Virgil had been spared from finding the courage to go and talk to his girl, as the two had collided due to a complete accident in the hallway at the entrance to the restaurant, and the first thing he noticed was her London accent.
"Oh," he said, looking at her curiously, after they'd both apologised to each other for the collision. "Are you from England?"
"I am," she nodded, with a smile. "My name's Harriet. And you're Virgil Van Dijk, I know you."
"You follow football then?" He smiled.
"Yeah, my family are all Liverpool fans. Wow, I heard you were all going to Australia to do some project with Man City, but I didn't realise you'd be here! I didn't see you guys seated anywhere."
"We have a private section outside," he explained.
Other people were trying to pass through the hallway now, and the two realised they were still standing there.
"As much as I'd love to continue this conversation here, I think we're in the way," Virgil chuckled.
"Let's move somewhere else to talk?" She suggested.
"Sure, lets go outside," he nodded.
Harriet went to grab her drink from her table, and the two wandered out to the glass half-wall, and stood overlooking the bay whilst they chatted.
"So how does a Liverpool fan with a London accent come to be in south west Australia?" Virgil asked her.
"I was born in Liverpool, but my mum took a job in London when I was five so we moved down there, and I picked up the accent pretty quickly. You get teased for having a scouser accent in primary school, you know."
"I can imagine," Virgil smiled. "But you stayed with your roots for football, I can respect that." Harriet laughed, and tucked her long, curly hair behind her ears, which had been blowing in the breeze.
"Anyway, I'm on holiday with my two sisters, we're touring Australia. We've already done most of the east coast, and the red centre, now we've got the west coast and along the bottom to go."
"That sounds amazing," Virgil said. "The red centre? What is in the middle of Australia?"
"Uluru, or Ayers Rock, you know? The famous big red rock?" Said Harriet. "And Kings Canyon is out there as well, that's pretty spectacular. And there's this crazy place called Gunlom where you climb up the side of a steep mountain and there's all these crystal clear natural rock pools you can swim in, it's beautiful. If I had my phone on me I'd show you photos."
"You've got a passion for travelling then, I guess?" Virg grinned at her enthusiasm.
"Just a bit," she smiled, blushing a little. "Sorry, I get carried away when I talk about places I really enjoyed visiting."
"No, I liked hearing it," he assured her. "It makes me want to visit myself."
"Have you enjoyed your trip so far?" She asked him.
"Yeah, it's been great actually," he said. "We've done a lot of swimming, a bit of shopping, been on a boat tour, taken a million photos. We were supposed to go back up to Perth tomorrow so we could fly out at the end of the week, but we can't go anywhere because of the fires."
"Oh no," Harriet said, her brown eyes widening. "I didn't realise how bad the fires had got. We're going the other direction, luckily, so it doesn't affect our travel plans."
"Where are you headed to next?" Virgil asked her.
"Just down to Busselton for a week or so," she said. "We've got another couple months of travelling to do, before we head home to London again." Her spirits seemed to sink at the thought of going home, and Virgil smiled to himself. There was something beautiful about her free spirited nature.
"Hey, maybe we'll see each other in Busselton," he said. "We're booked to go down there as well, since we can't go home yet."
"Oh really?" She asked, brightening considerably. "That would be nice. It'd be great to get to know you better. If you want, I mean."
"I do want to," he smiled at her. "I won't lie, I noticed you dancing with your sisters in here earlier, and I wanted to come talk to you because you're genuinely beautiful. My own sister had to talk me into it though, I don't normally talk to people I don't know easily."
Harriet's eyes widened, and she felt the blush creeping back onto her cheeks. She found Virgil attractive as well, but had never expected him to see her in that way.
"Thank you," she said, returning his smile. "You're such a nice guy as well Virg, I'm glad I got to meet you."
In that moment, Jordyn joined the two of them, a knowing smile adorning her features.
"I hate to break up the party," she said, "But if you're coming down to the foreshore for the 9pm fireworks, we're leaving now."
"Alright," Virg nodded. "Hey Jordyn, this is Harriet. Harriet, this is my sister, Jordyn."
"It's nice to meet you," Harriet said, and Jordyn grinned at her.
"Yeah, you too," she responded. "You want to join us for the fireworks? You can continue your conversation on the way."
Virgil and Harriet looked at each other, and both of them nodded at the same time.
"Sure, if it's okay," she said. "I don't want to intrude."
"You're not intruding, I promise," Jordyn said.
"Let me just tell my sisters I'll be back later," she said, and gave Virgil a quick smile, before disappearing back inside. The Van Dijk siblings looked at each other.
"Well?" Asked Jordyn, expectantly.
"She's so sweet, Jordyn, I really like her already," he said, chuckling as Jordyn's smile grew at his words.
"Yay, I'm so excited for you!" She exclaimed. "And you're welcome for getting her to come to the fireworks, by the way."
