My head was pounding as I stepped into the airport. We had arrived at the Dabolim Airport via a conducted bus. Everyone seemed to have just woken up from bed, it was seven in the morning for God's sake. I felt like a lazy sheep being steered by a shepherd as we went through the customs. I could barely keep my eyes open and it wasn't entirely because of the alcohol.

Beside me, Mitali and Rakhi looked beat. Albeit they still didn't look as dead as I felt. I had returned to my room after bandaging my feet with every intention of sleeping. But I could barely drift into a peaceful slumber. Every time I managed to doze off, my mind would slip into a nightmare—waking me up.

I waited impatiently as we went on for the security check. And finally, when all of the torture was over, our group of fourteen headed over to the boarding gate. I had spotted Akash earlier in the bus but he was asleep. Now, he stepped forward and walked beside me while I followed my friends.

"You look dead," I noted, my voice flat.

"So do you," he retorted. He rubbed his face once, twice before looking at me again.

"Okay, but you look much worse than I do." Akash said after studying me.

I ignored his comment and took a seat beside my friends who were ogling at him. Pulling out my phone, I switched it on. I shuddered to think of the number of notifications that would hit me because I had switched it off the entire night.

I waited for the Apple logo to fade and switched on my data. On cue, my phone began buzzing with notifications. Messages, calls, emails, everything. Groaning, I went through my logs to see that most of the calls were from Diane and Jack. Naira had left me a message after calling once. At least there was some common sense left in the world.

"Whoa, girl. You've got a lot of messages there." Mitali peered over at my phone. "And emails. Hey! Are those offers?"

"Yeah, my agent—ex-agent actually... I think. She's going berserk," I groaned. "She's been calling non-stop. And since she doesn't have my current number, she spams my email and FaceTime."

Mitali took my phone just as an email from Jack opened up. I was too tired to argue so I merely closed my eyes and leaned back against the uncomfortable metal chair.

"Why are you so tired?" Akash queried from where he was seated across me.

"Bad dreams. She was tossing and turning the entire night." Rakhi replied, throwing me a sympathetic look. Wisely enough, no one asked me what it was that I dreamed about.

Deeming the conversation to be over, I closed my eyes again to catch up on some sleep when Mitali squealed beside me. My eyes shot open and I jumped up on my seat, heart thundering against my chest. Akash stared wide-eyed at my stupid friend and Rakhi just threw her a look of pure annoyance. She, like me, had been trying to catch some sleep. But of course the devil had to ruin it.

"What!" I demanded through gritted teeth.

"This!" She thrust her hand, holding my phone up. The screen was filled with pictures of me. Some from photo-shoots and other casual pictures. She tapped one picture of me in a dark blue gown. I remembered that gown, and I remembered that I had loved it the moment I'd set my eyes on it. The material had clung to me like second skin—the bodice tracing every inch of my upper body. The dress was sleeveless and revealed a hint of my cleavage, making it look elegantly seductive.

It's colour was like the blue of the night sky. The designer had tried to replicate a starry night and had succeeded. Tiny crystals were stitched onto the fabric. Although the entire material had been stitched with the crystals, they were concentrated on the bodice—making a sweeping pattern across my torso, from my left breast to the right side of my waist.

The skirt was made of a gossamer fabric that shone softly under the lights. The image was eerie and beautiful—taken in the outskirts of a village in Iceland. I was at the centre surrounded by snow. The night sky twinkled above me. My lips had been painted a dark red and my eyes lined with winged eyeliner. Other than that, my makeup had been minimal. The photographer had tried to capture the image as though the the dress had been crafted from the sky itself.

I smiled softly as I stared at the picture. It wasn't very old. Just six months or so. Jack had been the one to photograph me. He had been so overprotective because I wore nothing but that sleeveless dress in the middle of a winter wonderland. I could barely keep my teeth from chattering as I smiled for the camera—my eyes hooded with seduction and my lips quirked in an almost smirk. Call of a siren, they'd said. Look at the camera like you're looking at your lover and teasing him to come get you.

When they had said that, I burst out laughing. It had been easy—too easy, because the man handling the camera was my lover.

"That's such a beautiful picture!" Rakhi exclaimed when she peered over Mitali's shoulder to get a look at what had caught our attention.

"Tell me you still have that dress." Mitali begged, her eyes wide like saucers. She visibly crumbled when I shook my head.

"Can I see?" My head whipped up at Akash's request. Before I could reply, Mitali was handing my phone out to him. I elbowed her and she only shrugged in reply. I studied Akash as he looked at the picture before his eyes snapped to mine.

I flushed under his gaze, but couldn't look away as his lips twitched into a smile. "It's beautiful." He complimented.

"I know," I smirked knowingly.

"Way to be modest, sucker." Mitali laughed.

Akash leaned forward to pass my phone. My fingers brushed his as I took it from him. He opened his mouth to say something, but the words died in his throat when his friends came over. They were a loud boisterous group—laughing openly and cracking jokes. I tuned out their conversations and decided to call Jack. Diane could wait till my vacation was over.

"Sara." Jack greeted.

"Hey."

"You got the pictures?" He asked.

"Yeah, my friends were fawning over the blue dress," I chuckled. "It was so pretty."

"It was," He agreed before adding, "but you're breathtaking."

