Darius's apartment building was glorious. It was towering, looked beautiful from outside and had a lot of amenities. When I stepped out on his floor, it had only one door. So he had a floor all to himself.
Despite being nervous to see Darius like this, invading his space because of my impatience to see Braxton and not having even asked if it was okay to come over, I moved on without hesitation. It seemed like I wasn't going to care about anything until I spoke with Braxton.
I pressed the doorbell and it was opened in seconds with him filling the doorway. He looked different than all the times I'd seen him at Braxton's house or the studio. Unlike the other times when he was dressed beautifully, emanating a lovely aura that instantly made people stop and stare, he was now in huge shirt that swallowed his form and sweatpants. He looked like a regular person.
"That was quick," he said and let me inside after I stood there just staring at him for a little longer without saying anything.
I expected to see something extravagant like the building was but his living room was simplistic yet elegant. Not a lot of furniture took up space and it was clean and nice. It appealed to me.
I decided then that I'd get an apartment like this for myself in the future.
I refused anything he offered for me to eat.
"So what brings you here?" He asked as we sat on his couch.
"Don't tell Maggie, but I need to see Braxton. Like right now. I know he's on some remote island, God knows how safe that is and Maggie seems unconcerned about it. But I'm not. Will you tell me where exactly is this island? I need to go there."
"He didn't tell you before he left?" He asked.
I hid a sigh of exasperation. Everyone was answering my question with another one of theirs.
"No."
"That's surprising," he said, leaning forward to scrutinize me. "Did you guys fight?"
"No, we just had a, a little misunderstanding."
"And it can't wait until he comes back for you to clear it?"
I shook my head defiantly. "I want to see him today. I don't want him to misunderstand me for any longer."
"What happened?"
I had hoped he wouldn't ask but he did and all I could do was give him a uncomfortable look.
A second later, he nodded. "Seems like a private matter. Sorry I asked."
I waited for him to give me the location but he just raised his hand and tugged at his hoop earring. "Well?" I prodded. "The island-"
"I'm not going to tell you."
I deflated at his outright refusal. "What? Why?"
"Because you plan to go off there alone and I can't allow that. Braxton told us about your situation. You really do look a lot like that girl who ran away from home-Juliet, wasn't it?"
"I'll be fine. I have travelled alone before and it hadn't been a problem then."
"Braxton doesn't think so. He cares about you and doesn't want you to get hurt. I won't be the one to put you in danger by sending you off alone. In fact," he leaned over to grab his phone. "I will make sure neither Imani nor Geun give you any information. Just go back and wait two days for him to come back."
"No," I shrieked, lunging at him without giving it a thought. The next thing I realized, I was holding his wrist to restrain him from calling anyone and my other hand was resting on his shoulder.
His eyes fell to my hand on his shoulder, then to the one holding his wrist. He raised an eyebrow at me. "Are you going to manhandle me in my own house?"
"You're right. Let's take this outside," I said dryly.
I released him. He straightened his shirt where I had bunched it up near his shoulder and shot me an unimpressed look.
"Someone's gotten bold," he remarked.
"Side effect of desperation," I said quietly. "And you're not helping."
"If he wanted to talk to you, he would've been here. But he's there and if you go after him, you're going to scare the fuck out of him because this is bordering on stalkerish fan behavior."
"But I'm also his friend. And we need to clear some things. He needs to hear me out. It can't wait. I can't wait." I said, hoping I was conveying my urgency.
"Sorry, no. You're not going anywhere," he said flatly.
My shoulders sagged. "All right." I shot up to my feet. "Then I guess that leaves me to search for that island myself. I've been told he has been there many times before. Surely there must be past photos, news or anything about him on that island. I will leave for the first one I find so I can just hope it doesn't turn out to be the wrong one."
Darius gave me a look that annoyed dads do when their child is, well, annoying them.
"In which case, you will be more or less responsible for what happens to me," I added.
He rose up to his full height and I craned back my neck to meet his eyes. "Give me fifteen minutes. It seems we're going on vacation."
