Listen to Most Girls by Hailee Steinfeld 

Meera Bagwat

I didn't bother Ranjit.  I let him sleep longer than usual.  But as I cooked breakfast, I couldn't stop wondering what he meant by 'I slept with someone else.'  He had passed out right after he spilt these words, but they bugged me all night.

I slept with someone else.

Every direction I attacked the sentence, it sounded the same.  He had sex.

What bothered me was that I didn't know how to react to it.  Am I supposed to be mad?  Am I supposed to hate him for a week, then forgive?  But neither did I feel anger, nor hatred.  I was...relieved?

This was how I felt when my father died.  This was exactly how I felt when I disowned my mother last night.  Like I'd been released of shackles that held me to a metal pole.  Like sinking into the swimming pool and re-living the hearty minutes when the weight lifted off my chest.

With a spoon, I tasted the sauce I made and grimaced.  I had put too much salt in it.  

The sudden opening of the kitchen door startled me.  "Ranjit!" I breathed.  

Dark circles pulled at his eyes, even though they looked wide and awake.  Shirtless.  Only wearing sweatpants.  His broad shoulders arched.

Not knowing what to say, I jokingly said, "Looking good, old man!"

He didn't smile.  Instead his grave mouth opened to talk.  "I remember everything from last night.  I want you to know the truth."  Cutting the slack, he said three things.  "Zoya.  Prostitute.  Had sex every day for a month."

I clutched the kitchen counter, blown by the information.  It took me a minute to recover myself from the sudden cut in oxygen.  

My body turned jittery, sensing what I was about to do.  "If you're being truthful, I want to do the same.  I have three things for you too."

His eyebrows furrowed.

Gulping the aftertaste of my sauce, I said, "Stella.  Neighbour.  Have been in love for three months."

Stella Davis

Sabastian dusted the beach sand on my thigh to place his hand on it.  "I'm glad we could spend some time together."

From under the cheap Hawaiian hat I bought, I frowned.  "Me too," I said anyway.

"Remember when we were dating, and you'd be upset when I got work calls?  You tried to hide it well, but I saw right through you."  Giggling, his fingers pinched my red nose. 

I strained another uncomfortable laugh.  

Chad was nowhere to be seen while Aimi played in the ocean far away in a red bikini.  Sabastian and I rested by the shade of an abandoned ice cream cart.

"Sunscreen?"

"Okay," I said, reached for it, but he stopped me.

"I'll do it."  Squeezing gel into his palm, his steady hand caressed my sun-beaten cheek.  While his dark blue eyes firmly held mine, his sneaky thumb touched my mouth, gently stroking the seam of my lip.  

When his face slowly leaned forward, I cleared my throat.  "No, Sab," I declined.  "I wasn't planning to make out with you."

His ears reddened as he turned away.  "Sorry," he said, his voice squeaky.  "I was...umm...confused when I got invited to this trip."

I feined a snort, trying to shoo off the awkwardness.  "Well, I didn't know you were coming till you turned up at the airport.  Chad thought it would be inviting you."

"That explains things," he finished, almost sounding discouraged.  

I turned to him, finding the need to explain.  "I'm not over Meera, Sab.  I don't think I'll ever be." A sad chuckled escaped my throat.  Waving a hand between the two of us, I said, "I don't want to find closure like this."  

He understood.

I groaned at the thought of Meera again.  "Dammit!  It felt so right with her.  I didn't want it to end this way..."

Just then, a fuming Chad marched towards us.  "Stella, you asshole!" he said, kicking sand on me.  

"Hey!" I squealed, glaring.  Brushing the sand off my neck, I said, "What do you want?"

"I told you it was a bad idea to stay in the same hotel as Reji and his ugly boyfriend.  I just saw them sucking each other's face off."

It took me a moment to register his words.  "Wait!  They're here?  At the beach?"

His green eyes stung me.  "Yes!" Chad's head turned to the right and I closely followed his gaze.

I gasped when I spotted Reji and David in matching blue shirts and khaki shorts, heading towards us.  Arm in arm, they were laughing at each other.  

For a split second, I gawked at how perfect they looked together.  Like a happy movie poster. 

A soundless sigh left my mouth.  Meera and I could have been this.

When Sabastian nudged my arm, I flew from my spot and docked behind the ice cream cart.  The boys pounced beside me, crash-landing on the sand. 

"What are we doing?" Sabastian quizzed. 

"Spying," the other said.

We peeped through ice cream cones at the duo.  

