The Perfect One

Chapter 17

We were at this beautiful hotel called Atlantis which had been built on an artificial island on the Arabian Sea called Palm Jumeirah.

Dad had rented a massive suite with three rooms; one for the girls, one for the guys and one for him and Mom. We had been here for three days already and every night was a typical sleepover.

On the fourth morning, I woke up because of constant knocking on the door. Whoever was on the other side, was obviously not someone who gave up easily.

I groaned. "Coming!"

I opened the door to see Jason, already dressed. "We're going swimming. Your dad wants all of us to go together."

Normally, seeing Jason early in the morning would have delighted me. But it was eight in the morning and I'd had only four hours of sleep. Naturally, I was feeling a bit grumpy. "Not coming," I said, just before slamming the door close.

But Jason had great reflexes. "Why aren't you coming?" He raised an eyebrow. I couldn't even completely appreciate how hot he looked, eyebrow raised, arms against the side wall and leg stopping the door from closing.

"I'm sleepy," I said.

"What time did you sleep last night?"

"Uh, four?"

Jason sighed. "Fine. We'll be down at the pool if you decide to come before 12." He turned around to go and I started to close the door. Except he turned around again and winked. "I love the grumpy you. Quite hot, I must say."

"You have a girlfriend," I said, still sleepy.

It wasn't until I lied down on the bed again, ready to go back to sleep, that I realized what I'd said. The guy I've had a crush on since the moment I saw him, said I looked hot and all I could reply was with a hasty, 'you have a girlfriend'.

I could have slapped myself. Except I was way too tired to bother.

~*~

It was noon by the time I was dressed and completely awake. Zoey decided to skip the pool and instead cuddled into the bed to read Harry Potter.

The pool was filled with people, enjoying the sun. I was already sweating by the time I found Jason with David. playing a game of cards. Dressed in shorts and a sleeveless shirt, Jason's hair was still wet from a swim. And, boy, did he look hot.

It was Tia's subtle nudge that shook my out of my temporay trance. I felt my cheeks go warm as I sat down next to Jason. "Hey!"

"Finally awake, sleeping beauties?" Jason asked, his eyes not leaving the cards.

I simply shrugged. "Where's Mike?"

"With Noah," David answered. "They went to get sandwiches." He turned to Stella. "Noah said you play cards fabulously. Wanna have a match?"

Stella grinned. "You're on."

David grinned back. "As soon as Jason here accepts defeat."

Jason looked up at David and sighed. "Fine. You win." He threw his cards onto the table. "Good luck, Stella. The guy is tough."

"I'll give it a shot."

Jason got up and went to sit on the other side of me as Stella sat down in front of David. The two were soon involved in what was bound to be an intense game. It was wise to leave them at it alone.

"So?" Tia said. "What did you guys do all morning?"

"Nothing much," Jason answered. "We swam a bit earlier, had a couple snacks and then came here to play." He nodded to someone behind Tia. "They're back."

Michael and Noah were loaded with much more than just a few sandwiches and it was more than enough for all of us.

"Oh. I totally forgot," Noah said as he took a swish of his soda. "Mom wanted to see you. Said something about taking you girls shopping later on."

I stood up. "I'll go see her."

"I'll come too," Jason said. "My legs need some exercise."

I chatted with Jason on the way and when we reached our suite, Mom was sitting on the sofa, doing something on her. Jason waved at me and headed to his room.

"We're going shopping?" I asked, after I was seated next to her. "

"Yeah." My mother smiled. "That is if you want to."

"I'd love it." I grinned. "I'm sure the girls would like it too."

"Great," Mom said. "Tell your friends to be ready by 4 if they want to have enough time later on."

"Will do." I gave her quick her and headed to my own room.

Zoey was still in there, sitting on the bed with her laptop.

"What's up?" I asked, settling down next to her.

"Oh." A blush rised on her cheeks, immediately making me suspicious. "Just chatting with a friend."

I raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Just a friend?"

"Yeah. Yeah." She hastily closed the browser which had been open on Facebook. "Why are you back?"

"Mom wanted to talk to me. But seriously. Who were you talking to?"

"This guy in my Bio class," she whispered.

"Has he shown any interest?" I smiled.

"Can't say."

"Well." I stood up. "I hope he does. You sure you're not coming?"

She nodded, looking relieved. "Yeah. I'll grab some food later."

"Cool. And we're going shopping later. You in?"

"Yep." She agreed. "See you then."

Jason wasn't out when I left my room. So I went to his.

The room was empty but I could here the sound of water flowing from the bathroom. I decided to wait for him there.

As I looked around the room, my eyes fell on a little flower placed on a table next one of the beds. I knew it was the wrong thing to do, but my curiosity was spiked.

I picked up the yellow daffodil and say that it was placed above a tiny jewelry box. Cautiously, I picked it up and opened it.

The necklace inside it was beautiful. It was simple, with a small silver heart with stones placed around the corner. It had a clasp on the side as well.

"It's for my mom."

I practically had a heart attack at the voice. I quickly put the box back onto the table, my heart still racing, and turned around. Except Jason was way too close behind me. So when I turned around, I also fell back.

Jason's arms were around me in a second, with a right hold around my waist. Needless to say, the position we were in did nothing to help my already racing heartbeat. He brought me back to my feet. And too soon - way too soon - his arms were no longer around me. It hadn't lasted too long, but I felt like I had gone to heaven and come back.

Crazy, I know. But that's how I saw those few seconds.

Jason, however, looked unfazed. "Sorry about that," He said, breaking the silence. "And you weren't supposed to see that."

My cheeks felt hot at that, even though I knew he was only teasing. "Sorry," I mumbled. "I was just curious."

He laughed. "It's cool. I got it yesterday when we went to that mall . . Uh, Mall of the Emirates?"

"Yeah." I nodded.

"Right. So." He looked nervous. "Do you reckon she'll like it?"

I smiled as widely as was possible, still not over our little moment. "I think she'll love it."

And then we left.

But I replayed those few seconds over and over again. Even when we went shopping later at the Dubai Mall, the largest in the region. Even while I shopped. Even the next day, when we went out to the desert and rode on these cars called Buggies, ridden on the sand. And Jason and I raced in the wind.

Those few moments were a fantasy that had come true.

~*~

The days flew by like they seemed to every time something good happened. Our two week trip came to an end and we were back in New York City.

The night we returned, my friends and their family came over to our house for dinner. It was a fun evening. We laughed and talked and reminisced our memories from the trip.

Michael was talking about the water sports he had played when the phone rang.

"I'll get it." I jumped up and rushed to get the phone which was kept just outside the living room.

"Hellooo? " I practically sang into the phone.

There was no reply. Confused, I said,"Hello? Is anybody there?"

"Uh," the voice said but didn't continue.

"Who's speaking?" I asked.

And then the voice said. "Kirsten? It's me."

I froze and the phone fell out of my hand and dropped to the floor with a loud clash.

~*~

(A/N) Hello readers ^^
Gosh, am I glad I managed to get that completed. :o
No points for guessing who was on the phone, mind you :P But I do rather like the way I wrote it. Dramatic, I know. :P

Please please please tell me what you thought about this whole chapter. :D
Also, this is dedicated to the most fabulous city on earth. ^^
(I know that's really weird cause people don't really dedicate chapters to cities. But Dubai deserves it, methinks. And more than that. But that's the least I can do. :D :P)

Okay. Enough chatting.
I've finally reached the awesome parts of the book. And even though a reader may have seen this coming, Kirsten didn't. And that's kinda what counts, right?
I've got winter vacation from next week - YAY - so I'm going to try and upload more. And maybe focus more on this book and try to finish it ASAP.
If you're reading, drop in a comment and vote maybe? :3

Buh-Bye. x)