by Sarah Doren
I shook my head, sending a thick lock of hair flying.
“No, I don’t. I’ve never listened to any of them really, it was just this one particular issue I listened to. I thought you loved rugby, Wiremu. You told me as much.”
“So what? If I’m leaving, what is it to you?”
“I...”
“Why are you acting as if you’re my girlfriend, Tina? I never asked you to worry about me. You’re not my mom, in fact, you’re not my anything. Not even my fucking lover.”
I gasped. I felt my heart break under his harsh words. I felt a stab of tears at the back of my eyes, and I quickly blinked them away. I looked away and said in a strained voice, “I was just worried about you is all. Well, you seem fine. So I guess that’s my cue to leave.”
I ran out of his apartment building and into the busy street, my eyes filled with unshed tears.
Chapter Six
A few more weeks passed without my talking to Wiremu. Although, Chelsea never asked me about it, I knew that she knew I was upset from our last encounter. Wiremu had hurt my feelings, and him throwing my concern back in my face made it even worse. I cared for him. Although, he might not know or believe it. I had a history with him, and it wasn’t as though I regretted sleeping with him to begin with. Still, I did tell him that our night together was nothing but a mistake. I told him that straight to his face. But as I thought about it now, I knew that deep down it meant something to me. Something I couldn’t quite explain.
I didn’t want to try to find meaning in what I was feeling for Wiremu. My feelings toward him were simply out of the question, not to mention that I’d only be here for a short time. Not enough time for a relationship at all. Besides, there was also Theo, who seemed to be interested in me, as far as I could tell from all the hints he was dropping all over the place.
I didn’t want to jump to any conclusions, but I was getting the idea that he was interested in me. I wasn’t trying to be cocky nor arrogant about it, but if my suspicion was right, I would have a tough job ahead of me. I would have to find a way to break things off with him in a decent and easy way. Telling a guy who was interested in you that you just weren’t into him wasn’t an easy thing to do. Not at all.
Although, I doubted a guy as good-looking as Theo would be single for long. These types of men never remained single. At least I knew that much. I drifted in and out of sleep the entire weekend. I felt miserable after hearing Wiremu’s harsh words. And even though the last thing I wanted was to hear his voice inside my head, it was as if my head had a mind of its own and decided them over and over. It drove me crazy all weekend. The only times I left my room was for my windsurfing lessons and when it was time to eat.
My host family never said a word as I trudged down the hallway and grabbed my towel from the dryer.
“You feeling okay?” Jayden asked as he came up beside me on my way back to my room. He was carrying a load of clothes in his arms and apparently today was their washing day.
“Yeah, fine. Why do you ask?” I asked as I stuffed my fluffy towel into my bag and slung the straps over my shoulder.
He shrugged, looking as he if was debating whether to tell the truth or to sugar coat it. “You look really tired. You have dark circles under your eyes and you look kind of miserable. You sure you’re okay?”
I waved his worry away as I said, “Never been better.”
I waved at my host dad and told him that I didn’t need him to drive me to my lesson today, as I had decided to take a cab and walk the rest of the way. A few minutes later, I was out the door and driving toward the beach.
Theo met me at the front of the beach house and smiled down at me, kissing both of my cheeks as we walked inside.
“How do you feel about today’s lesson?”
“All right,” I said honestly. I made a move to head into the changing room, but he stopped me.
He was frowning when I turned back at him. “You okay? You look really tired. You sure you’re up to riding the waves today?”
I forced a smile and nodded. “Sure.”
The lesson went on as planned. Theo kept sending worried glances my way, but I shrugged them off. During our one-hour lesson, I managed to windsurf without falling into the water but a few times. I learned to surf with the wind, rather than fighting it, when I was in the water.
“Did you want to grab something to eat again? Somewhere else, maybe?” Theo asked as he grinned down at me.
I opened my mouth to answer, but heard a female voice call out to my windsurfing instructor. I saw him pale, as he turned his head to one side, and I followed his gaze, wondering who it was. I watched as a beautiful, petite woman walk up to us with a confused look on her face. Her brows were furrowed into a frown.
“Where have you been?” The pretty brunette demanded. “I’ve been looking for you. And who is she?”
White as a sheet, Theo looked back at me and once again averted his gaze as I tried to meet it. What was happening?
“I’ve just finished with my lesson. Didn’t I tell you I’d call?” he reasoned, but the pretty brunette ignored him.
She turned to me and held out her hand for me to shake. I shook it immediately.
“I’m Jane,” she said. “And you must be one of my boyfriend’s student?”
Theo had a girlfriend?
“Uh, yeah,” I said awkwardly.
