV in front of it. The boys were absolutely stoked to be in this room. This might even be the best hotel they've ever stayed in.

"I'm gonna go order us some food." Luke said, knowing that his mates were hungry after the small portion of dinner they had. 

The phone in the room wasn't working so Luke had to go down to the lobby to order some food. After ordering he went back upstairs.

As he walked to his door, he heard someone cussing somewhere nearby. "Oh, for fuck's sake!" 

Luke looked around the corner and found the mysterious girl, trying to pry her door open. "Hey, do you need some help?" Luke offered her.

Her backpack was on the floor outside with her, meaning she hasn't gone in her room yet. "No, it's alright. You go on inside." she dismissed Luke. She didn't want him to waste him time working on a door that wouldn't open. 

"It's fine." he said, ignoring what she said and helping her anyway. She stepped away from the door, "I opened it a while ago, but something clicked and then now it won't open." 

She sighed as she leaned against the wall behind her, arms crossed in front of her chest. Luke fiddled around with the doorknob and, with much force and muscle, he finally unlocked the door.

"Ah, there we go." he smiled proudly to himself. 

"Ugh, thank you so much, um-"

She stood by her doorframe, confused. She never got his name. "Luke." he smiled, holding out his hand for her to shake.

"Malaya." she shook back.

And, finally, he had a name for his mysterious girl.

-

yay

my mind is burnt 

i hope y'all like this

- v.d.