Ray Of Sunshine

Chapter 42: Shark!

Me and Michael walk down the street side by side in silence. He's barely said anything to me today. I'm not sure what I've done, or if he's in a bad mood? I can't work him out. He's wearing his damn sunglasses too, so that makes it even harder to read him. He looks so sexy in them though, especially because his hair is damp from the sea. I've seen so many girls check him out, and even some guys. He's that handsome he gets men lusting after him...

"This is my second time at a beach." I say, breaking the awkward silence.

Michael turns his head and looks at me with his poker face.

"Your second time?"

"Yeah. The first time I ever went to a beach was when I was 4 or 5 years old, with my mom and dad."

"Oh..."

"It's one of the very few good memories I have of my dad." I show a little smile.

"This is really only your second time?"

"Yeah." I chuckle. "Being at the beach reminds me of my dad, so I guess that's why I haven't been to one since."

"You should have said if you didn't-"

"No, I wanted to come today. I like watching you and Jessie have fun together... it's nice, and it was good of Janet to invite me."

Michael shows a little smile.

"I'm making new memories of being on a beach now anyway." I smile.

"Yeah." Michael laughs softly.

We look away from each other and walk in silence again for a few seconds.

"Have you seen your mother this week?" Michael asks.

"Yeah. Every day almost." I nod.

"How is she doing?"

"She hasn't been feeling well... she has a nasty cough, and it's making it even more difficult for her to breathe."

"Oh..."

"Tina is taking good care of her though, and I've asked Ashton how mom's doing today, and he said she's a bit better."

"That's good." Michael smiles.

"Yeah." I nod.

"You never said your mother's name is Freya."

I look at him.

"The day I came to pick you up from your mom's, I heard Tina call her Freya."

"Oh, yeah." I nod slowly. "I just didn't think to mention it... I didn't want to bring it up and possibly upset you or something."

"It just surprised me." Michael nods and looks away from me. "A weird coincidence."

"I thought that when I first started working for you, and saw Jessica's middle name was Freya... I wasn't aware at the time that that was your wife's name."

"Yeah." He shows a little smile and looks down, pausing for a moment before looking at me again. "What's your middle name?"

"Rita." I make a face.

"Rita?" He smiles. "You don't like it?"

"Mmm, it's ok. I just think my name sounds old."

"Vanessa Rita Adam's. Yeah, it does, doesn't it?" Michael smirks.

A shiver runs down my spine hearing him say my full name. He doesn't make it sound old, he makes it sound sexy.

"Shut up." I give him a look and giggle. "My mom wanted me to have it some where in my name because of her being from Spain. It means Pearl, by the way... apparently." I raise an eyebrow.