I stared at my windsurfing instructor, as I wondered why he had been hitting on me, when he clearly had a girlfriend already. Not to mention that I had let him kiss me, just a week ago. I bit my tongue, stopping myself from saying anything to this lovely girl. I wasn’t one to ruin people’s future or someone else’s relationship. And if Theo wanted to continue being a douchebag, then that was his problem. I was so out of it.
I said goodbye to them and turned around to see Wiremu standing a few feet from us. He looked angry. His jaw was clenched and within a few seconds, he whirled back around and stormed off.
My feet moved before I could even realize it. I called out to him, but he didn’t look back at me nor did he stop. I caught a few weird glances from the others and ducked my head in shame. I picked up my pace and finally caught up to him, gasping for air as I clutched his arm in a tight grip, stopping him from going anywhere.
“What...were you...doing back there?” I asked between pants.
He tried to snatch his hand back, but I wouldn’t let him.
“It looks like you’ve found someone else then,” Wiremu spit out between gritted teeth.
“What? No!” I cried out in shock. “What are you talking about?”
“You looked so happy back there with that man. Tell me, Tina, is he your new lover? Someone that could easily fit your definition of that ‘no strings attached’ bullshit?”
What was he talking about? I shook my head, trying to clear my mind as I stared back at him.
“We’re not together Wiremu. I don’t know where the hell you got that from, but you’re clearly making the wrong assumption. And he’s not my lover either.”
“Then, what is he to you?”
“He’s my windsurfing instructor for goodness’ sake!” I cried. “What is wrong with you? What has gotten into you lately?”
“I came here, hoping to find you alone, not with someone else. Hoping that I could set this right,” Wiremu said with his teeth clenched. “But it looks like I’m too late.”
I held him back again, when he attempted to walk away. He wasn’t making any sense. None of this made sense to me.
“What are you talking about?” I repeated, desperate to learn the answer.
“I love you, Tina!” he roared suddenly, taking me by surprise now. “I don’t know how it happened, but I found myself falling in love with you. It might be crazy, knowing that you’ve only been here for six months, but I’m in love with you. Don’t you understand that?”
His words made me stagger. I couldn’t tear my eyes off of him as I heard those three little words slip out of his mouth.
&nbs
p; “You love me?” I whispered.
“Didn’t you hear a word I said?” he shot back, as he shook his head. “This is a mistake.”
“Wait!” I called out to him, when he moved again.
His eyes were flat and he looked ready to leave when he spoke again. “I don’t know why I just said that. I guess it’s always been on the tip of my tongue, but I was afraid I’d scare you away.”
“You said you didn’t want a relationship,” I said, reminding him of what he told me.
“I thought so, too. But nothing makes sense to me anymore. The only thing that I’m sure about is loving you.”
It might have sounded cheesy in other people’s ears, but to me, those words were the sweetest thing I’d ever heard. I walked up to him and closed the distance between us as I reached up and framed his face with my hands.
“I love you too, you know.” I said, meaning those words.
I hadn’t realized that I loved him until now. I had been so afraid, so fearful of what would happen when I finally realized that I was just as much in love with him as he was with me.
“You don’t mean that,” he said in a hoarse voice.
“Of course I do!” I exclaimed.
“No, you don’t. You’re just saying that because I said it first,” he said, though his voice sounded hopeful. Oh, my darling Wiremu.
Tears pricked at the back of my eyes and I found droplets streaming down my cheeks. They were happy tears, but Wiremu must have thought differently, because he took me into his arms and wrapped me in his embrace.
“I’m sorry. I’m not trying to make you look like a liar. I love you, you know. I didn’t expect to fall in love so quickly, but I did.” He murmured against my hair. “And it bloody scares me.”
“I love you too,” I whispered.
He dipped his head and kissed me. My tears was soon forgotten as our lips moved in synchronization. Only when we finally pulled away did I realize that he was taking something out of his back pocket. I stepped back and gasped in shock, when he produced a red velvet box. Could this possibly be what I thought it was?
“Tina Brown, as soon as you walked into my life, I knew the moment I laid my eyes on you that I would want to spend the rest of my life with you. So, I’m baring myself and my soul to you and asking if you would consider spending the rest of your life with me and becoming my wife?”
I must have leapt up in the air in joy, but I knew for sure was that I was yelling and screaming “Yes! Yes, I’ll marry you!”, and next thing I knew, we were hugging and crying from joy.
I didn’t know what life would bring for us down the line, but I knew that marrying Wiremu Tone would never be a mistake. Just as the one-night stand we had shared, it could never be a mistake nor could I ever regret doing it. Because at the end of it all, I managed to find a prince on the other side of the world. And thankfully for us, I was brave enough to step up and accept the fate, life had created for me.
THE END.
