Chapter 42: Dance with me

THE MINUTE they reach the dock it starts to rain heavily. Blade walks fast to take shelter in the boat shed. When he looks behind him, he sees Sieve walking slowly enjoying the rain pouring on her body.

He gestured her to walk faster, but she just glanced at him then stood still while looking up at the dark sky.

"What is wrong with this girl? Does she want to get sick?" He thought to himself. She glanced at him again, and gestured to him to come near her. He shook his head in disagreement, she sneered at him with mockery in her eyes as if she was saying, "Weak!"

Sensing her taunting gaze, he ran towards her and held her waist. The nightgown she was wearing was so soaked with rain that he could see her whole body as if she was naked.

He yelled at her while staring at her pale face. "Do you want to get sick?" She did not answer his question. Instead, she responded with, "Dance with me!" She then stretches her hand for him to take, he grins and his face softens. He extended his arm to reach her hand. Suddenly, she bowed her head, kissed the back of his hand, and made a little curtsy. Bewildered by her demeanor, he felt like a teenage girl being courted for the first time. Sweet. Innocent. Pure. He could feel that his cheeks were turning red by the minute.

Meanwhile, she starts guiding his hands and placing them on her waist, and they dance cheek to cheek. The rain drops became their music and the howl of the wind completed the symphony. Soon the pouring rain turns to a light drizzle, he can feel that she’s shivering and gestures to her that it's time to go inside.

She nods in agreement, her jaw slightly shaking from the cold wind. He rubs his palm to produce heat, then holds her face. His gesture made her happy and sad at the same time that she could only lower her head to hide her emotions.

Inside the house, he filled the tub with warm water, which they shared later on. After taking a shower, they lay on the bed back-to-back with space in between.

She then asks in a low sleepy voice, "What day is it?"

He answered in the same tone, "Wednesday!"

"When are we going home?" She asks while her eyes are closed.

"Tomorrow night." He says while staring blankly at the wall.

"Where are we right now?"

"A farmhouse 3 hours away from the city. You do ask a lot of questions. Go to sleep. I’ll tour you around tomorrow morning." He says while trying to drift away to sleep.

-The next day-

He woke up around ten o’clock in the morning. When he turned around, the other side of the bed was empty. He frantically got out of the room thinking she had already left the farmhouse. When he got out, he smelled a delicious aroma of food. He smiles and gleefully marches to the kitchen area and sits on the chair admiring how fast she cut the ingredients, and how she multitasks. She notices him from the corner of her eye and says, "You're too quiet, are you planning to sneak up on me?"

He did not respond but walked close to her and put his chin on her shoulder. "What are you cooking?"

She glanced at him then playfully pushed his head away from her, then says, "Beef teriyaki." She then continued stirring the food.

"Why don’t you prepare the dining area? I'm almost done here."

He nods. Opened the cabinet and took out the plates and utensils and placed them in the dining area. Soon she starts serving the beef teriyaki and rice.

"It’s brunch, so I ditch the regular bacon, eggs and toast," she says while serving him food.

He grins and enjoys the warm meal she prepared for him. He stared at the girl in front of him, imagining that what they have is the life he wants to have with the love of his life.

"If I could have this type of life with a person I barely know, then life with Malena would surely be better. After this day with Sieve, I’ll confess everything to Malena, and she’ll also answer who the guy was. If it takes us to start from the beginning, we will." He thought to himself.

"You’re going to show me around after this, right?" She asks. Her voice instantly brought him back to reality.

"Yes! So finish up." He responded with a faint smile on his face. After they ate, they went out, and he showed her around the barn. No animals, roots or crops in sight. What's left is a trace of how it used to be. A 3-bedroom house with a small barn to hide the farm equipment, a stable that can cater for up to 4 horses, a boat and a boat shed. Despite that, the house, the barn equipment, the boat and the shed are well-kept and the view from the lake is breathtaking.

She breathed the fresh air and enjoyed the sunlight. She felt calm, peaceful, something that was too rare for her to feel. While sightseeing, a blue tarpaulin caught her attention. When she looked at it further she noticed that it was newly installed, and it was hiding the name of the place. She then looks at him with a curious gaze and says while pointing at the tarp, "You own this place, don't you?"

He gazed at the tarp and gladly answered her question, "Yes!"

"You told me that you are a deranged person with lots of daddy issues and can be crazy at times, and you might stalk me. Hence, the tarp on the farm's name. I don’t want you to search for it and squatter here waiting for me." He added, looking at her with mockery.

She giggled, then remembered something. "By the way, where are my things? My father might be looking for me."

"In the car, it was parked somewhere hidden, so yo..." she cut him off before he could finish his sentence. "So I won’t see the plate number and can’t trace it back to you?"

He nodded then patted her head while saying, "You're a smart little puppy."

She tries to push his hand away from her, but fails. She then yelled, "Stop it! I'm not your pet."

"Yes, you are. You are mine and mine only."

The words that came out of his mouth left a hint of sadness for both of them and the ambiance between them suddenly became awkward. Both hid their dismay at the situation they were in and quickly changed the topic.

"So Turkey," he mumbles.

Caught off guard, she stared at him with a confused look.

"I said, you are going to get married in Turkey."

She sighs deeply, clearly showing her distress, then mumbles, "Yes, yes. I am."

She tried to smile to hide her pain, but he noticed it immediately.

"You really don't like your future husband?"

"Yeah, he's 50 years old, almost the same age as my father."

"If you really don't want to get married, then runaway."

She avoided his gaze and his question, then change the topic. "Enough about me and my unfortunate fate. Tell me about you and 'the love of your life'." She said the last part of her sentence in a sarcastic tone.

He stares at her with slight annoyance, then says, "What's with the tone?"

"Oh! Nothing. You keep saying love of your life but here you are with me in the middle of... I don't know where... Fucking. What's up with that?"

She could sense his mood change, and she avoids his gaze and started kicking the stones on the ground. In a low voice she mumbles, "What I mean is... why are you sleeping with random girls if you have already met THE ONE?"

He closes his eyes and breathes deeply, then says, "She doesn't want to sleep with me. She's.. What you could call conservative. We've been together for more than 5 years, and we are still stuck on first base."

Her eyes widened and couldn't help but feel envy, "5 years," she mumbled to herself.