Chapter 21
21
M aeve
So much for a cheery time.
This morning, we had grand plans to celebrate Friday-Sunday or whatever day it is, and now, we’re sulking in our own heads.
I came back with a bunch of bananas, way more than we need for two days, but I’m getting hungrier by the hour. These fruits and a few eggs are not enough to sustain my body, especially with all the walking we do.
I don’t even know how Ezra survives these days. He’s giant, and I’m sure his body needs way more calories than I do. We do need food. We can try fishing, but neither of us has tried making a fire. We might need it because this is the only way we’ll last till the rescue.
Ezra’s chewing on coconut meat while I sip water. It’s dark and a bit chilly. It’s not usually like that, considering the local climate doesn’t allow sudden temperature drops between days and nights, but today, it’s chilly. Maybe I got a little more sun than I should have, and now my overheated body is sun sick. It’s an actual thing; I learned from spending hours in the sun in my childhood. This is why the sunscreen is crucial. I’ve been covering myself in mud, but the moment water or sweat hits you, it comes off. It takes time to reapply. So the possibility of my body overheating is very much in the air.
I subtly glance at Ezra. His shoulders are hunched forward while his jaws are slowly moving, chewing the coconut. His eyes are glassy as he’s looking ahead in the darkness. The moon graced us with her presence today, and for a change, we can actually see the island at night. It’s pretty. It could be someone’s honeymoon destination if they had food and means to leave whenever they wanted to.
My gaze slowly moves along the shore. The sound of calm waves carefully caressing the sand leaves a cozy feeling deep in my chest. The fresh scents of the ocean and pure, untouched nature give a hopeful feeling to my fazed mind.
“I’m sorry, Maeve,” Ezra suddenly says in that deep voice of his.
“What for?” The nature has been so calming that I’ve forgotten what I was mad about.
“For acting the way I did. In the water before.” He glances at the back of his hands like they hold an answer to everything. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I just… can’t get distracted now.” His head turns to me, and his tortured eyes find mine. “Do you understand?”
“Yes. You were clear from the beginning when you told me we just need to survive, and we don’t need to know anything about each other.” I look at the quietly splashing water before returning to him.
The corners of his lips fall down. “Yes, I said that. Didn’t I? ”
I sigh. “You were right about that though. This, right here,” I wave my arm at the general direction around us, “is only for a few days. We don’t like each other, and our lives outside of this place definitely don’t align.”
He snorts. “Why do you say that?”
“P-p-please.” I roll my eyes. “Your underwear costs more than the whole contents of my sunken luggage. Including the suitcase. You probably spend fifty-five hours a day in your corner office overlooking the city and eat at restaurants every day where your assistant makes reservations for you.”
“That’s…” he swallows, “oddly accurate.”
“See.” I widen my eyes at him. I know. Because I used to be in the same world he lives in. “And I’ve been surviving on ramen for the past few years.” On cue, my stomach growls. I’d give everything for a bowl of ramen right now. I make a mental promise that when I get back to the mainland, I’ll never be sad eating ramen—it sure beats eating bananas. “My clothes are from thrift stores, and I work in a coffee shop. In your building.” Then add with a sigh, grabbing a banana from the ground, “Well, used to work there anyway.”
“It’s not my building. It belongs to the company I own.”
I glare at him with a scrunched nose while angrily peeling the banana. “Does it really matter? We’re not going to see each other again, and it’s for the best. This, right here, is a fantasy. Once real life hits, your snobby nose will be tipped back up, and I’ll turn back into a pumpkin.”
“Don’t you want to change that?”
“A-a-a-and just like that, your nose is back,” I say with a glare.
“No, I didn’t mean it like that.” He throws his arms in the air. “I’m genuinely curious. You’re young. Smart. Why do you stay at the place where your boss treats you like shit?”
“How do you know he does that?”
He gives me a c’mon look .
“Do you enjoy it?” he keeps pushing.
“Of course not!” I blow up. “But people have different life circumstances. Plus, I don’t have a college degree to get a well-paid job. I’ve been trying for the past few months, and look where it got me.”
“You don’t have to have a college degree to get a well-paid job.”
My turn to snort. “Right. Say it to the people in HR of every company in the world.”
“My company hires a lot of people without a degree.”
“To do what? Bring you coffee?”
“That too. But once they prove themselves, they move up in the company. We don’t keep good employees just because they have a degree. It’s the twenty-first century, Maeve. We’re better than that.” His tone is sure of the words he speaks. Like he’s living in some alternate reality.
“If you believe that, then you’re even more delusional than I am.” Shoving the peeled banana into my mouth, I start chewing it like a maniac.
He blinks. Then blinks again. And then starts laughing. “You’re a bit odd, that’s for sure.”
I grab another banana from the bunch, rolling my eyes at his unfunny comment.
“But I like it. Turns out I was missing odd,” he adds with a soft voice.
“Great. Happy for you,” I deadpan.
“We don’t have to go our separate ways after this. I can help you with a job. We can be?—”
I smack my hand over his mouth, while I’m still holding the banana in it. “If you say that word, I swear I’ll shove this banana up your nose.”
