Emily wasn’t
sure of what was more hilarious: the fact that Myles was forced into wearing
swimming trucks, or the fact that Myles was forced into wearing swimming trunks
in Disney land’s very own themed water park.
She glanced down
at her own attire: a light navy blue cotton dressed freckled with little red
flowers, and couldn’t help but pull the hemming of the dress an inch lower. It
wasn’t that she felt insecure about her body, but the model-esque girls around
her with their outrageously unattainable flat stomachs didn’t make her feel as
confident as she would have hoped. She was aware of her own stomach slightly
bulging out of her simple one piece, and resisted the urge to drape her arms
around her middle lest Beckett, or even worse, Myles, notice her lack of self esteem. She muffled a sadistic
sigh as a pair of girls with physiques so slim it was sinful flounced by her,
their hips swaying confidently, knowing full well that they’ve captured the
attention of about every male specimen at a 10-meter radius.
Beckett craned
his head and gave a low appreciate whistle, smiling charismatically at the
girls as they tossed their pretty hair over their shoulders with a lazy hand.
Emily scowled, smacking Beckett’s shoulder with a little more force than
necessary. He turned to her, eyes flashing in confused irritation. “What?” he
asked, his smile faltering. Emily bristled, rolling her eyes as Beckett’s
attention drifted to a group of Brazilian seeming college students.
“Stop staring at
every sodding girl that passes by- It’s so bloody annoying,” she huffed,
smoothing the knots in her ponytail. Myles snorted, and Emily’s unforgiving
glare flicked over to him, her irritation intensifying. “And what are you laughing about, genius? What’s so
funny?” she demanded, bunching the fabric of her dress and dragging the hem
lower.
“Absolutely
nothing,” he replied, his smirk widening.
“Doesn’t sound
like nothing,” she muttered, furrowing her brow, “and honestly you shouldn’t be
laughing Mr. I-Wear-Loafers-In-Theme-Water-Parks,”
she continued loftily, looking around for a suitable place to rest. They, that
is Emily, Beckett, and Myles, had been walking around the entire water park in
search for the perfect place to ditch their belongings and hop on the nearest
water slide available. It’s been two hours now, and the place was packed
to the brim with hollering babies, whiny preteens, and parents with
unflattering sunspots and sunburns.
Emily had
absolutely no doubt that as soon as they scavenged a place to sit in, Myles
would phone Butler immediately so he could drive him out of the park whilst speed walking to the nearest ice
creamery, provided that the place had wi-fi, of course. And so he was left to
saunter around the park sporting a steely grey dress shirt and bright red
swimming trunks, with Armani loafers that gleamed like the waterslides
themselves.
“What’s with the
piss poor mood, Em, you’re spoiling the fun,” protested Beckett, prodding her
shoulder with a teasing finger. Emily bit her lip and smoothed the creases on
her cotton dress. She lifted a careless shoulder, feeling the beginnings of
guilt burrow its way through her brain. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled, giving her
friend a weak smile. “The place is just full of bloody super models from god
knows where and I’ve been skipping tennis-“
“Don’t give me
that rubbish,” Beckett interrupted firmly. “You look fantastic for someone whose
bum is always planted on the couch. Don’t start, okay?”
Emily felt the
corner of her lips stretch into an embarrassed smile, but she tried to school
her features into a look of pure impatience. “I’ll ‘start’ whenever I please,”
she said, smirking broadly at the blond. Myles rolled his eyes, sliding the
silky fabric from his wrist to inspect the time.
“It’s four
o’clock,” he announced crisply, turning to face the pair, “Can I leave now?”
Beckett laughed
delightedly, clear green eyes dancing with a sly jubilance, and said, “Bro, you
are most definitely not leaving my
sight until we’re getting out of here and into the Bentley, okay?” Myles pulled
a face and pointedly jabbed his Rolex with an index finger. “No, Beckett,” he
sighed, “we agreed that I would accompany you until four o clock, which, as you
might have noticed, is precisely at this very moment. Wouldn’t want to break
your word, now would you?” he continued condescendingly.
