Chapter 13 part b

 “Do you know what time it is?” Robin groaned for the fifth time since I’d gone to get ready. He’d already reserved a room at a different hotel so all I had to do was pack up. I still can’t believe he seriously did this.

After a few more minutes I came out with two bags. “All done,” I said with a sigh of relief.

“Leave it. I told someone to take it to the hotel. We are going out.”

Oh, so that’s why he looked so impatient all the while. I grinned. Well at least we weren’t staying stuck in a hotel all day.

“Where…are we going?”

“I’m taking you to see the sunset…at the beach. So we might be late.”

I blinked in surprise. See the sunset? Really? I mean, don’t get me wrong…I love the sea, the sunset, everything about it is beautiful but Robin is actually going to take me there?

“What? Don’t want to?”

“Huh?! Of course I want to. Are we going now?” I may have sounded more excited than I meant to, and that caused him to grin in that cute way.

“Well, we need to do some shopping first.”

20 minutes later and I’m dressed in a white strapless, below the knee dress and a huge hat + cute white ballerina shoes. Robin was wearing a button down white shirt and black jean shorts.

 “What’s with the white?” I asked as he grabbed my arm and started applying large amounts of sunscreen. He shrugged. “Turn,” was all he said.

 “Why?”

“Or shall I just do your legs?”

I felt a blush now creep up to my face. “Excuse me?”

This time he looked at me with a puzzled look. “What?”

“N-never mind. I can do it by myself,” I said. He laughed. Something I didn’t find funny at all. Can’t a girl be embarrassed?

I managed to apply the sunscreen on my legs and face as Robin drove to the beach. “What about you?” I finally asked. “I’ll do it for you.”

“No need. I’ll be fine.”

I narrowed my eyes at him but he was too busy concentrating on the road. 5 min. later and I dabbed the sunscreen onto his face. He turned to me for a split second before turning back to the road. We were almost there anyway. He only needed to park the car.

“Hey, are you asking for trouble?” he groaned.

“Hey, hey you’re going to get sunburned you moron. I can’t let that happen!!” I retorted. I was beginning to really lose my temper; something that didn’t really happen a lot.

 

“Why? Is it really that important?” he said after parking the car.

“Yes, very.”

“Fine, kiss me and I’ll put it on.”

“Hey-”

“I’m not forcing you…” and then he just abruptly got out of the car.

To be honest, it bothered me. He was someone very important to me now, whether he knew it or not and not just because he was my husband but it was much more than that. Maybe ‘admiration’ as he called it. I was going to have a great time today and not just keep worrying about him.

So I got out and walked to his side. Before he could say anything I stood on my tiptoes and planted a kiss right on his lips. At first he seemed to be taken aback but then he put his arms around my waist and pulled me closer. His lips were hot against mine and it took all that I had to pull away first.

I immediately grabbed his hand and started to put the sunscreen on for him. “You need to take more care of yourself,” I was surprised I could still talk normally at this point although I was a little breathless. He didn’t say anything so I sneaked a look at him and found him staring at me so intently.

“Ok, I’ll do it myself…” was all he said, and then we both walked toward the sea which was surprisingly very empty. As in there were only a few people there. Usually you’d expect the place to be packed with people but there were only a couple of swimmers and surfers only.

“Seriously?” I didn’t mean to say it out loud but it just happened and I found myself looking at Robin. He grinned. “Yea…You don’t like crowded places.”

How can he know so much about me? Could he have probably known white was one of my favorite colors, thus the white clothes or was it just a coincidence?

“What does that have to do with this place being so…empty? So no one’s coming because of me?” I was being sarcastic. I really didn’t expect it to be like that, but…

“Yea…The beach here belongs to the resort. I got it booked for today. So, just wait a few more minutes and this place is all yours.”

“For real? I mean, you actually booked the place?”

He shrugged. “If you want we can stay here longer…”

I shook my head. This was enough. He had already done a lot for me. Honestly, I’m lucky to have him by my side. I sneaked a sideways glance at him and smiled. All of a sudden, I found myself hugging him. “Thank you…for everything.”

He seemed to tense for a while but then he hugged me back, and buried his head on my shoulder. I could hear the sound of his heart beating against his chest, or was it mine?

Chapter 13 part a

I dropped down onto the soft violet bed as soon as we got a room at the Grand hotel. I was exhausted…it felt like I hadn’t been able to sleep well the whole week.

“Hey, aren’t you going to call back home?” Robin asked as he lay down beside me. He was just as tired as me if not worse. I groaned but managed to get up to make a call.  

Mum picked up immediately…asking if everything was alright. After assuring her that everything was fine, I talked to Brenda for a while, and when I looked over to check on Robin, he was already fast asleep.

I took that opportunity to take a long hot bath and then got dressed in blue shorts and a white tank top. I brushed my hair and dried it off. Then I nudged Robin gently, until he managed to open his eyes.

“Don’t you want to shower?” I asked.

 

He shook his head and went back to sleep. “You need to change at least. Come one, get up!” I dragged him up into a sitting position but he just pulled me back down with him. His hands wound tightly around my waist and pulled me so close to him that I could feel his warm breath on my neck.

Although my back was to him and I couldn’t see him, I could imagine him smirking. I tried to pull his hands away but he was too strong and I couldn’t help but feel really small and weak against him.

