Tai Up My Heart

Day 2: Getting To Know You

Tai started the episode over from the beginning. He skipped over the intro packages of the other Islanders, but he watched hers twice.

Olivia. Her name was Olivia.

She was stunning. Goofy. Smart. Honest. Kind.

She had been nearly engaged and cheated on. He didn't know anything else about her ex, but he wanted to pummel the guy.

She lived in London. Tai lived in London.

He watched her shove the condoms into her top and he laughed.

He saw the disappointment in her eyes when she met the boys.

He laughed again when the condoms spilled onto the floor.

His heart ached listening to her admit that she didn't fancy anyone there. Yet.

—————

A soft thump woke me up. Someone had thrown a pillow at my head. I heard Nicky laugh. I chucked the pillow in his general direction.

"Morning sunshine!" Harry beamed at me.

I sat up and gave him a friendly half smile. By nature I was not a morning person. I got up early for my work, but there was a lot of coffee involved.

I turned to Nicky, "Coffee....."

He nodded in agreement.

Everyone had been waiting on me to wake up. It was sweet, but really wasn't necessary. I urged them all to go on ahead of me.

I took a shower and got dressed. Putting on a cute, pink tie bikini.

I combed my hair. I used to hate it. It was stick straight and wouldn't hold curl to save my life. But now I felt really lucky. All I had to do was comb it and let it dry naturally and it looked like I had styled it with a flat iron. It worked particularly well with my current haircut, a blunt bob that stopped just before grazing my shoulders.

I massaged some tinted moisturizer into my face, applied some mascara, and made my way downstairs.

In the kitchen, Bill was making a fry-up. My stomach growled. Nicky handed me a coffee and I smiled, adding cream and sugar.

"Morning, sleepy head. Are you hungry?" Bill nodded down at the pans of food he was working on.

"I'm famished, Bill, thanks"

He plated the food and handed it to me, then sat next to me at the counter with a plate of his own.

"Bon happy eat!" He grinned.

Seb and I exchanged looks of confusion.

"What?" Seb asked, "It's bon appetite. It's French—"

"It's what my mom always said. Because food should make you happy. Bon happy eat."

I laughed and shook my head. It was actually quite endearing.

We chatted idly about various topics. Bill was very blunt. He enjoyed debating for the sake of debating. His humor was as dry as the Sahara. I still wasn't attracted to him. But he made me laugh and I was glad he was there.

I finished my breakfast and he took my plate.

"Go have fun. I'll wash up."

Part of me wished there was a spark. He was kind and thoughtful.

I walked towards the pool and stopped to chat with Miki and Iona on the loungers. I laid back and enjoyed the sun on my skin.

"Hey Olivia. How's it going?" Iona asked.