‘His family owns this place.’
That one statement from Mr. Reed left my brain swirling. Aiden's family owned this high-end beach resort?
Oh my god, it all made sense now. Mr. Reed had said he'd heard about me from Kara. And I remember Kara mentioning that her family owned a chain of hotels and resorts, hence why she'd opted for a degree in hospitality management back in college.
It's not that I wasn't aware of the fact that Kara came from the 1% scale of high society, it's just that I was a little astounded at the extent to which she was. And now, I couldn't help but be a little intrigued by it all.
How could someone like her be fine with letting Aiden's grandma suppress her the way she did? Because yes, Aiden's grandma was stinking rich, but Kara was obviously not far behind herself, and could very much cut off the older woman and her controlling ways from her life if she so wished. So, why was she choosing to put up with all of it?
In the end, I decided to lay those thoughts to rest for now, letting my mind return to what was going on around me. And believe me, it was a lot.
Henry, on his part, was now staring wide-eyed from Mr. Reed to Aiden, barely managing to voice: “y-your family...owns...”
While he was stuttering away, Aiden was now saying, “oh right, Mr. Reed, we ran into old acquaintances who apparently are staying here for the week.”
It was only then that the older man stopped to take note of the gawking pair. “Oh, yes, you're the couple that checked in the mini suite two days ago, right?”
“Yes,” Henry answered eagerly.
“I hope you've been enjoying your stay so far?” He questioned, face breaking into a polite smile.
This time, it was Sia that spoke up, her usual chirpiness setting in. “Yes, very much.”
“Well, that's nice.”
“It is,” Aiden voiced in agreement with the older man. “But from what I've heard this week is their...” He trailed off ‘unsurely,’ throwing the couple a look that translated to: ‘what was that thing again?’
And of course, Sia was more than eager to say, “I would die without you-versary.”
Even Mr. Reed, despite his best efforts, couldn't quite hide his flashing look of: ‘say what now?’
Aiden, on his part, offered a small: “yeah,” confirming her response was what he had in mind. “Which is why I thought we should find a way to make it a little nicer for them,” he continued. “More like an upgrade.”
“Of course. I would have done so from the start if I knew they were acquaintances of yours. But not to worry, I'd arrange for them to be moved to a masters suite immediately.”
“That sounds good but I was thinking you could prepare the villa suite.”
“Oh, you’ll be staying over tonight?”
Mr Reed’s question was met with a small shake of head from Aiden. “Actually, I’d like you to set them up in the villa suite.”
For a second there, the older man seemed quite stunned by the response. However, he was soon saying, “of course, I will do so right away.”
Someone else though, wasn’t quite as calm in expressing their feelings on the matter.
“Villa suite?” Sia echoed, half screaming. “Oh my god!”
She was now tugging excitedly at Henry's arm, her face beaming. “Baby, did you hear that? We’re moving to the villa suite!”
The boy she was talking to however, seemed in something of a daze. Not like I blamed him. I guess after all his oh-so-subtle gloating from a few minutes ago, he was still struggling to come to terms with this new reality he found himself in.
“Isn't that great?”
“Yeah,” he answered, albeit a little weakly, face sheepish. But if Sia noticed, she definitely didn't show it.
“Thanks so much, Aiden. You don't know how happy you've made us. Right, baby?”
At her nudging, Henry voiced a small: “yes, thank you.”
Aiden waved a dismissive hand in response. “Oh, it's fine. Besides seeing as you're someone my girlfriend used to know, it's the least I could do.”
Henry could offer a small nod, with his lips stretched into a tight-lipped smile.
A moment later though, Aiden's voice was slicing through in a declaration of: “well, it was nice to meet you guys, but we kind of have a party to return to, so...”
“Right, I understand,” Sia piped up, not missing her usual chirpy note. “I'm just really glad that I got to meet you guys. Although, to be honest, I kind of knew we'd all end up running into each other like this tonight.”
Huh?
god, I hope she's not about to start relating a story or something.
