Chapter 36 — About You

We arrived in Lofoten at one of the luxury waterfront lodges on the island. I could see the stunning view of the sea and mountains through it.

“Yes, I know and I was there,” Henry said on the phone. “I don’t care anyway.” He glanced at me briefly. “Come on, I want this deal at any cost. If you can’t then I'll take it from them. Do what you said.” He paused for a minute. “Is that clear to you?”

How could he talk like he owned his employees?

“Good,” he said and hung up the phone. He gave me his attention, wrapping his arm around my waist. “I hope you’ll enjoy it.” Now he was sounding like he hadn’t threatened his employee a minute ago.

I sighed and looked at him. “I like this place.”

We entered our room, and Joseph placed our suitcase off the side. “I should go now,” he said and went out of the room.

“Is it necessary to bring him here? I mean, he is also a human. He has been following me half of his time without blinking his eyes and now you brought him here too?” I groaned.

Henry locked the door behind him. “He is the only man whom I trust most, Alice, and it is very important for your safety.”

Safety? I remembered the last day’s conversation about KT. Henry was right; it was important for our safety. I couldn’t risk his life. I nodded and opened the back door of the room and walked out, catching the beautiful evening. “It seems like I’m dreaming,” I said, breathing in the salty smell of the ocean. The air was gentle and fresh and the majestic mountains across the sea looked like a fairy tale which I used to see in photos.

He stepped onto the balcony and glanced across the ocean. “Do you like it?”

“I love it,” I whispered.

“So, what would you like to do first? Boating, hiking, swimming, or shopping? The town has plenty of beautiful things to do.”

I looked at him. “Do I have any other choice?”

He raised his eyebrows. “What do you want to do?”

“How about we go to the beach, stay together, close with each other, hand to hand, and…”

“And what?” He asked curiously.

“And go fishing. I heard this is the best place for fishing,” I mumbled, holding back a laugh.

He growled in frustration. “You think we fish close to each other, hand to hand? I thought…”

“You thought?”

He ran his fingers through his hair. “Forget it…” he said annoyingly, “Fishing is ridiculous!”

I frowned. “It’s okay If you don’t want to go.”

“Okay, we will go fishing, but not today. We have plenty of days, so we’ll go some other day,” he said, and a smile pulled to my lips. “Ok, I’m hungry now. What would you like to eat?”

*****

Henry promised me to come fishing, and he fulfilled it. I was sitting on the sandy beach with a fishing rod in my hand. The weather was warm and good enough for swimming. I glanced at Henry; he was lying on a beach chair peacefully just in his shorts, exposing his body. The rays of sunlight poured over his golden skin and made him look darker and sexier. Joseph stood a few feet away from us, looking cute in his beach costume. He wore printed shorts and a shirt. I had never seen him in anything except his three-piece suit.

I was trying to catch fish for an hour but I got nothing except trash. I heard someone chuckle from behind. “I dare you. You won’t be able to catch a single fish.” Henry teased me.

“I will catch not a small one, but a big one,” I snapped, rolling my eyes.

He shot me a playful look over his sunglasses. “Do your best,” he said and lay back in his chair, not even bothering to help me.

Suddenly, I felt something heavy through the rod. “I’ve got something big in my bait,” I said excitedly and quickly lifted it. Finally, I raised the big fish. “See what I’ve got,” I said proudly as I showed my fish, but the next moment, water poured down all over my body. I raised my head to see the thing and cringed when I found a large dirty boot had hooked to a rod. It wasn’t a fish. The water is still dropping from the boot.

Loud laughter erupted behind me. “Is this your big fish?” Henry taunted, laughing. I turned my head, seeing his laugh. He was laughing at my silliness. I was flushed with embarrassment. He wasn’t the only one who was laughing at me, but Joseph also.