"We?"
He nodded. "Because there's no way I'm letting you go anywhere alone."
I flashed a palm at him. "That's not necessary. I'll be fine!"
"Let's not waste any more time arguing about this. We're going to Braxton. Together."
He gave me no chance to speak and disappeared into his room where I heard him start packing. I didn't want him to waste his time just to make sure I reached there safe but it seemed he wasnt going to listen.
Thirty minutes later, he had driven me out to a marina where various fishing boats and yachts were idling.
"I couldn't arrange for a yacht on such a short notice. We'll have to search for one here," he informed me when we arrived.
"I'm sure we'll find one," I said, looking around for it. "So how long will it take to get there?"
"Two hours typically."
That sent a thrill down my spine. I'd see Braxton in two hours. I hadn't really thought of what to say to him when we meet. I was anxious to just see him after all these days but with the added realization that he might have feelings for me, like I did for him.
Darius was talking to a man working on his yacht. I hadn't realized I fell behind while lost in my own thoughts. I hurried over to them.
"Aw man. I have to go there again?" He groaned. "I've just returned from dropping off a bunch of annoying high school kids and a man running away from some girl three days ago."
"Well, it's most likely that this girl here is dragging me there to chase after that same man," Darius said, much to my embarrassment.
"Will you take us there, please?" I asked, my cheeks still burning red.
The man gave me a fleeting glance, then whipped his head toward me so fast, I actually heard a crack. He stepped close and leaned down to stare at my face which I further hid behind my hair and scarf. "Hey, you kind of look like that girl. My cousin–"
Suddenly my view was blocked by a broad, muscled back. "You didn't name the price," Darius said. "Don't worry about the money, you can ask whatever amount you want."
The man was thankfully distracted by that as he eagerly forgot about me, too interested in Darius's offer.
After the pay was settled, Norman–that was his name, led us into his yacht. It was big and pretty, with a slight hint of fish in the air.
"It's beautiful," I told him in which he took delight.
"She's called Destiny."
"Nice name. It suits her."
Norman looked like he wanted to cry.
"A-are you okay?" I asked, not knowing it what I said affected him in a good way or bad.
"I like you. You're really nice to Destiny. Not like some girl that was on here who called her all sorts of names," he groused. "It was only because she was my cousin's friend that I held back from tossing her into the ocean," he looked at my confused expression and clarified,"–the high school kids I was talking about earlier."
I nodded in understanding.
Then his eyes brightened as if he remembered something. "Which reminds me, you look like that girl with my cousin–"
"How old is Destiny?!" We both jumped when Darius shouted the question from the other end of the deck.
As Norman answered, Darius strode towards me, grabbed my hand and led me inside into the cabins, throwing a "wow, she's practically antique!", at Norman.
"Stay here. Do not come out until I come for you. Norman might mistake you for Juliet. He seems to know her."
I nodded. "Sorry, I just wanted to tell him his yacht was nice."
"You'll be here for two hours. Do you need anything?"
I shook my head.
He nodded. "I'll come by in a bit to ask again."
He turned to leave.
"Darius," I called out.
He stopped and looked over his shoulder at me.
"Thank you for coming with me. I know I'm being selfish, wasting your time over my demands but I really appreciate that you're here for my safety."
He gave me a small smile before he left.
I sat on the one small bed the cabin had, wondering how to pass the time as I looked around.
Something bright flashed at my eye and I squinted at the floor to see what had caught the rays of sunshine streaming from the window and reflecting at me.
I dropped down on all floors to take a closer look, sure that my eyes were lying to me.
But no. It was confirmed that it was not somebody else's because my picture was still in it, alongside a middle aged couple who were Braxton's parents.
The thing shining on the cabin floor of a yacht which Braxton was on three days ago was the drum pendant I had given him. Discarded. Abandoned. Throw away as if it was nothing of value.
Just in case you're confused Julia's story is running three days behind Juliet's. That why Norman had returned from the island after dropping Braxton and Juliet's friends. Things will be more clear in Juliet's chapter.
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