But my hopes were soon to be crushed to dust with her addition of: “you know, my mom always tells me that I have this super strong sixth sense. It's kind of like an ability at this point.”
Oh, well, here we go.
“I mean,” she continued animatedly. “I've just felt something inside me all night that told me to...”
Shut up?
However, the words she instead voiced were: “...come out here. I just knew I had to come out tonight. And there was this inner voice that kept guiding me like: ‘go, this way, Sia. No, don't go right, or left. Just keep going straight because something amazing and totally unexpected is waiting for you ahead.’ It was the voice of destiny.”
We stared blankly at her for a second or two after she finished her spirited explanation. And it was clear we both had the same thought running through our minds: ‘what the hell did I just hear?’
The voice of destiny? Seriously? What even was that?
Well, I'd also appreciate it if that voice of destiny spoke to me earlier as well. Maybe something like: ‘don't stand here for a second longer, Aria. Leave immediately, else you'll run into your annoying ex and his super hyper girlfriend.’
However, in the face of Sia's grin, I chose to keep those thoughts to myself, opting instead for a monotone: “wow, that is really...interesting.”
“I know, right?” She gushed, to which I offered a tight-lipped smile. “I feel like you really get me. We're almost like soul sisters.”
Girl, what?
I didn't even get a word in before she was already throwing her hands around me in a hug, saying, “I'm going to miss you so much.”
Well, this was awkward as hell.
And I was certain it got even more so, when lost as to what to do, one of my hands moved to tap unsurely at her back, with the only thing I could think to say being: “oh, thanks.”
Yeah, as I said, awkward as hell.
Hence, I was more than relieved when a moment later, she was pulling away, the chirpy grin never once leaving her face.
I, however, had now turned my attention to a particular boy who had something of a smile on his face when he said, “it was nice to see you again, Aria. I guess, um, take care.”
“Yeah,” I answered simply. “You too."
“Yeah.”
A little later, and we were saying our byes – more to Mr. Reed than to the couple, actually. And of course, I'd smartly pretended not to hear Sia's suggestion that we ‘keep in touch.’
One word – nope.
Anyway, we were soon leaving the couple. However, Aiden stopped, to add, “and oh, Mr, Reed, you might also want to give them a refund. From what I heard, it took them over a year of planning to make this trip. We should at least be considerate of how much effort it must have taken for them to get here.”
“Will do,” Mr. Reed answered dutifully.
Henry's sheepish face was the last thing I saw before we were leaving the pair, Sia's thanks trailing after us.
And honestly, even I couldn't help but feel a little grateful, albeit for different reasons. Hence I wasn't surprised when the words that slipped off my lips were: “thank you.” In the face of his puzzled look, I added, “thanks for swooping in back there, and saving me from looking like a total loser.”
“Hey, no one gets to make my best friend look like a loser – well, except for me of course,” he sallied, earning him a light shove from me, the both of us chuckling.
And somewhere between the bubbling mirth, and the comforting feel of the cool night air throwing wisps of hair across my face, I realized something as I stared at the boy beside me – Sia and Henry were both wrong.
In the little time I'd spent with them tonight, they'd done a great job of pointing out that I was alone. And yeah, for a moment there, I also bought into it.
But then in the middle of all that, he came along, planting himself firmly beside me, and pulling me close, making it clear to the duo that I wasn't at all alone.
And though, all of that was obviously an act he put up for my sake, it had felt very much real in this way that was strangely warm and comforting. Not ‘real’ as in I thought he was actually into me, but real in the sense that I knew I had him – although not in the romantic way we portrayed.
But I just had him; I always have. Yes, I might have been the poster face for the international association of single girls during these past two years, but I was never alone. He was always right there with me – well, even if it's mostly to drive me nuts with all his crazy antics.
But hey, who was I kidding? I loved him anyway.
And of course, I mean love as in friend love. As in: I love him because he is my friend. Because that's what I meant. Friend love, friendship love, love for friend, friendly…
Gosh, I really am going crazy, aren't I?