Together (Sequel of 'Broken Hearts')

Chapter 31: Nazar

I waited until Ante was done checking my bags to see if I had forgotten anything before going downstairs. 

"I think we are done. We have everything needed for these two weeks of holidays." Ante said, putting loudly my bags on the ground not too far from me. "Jonathan and Martha should be there soon. Ethan, do you want anything to drink while we wait for them to arrive?"

"I'm good, thank you." He answered before adding. "Can I take this coloring book with me?"

"Sure. You can put it in your little bag with your other toys. But don't put too many things in it or it will be heavy."

When Jonathan and Martha arrived, Ante put our bags in their truck before leading me toward my seat. Ethan sat next to me and the truck started a few minutes later. From what Ante told me, the boat wasn't on the beach but further away from town, in a quieter area. He told me he had booked two rooms. Each had a double bed and a small bathroom. There also was a small bed for children in a separate area hidden by a curtain. The plan was to have Ethan sleep in our room and, if everything went well, have him sleep in the other room by the end of the two weeks.

The trip was short and quiet and I waited for Ante to open the door and hold my arm before getting out. I let Ante guide me and smiled as the smell of the sea became stronger. I could hear various people talk around us and I guessed we were waiting to board. I had always loved boats so being able to spend two weeks on one was incredible. And, from what I've been told, there were tons of activities that I couldn't wait to try and discover.

"We're going on this boat?!" Ethan exclaimed, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Yes! For two weeks." Ante answered, making Ethan gasp.

"It's so big!!!" 

I smiled slightly at his answer and the awe in his voice. I was glad we seemed to share our love for boats. After a while, we went on the boat and Ante led us toward our room. I slowly walked around the room, a hand on the wall and the other in front of me to discover where I was going to live for the next two weeks. The room was simple but cosy. I sat on the bed and listened to Ethan ask questions about the different activities we could do.

"Why don't we go on the deck and wait to see the boat leave the shore?" Ante proposed, making me nod. 

I wouldn't be able to see any of it but feeling the boat move under my feet was a nice feeling. Ethan seemed to love the idea as well, hearing his excited gasp. We waited until Martha and Jonathan were done putting their bagages in their room and we went back up on the deck. I listened to Ante describing what he was seeing and tried to imagine how it looked. 

"You know, there are some hot tubs available in an area downstairs. You can book one of them if you want some privacy... Maybe we could do that one of these days if Ethan feels comfortable enough to stay with Martha and Jonathan..." Ante whispered as we were waiting for us to leave the shore.

"Sounds good." I replied, a smirk on my face. I really hoped we would be able to have an afternoon to ourselves. It had been a while.

I smiled as the boat started to move, leaving the shore. Our holiday was officially starting and this was going to be our house for the next two weeks. To start, we all headed toward the restaurant to eat lunch. 

"We're seated right in front a giant bay window with a view on the infinity of the ocean. It's truly gorgeous." Ante explained, making me smile. I could feel the sun on my skin, warming my back and my arms softly.

He began to read the menu softly and gave me a minute to pick something. 

"Can I get chicken and fries?" Ethan asked on my left.

"Sure. I'm taking the Grilled Oysters, you can try one if you want to." Ante answered on my right.

"I will take the Stir-fried prawns and Brussels sprouts."

Jonathan and Martha took a little longer to choose but ended up picking Spaghetti with mussels. The peculiar smell of food reached my nose a while after, making my stomach growl softly. Our table got quiet as we all started to dig into our plates, tasting our meal.

"Here, try this." Ante said, taking my free hand and putting a Oyster in it. "Do you want to try it?"

I put my fork down and carefully brought the Oyster close to my nose and mouth. I gulped it, only leaving the shell. It was really good. 

"It looks weird." Ethan said in a small voice, making me smile slightly. Looks like he wasn't a fan of sea food.

"You don't have to try if you don't want to."

"Would you like to try the mussels? The taste isn't as strong so you might enjoy it." Martha proposed, adding herself into the conversation.

"Mmh, no thank you. Maybe another time." He replied politely, making us chuckle.

Months ago, he wouldn't have dared to answer back, too afraid of the potential consequences. This meant that he trusted us enough to make sure we wouldn't let anyone hurt him and that, maybe, he was starting to feel more comfortable around them too.

"How do you organize yourself for holidays? It mustn't be easy with all the meetings you have." Jonathan asked as we were eating.

"It's not that hard, to be honest. I just need to plan in advance so I can schedule the meetings for later. And for the ones that can't wait until I'm back, my colleague Imogen help me and take some of these meetings. Another of our colleague who lives on the other side of the town takes the others. And I do the same when needed." Ante explained before asking the same thing back. "I guess it's different when you run a farm, no?"

"We can count on one hand the holidays we took since we got married!" Jonathan said before adding. "My father and my grand father were running this farm before me. With the globalization and the increasingly common exchanges between countries, it was difficult to keep up with big stores. We don't have a big farm and it took us a while to upgrade our equipments. But things are a lot better now."

"This will be our longest holidays so far. We can't thank you enough for this opportunity." Martha added and it was easy to hear the smile in her voice.

"Can we go in the swimming pool after?" Ethan asked in a soft voice.

"Sure. Do you know how to swim?" Ante asked back immediately.

"No..."

"I could teach you, if you want." Martha proposed after a few seconds of silence.

"Okay!"

And that was it. Just like that, our afternoon was planned.  Many years ago, before Ante and I got together, Thomas who used to leave next door , tried to teach me how to swim. It went alright and I managed to float without sinking but I doubted that, after so many years, I would still be able to do it. But it wouldn't hurt to try. I was always up for new challenges...