I put my hands on my hips as I glared at both of them. But then my eye fixed on my husband. I didn’t see him laughing before. He was actually laughing. “I’ve got something big in my bait.” He mimicked my words and burst into another laugh. He was looking like a sixteen-year-old teenage boy. I couldn’t help it, just staring at him. I wanted to see him like that every day. I would do everything to bring back his happiness. I would show him the real world, a colorful world. If he was living in the dark, then I was his light. He was my husband, the love of my life.

“Alice, come on, swim with me.” I was in such deep thought that I didn’t realize when Henry went into the water.

“Um, yeah,” I said and joined him.

After having a good time on the beach, we went around the town. The town was so beautiful with colorful houses among the mountains, waterfalls, and green hillsides. It had many small shops. I shopped for a lot of things for Sarah, Harley, and my mother. I hope they will like it. Then we went to a small restaurant where we ordered seafood and Norwegian. It was the best thing I’ve ever eaten.

Henry didn’t like the taste of Norwegian food as he already left his plate half-eaten. “He is a man or something? He likes nothing!” I whispered to Joseph.

Joseph chuckled. “He is very choosy. I have been living with him for twenty-two years and I didn’t even understand him yet.” He glanced at him briefly. “And you…” He smiled. “You’re just great, Alice.”

I frowned and didn’t understand his words. “Great, why?”

“I have never seen him so happy in his lifetime. He likes you.”

I felt a blush creep on my face. “I hope he will.”

*****

The colorful lights were glistering around the seashore, a bunch of beautiful flowers set on our table and the candle lamp was glowing between us.

Henry was sitting across from me, sipping his wine, and his eyes were on me the whole time. “Um, am I looking weird?” I adjusted my dress strap. The dress had a spaghetti strap and a very low cut, revealing much of my cleavage even when I was sitting in front of my husband and we had already done everything, but I wasn’t feeling comfortable.

His eyes shifted to my cleavage before turning back into my eyes. “If you aren’t feeling comfortable in this dress, why did you wear this?”

“Um, I-I just…” before I could get out another word, he stood up, pulled out his jacket, and put it around me.

He sat back in his seat and rested his hand on mine. “Whatever dress you wear, you will always look beautiful, Alice. You don’t have to wear that damn piece if you are not feeling comfortable.”

“Thank you,” I said shyly and clutched his jacket tightly.

He nodded and glanced across the beach. The chilly air was hitting my bare skin and goosebumps were rising in my skin. “So tell me about you, Alice.”

“About me? You already know everything about me.”

“Not everything! I’m talking about your past life, your past relationships. Did you have a boyfriend before?”

“Yes.” I smiled at the memories that flashed in my mind with my ex. “Evan, he was so cute, caring, and loving.” But I didn’t feel a strong feeling about him, what I felt for Henry.

He raised his brows and said nothing, just sipped his wine.

“We broke up when he moved back to his hometown in England. The long-distance relationship wasn’t working. The more distance it went, the more distance grew between us. But still, I like him.”

He clenched his jaw and tightened his grip around the glass. “Did you sleep with him?”

“Yes, he was my first…” I didn’t complete my word.

“He was your first one, right?” His voice was harsh like he was feeling jealous.

“Yes.” I dropped my gaze on my palms, refusing to look into his eyes. My mind shifted to an interesting question. “Have you ever been with a woman?” I knew the answer, but I wanted to hear it from him.

“Besides Ava, no.”

“Did you date her?”

“Yes…no, I don’t know.” He sighed. “It might be yes or no. She was my girlfriend, but I never loved her, so it is both yes and no.”

He didn’t love her, but still, I was feeling jealous. Would he ever fall in love? Would we ever be together? My head was filled with lots of questions. “Have you ever thought about love? I mean, have you ever loved someone? Fallen for someone?” I stared into his eyes deeply, but I could not read his mind. His expression was always rigid and unreadable like he didn’t want anyone to read him.

He held his gaze for a few seconds. “No,” he said firmly and ended our conversation. He finished his wine and stood up to leave. “We should go now.”