Chad grunted.  "Don't you think David is so ugly?"

I shrugged, eyes zooming on the tattoo on David's wrist.  What was that tattoo anyway?  "He looks pretty hot from where I'm sitting."

The couple sauntered through the beach, so close to the ocean that the water grazed their feet.  The thin material of their shirts flew with the breeze.  When I sensed that they're going to start kissing, I closed Chad's eyes with my palm.  

"Jesus Christ!" he spat under my hand.  "Can't they keep their faces off each other?"

I smiled.  Chad hadn't gotten over Reji.  

Before I could console him, Sabastian called.  "I don't know why we are stalking, but look!  They have matching tattoos."

"What?" Chad and I cried in unison, my eyes flying back to Reji and David.  For the first time, I noticed the exact same tattoo on Reji's left hand.  

"Reji got a tattoo with him?" he fumed.  "This is absurd."

I scratched my nose with my free hand.  "What is that tattoo, even?" 

Sab answered matter-of-factly.  "Oh, you know the angel wings thingy that looks complete when they hold hands."

"Angels?!" Chad spat. 

I shook my head in disbelief.  David wasn't an 'Angel' kinda guy.  "Are you sure it isn't demon wings or something?"

Before I got answered, my eyes widened at the sight of Aimi happily running towards Reji and David. 

"No, no, no, no!"

"What?" Chad asked, panicked.  "Are they swimming naked?"

My nose creased.  "No!  Aimi is going to them."

Chad slapped my hand off his face.  

This is a bad idea!  What was I doing spying on the guy who kidnapped and almost killed me?  

Aimi laughingly hugged a very-surprised Reji before shaking hands with David.  They seemed to exchange pleasantaries before her little, beady eyes searched for us.  They landed on the towel that I previously occupied before catching us red-handed behind the ice-cream cart.  She wildly waved her hand in the air.  

Having no other choice, the three of us clumsily wobbled towards them.  The guys lifted their pants so they won't get wet.  

David's eyes widened in surprise, his lips forming into a small smile.  "Stella, right?  From Stellar Fashion."

I sheepishy nodded, quite shaken by the proximity.  His cat-like yellow slits of eyes have haunted me in my dreams for god-knows-how-long.  

"And this is your assistant, isn't-," David paused when Chad openly fired glares at him.  "Wha-what is happening here?" he asked confused.  

Reji grinned, wrapping an arm around David.  His shiny brown hair softly reflected the sun.  "Well, Chad, here, is my ex."  The listerner's mouth formed an O in realization.  "He works with Stella.  Aimi and Sabastian are their friends."

David nodded in understanding and began talking, but I picked nothing.  My mind could only register the goodness that was emitting off him.  Somehow, his face was nicer without the twisting calamity of hatred that I was used to.  I was almost taken aback.  

Did he forget that he almost killed me?  A fresh face like this did not belong to a person that tortures their mother, sold drugs and froze women in basements.

"Stella!" someone called, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Huh?"

It was David again, his face apologetic.  "I personally wanted to say sorry for declining your work offer.  But I couldn't pull my courage for that."  He smiled more.

I blinked, internally chuckling.  Look who's talking about courage.

But David's eyes shone genuine-like he really meant it-when he said, "I built my store from scratch and I couldn't see myself giving it up that easily."

I absently nodded, twirling a finger on my skirt.  Little did he know that his shop was wiped clean of anything that screamed 'David'.  

I had already bought him. 

"But," he said, suddenly brightening.  "I am thinking of giving you a chance.  I might want to do an experiment with your company when I come home tomorrow."

"You guys heading home tomorrow?" Aimi's enthusiastic voice interjected.  "Us too."

I almost facepalmed.  I should have told her about David.  

"Yeah," David replied.  "This vacation with my boyfriend changed things about how I see the world." He turned to Reji and planted a kiss on his nose.  Reji flushed red and I felt Chad curl his fist in a tight ball.  

"Okay, Buddha," Chad murmured, but I heard him.

"You know what I mean?" David continued, placing a hand on his chest.  "Life is too short.  I want to do something spontaneous.  Something that would make my heart beat faster." 

I smirked, eying him up and down.  "You should become an actor.  You'll do great."

Please vote and make me smile.

OMG, you guys.  What did you think about this chapter?  David acting weird, huh?

Question:  Would you rather be a reverse mermaid or a reverse centaur?  

I'll be the reverse centaur, 'cause I don't want a fish head.