“Good morning,” I tried to smile back but I’m sure it came out looking more like a grimace.
“I was on my way to work and I decided to just check in on you guys. I hope you’re enjoying the town and the people so far.”
“The town’s okay,” the people- not so much. “Thank you for checking in.”
“Well I’m glad to hear that.” If he realized that I deliberately ignored his question about the people, he didn’t show it, “There’s a bar not too far from here. It’s a Friday and most of the town just goes there to unwind. I figured I would invite y’all. You don’t have to come but it beats spending a Friday night in.”
“Thanks for the invite.” To someone else, Nathan would have sounded normal but I could hear the undercurrent of annoyance in his tone, “We will think about it.”
“Well, have a good day.”
Darius left the room without another word and Nathan wasted no time in locking the door behind him. He turned to me and when I saw the glint in his eyes I shook my head and made my way back to the balcony doors.
“No,” I said and he laughed, “I’m serious, the answer is no.”
“I didn’t even ask anything.”
“You don’t need to,” I called out as I made my way back, “My answer is already no.”
Even though I slammed the door to the balcony, his laughter still followed.
After that exchange, Nathan ordered in breakfast for us both. We ate together and when we were done, he retreated to his room to get work done. Apparently, I was the only one on vacation while he got to do his work.
I spent the majority of my day on social media. Twitter was still reeling from the after math of Couture Week and so far, I hadn’t seen a single negative review about myself. Maybe I wasn’t checking hard enough but every single statement and every single article had nothing but good things to say about my dress.
I saw a few comments of people asking about my interaction with that horrible photographer but so far, no one had said anything about it and he hadn’t released any pictures up Marissa’s skirt so I took that as a win.
By noon, I was bored out of my mind. I haven’t been home doing nothing in a very long time and I don’t know how to do it. I would have gone to bother Nathan but I wasn’t sure where we stood after everything that had been happening and I didn’t want to over step my boundaries.
My mind drifted to the lake I saw from the balcony and I decided to check it out.
When I went down, Bea wasn’t at the counter and there was no one in the waiting room. I assumed they had all gone out for work so I made my way out the back and hoped I was going the right way and wouldn’t get lost.
I found the flower garden and I knew I was on the right track. Soon, I found the lake and I have to admit, it is a lot more beautiful up close. The water was clear and undisturbed and the entire atmosphere was just serene. I let out a deep breath and sat cross legged on the floor ignoring the grass that tickled my thighs and shin. Perhaps wearing shorts was not the best idea.
I sat there in silence for a few minutes and when I heard footsteps approaching, I thought it was Nathan so I didn’t even turnback as I spoke.
“It’s pretty isn’t it?” I asked
“You can see why I stayed.” My smile fell as the voice registered. I squared my shoulders and kept my eyes fixed on the water hoping he would leave, “I came to see you and Bea said that she saw you go out here.”
“How did you know where I was staying?”
“You’re the only new people we’ve had in a while. People are bound to talk.” He paused before adding, “That, and I stayed here the first time I came.”
Joseph took a seat next to me and as immature as it was, I scooted to the side so that he wouldn’t be touching me at all. He let out a deep sigh but didn’t otherwise acknowledge my actions. Instead he ran his fingers through the soft grass.
“We need to talk.” He said finally after a beat of silence.
“We have nothing to talk about.”
“Great, then you can listen.” He cleared his throat, “I had no idea that you would come here and I never meant for you to find out like that.”
“How exactly did you plan for me to find out? I know you weren’t going to call me. If my memory serves me right, you screened my calls. Were you going to post it on social media and hope that I saw it? Oh wait, you blocked me there too.”
“Adira, don’t do this. I don’t want to fight with you.”
I hated how he spoke as if I was being unreasonable when I was being anything but, “You were the one who said we needed to talk so let’s talk.”
