Chapter 12

  I took off my dress and stepped into the shower. I was going to have to stay at Robin’s house until we got a new house. I made sure my face was make-up free and my hair was neatly brushed before stepping out of the shower.

 

I put on my PJ shorts and shirt, and blow dried my hair…brushing it again to make sure it was free of any hair spray or whatever else I had in my hair.  I heard a knock at the door and found myself feeling rather nervous.

“Clare?”

I opened the door to find Robin standing with a big plastic bag in one hand, and drinks in the other. He had changed into black shorts and a white shirt. His hair was wet from the shower he took in the other room. He smelled freshly of after shave and cologne.

I had a sudden urge to reach out and hug him but held back. He gave me a smile and I blushed. Maybe I was becoming more conscious of him now that we were married.

“Pizza? I thought you’d be hungry…”

“Well, I’m starving.”

“Good, cause I ordered two big boxes and we aren’t allowed to go out of this room until tomorrow.”

“Why not?” I asked as he walked in and put everything down.

“Apparently, mum has put rules about how we should spend all our time together…especially in these coming 2 weeks, and I’m not allowed to leave you for one second.”

 I dropped down beside him and reached for a can of coke. He opened both pizza boxes…one was pepperoni, the other was vegies. He opened another box; this one was salad.

He cut a slice and handed it to me. “Eat first. I don’t want you drinking coke with an empty stomach.”

 I put down my drink and took the slice of pizza. “Thanks…”

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 “Clare? wake up…”

“What??! Leave me alone,” I snapped. He chuckled, causing me to get angrier.

“You better get dressed and get ready cause we’re leaving…”

At this I jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom. I could still hear Robin laughing and blushed a deep red. I had dark circles under my eyes and my face looked puffed up. I knew I should have slept early. I tried to conceal it with some powder but it didn’t help much.

Frustrated, I went back out and opened the suitcase mum had gotten for me, and grabbed the first dress I could find. It was a blue over the knee that looked just fine with my white sandals. I put my hair up into a ponytail and went downstairs.

Robin was already waiting for me at the foot of the stairs. “What took you so long?” he asked as we awkwardly walked to the dining room side by side. We both had coffee with sandwiches in a hurry and then took some time to say our goodbyes before rushing to catch our plane.

All the way to the airport none of us said a word. Not that it mattered anyway. Once we come back things might pretty much get back to normal. We’ll act like strangers when we get back to Uni. The only thing different is that we would be living together in the same house.

Our plane was delayed by 2 hours so Robin had gone to buy some snacks while I texted with Lena and Gabriel. Apparently, Lena had started to have a crush on her new “hot” neighbor. He was all she’d talk about now, and Gabriel was playing video games with his ‘friend’, Jessie. I always had a feeling she liked him even if he doesn’t return her feelings. She’s the cute, funny type…total opposite of Gabriel, but in a way they complement each other. I’ve only met Jessie once since she doesn’t really live around here, and that was only a month ago when she’d come here for something of a little ‘holiday’.

“Clare?”

I looked up from my seat to see Robin holding 2 big bags of crunchies. I smiled…it’s been a while since I’ve eaten them. “Yes?” I asked absently.

I could feel his eyes studying me intently, then finally he sat down beside me and I finally got to fill myself up. “How much more do we have to wait?” I asked.

“About half an hour or so…”

I groaned. Yea, well now I have to sit here doing nothing other than munching down on crunchies. Then a thought hit me… What was the point of going on a honeymoon? We still haven’t really had our first night…so what if they’re sending us away because of that?

I swallowed hard before taking a quick look in Robin’s direction. He seemed so calm and normal…almost bored even. I wander what he was thinking? As if he knew I was looking he smiled…he smiled without looking back at me, something about that smile felt like he was making fun of me.

“What?” I sighed. “What’s funny?”

He raised an eyebrow as if he didn’t know what I was talking about. “Nothing…why?”

“Cause I can see you smiling like an idiot.”

“Maybe it’s because someone here was giving me weird looks.”

