Adalia
Day one after I announced my vacation. I decided to do a bit of research on what an Erasthai was. A loose description of it was that it means "intense sexual desire; to love." And apparently, it wasn't Italian, it was Greek. How interesting that people have been using that term lately. Is it like a slang or something? Some more clicking and scrolling ended up taking me to something even more intriguing—a page about Lycans.
According to this random fan page, Lycans are the parent species of werewolves. They were beasts creatures, at heart and body. It all started when a regular human entangled himself with Zeus's daughter, the goddess Artemis. All was fine and okay as they were both in love. That was until the human fell in love with another woman and ran away with her, not so much as a word to Artemis.
Angered by the broken state of his daughter, Zeus placed a curse on the human. He and his descendants were forever cursed to be lycans, a beast in the body of man. Then he cursed the woman to be his mate, his Erasthai. They are forever bound together, through hatred, love, and frustration. They are forever bound together unable to move forward or away from each other.
It's a pretty intriguing story, but it came nowhere close to explaining why people have been using the word "Erasthai" to refer to me lately.
A couple more minutes of browsing led to dead ends and added frustration, so I decided to give up. Slamming my laptop shut, I headed to the gym. Maybe a boxing session would help calm my restlessness and anger.
However, it didn't do much. I just ended up punching the sandbag so hard that even the instructor looked genuinely concerned.
Day two. I decided to take a yoga class. I thought it would help me feel rejuvenated and at peace. But I was wrong. Everything felt so slow, too slow for the movement that was going on within me—the vivid instinct to prance around. And so I gave up on that too. I packed up my yoga mat and left before the session was over.
Day three. All the boisterous energy in me was gone. I suddenly felt listless and exhausted. I couldn't even muster up the motivation to take a shower, so I just laid on my couch all day, eating junk food and watching TV.
On the fourth and current day, I still feel tired—even worse. I've been lying inside my potato sleeping bag on the floor of my living room since morning, it was already the afternoon. I've been doing nothing but eating and watching TV. Occasionally I'd find it difficult to stay awake, and so I'd slowly drift into sleep, but wake up about an hour later.
I picked up another piece of potato chips and was about to put it in my mouth when an incessant knock sounded on my door. I jolted and sent the chip flying in shock.
"Adalia! I know you're in there open up!" A voice called in a sing-song tone. "Your savior Addy is here!"
I grumbled at the mention of her name. I knew it was only a matter of time before she came knocking on my door. It just took two days longer than I expected.
Flipping myself on my back, I chose to ignore the incessant knocking. If I kept quiet long enough, she'd probably come to the conclusion that I'm not home and leave.
I nodded in agreement with my plan and continued eating my chips, that was until it suddenly became quiet. I couldn't hear her voice or anything that showed someone was still on my porch.
That's when I heard it, a barely audible sound that sounded like metal scrapping and tapping against each other before a crisp, click sound resounded.
I scrambled to sit up when I saw my front door swinging wide open. Addy stepped into my door, holding a couple of pick sets and hair pins in between her fingers, while her other hand rested on her hips. She locked eyes with me, a devious smile crossing her face. "Hello, dear friend."
She looked harmless and innocent with her cute, light purple oversized sweater and leggings, but I couldn't help seeing the devil horns etched on her head.
"Addy!" I yelled, scrambling to get on my feet while still in my potato sleeping bag.
"Yes?" She singsonged, fully stepping into the room. It was then that I realized that Nikol, Elio, and Lowell were also with her as they stepped into the living room too. They were all dressed in similar grey and black jogger sets, with Nikol having his hoodie zipped all the way down, revealing his bare chest.
I gaped at all four of them. "Don't "yes" me Addy, you just picked my lock! And you," I pointed at the remaining three, "you guys joined in her charade."
They all just shrugged their shoulders like I wasn't speaking to them.
"I knocked and you didn't answer, so you left me no choice," Addy said, as her eyes scanned the clutter of mess on the floor, which led to her face scrunching up.
"Wow, I see you've spent the last few days well," Elio said, his face growing funny.
I rolled my eyes, ignoring their comments and expressions. "What do you guys want?"
"Glad you asked," Addy pointed one of her picks at me, "Get dressed, we have a plane to catch."
I stared at her blankly, not knowing if I should find this funny or be confused. Eventually, I settled on a sigh. "Leave me alone Addy, I'm not going anywhere."
She chuckled, then walked up to my glass table and placed her tools on it. "I knew you'd say that," she entwined her fingers and pushed them outward, causing sounds of popping bones to emanate the room. "Guess we'll do this the hard way."
Ten minutes later, I'm on the other side of my living room, desperately clutching my potato bag and panting with dry breaths. Addy wasn't any better than me, she was hunched over, her palms resting on her knees while she too was panting.
"Just stop Adalia and let me catch you," she wheezed.
"How about you stop, Addy, and leave me alone."
"But I've already left you alone for more days than one!"
"Wow, she's good" I heard Elio comment, followed by crunching sounds that no doubt came from my potato snack.
"She's been hopping around in that sleeping bag all these while and still managed to not get caught," Lowell added as I heard the crinkling sound of a chips bag getting ripped open.
I turned around to stare at our commentators that have been watching this squabble while lounging on my chair and eating my snacks. "Hey! Who said you could open my sweet and salty popcorn?"
