The Long Road Home || h.s. au

Chapter Four

"Have yeh got all settled, then?" El asked as Sia finished putting her makeup on. She was getting ready for her day out on the island, and she figured she'd at least look a little nice for the occasion. "No more icky feelings about bein' alone?"

"Yeah, I've gotten used to it. Kinda nice being by myself for a bit and still gettin' paid for it, honestly," she admitted with a chuckle. She swiped on the last bit of her lipgloss before capping it. She tossed it in her purse, just in case she needed it again before she came back. "Especially now that it's day time and I'll be out exploring a bit."

"Any hints as to who the artist is?" El asked excitedly. Sia thought she was more excited to know who was to show up than she was herself. She thought it was quite endearing of her friend to be so excited, even though she'd have nothing to do with them.

"Nah, Jeff hasn't said a word. He did drop that it was a guy, though."

Ellen squealed as Sia laughed. Her friend started listing off all these amazing artist Sia could potentially be spending the next two months in close quarters with. Sia didn't have the heart to remind her that it was to be a new artist, since this would be their first go round, and none of the very well-versed artists she'd been listing. She just let her go on until she ran out of guesses.

"Yeh done?" Sia asked over a chuckle.

"Yeah, I'm done. I need to let yeh go, though. My break's nearly over. Some of us have to stick to schedules still," El joked, poking fun at Sia's comment of getting paid to just hang out on a tropical island for the time being.

"Oh, shut it," she scolded playfully. "I'll let yeh get going. Have fun at your stuffy job! Talk to yeh later."

Ellen huffed at her goodbye as Sia cackled a little bit, hanging up on her.

It was a beautiful day when Sia stepped out the front door, locking it behind her. She slipped her sunnies onto her nose and relished in the way the slight breeze ruffled her sundress around her thighs and the way the gravel crunched slightly beneath her sandals. She couldn't help but smile gleefully as she made her way out to the main road. The house came with bikes, so she snagged one from the area beside the house and took off toward the city, knowing it would likely only take her about fifteen minutes in order to get to the main part of town.

Sia spent the afternoon strolling through the town, popping into the local shoppes and stopping off at a cafe to grab a cup of iced coffee and a sandwich for lunch. There were quite a few tourists around with her, but the majority of the people she encountered were locals, running the shoppes and greeting her as she walked past store fronts. She picked up a cool braided bracelet she thought El would like and even got a macrame choker for herself, a charm with the Aries sign—her zodiac—engraved into it dangling from the center.

When Sia took a seat at a small table for two outside of the cafe she bought lunch at, she crossed her leg over the other and sat back, relaxing under the shade of the umbrella at her table. She'd forgotten to grab a hat before darting out the door, and she could feel the heat on her head. She didn't want to get burnt on her very first full day on the island, so she was grateful for the reprieve.

"Your anklet is beautiful," a woman sat at the table next to her complimented, looking at the little gold anklet with a delicate little butterfly charm.

Sia smiled at her. The woman had a strong Australian accent, and Sia figured she was a tourist. "Thank you. Was a gift from my friend for my eighteenth birthday. She said I had too good of ankles to not be adorned by something pretty."

The woman laughed with Sia. "And what about the bracelet?" she asked innocently, nodding to the accessory on Sia's wrist.

The innocuous question had Sia's throat tightening and her jaw clenching to keep her emotions at bay. Unlike the little chain on her ankle, the black beaded bracelet on her wrist with the little silver charm with a Celtic knot representative of 'forever' was not given to her by Ellen. It was actually a gift from Harry after they'd first got together. They'd been friends for ages, and he thought it was a pretty big deal that they'd decided to start up a relationship together. The bracelet was a gift, marking the occasion, and Sia had not taken it off since. She'd nearly ripped it off herself in a fit of rage when she'd first learned that Harry had left her just to get with the faux supermodel, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. Harry was more than her boyfriend of three years; he was her best friend, and no amount of anger could really negate all the memories she had with him and the love she still held for him. She hated him for what he did to her, but she loved him in her soul, and nothing could change that. Even if she had been pissed at him for the last year.