Ridge (six years ago)
It's my third day on this island and except for the first day I haven't gone out of my cabin much. This place is full of humans and as someone who hates socialising, it's like hell on earth for me. But since the cabin I am staying in is in an isolated area, it feels calm and peaceful here even though it's taking every single particle of ego in me to agree with that.
The sun wasn't down yet, people were sitting around the beach waiting for the sunset, whereas some were dancing to some music. This place is everything a city can never be. I came out in search of a good drink, walking around. But all the bars were packed with people
After walking around for 10 minutes, I found a decent bar that wasn't packed with people. Taking a seat at the very corner of the bar I took out my phone to call someone but... didn't know who.
The bar is at the shore of the beach, an open area letting the cool breeze in. Even in the mid-summer, it's still kind of chilly. A song playing in the background and everyone is busy with themselves.
"What can I get for you?" A voice calls me, making me turn around towards the bar, and catching a pair of emerald green staring at me.
"Mara?" I said at the same time she said, "You?"
"Not bitch this time?" She asked.
"You are still stuck in that, aren't you?" I asked her with a smirk. I still remember how she ran away that night when I started teasing her. She wasn't there because she was interested in me which kind of made me interested in her, not that I'm gonna say it out loud. But I was also right when I called her kid.
She is a kid.
"Of course I'm stuck. You don't normally get called a bitch." The sweet smile is nowhere found but instead a glare sits now.
"You don't? That's surprising." I replied tilting my head which made her even more mad.
"You think you are funny, frizz? But let me tell you something, you are one of the most debilitated, annoying human beings I have ever come across with." She said to me bending a little, putting her elbows on the table which exposed a bit of her chest and my eyes automatically dropped on them but she was so busy glaring at me to even notice it.
Looking at her attire I asked, "You work here?" But she seems to be an urban girl and the whole story made me listen to how she faked her accent to sound English. Yes, as shocking as it sounds I do remember every single word she said that night. It was a shitty day but somehow she made me laugh even though she has an annoying personality that never stops talking.
"You tell me since you have this impropriety to act like an omniscient." She snapped at me. God, her cheeks are so red and edible. How will it feel if I put my cold fingers on them? Will I feel warm?
"You know you are too rude for someone to work in a bar." I said looking around, "So it won't be wrong if I make a complaint about you, right?"
"Giving people a reality check is not being rude but a service." She said while smiling sweetly at me batting her lashes.
This little
"Get me a martini." I said to her, to which she replied "We don't have that."
"Okay, then a negroni."
"We don't have that either." She replied immediately.
"Then how about a glass of whiskey highball?" I asked again and she shook her head with a frown as a reply.
"Then what do you guys have?" What's the point of running a bar if you do not have any alcohol?
"Uh....exit? Which I 100% recommend you to take." She replied with a smirk.
"Being sarcastic huh?" I asked, shaking my head at her. "Does the owner know that they hired a fucking kid with a broken humor to work in their bar who is kicking customers away?"
When she didn't reply I went on, "Or that she approaches strange men in the bar to speak about her childhood until the man blacked out because of boredness instead of alcohol?"
"Are you done," her sass was making me intrigued to speak more but I rather shook my head with a smug smile.
"I hope you choke on the shit you talk and die, asshole," she whispered, bringing her lips near my ears, making her warm breath touch me.
I slowly turned my head a bit towards the left which brought our mouths just a breath away from touching, "but I'd rather choke you." I said with a wink.
Her face was so close to me that I could see how quickly her cheeks turned red making her look like a fucking cherry. Eyes wide staring at me as she paused at that moment feeling the heat and temptation that was almost killing me since the first time we met but a second later she snapped out and stood straight, taking her warmness away. "You are impossible," she said, replacing her eyes which were full of desire to anger.
"So, are you gonna run away again?" I asked.
"No, I won't. I am not scared of you." She answered immediately with gritted teeth.
"I didn't say you are," she was now giving me the biggest scowl one could have. "Sit with me," I said to her gently.
And god forbid if I know why.
"It's a bar, not a strip club where you can ask the waiter to drink with you." She growls at me. Were we talking about stripping? This woman.
"I am not asking you to strip but I won't stop either if you want." I said with a smug face, "But right now I just wish you to sit with me." I said softly.
Her expression changed and the scowl shifted into a frown and after what seemed like an eternity she said, "Let me get you a drink first."
Ten minutes later she was back holding a tray with a glass of martini and in another a water bottle. She was out of her apron and in dark jeans swallowing her legs and a simple white top.
"Your drink." She said placing the glass in front of me and keeps on standing until I wave her to sit. Do I know why I ask her to accompany me? No. But was it weird and totally out of my character? Yes.