"Thanks," he chuckled, pulling his sister in for a hug. "Now leave me be, go and annoy your boyfriend."
"He's not my boyfriend," Jordyn laughed.
"Yet," said Virg, with a knowing smirk. "He's gonna ask you tonight, I'd bet on it. You're soulmates."
"Alright then," Jordyn chuckled. "I'm not dumb enough to place bets against you, I've made that mistake too many times already."
The Brazilian ran off to find Kun, and her brother watched her go with a smile. He hoped that Harriet and Jordyn would get on well. If he ended up trying to pursue a relationship with the London girl, he'd make sure the two spent some time together to get to know each other. But for now, he could enjoy his own moments with her.
Trent and Harmony were walking hand in hand, as the group headed out to see the first lot of fireworks. They were both quiet, which was unusual for the two of them, but they both had a lot to think about. Trent was gazing out over the water beside them, but he wasn't really seeing it. He was wondering what the girl beside him was thinking. Trent was, like Harmony, worried about finding his soul mate. He had strong feelings for Harmony, and he was worried about pursuing them incase they didn't end up being meant for each other. It was stressful, because no matter how much thought you gave it, you could never change when it was going to happen. You simply had to wait for the right timing.
"Hey, I know you're stressing," said Harmony, giving his hand a squeeze, and breaking him for his reverie. Trent turned to smile at the beautiful brunette, silently thanking her being there. "I know it's hard, but we both just have to be patient."
"My mum told me once that you have to find your own soul before you discover your soul mate," said Trent. "Do you think it's true?"
"I don't know," said Harmony, "But I do know that people are forever growing and changing, and learning new things about themselves. I think it just ensures that people come together at the right point in their lives. You come to a point where having that person to live your life with you will help you to continue to grow as a person in the best way possible."
"That's kinda beautiful," Trent smiled at her. "I think you're right."
"Okay, well no more stressing about this then," she chuckled. "The best thing happen when you're least expecting it anyway. We're on holiday, and it's still so warm even though it's dark already, and meanwhile they're freezing their butts off back home in Liverpool. Let's make the most of this."
"Agreed!" Trent grinned. "Hey, do we have time for ice cream?"
"I don't know, what time is it?" Harmony pulled out her phone, and saw that they had ten minutes until the fireworks would be starting.
"Ten minutes," she said. "We better run! I hope you know where you're going."
"Of course I know," he smirked, as they began to run. "I saw it on the way here when we came to take photos in that metal frame, remember?"
"Yes, I remember."
They made it to the ice creamery, out of breath, and laughing. The girl who was serving them looked at them in amusement, as they stood there trying to catch their breath. Once they'd sufficiently recovered, Trent chose mint choc chip flavour, whilst Harmony chose strawberry. Trent paid for both of them, and then they made their way around the edge of the pier towards the large tree which Natalie had pointed out earlier as the place where they'd be watching the fireworks from.
"Is yours good?" asked Harmony.
"Amazing," said Trent. "Want to try?" He held it out to her, but as she went to taste it, he pushed the cone too close to her face, and she got some on the tip of her nose.
"Wow, alright then," she giggled, picking off a bit of her strawberry ice cream, and flicking it at him.
"No, don't waste it!" Trent protested, laughing.
"I'm wasting it?" She retorted. "What about the bit that's on my nose?"
"You can eat that," he laughed.
Harmony rolled her eyes at him, and wiped it off with the wrapping from her own cone.
"I never know what you're going to do next," she said, and then suddenly stopped walking, because she felt it. She actually felt it. She slowly raised her eyes to Trent, and he was already staring at her.
"The best things happen when you least expect it," Trent said slowly, repeating her words from earlier, as if he'd only just understood their meaning. Harmony's eyes widened, as Trent stepped closer to her, and cupped her cheek with the hand that didn't contain a mint choc chip ice cream. Their eyes met, and they stared at each other in wonder, as if seeing each other for the first time. Then they both leant in, and kissed, slowly and sweetly. The kiss tasted of mint strawberry choc chip, and both of them smiled when they realised.
"I can't believe it," Harmony murmured against his lips, and Trent chuckled.
"Nor can I," he replied. "As soon as we stopped worrying about it and decided to just live our lives... wow."
"Thank you for the ice cream," Harmony smiled.
"You already thanked me Harmony," he laughed.
"No, I mean the extra mint choc chip I got just now. That was my favourite." Both of them laughed. Suddenly, there was a sound like a gunshot, and cheers rang out all the way down the pier. Both of them looked up to see the fireworks show had begun.
"You ready to go join the others?" Harmony asked her soulmate.
"I'm ready," he nodded. "But let's take our time."
"Of course," she grinned, standing on her tip toes to kiss him again, just once.
~.~.~.~