Chapter 26 #2
Alex’s voice cut through her thoughts, and he looked concerned.
His brow was furrowed and his eyes flicked across her face as if assessing what he could see on it.
How long had she stood lost in that memory?
It had, however, acted like a bucket of cold water over her head, a reminder of why she needed to ignore the desire she felt whenever he was around.
Looking around, she saw Thea and Lola were getting their life vests ready to jump into their boat.
‘Guys, wait up,’ Noa called, ignoring Alex’s concern completely and tugging to fasten a life vest over her shoulders as fast as possible. The pre-cooking class outing suddenly felt like a wonderful idea if it got her off this dock.
Now the rain felt like the least of her worries, and she jumped into the coconut boat like it was her route to safety.
Lola and Thea jumped in beside her and the boat rocked back and forth in a see-saw motion with the movement, until their weight balanced, and they were ready to set out onto the river.
Noa stared ahead as a man paddled them through the grey-green water that snaked a path through the densely packed forest. Tall fans of vibrant green leaves curled outwards over the river like umbrellas, but it wasn’t quite enough to shade them from the rain that lashed down, bouncing off the water.
The grey sky mirrored her own sombre mood and Noa turned to the girls, who were staring at her with questioning gazes .
‘Don’t,’ Noa warned, hoping it would deter them from probing her to talk.
Instead, Lola and Thea shared a look that made her think she was about to be part of some kind of intervention.
‘Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like whatever you’re about to say?’ she groaned.
Thea nodded at Lola, and it made Noa laugh.
They had all very much settled into their roles within the group and Lola, the most outgoing one of them, had somehow become a kind of spokesperson.
But, if they needed Lola’s tendency to not beat around the bush here, Noa worried about where this conversation was about to go.
She shifted in her seat with anticipation.
‘Well, I’d like to remind you that we are your friends, and we say this because we care,’ Lola began.
Noa felt her heart pinch at that, because she knew it was true.
‘We only speak the truth, and we have absolutely no control over how you react to that truth,’ Lola reasoned in a manner that made her look like she was delivering some kind of presentation.
Noa almost burst out laughing at her serious expression but, somehow, managed to keep a straight face.
‘Yeah, we wouldn’t be very good friends if we didn’t point out the glaringly obvious truth that you seem to be ignoring. Whether you like it or not,’ Thea shrugged.
‘Okay…’ Noa said apprehensively. ‘And the truth is?’
‘Well, that man is hot as balls, could have any single woman in all of Southeast Asia, but he only has eyes for you. And you just ran away from him like he was a serial killer,’ Lola said matter-of-factly .
‘Eyes that he likes to fuck you with on a regular basis, no matter who’s watching,’ Thea added, wagging her brows. ‘And, before you try to play dumb, the man we are referring to is Alex.’
‘And if you really do think that the two of you are ‘just friends’, then, yes, it is time that we stage an intervention. So, what’s going on?’ Lola asked.
These girls. Noa felt so much love for them in such a small time, and these moments of girl talk with them would be some of the fondest memories of her whole trip.
Even if they were currently being assaulted by rain from all angles as a tour guide spun their boat in circles.
She knew she’d made friends for life and, staring at their serious faces now, she didn’t know whether to roll her eyes, wrap them all in a hug, or burst out laughing.
Gripping the side of the boat, she went with the eye roll and decided to brush them off.
‘You guys have lost your minds. If you knew his reputation back home, then you would know that Alex sees any hole as a goal. I am nothing special. In fact, if I wasn’t Ryan’s sister, I doubt he would even notice me at all,’ she said, her own words stinging and tasting bitter as they left her mouth.
‘Oh, girl. He would notice you,’ Lola responded.
‘And whether that was true or not before, I’ve not seen him take one girl home since you both arrived, but I have seen the way he looks at you.
And it’s not like a guy who sees you as any other single woman for pursuing.
But I think you know that, too… so truthfully, what is actually holding you back? ’
Noa sighed. They were so perceptive, and she did need someone to talk to about her feelings. Knowing she could trust them, she decided to finally admit the truth .
She told them about Ryan—the conversation she had overheard between him and Alex, and the offhanded comments he had made that felt like a warning over the years since.
She told them a CliffsNotes version of why she felt protective over Ryan’s and Alex’s friendship, and why she didn’t want to come between them.
When she was done, she felt lighter. Unburdened.
‘You know that’s not your responsibility, though, right?
’ Lola pressed, looking Noa straight in the eyes for emphasis.
‘You do not own their feelings, Noa. They are both big boys and their feelings and reactions are their own. You can’t go about your life censoring yourself and denying yourself something that will make you happy just so you don’t upset other people. ’
‘Do you really think that the feelings between you and Alex are wrong?’ Thea asked, and Noa had to think about that for a minute before she shook her head.
‘And have you ever stopped to think that, maybe, if your brother’s relationship with his best friend couldn’t survive this, then it is not as strong as you think? ’
The truth was, Noa had never looked at it like that. And she knew that what the girls were saying was right. It was not her relationship to protect. And a realisation like that felt heavy.
As if trying to lighten the mood and rescue Noa from her own spiralling thoughts, Lola winked at her, nudging her with her shoulder before saying, ‘I say you climb that man like a tree the next opportunity you get. Before someone else does.’
The thought of anyone else ‘climbing Alex like a tree’ more than rattled her.
She considered them, trying not to think about Alex with another woman as the conversation changed. But, as they pulled back up to the hut on the riverbank, and Alex came back into view exactly where she’d left him, she had one thing on her mind. Him.