"Sharing is caring Adalia," Nikold tsked while reaching for another bag of my potato chips that was lying on the floor."
I was so distracted by them munching on my snacks that I didn't notice Addy close in on me until it was too late. She lunged at me and I tried to move out of the way but ended up tripping on my bag and falling face flat to the floor. "Argh!" I grunted.
"I finally caught you!" Addy cheered as she sat on top of me like I was her priced prey.
"No fair," I whined.
"Don't the hate the player hate the game Adalia," she smirked.
"She finally caught her," Lowell whistled, while clapping.
I sent him a glare, but he just seemed oblivious to it as he continued to holler.
Addy stood up, then grabbed me by my arm. She then dragged me all the way to my room door and kicked the half-open door wider.
She walked into the room before she took a couple of steps back and poked her head out the door. "Just give me fifteen minutes, and I'll have her up and running." Then she pushed me completely inside and kicked the door shut.
Before she dragged me into the bathroom, I could hear Elio say "Fifteen minutes? I somehow doubt that."
"Not every woman takes two hours to get dressed like Donna," Nikol snickered.
Ten minutes was the amount of time Addy gave me to shower, with the threat that if I wasn't on par with that time frame she'd pick the lock and shower me herself. I don't know how I was able to scrub myself and do all the necessities under that time frame but I did. It was simply miraculous.
Five minutes later. Addy had me in one of my black sweatshirts and black joggers, paired up with white sneakers and my curly hair thoroughly brushed into a ponytail. Not even I can tame my curls like this. How does she do it?
She pushed me out of my bedroom and in front of the guys, "Fifteen minutes as promised," she said.
Elio looked at his watch before nodding in approval, a slight shadow of surprise behind his eyes, "Did you Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo her in there?"
"Something like that," she winked.
"Okay girls, time to fly," Nikol announced.
***
"What the fuck?" I said in a barely audible whisper, as I stared at the big, onyx black jet before me.
Now it wasn't the fact that I was staring at a jet that had me surprised, it was the fact that it was privately owned by these three: Nikol, Elio, and Lowell. Apparently, Zayn is also one of the owners as well. "Royal jet" they called it.
A cacophony of metallic noises and released compressed air resounded as the door to the jet opened, and slowly inclined to the ground, revealing a set of stairs.
A flight attendant, dressed in a neat burgundy suit and neatly tied back hair stepped out of the plane. She walked down the stairs and stood next to it. Then she flashed us her pearly white teeth with not a gap or displacement to be seen."Miei signori," she bowed her head to the guys, then turned to me, "Vostra Maestà," she bowed again. "Your flight is ready for departure. Welcome aboard."
I don't know what she addressed us as, but the professionalism and respect in her soft voice made me feel like I was royalty.
The guys didn't respond to her, only sending her a brief nod as they boarded the plane. Addy and I walked behind them, and I could tell she was every bit in awe as I was. We both gave the lady a quick "thank you," before fully entering the jet.
The interior of the jet was mind-blowing and more spacious than I expected. Tan-colored chairs only fit for first-class cabins aligned on the sides of the plane, with full tables in front of them. All the way to the back I could see a bed picking out from the parted curtains. I assume that's where the rooms were. The whole place smelled clean and fresh and the atmosphere was generally cool.
"Girl," Addy whispered to me, her mouth hanging open.
"I know," I whispered back to her as we both stared stupidly at the space before us, our thoughts synchronizing into one.
The guys didn't hesitate as they all flopped into their individual chairs.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Get seated so that we can take off." Elio ushered.
Addy and I just nodded dumbly as we scampered to take a sit, fastening our seat belts.
We heard the ding of the plane's intercom before the voice of a lady streamed through, "Buon giorno, signore e signori. This is your captain, Isabella speaking, and beside me is your co-captain Antonio. it's a great weather for flying today and I'm pleased to announce that we will arrive at our destination in an hour and a half. Si prega di godere del vostro tempo."
The shutting sound of the intercom was soon accompanied by the rumbling and piercing sound of the wind. Soon we were in the sky, the amazing sight of the city below us growing farther and smaller.
I let out a thrilled sigh, retracting my face that had been glued to the window. Take-offs are always my favorite moments when flying. After that though, the entire journey becomes pretty much bland and tiring.
Wait. Speaking of the journey...
I whipped around to stare at the guys. They were already sitting at a small round table, seemingly in the middle of a heated poker game. Did they even strap in for the take-off process?
"Where are you guys taking me by the way?"
"Toronto, Canada." Elio's reply was short as he appeared to be focused on his next card move.
I wrinkled my face in confusion, "why?"
"Why else?" Addy chimed in, getting up to join the guys at their table, "To see Zayn of course."
"What?!" I yelled just as the plane jumbled a little from turbulence.
"Adalia shh, you'll cause the plane to crash," Lowell scolded with a smirk as he played his last hand of cards in victory.
I gaped at him, "The fuck? That doesn't even make sense."
"Look what you did Adalia, you caused us to lose." Elio rolled his eyes.
"Yeah Adalia," Nikol tsked, gathering up the cards to shuffle for another round.
"Uh..." I was utterly speechless. The nerves of them. They basically kidnapped me, dragged me onto a luxurious private jet, and were somehow just able to bully me into silence. Insufferable, they're all insufferable.