Chapter 50: Chapter 50

Chapter 50:

Tatiana’s P.O.V

The plane ride to Hawaii had been Hell. Thankfully, I had been seated next to Ken and Grace because I wouldn’t have been able to stand the embarrassment of Damien finding out that I was scared of flights. But nevertheless, Ken and Grace had embarrassed me enough to last a life time.

To distract myself when the plane took off, I kept remembering the nickname that Damien had given me. Our little secret.

Tia.

The way the name had rolled off of his tongue had been perfect. My mom and dad usually preferred sweetheart or just Tatiana and both my best friends and my brother called me Ty. Some idiotic, hormonal, over sexualized boys in high school had liked to call me Tits. But this name? This was special, sweet and very thoughtful.

No strings.

As if I needed a reminder of that little deal. Damien didn’t need complications in his life and neither did I. I should be calling him a jerk for making this deal in the first place, but then I guess I’ll be equally big of a jerk to have accepted it.

Stop thinking, Tia. I told myself. You’re a reasonable adult; you should be able to handle the situation just fine!

Great! Now I was calling myself Tia.

“Look! We’re here!” Ken gushed next to my ear, snapping me out of my daydreams and we all tried to squeeze next to the tiny window to get a sight of the Hawaiian island of Oahu.

It looked beautiful from above, the clear blue seas, the sandy beaches and even the capital of Honolulu was visible from this spot. The plane circled towards the island and soon, we were touching down on stable grounds, ready to soak up the sun and have the time of our lives for the rest of our two week stay. It was the first vacation us girls will be embarking on after that mini vacation we had at Grace’s home right after college. Life had gotten to us and we have had hardly any time to spend with each other since then. Forget about vacations, we didn’t even have time to go to the beach together. That’s why we had made the meet-twice-a-week rule where we went clubbing every Friday night and had brunch together on Sundays, without fail.

“It’s our first vacation together after work started,” Grace stated what was possibly on everyone’s mind. “It’s also our first vacation together as a family.” She said turning to Ken.

“Hey, we are all family,” Ken being the one sitting in the middle, stretched out her hands and hugged us both to her side. “You guys have always been family and always will be.”

“Now, if only Ty could marry Damien, we would actually be a true family,” Grace sighed, making alarm bells go off in my head.

“What?” I gaped at grace while she looked at me sheepishly from beneath her lashed. Ken was already grinning like an idiot.

“It was just a thought,” Grace held up her hands in surrender.

“Nice thought indeed.” Ken wiggled her eyebrows at me and I slapped her hand away to sit back in my seat, sulking. I was already swooning over the wrong guy; did I need any more ridiculous thought shoved in my head? Absolutely not!

Once the plane landed, we got off and collected our bags before taking a cab to the hotel we’d be staying in. Daniel had already made arrangements for us and to my surprise, once we arrived at the hotel lobby, the manager himself came over to greet us and took us to our cottages on top of the sea.

Overwater bungalows. Fuck! They were like a dream come true! Daniel had gotten us overwater bungalows! Fuck! Just how rich was the guy?

Both Grace and Ken got the couples suites while Damien and I were given two separate cottages that were joined in the middle through a door that locked both ways. The rooms were all made of wood and arranged in a semi-circle around the island and had a central road running right in the middle from which several small roads joined the bungalows. No two bungalows were connected, which gave the guests their privacy, except for the single room ones that shared a common veranda. Everything was made of woods, the bungalows, roads and the furniture.

My bungalow was a small one with a queen sized bed, a closet and an extra chair accompanied by a small coffee table. There was a small bathroom to the side with a shower stall and toilet and a large mirror on one wall. There were a set of windows above the bed and they offered a view of the other cottages. There was also a common veranda for the connecting cottages that gave an unadulterated view of the open sea along with two chairs where you could just relax and watch the sunset. The path connecting to the main road at the centre wound around the cottage. Overall, the bungalow was very cute, very comfy and utterly gorgeous.

“Hello, beautiful.”

I paused in the middle of unpacking and turned to find Damien standing on the opposite side of the bed, leaning against the open connecting door that connected our suits. He had changed into a blue T-shirt and white shorts that reached his knees and his hair was tousled from the wind outside, making dark strands fall onto his forehead.

“Hi,” I stood up from my crouch and turned to face him. “You look different.”

“Even I like to loosen my tie once in a while,” Damien moved around the bed to come to a stop in front of me. “This little vacation came just in time. I was pretty much exhausted from my nine to five job.”

“I guess separating people can be tiring, huh?” I said it with more harshness than I intended to and instantly felt sorry afterwards.

“Hey, I don’t snatch couples off the street and get then separated,” he held up his hand in surrender. “They come to me when life together becomes unbearable. And besides, I believe that if you’re unhappy then you should get separated. There’s no point in being in a relationship that can get abusive physically or mentally.”

I winced. Yeah, I knew a thing or two about mental and physical abuse and I’d be the first one to support Damien’s notion. I had tried everything in my power to make things work because I had been afraid of failure. But I hadn’t realized until too late that some people didn’t deserve second chances or thirds. Daniel finding out had, in many ways, been the best and the worst part for me. Best because I was finally free of Connor and worst because him and my friends had to see me at my weakest.

“Hello? Earth to Tia!” Damien waved his hand in front of my face. “Where did you go?”

I shook my head and smiled at him. “I’m here. What were you saying?”

“Oh, just that the rooms we got,” Damien waved around with his hand to prove his point, lingering a bit on the connecting doorway. “They’re so...convenient. No one will find out if we decide to come and go through here. You think this was planned?”

I thought about it and then shook my head no. “To have thought about it beforehand, Daniel would have had to guess that we might hook up at his wedding and then decide to continue with our arrangement. He didn’t book this trip yesterday, it took months of planning and he’d have to have superhuman powers to see the future.”

“True that.” Damien shrugged. “So, shall we get going? Daniel texted me to tell you that the group is heading to the main hotel to get some lunch. You in?”

As if on cue, my stomach rumbled to remind me of just how hungry I was. I felt a blush creep up my cheeks as Damien raised his eyebrows at me. “I skipped breakfast this morning. I get really nervous during a flight and I didn’t want to throw up in the middle of the flight...”

“Then we better get going.” Damien held out his hand for me. “Unpacking can wait but lunch certainly can not.”

So I took his hand and we walked briskly to the main hotel on the beach, where our friends and family were waiting for us in the restaurant. Damien went to ask the receptionist the direction for the restaurant while I waited for him. I was just looking around the lobby, taking in all the people and family that had gathered around with excited smiles on their faces, when I spotted him.

Connor.

My blood turned to ice and I froze in my spot. He was wearing a black hoodie to cover his face along with black jeans, but there was no doubt in my mind that it was Connor. I knew it was. I could recognize Connor from a mile away because I knew him. And the look in his eyes chilled me to my bones.

But how? He was supposed to be in prison.

“Alright, let’s go. It’s this way.” Damien’s voice shocked me out of my trance as I whipped around to face him. “What? Did I scare you? Sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

“N-no,” I forced a smile on my face. “I’m j-just a bit dizzy.”

“Then let’s get some food into you, lady, it’s four in the afternoon.” Damien took my hand and started pulling me towards the direction of the restaurant. “Jeez, your hands are cold.” He muttered under his breath and began rubbing his hands on mine to get them warm. The motion made me feel relaxed once again and when I turned to look at the spot Connor was standing, I found it empty.

No, I shook my head. It wasn't him. It couldn’t be him. Connor was in jail, where he rightfully belonged.