His shoulders start shaking as he tries to pull away.
“Seriously, Ezra. Don’t.”
He nods, laughing with a banana smooshed to his face. When I let him go, a vibrant, rich laughter shakes the whole island. He opens his mouth to say something, but I shut it down with a glare and a shake of the banana peel in my hand. He bites his lip and turns away.
“I’m going to sleep. Merry Christmas or Friday or whatever.”
With that, I rise to my feet and head to my shelter. A hand lands on my shoulder, making me stop.
“Take mine. I’ll stay in yours.”
Without waiting for my reply, he walks to my falling-apart shelter and climbs inside. Inside is a strong word for it. He’s lying with his back on the ground, his legs are sticking out starting from his hips. So pretty much only his torso is covered. And again, covered is a strong word. I built that monstrosity myself and know for a fact it doesn’t cover anything. The first raindrop will find its way in the inch-wide holes throughout the whole construction.
I hope there will be no rain.
It’s raining.
I’m awoken by the constant sound of heavy drops rustling the trees around me. Blinking the sleep away, I sit and try to peek outside. Yep, looks like it’s been raining for a long time, but I’m nice and dry. Sticking my head out even farther, I look in Ezra’s direction but can’t see anything. The clouds are covering the moon, and that’s the only source of light around here.
I take his jacket, my shirt, and my shorts off. These are the only dry clothes we have between us, and I don’t want to come back and sit inside completely soaked.
Then I run to Ezra and find him trying to fit in the shelter, without any luck, of course. His knees are propping the top of the shelter—this is how low the ceiling is. The water is running from the inside through the ground like a small river. It’s pretty miserable inside, I know from experience.
“Ezra,” I call out, and he makes a motion to sit up but hits the ceiling with his head.
“Fucking shit.”
“Yeah,” I agree, wincing. “Let’s go to your place.”
He—carefully this time—climbs out of the shelter while I take a step back, freeing the space for him. My bare foot steps on something sharp, and I cry out, shifting my weight and nearly falling over. Ezra’s hand shoots ahead, wrapping around my waist, attempting to prevent my fall. We both freeze, until his palm slowly moves down. To my side and then down to my leg, feeling the naked skin under his touch. It pauses on the side of my thigh, right below my underwear, for a second before he jerks back.
Rolling my eyes at him, I say, “I’m not here with that sort of an invitation. I took my clothes off so something remains dry. Let’s go. We’re both adults and can keep our hands to ourselves.”
All my talking falls on deaf ears because I feel his intense stare trying to make out everything below my talking mouth through the darkness.
“Ezra!” I call out, trying to draw his attention.
I can almost feel his caressing look on my wet skin. It’s like little blows of cold air landing on the path to my face, raising goosebumps all over my skin. He knows I’m nearly naked, and now he can imagine that.
Now I can imagine that.
“Ezra,” I repeat, losing patience. He was the one to put boundaries between us just to act like they’re not for him.
“Yeah.” I hear the huskiness of his voice even through the sound of the rain and ocean.
“Let’s go.” I turn around to head toward the dryness. I hope he’s following, otherwise my dignity will be left out there with him.
Before getting into the bungalow, I squeeze as much water from my hair as possible and get inside. He follows a moment later. Without pants. He ditched them by the entrance. So we are left with pretty much nothing. I pass him his dry jacket, which he takes and puts on himself while I wait for him.
“Can you turn around so I can change?”
“Oh, yeah. Sure.” He whips around, leaving me with his wide, rigid back. It’s always so tense, I wonder how his bones don’t snap at some point.
I quickly replace my wet duck undies with dry shorts and take off the bra and put the dry shirt on.
“I’m good now.”
He turns around and shifts a little closer to the exit.
“You can’t sleep there. You won’t fit,” I state the obvious.
“Right.” He looks at the space between us like it’s an unsolved math equation and carefully moves closer to me. I scoot over to the side too, giving him more space. He needs more than I do.
“Well, good night.”
“Yeah. Night.”
I turn to my side and push my arm under my head. I really miss pillows. And blankets. And mattresses. And ramen. Damn, do I miss my ramen. It will be the first food I eat when we get off this island.
His large body is moving behind me, trying to settle as far from me as possible. Once he’s comfortable, he lets out a loud exhale. I have one to match it, but I refrain from it. One miserable person is more than enough per square footage right now.
“Maeve,” comes his gentle voice after a few moments. “If you had an opportunity to do anything you want in this world, what would you do?”
I don’t know what sort of question that is, and if he’ll just throw my dreams back into my face for not pursuing them.
“Anything?”
“Anything,” he replies without moving.
I’m quiet for a long time before I decide to share my wildest dream. “I’d like to be a fashion designer.” Swallowing my embarrassment down, I add, “I’d like it very much.”
He doesn’t say anything in return. Not a peep. But he also doesn’t laugh. It’s a win, I guess.
Last night, I fell asleep watching his back rhythmically moving. Tonight, I refuse to do so. Instead, I start counting little droplets that sneak inside the wall. One. Two. Three…