Chapter 53: Chapter 53

The first day that Carol spent at the hotel in the Maldives was one that had her so stressed that she almost began to wonder why she had bothered to choose somewhere so far away for a vacation in the first place. She felt even worse when she realized just how expensive this trip was going to be, especially considering the fact that Sebastian would have to come on a different flight. Tom laughed off her worries when she voiced her concern to him.

"He's a billionaire, ma'am. I'm sure he can afford it." He told her, shaking his head in amusement.

She had arrived in the Maldives early the next morning following the day she left and was so tired from her trip that she was almost sleeping on her feet. As Sebastian had promised, Tom took care of all the things that needed to be taken care of and before Carol knew it, she was collapsing gratefully on a huge bed in the suite that she and Sebastian were to share when he got here. She spent most of that day sleeping and it was only when she got up at past 3 in the afternoon that she saw the missed calls on her phone. Sebastian had called her five times, and her dad had called her three times. Carol could not help the happiness that flooded her being when she saw that Sebastian had called her that number of times. She called him back immediately and he picked up the phone on the 4th ring.

"Hello, Carol," he said into the phone. She could hear voices in the background and knew that he was still in the office.

"Hello, Sebastian."

"How was your trip? I called you earlier but I guess you were still resting then."

"Yeah. I saw the missed calls. I didn't even know when my phone was ringing. I was that tired. The trip was fine though."

"Alright. That's good to know."

"Wait, don't tell me that you are still in Napa by this time. When exactly are you leaving?"

"Unfortunately, I'm still here, and it looks like I'll still be stuck here for about 2 or 3 more days before I can leave," Sebastian informed her.

"Two or three days before you can leave?" Carol exclaimed in shock and dismay, not liking this information one bit.

"I'm sorry. I know I said I'll be coming today, but they really need me right now and I can't just leave them hanging. Don't worry, I'll extend the vacation if you want."

"A whole 2 or 3 days," Carol complained, hardly listening to his explanation or his apologies. "If only I had known, I would have stayed back even if it meant going to a hotel to stay to avoid my family. What on earth would I be doing by myself for 3 days all alone out here?"

She heard Sebastian begin to laugh over the phone and paused her rant to listen to the melodious sound before asking him belligerently,

"May I ask what is so funny?"

"Oh, it's nothing. It's just that you're acting like a little child whose parents left her alone on her own. Don't worry, you will be fine. There are so many fun things to do over there on your own. I'll hurry up with what I'm doing here and join you as soon as I can so that you would not feel so lonely. I'll send you some money shortly so that you can do some shopping or something else if you get bored. Alright, I have to go now. Take care of yourself okay? Bye." Sebastian told her, feeling oddly flattered that she wanted him to be there.

"Fine. Take care of yourself too and try to make it here as soon as you can. Bye." Carol hung up the phone, her stomach feeling as though it was filled with numerous butterflies. He cared about her well-being and whether she was bored or not. She would take that as a consolation while she waited eagerly for him to come. Belatedly, she remember that her father had called her, so she returned his call, whereupon he informed her that he was calling to know how her journey went.

"Oh, that reminds me. Victoria called and was asking about you." Her father told her after they had talked for some time.

"She has my phone number and can easily call me herself if she wants to know how I'm doing."

"Are you guys quarreling?"

"No, but I noticed that for some time now, she does not pick my calls, neither does she call back, so I stopped bothering myself with trying to reach out to her."

"Oh. I wish you both can just be civil to each other."

"Well, I've tried my best to be nice to her, but I'm done trying to please everybody. If she doesn't want anything to do with me, then so be it."

"Don't worry. I'll talk to her. Anyway, I told her that you were on vacation with Sebastian in the Maldives, so she doesn't get it into her head coming to visit you in Napa when you are not around."

"That's ok Dad. Alright. I have wasted the first day of my vacation doing nothing but sleeping. Let me go and look around. We'll talk some other time."

They said their goodbyes and Carol got off the phone, to see that Sebastian had sent her the sum of $50,000 as the cash he promised her for shopping. She whooped in delight and called him back to thank him. He waved away her thanks and asked her to enjoy herself, so Carol went to take her bath, after which she ordered a sumptuous meal and ate to her fill, planning to do just that. She was applying some lotion to her body when her phone rang again. Carol sighed, thinking to herself that at this rate, she was qualified to be a phone operator. This time around, it was her sister calling and at first, she was tempted to ignore the call but decided to answer it anyway. All she and her sister ever did was argue any time Victoria called her.

"Hello, Victoria," Carol said into the phone, bracing herself for yet another confrontation.

"Um, Carol? Is that you?"

"What do you mean by is that me? Of course, it is. You are dialing my number, remember?"

"Um, right. Yeah, so how are you?" Victoria asked.

Carol almost fell off the bed in astonishment. Victoria was asking her how she was without any prompting? That never happened, even before Sebastian came into their lives.

"Uh, I'm fine, and you?" Carol replied carefully, not sure what was going on. Now that she really listened, she could hear her sister sniffling faintly as though she was silently crying and trying hard not to let Carol know that she was crying. There was a little pause and then Victoria replied.

"I'm fine. Um, where exactly are you?"

"Oh, I'm on vacation in the Maldives. I thought dad told you. He said you called and asked about me."

"Yeah. I did." There was a little pause again during which Carol thought she heard low voices, as though someone was telling Victoria what to say, but that was ridiculous and probably just Carol's imagination.

"Victoria? Are you in trouble? Do you need some money? Don't worry. I'll send you some money once I hang up."

"Oh no, I'm fine, really. Where did you say you were again? I mean your location and the hotel you're staying at in the Maldives?"

"Why are you asking?" There was that little pause again before Victoria answered the question.

"No reason. I was just bragging to my friends that you were in the Maldives and that I was sure you were going to lodge in the best hotel or resort there. Do make sure you take enough pictures too, so I can post them on social media and brag, okay?"

"Sure thing," Carol replied, giving Victoria her full location and the name of the hotel resort in which she was staying. She was not the type who liked to take pictures, but she will take at least a few for the sake of her sister.

"Alright, take care now. Bye, Carol."

"Bye, Victoria," Carol replied, wondering to herself how strange that call was, but shrugging it off eventually and dressing up to go explore the area she was in.