“Robin!” I hissed. I hated it when people didn’t change into comfortable clothes when going to sleep. How can he just fall asleep in those jeans? “Hey!!”

“Can you just sleep now? You can complain about whatever tomorrow…” he said. I half suspected he was sleep-talking.

“No, Robin! Change first, then you can sleep.”

 

“You do it for me then. I’m sleeping…”

My jaw dropped and I had a sudden urge to turn and smack him, but when I did manage to turn to face him I couldn’t bring myself to wake him up again. He looked so angelically cute, so vulnerable even. Sometimes I forget that he actually looks very cute…I used to tease him about his cute looks back in 7^th grade. I remember telling him he could pass as a girl if he just put on some make-up and a dress.

Ever since then, he’d acted tougher and even started going to the gym frequently which is how he got his hard abs. He looked much tougher now…he could pass as hot easily, but I can still see the cute him. I ran my fingers through his light brown hair. It was surprisingly soft. I kept stroking his hair until at some point I also fell asleep.

--------------------------------------------------------

I woke up at around 10 AM. Robin wasn’t there. I walked to the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth. I changed into black skinnies, and put on my black cardigan over my white tank top. I walked out to the balcony to see the view outside. It was beautiful. There was a fountain with an angel statue on top and trees all around. My favorite roses and tulips were planted on one side, and daffodils on the other.

I watched as people walked back and forth. At some point I saw someone quiet familiar walk up toward the roses. I kept staring at him until he looked up straight at me…as if noticing I was watching him. A knowing smile formed across his face.

Oh God!! Mark…it was definitely him. I could tell from his blonde hair and that smile. It almost felt as if he was someone I knew all my life. He waved while I just stared. Why is he here?

I ignored him and went back inside to look around. There were two bathrooms, an open kitchen with a small table and two chairs. There was a huge plasma TV and velvety sofas all around it. It looked comfy.

The strange thing was that Robin wasn’t here. I tried to go out to look for him and that’s when I saw a note stuck to the door. ‘Come to the lobby when you wake up. I’ll be waiting for you.’

Really? He sticks it here? I mean usually they put notes somewhere next to you so you would know immediately once you wake up. How long has he been waiting anyway?

I made my way out and asked directions until I got to the lobby. The place was pretty big, and I wasn’t used to it yet.

Yesterday I was too tired to think straight. I found Robin sitting on one of the red plush chairs, his head down…his hair covering his eyes as it usually did when he didn’t push it back. His elbows were resting on his legs. He must have been waiting for me for a long time.

I walked up to him and he finally looked up. Was he angry? I couldn’t tell. He just stared at me for a while before getting up and brushing his lips gently against mine. “About time you wake up. I’m starving,” he said with a smile.

I felt a blush creep up to my face. He never did that before. At least, the last or first time he did was a long time ago. “Y-you haven’t had breakfast yet?” I asked while cursing myself for being shaken up by a small kiss.

“I was waiting for you. It’s boring to eat alone,” he replied. I raised an eyebrow and gave him an are-you-sure look. As much as I know, he used to not care about such things at all.

“Hey, what’s the point of getting married if we don’t at least eat together?”

He had a point. Even if we just ‘admire’ each other, and there is no love, we can still make the best out of it. After all, we were once upon a time friends you know.

“Hey, wait up!” that voice made me stop in my tracks. Robin tensed beside me and I could see his hands curl into a fist. Not now… Why is Mark here again?

“Hey…Mark,” I said, trying to make things a little less awkward. He ran a hand through his blonde hair and looked at me. He seemed amused, and maybe a little … happy?

“You still remember me?”

Duh! I just saw you yesterday, and you were pretty much flirting with me; was what I wanted to say but one look at Robin, and that shut me up.

“What do you want?” Robin snapped.

“Whoa! Chill man, I’m just glad there’s someone I know here,” he said while nodding towards me. Oh no, not a smart thing to say. The last time I checked, he didn’t even know my name. So what makes him think he knows it now?

 

I put a hand over Robin’s arm and he seemed to calm down a bit. “What did you say? Why are you here anyway?”

“Excuse me? It’s not like I can’t be here,” Mark said with a smug smile.

“I know you moron, but what I mean is why are you following us?” Robin asked again.

“Oh I’m not following you…I’m here for my cousin, Clarissa.”

Huh? My God…why is it that my life is full of surprises? Everything that happens has to creep me out. How is he my cousin when I don’t even know him? Or is he my cousin from my dad’s side? Or is all this just a prank?

“I’m sorry, but I’m not so sure I know you. As a matter of fact, I don’t remember having a cousin called Mark.”

 “Well, you were young and probably forgot, but we-”

“Hey! How about you don’t bother us while we’re here, because we’re supposed to be on our honeymoon,” Robin sure was angry now, and despite having been in a good mood earlier, he practically dragged me away.

Somehow I wanted to know why all of a sudden this guy came out of nowhere, and just declared we’re cousins. Now that didn’t make any sense did it? “Maybe I should ask mum…” I mumbled.

“Don’t!” Robin hissed. “Don’t even think about him anymore. We’re leaving tomorrow…”

“What?! We just got here yesterday…”

“Yea well, I didn’t think I would see that stalker.”

“You also think he was lying?”

“I know he’s flirting with you despite the fact that he knows you’re my wife, so he’s not normal.”