Beckett shook
his head with feigned horror. “Mum would be very
disappointed,” he exclaimed, thoughtfully twisting a stray fair curl. He then
smiled wickedly, tapping Myles’ head as if Myles was a disobedient pup. “But
mum isn’t here, unfortunately. Wasn’t she busy with that charity in the middle
of France? Saint-something-charity bla
bla bla? And weren’t you the one who hacked into her bank account to pay
for that new shipment you ordered from Taiwan?”
Myles pressed
his lips together and Emily noticed his shoulders drooping in defeat. “Bloody
bank account...” he muttered, not bothering to conceal his aggravation. “Fine.
I’ll stay. You infants need a supervisor anyway, or else this day would have
ended in quite the catastrophe.” Beckett rolled his eyes and Emily’s mouth
twitched. “What’s up with you, Myles?” she asked. Myles glanced at her,
irritation and then something else she couldn’t really pinpoint flashing in his
eyes. His scowl deepened. “Not only have you brought me to a water park,” he bit
out, “but you’ve forced me into wearing these odious swimming trunks while you
know very well that I would have much preferred to stay in the hotel. This
place is a waste of good commercial buildings-“
“Don’t say
that!” Beckett gasped, dropping his voice into an urgent whisper, “You didn’t
mean that- you didn’t mean that, right?” he asked urgently. Emily sighed, deciding that the best thing she
should be doing instead of eavesdropping on their conversation was finding a bloody
spot she could rest in. Two hours of
walking with the bickering company of Myles and Beckett Fowl could do that to a
person. A woman with fuchsia sunglasses rushed past her, dragging her
struggling son towards the exit gates. Emily scrutinized her vision to the
place the woman came from, and. . . hah! She
finally found a place! And a decent one at that. . . with shading and everything.
“Guys,” she
began excitedly, “hate to break the cat fight, but come on! I’ve found a
place!”
Myles and
Beckett halted their heated argument mid sentence, and hurried behind Emily as
she practically ran to the safe haven. She was almost there when the two girls
she had seen earlier dumped their designer bags on top of her spot, already fishing their bags for tanning lotion. That doesn’t even make sense, Emily
thought, anger taking over her. If they wanted to bloody tan then don’t go
tanning in the shade. Emily heard a
low growl sound from one of the boys behind her -Myles most probably- and forced herself to count to ten before
pouncing on the thieves that stole her spot.
She elicited a
courteous smile before saying really nicely, “Er- hullo. I’m sorry, but this
is our spot-“
“No it isn’t, we
came here first,” drawled one of the girls in a thick American accent, giving Emily
a lazy roll of the eye. She squeezed the tanning lotion into her petite hands
and commenced slathering her thighs with it. Emily resisted the urge to slap
her head and plowed on. “Err- no,
actually. We spotted this place first, and I think me and my friends,” she
gestured the twins wildly, “would really
appreciate it if you would consider giving it back to us.” Beckett gave a
little wave, curving the corner of his mouth with a careful mixture of maturity
and appeal, and Myles-
Emily almost
dropped her jaw, because she was certain that in the many months she had acquainted
herself with her sociopathic friend that she had never, ever seen Myles give any woman a look like that: his eyebrow was quirked almost . . . thoughtfully? and gone was the permanent glower on his face;
replacing the sempiternal scowl with a smile so simple it was . . . attractive? Emily felt something bubble
in the pit of her stomach, and for reasons unknown to her, her blood burned
with grating irritation. Her mouth curled in disgust as the girls slowly lifted
their sunglasses from the bridges of their noses, giving both the twins a
dazzling smile that graced their bonny features.
