At age 12, Maliah's twin brother Malik drowned. Eight years later, she's still coping with the trauma of her loss. Though she visits their favorite beach for fond memories, she is yet to enter the water.
When a familiar stranger offers to help comba...
I'd been sitting on the floor behind my door for over an hour feeling like crap. Why on earth did I care so much about what he thought about the kiss? I didn't even like him anyway. Maybe it was the mere fact that he stole my first kiss and said it didn't mean anything.
I needed to get up off this stupid floor. I needed to focus on moving forward with my life. I needed to get over my fear of the water and learn to finally cope with Malik's lost. I wouldn't get far if I sat on the floor and mope all day about him. He was nothing to me in the beginning and would never be anything in the end.
I pushed my body off the floor and willed my legs to stand upright. My face was sticky from the salty, useless tears I cried for him. I made my way slowly towards my bathroom sink and slapped the tap water over my cheeks and forehead. Taking a deep breath, I peered mindlessly at my unruly hair in the mirror.
"Focus. Just focus. Let him help me and get over with it." I said as I brushed my hair into a neat bun.
After a short bath and getting ready in a one piece black swimsuit, I sat on the couch and twiddled my thumbs over Rion's name in my call log. I bit my cheek and swiped call.
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"Hey Maliah... what's up?"
"I'm ready to start back." I said in a crisp business-like voice.
"Really? Uh... ok. When?"
"Now."
Silence. At first I thought he'd hung up but then...
"Oh. Well I'll be there shortly."
Almost ten minutes later I heard the heavy rumble of his van outside. I didn't wait until he came knocking, I just swung the beach bag over my shoulder and bolted through the door towards his idling van.
"That was fast. Were you looking out for me?" He smirked.
"No. I have keen ears. Now lets go. You're wasting time."
Rion jerked his head back at my clipped tone and answers. Maybe he thought we were friends or something but I wasn't any. This was a business transaction and he was my teacher that's all.
~~~~~~ Two weeks had passed and I was making progress. Though it was small, it seemed like a big deal to me. I was able to walk to the shoreline without any assistance. When we arrived at the beach the day he told me that our kiss meant nothing, I made it clear to Rion that the lessons were all business. I even offered to pay him but he refused. I told him that he couldn't touch me in my personal space or where I deemed as personal. At first he was a bit apprehensive but he worked his way around it.
I couldn't allow him to touch me on my stomach and make contact against my body with his own. That was a negative. We practiced every other day on early mornings before work hours. At times I was too tired to stay awake after lunch. Anya of course questioned it but I brushed it off.