I blushed. “Don’t you hate going with me? I mean, we’ve always hated each other…so shouldn’t you be angry or annoyed even?”

“‘We?’ I never said I hated you…you just always assumed it. Besides, if you hated me you would never agree to this marriage.” I was about to protest when he interrupted, “And don’t give me that crap…it’s not just because of grandfather’s will. Fine…let’s say you don’t love me, but you definitely like me.”

“What about you? Are you saying you love me…and that’s why you let me choose? You really don’t mind spending your life with me?”

He cleared his throat as if embarrassed about something. “I don’t believe in love. There is admiration…but not love.”

I gave him an incredulous look. “But you just….Are you saying you admire me?”

“Hmmm…” that was definitely a yes. I smiled. That was kind of cute. Robin Hughes is being shy.

“Why? What makes you admire me?”

 “I don’t know. You don’t have anything great about you, but it’s fun teasing and staying around you. You know, like…”

“Oh yes…I’m just a joke to you, huh?”

He turned to me all of a sudden as if I’d just insulted him. “Of course not. It’s like…” he looked at his watch, then back at me. “We’d better go. There’s only 15 min. left.”   

I shrugged. “We still have time, but ok,” I don’t know why but I really wanted to know what he thought of me. Maybe I really did like him now. No, actually I’m sure I like him. He’s sweet…without really trying to be sweet.

“So what were you saying?” I asked again. He really wasn’t good at this, and I was enjoying the uncomfortable look on his face. If he admired the fact that I was easy to tease, then I admire that about him too. I grinned as he just shrugged.

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 “Hey, Clare…wake up!”

I jumped and looked around me dumbly. The plane had already landed. Robin helped me stand up, and I tried to ignore the throbbing pain in my head. It always happened to me when I got onto the plane.

“You ok?” he asked. I nodded. “Can you walk?”

“Yea,” but as I took a step I almost fell, if not for Robin pulling me back up. In the end though, I managed to get out safely. I felt the wind in my hair…it made my dizziness subside a little, but I still wasn’t steady. Then out of the blue, Robin put one arm on my back and another under my knee…lifting me up.

“No, no, no…put me down Robin,” I protested despite my growing headache. At least the dizziness was going. “Hey!” I struggled but he held me tighter.

“Don’t move. I’ll take you to rest now, so stop making things hard for me.”

“What-”

“Can’t you see how people keep staring?”

“Oh, you’re doing it for show…”

“No…what?” he gritted his teeth, and I could tell he was angry. “That guy wanted to help carry you. Would you want that?”

I looked behind me to see a pretty blonde guy in shorts and a t-shirt. Cute, but no. He gave me a smile, but I looked away. “Is he hitting on me?”

“Why? You’re interested?” I thought there was a hint of jealousy in his voice, but maybe I was just imagining things.

“No way…Even if I was, I think I’ll pass…”

He left me sitting on one of the chairs inside the airport while he went to get our stuff. I looked around me curiously.

“First time here?”

I looked to my side where the blonde guy was now standing. Looks like he really does plan on hitting on me. I shrugged. “Yea…I guess.”

“Cool, I’m Mark.” He extended out his hand, but I just stared at it like an idiot until he finally let it fall back to his side. “Want me to get you something? You look rather pale.”

“No thanks…” I never felt good talking to a stranger, and right now I was looking around for Robin.

“Looking for your friend? He’s over there.” He pointed to a guy that stood talking to a tall cute Asian girl. No…that can’t be him, but he had the same light brown hair. I frowned. What was going on?

“Is there something you want?” I jumped at Robin’s voice. I looked back where that guy was but he was gone. How strange.

“She seemed pale and confused so…”

“I can take care of my wife,” his words were clipped. He’d made his point. Mark smirked.

“Wife? She’s still young…”

“Are you asking for trouble?” he could have exploded any moment if I hadn’t begged him to just get me out of there. His eyes had darkened and for a moment I thought he would have gone as far as snapping the guy’s neck.

I wouldn’t blame him though. Something about Mark was unsettling and it made me feel irritated, or was it just because of the headache?