We sat there for twenty minutes, nobody said anything, just enjoying the quietness of the beach. It was completely dark now, the sun was down and the beach was empty as people headed to various bars across the street.
"You from States?" I asked, finally breaking the silence to which she just nodded still looking towards the beach. Her face was glowing with the sea light falling on her one side.
"My family is from Madrid but they are currently in New York." She explains.
"And you'll be going back to New York or Madrid?" I asked more.
This time she turned her head towards me, meeting my gaze, "Madrid."
"And where are you from?" But before I could answer "Let me guess." She suddenly lit up, smiling widely. Like my breaking of silence gave her a green sign to speak. Is that why she was so quiet? "You must be from England."
Smiling at how she finds joy in such small things, "How do you know?" I said playing along.
And she just shrugged at it saying, "Call it my intuition. So where in England?"
"Doesn't your intuition know that too?" I said with a small smile, "London."
"The city of dreams? But in your case, it must be a nightmare." She laughed at her joke which even made me smile.
Why does it feel so easy to smile? People normally don't call me grim reaper.
"Why are you working in the bar?" I wondered why a young girl working at a bar on a strange island on another continent.
"I just wanted the feel of being a local." She replied with a soft smile. God, she is such a creation.
"In inland where the maximum population is a tourist?" I asked in amusement.
"It's not the only island I have visited so it's okay if it doesn't feel entirely like a local." She said with a smile trying to open the water bottle that she brought with her.
"How many places have you gone till yet?" I felt interested when I never gave a shit about anyone's life. I was indeed acting weird. I took the water bottle from her while she started naming the places at the same time counting them in her tiny fingers.
"Uh...I went to Puglia first, then Madagascar, Faroe Island, Nicaragua, Congo, and then to the Channel." She finished proudly. I gave her the bottle back to drink it after speaking so much. "And why are you on the Channel? You certainly don't look like someone who is here because he wants to." She finishes. Is it that obvious?
"It's complicated. But you are right, I am not here because I want to." I said not to explain too much. I was almost expecting her to ask more but all she did was nod like she understood.
"How long are you here for?" She asked again.
"Three months," I replied. Three months and I could go back to London. Three months until the Wright is officially mine.
"What a coincidence I am here for three months as well." She said beaming up.
"More like how unlucky I am to have your presence here for all my three months," I said teasingly.
"Shut up and I am in very good company. You just simply don't want to agree or else your masculinity will feel wounded," she tilted her head up, ready to oppose me. "So tell me how do you feel?" She asked suddenly.
"How do I feel?" I asked her with a small smile amused by how she is always happy and carefree. How she could make someone's life easy just by existing. Will she make my life easy as well if she was mine? But I didn't let my brain go in that direction further.
"To explore these great islands with me. Cause I am pretty sure you have no idea what you're doing." She said with a playful grin that I wanted to kiss.
Can I kiss her?
"Sorry but my mental health is too precious to ruin it because of you," I said with a smile. Why do I sound like a teenager who wants to look in front of his crush?
"Oh cmon, fuck your mental health. You already look traumatised enough to be admitted to a mental hospital. How worse can it get?" She shrugged, which made me burst into a big laugh. Seeing me laugh she joined me as well, "So it's a yes? C'mo,n let's have fun together."
"Only if you promised me to not talk more than 10 minutes at a time." I said, to which she frowned and opened her mouth to oppose but before she could say anything, "Five minutes." I said, raising my eyebrows.
"Ughh...fine." She said annoyingly in a loud voice.
"Did you eat something?" I asked, looking at the time on my keypad phone.
"What fuck is wrong with your phone. That thing is at least 20 years old. Not that I am saying that having a low-budget phone is a wrong thing or something to laugh at but you seem like a guy who can afford at least three smartphones." She finished with, "Oh, and no I haven't eaten anything yet, did you eat something?"
"Don't start on that," I said grumbling remembering my grandfather's condition. "Let's get you some food." I said standing but she grabbed my wrist stopping me, "this place is also a diner," she said looking up at me.
I sat back and waved towards the woman who was serving drinks at our neighbour's table, "Oh hi there. And hi Mara, is this your friend?" The woman asked with a wide smile.
"Hi, Cara. And yes, this is my friend, Ridge. Ridge, this is Cara, her name is the same as mine except for that 'C', and she is the owner of this place." She finished.
I look toward the lady who must be in her mid-30s. "Do you know you hired a kid to work here?" I asked Cara while eyeing Mara. Their names are indeed similar.
"Oh...not again," Mara says loudly in frustration.
Maybe coming on vacation wasn't a bad decision.
....................
New update is here everyone💕
Ridge and Mara are my safe place currently ✨
What do you think about their relationship?
Why do you think she left or is she just bitch ??😂🤣