“Well . . .” the blonde of the two said,
dragging the ‘l’ in a manner so slow that
it bewitched any poor soul conversing with her, “I guess we could move . . . if you guys ride the slides with us . . . some of them are pretty scary,” she slurred, her eyes
widening in delicious fright. Emily wanted to throw up. She didn’t even bother
resisting the tremendous eye roll that itched at her skull. “On second
thought-“ Emily clipped, only to be interrupted by Myles.
“We would love to,” he said quickly, eyebrows
hitched in earnest. He extended his arm to the blond and she accepted it with a
feminine giggle that boiled Emily’s blood. “But only in one condition,” started
Beckett, giving the girls a stern look. Finally,
thought Emily delightedly, at least
Beckett has the sense to-
“You let us buy
you girls ice cream first, goddit?”
She almost
screamed.
The girls nodded
as a beatific blush bloomed on their cheeks, and the red head accepted
Beckett’s hand, a giggle escaping her cherubic lips.
Myles turned
around, motioning Emily to join them, but she instantly shook her head. “No
thank you,” she nearly spat, barely concealing the hurt in her voice, “I’ll
just stay here and tan . . . in the bloody shade,” she continued, missing the
serious look Myles bored into her. He was about to say something when the blond
tugged at his arm, and he left Emily without giving her another word.
Fine, she thought, not exactly knowing why she was so furious in
the first place. Whatever.
She dropped the
airheads’ bags on the wet floor and dumped her own stuff on the chair, feeling
her optimism for the day draining out of her system.
Whatever.
***
Emily was jolted
awake.
Funny, she
didn’t know she slept...
Emily lifted her
hands to her face and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, her senses flooding back
to her.
“Whas goinon...?” she
mumbled, lifting a lazy head at the figures swimming in her blurry vision.
“You fell
asleep,” answered the black one in a bored voice. The blond one extended his
hand timidly, and Emily could see he was offering her something.
“Emily... are
you mad at us?” he asked, biting his lower lip.
Her memories
washed over her. She was in a water park. She was with Myles and Beckett. They
ditched her.
She was alone.
Emily narrowed
her eyes. “Yes,” she mumbled without missing a beat. Beckett dropped his gaze
and Myles only smiled at her, looking very amused.
“What?” she
snapped, “why are you smiling you bleeding traitor? Had fun with the Americans?
Laughed at all your jokes, I’m assuming? Bat their eyelashes at you? I’m sure
it was bloody brilliant.” Beckett and
Myles exchanged bewildered looks before looking at her, utterly confused. “You
didn’t think we were serious, did you?” asked Beckett, pale eyebrows furrowed.
What?
Myles studied
Emily for a moment before stretching his lips into a wide smile. He took a seat
by the edge of the lounge chair, and Emily lightly kicked his thigh,
befuddlement muddling her coherent thinking. Myles chuckled, shaking his head.
“She believed us, Beckett,” he said over his shoulder.
Emily’s eyes
were slits. “What in the name of Christ are you tossers yammering about?”
Beckett took a
seat next to her, helping himself to the ice cream he had offered Emily only
mere seconds ago. “You were so intent on getting this spot, correct?” asked
Myles slowly, making eye contact with her. Emily nodded, following his train of
thought. But then that would mean...
“And you wanted
those girls out of your place, yes?” he continued, broadening his smirk. Emily
nodded again, the bog in her mind clearing. “You little shits,” she breathed,
arching an eyebrow. Beckett laughed, shaking his head. “Don’t be dim, Em.
Please don’t tell me you actually thought we were serious.”
Emily pressed
her lips together and cast her look away, her neck reddening.
“She did!”
Beckett chuckled, slapping his thigh, “am I that good of an actor?” he asked
excitedly, turning to Myles, who quietly shook his head. Emily couldn’t help
but crack a smile... how the hell did she miss that?
Myles sighed,
but his smile didn’t waver. “Emily, your personal insecurities are muddling
your clear thinking. Would you honestly think that Beckett and myself would
desert you for those two girls?”
Emily only
shrugged.
Beckett gasped,
grabbing her shoulders and enveloping her into a spine-crushing hug. “Don’t
think like that, you stupid, stupid girl. We’d never do that to you, ever, did you hear me?” he demanded,
pulling away only to smile at his best friend. Emily’s cheeks hurt from all the
smiling and she shrugged Beckett’s arms from hers. “Don’t get all emotional,
Beckett... this is a new dress,” she muttered, offering him a weak smile. Myles
laughed, an honest to God real laugh, and Emily’s chest swelled.
“You’re such an
idiot,” mused Beckett fondly, squeezing her shoulder before standing up. “And.
. .” he seized Myles’ left arm and checked the time, ignoring Myles’ scowl.
“It’s about lunch time, and I’m starving. Fancy an ice cream before we eat? I
sort of ate yours . . . by mistake,” he continued, smiling impishly.
“By all means,
brother, lead the way,” nodded Myles, glancing at Emily with a twinkle in his
eye. Emily rolled her eyes, but her grin never deserted her, and she stood
up, shrugging her bag into place. “Anything but those awful turkey sandwiches,
alright?” she called out to Beckett, who was already thirty meters away from
her.
“Next time we decide to come here I’m getting Beckett a leash. He’s got the attention span of a
Labrador poodle,” Myles voiced, slipping his hands in his pockets. Emily
nodded. “And then we’ll tie him to a pole or something, because the strength of
both of us combined is no match for that brother of yours,” she agreed,
twiddling a stray hem between her fingers. Myles nodded thoughtfully. “Acute
observation, Miss Emily Faucet.”
Emily bit back a
smile and marveled at the sky’s display; it was a cloudless day, and the
burning sun was beginning to lower itself as afternoon slowly seeped into
twilight. Both of them refused to acknowledge the elephant in the room.
“Why did you
react the way you did?” she heard Myles mumble, pulling her out of her reverie.
She blinked once. “What?”
Myles gave her a
crooked smile. “You know what I said,” he muttered quietly, quirking a single
eyebrow. Emily wasn’t going to relent just yet. “React how, exactly?” she
persisted, lacing her fingers together.
Myles hesitated.
“You know . . . you were practically steaming by the time we left you.”
Emily closed her
eyes, and rubbed her forehead. “I- I’m not sure, actually,” she replied. Yes you do, she thought sadly. They were prettier than you. Slimmer than
you . . . more sophisticated . . . you don’t stand a bloody chance.
What chance,
though? Why had she felt so angry?
What was that spiteful feeling she felt surge through her veins when Myles
smiled at that blonde ditz? Was she... was she actually... jealous?
Emily felt her
ears warm up, and quickly shook her head, hoping to dispel the confusing
thoughts that itched at the base of her skull.
Myles considered
his words carefully. “You weren’t . . . envious, were you?”
Emily felt her heart
drop, and she shook her head quickly. Too
quickly.
Myles was aware
of this, and Emily didn’t notice the subtle broadening of his beam. “There’s
nothing to envy, anyway,” he continued loftily, and Emily looked up at him, a
slow smile stretching her face. “Really?” she said, amused, and maybe just a
little slaphappy.
“Obviously,” he
scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Their hair extensions were simply repulsive, if you
want my opinion.”
Obviously.
Obviously.
Emily laughed,
and she felt like flying. “Err- thanks, Myles,” she mumbled, lifting her gaze
to meet his eyes. Myles nodded once, his smile shifting back to his permanent
frown. “Why are you being so nice to me, anyway?” she asked, smiling at him.
Myles snorted.
“Because you’re a hormonal mess with appearance issues.”
Emily groaned. “No- don’t give me that! I want nice
Myles! Give him back!” she cried, bumping her shoulder with his.
“Nonsense. I’m
always nice, you’re just too unaware to notice it,” he replied, returning the
gesture with slightly more force. Emily shook her head.
“And we were
having such a nice moment too.”
“Pity,” he said
indifferently, but his smile was back, and that made all the difference.