"Sweet talker!" I accused him.

"Anything to woo you, milady," he replied in a husky voice.

"Then call me that everyday. Makes me feel all majestic." I teased.

"If it's any consolation, your name is saved as 'milady' on my phone." Jack informed.

"What!" I gasped loudly, causing several heads to turn towards me. Akash looked at me, clearly amused and Mitali started whispering to ask who it was I was talking to.

Shooting them an apologetic look, I went back to my conversation. "You're kidding right!" I hissed.

"Nope," he replied. A second later, my phone buzzed. Jack had sent me a screenshot of his contacts and my name was saved as that.

"You're crazy." I breathed out. "And don't. Don't say 'only for you' or I swear to god I'll wring your neck."

He only laughed in reply.

We argued back and forth for a while when suddenly my flight was announced. Everyone started getting up, lifting their bags and heading towards the gates. The long queue formed in a matter of seconds.

"Gotta go. My flight was just announced," I informed Jack.

He groaned. "When are you going to call me again. New York sucks without you."

"Need I remind you, that you'd lived in New York for six years before I met you." I laughed, getting up and picking up my cabin luggage which consisted of a small haversack and a tote bag.

"You spoiled me." I could hear the pout in his voice. "Just come back already."

"I'll think about it." I replied, smiling when he groaned again.

"Don't forget me again. Hell, I won't let you."

"And how are you going to accomplish that?" I raised an eyebrow whilst balancing my phone between by ear and shoulder to pull out my boarding pass.

"Why, Sara, you'll never forget how I feel. You can't." His voice was deeper now. "If you're close to forgetting, I'll invade your dreams and you'll wake up craving my touch."

I sucked in a breath, taking in his voice—his deep voice that lowered every time he spoke to me like that. Jack was a talker in bed, and I had loved that. I loved that he would always tell me exactly how he felt and what he wanted me to feel. He'd whisper things into my ears, his breath a stimulant and his voice an aphrodisiac.

"I'm in a fucking airport, Holden," I snapped.

"Don't care. You still want me," He drawled. "...Sara."

"Fuck you, Jacques." I cursed before cutting the call.

The nerve of him. He didn't call me back, he wouldn't. He was probably laughing his ass off right now. Or sending me a dirty text. Hastily, I moved to switch off my data when my phone buzzed with a notification. It was a message from Jack:

Hopefully your flight won't be too long... or the aircraft'll miss it's hangar

I frowned. What the hell did he—oh. When I caught the innuendo, I glared at the message before switching off my phone. "What happened, girl?" Rakhi asked, turning back to see me glaring. The line moved forward and I stepped closer, then replied, "nothing. Just this friends of mine being an idiot."

"A guy?" She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. I remained impassive as I shook my head. "It's not like that."

"You ain't fooling anyone, Sara." Mitali sang, joining in. She slung her arm over Rakhi's shoulder and smirked at me. "I honestly can't believe that I even missed you being super cryptic."

I didn't get a chance to reply as her eyes drifted to something behind me. I glanced back to see Akash and two other men heading towards us. The two of them looked eerily similar and I deduced that they were most probably twins. Akash smiled at me as he approached, shouldering a haversack similar to mine. His friends carried light duffel bags and nothing else.

"Hey." Akash greeted me, then smiled at Mitali and Rakhi.

"This," He said, pointing at one of his friends, "is Yash. The shit planner." The man he was pointing at was extremely tall. His hair was light brown and long, held back with a headband. He had a slight stubble that made him look ruggedly handsome. He definitely spent a good amount of time in the gym because he was broad and muscular—too muscular. A piercing on his ear flashed as he inclined his head and held out a tattooed hand, smiling like he knew all my secrets.

I shook his hand, smiling equally deviously whilst saying, "Sorry."

"You don't sound like you're sorry." Yash commented, that condescending smile still plastered to his face.

"I'm not actually," I shrugged. "Just giving some constructive criticism."

Annoyance flashed in his eyes. So he was one of those types—incapable of acknowledging mistakes. "Well, I'd be lying if I said it was appreciated."

"Good. At least you're being honest." I looked away and turned to face Akash again, dismissing him. I could still feel his gaze on me as a he muttered something under his breath and began talking to Mitali and Rakhi.

Akash and his other friend—presumably Yash's twin, glanced between me and him.

Akash cleared his throat.

"Anyway, this is Yash's twin—Suraj." I turned to get a better look at him. He looked very, very similar to Yash. Although, he seemed more... mature and less rugged. His hair was neat and cropped short, his face clean shaven and there were no visible piercings or tattoos. He smiled warmly, and I noticed that even their smiles were different. Where Yash's smile seemed to be secretive and bordering on devious, Suraj was sweeter.

I shook Suraj's hand and asked, "How'd you guys meet?"

Neither of them replied. Instead, they gestured for me to move forward. We resumed our conversation once we crossed the gates. Akash and Suraj fell into step beside me. Mitali, Rakhi and Yash were a few feet away—engaged in a conversation.

It was easy talking to them. And in a matter of seconds, I figured that I quite liked Suraj. He was a sweetheart, there was no other way to put it. I wasn't sure about his brother though.

Once we entered the flight and I took my seat beside Mitali and Rakhi, exhaustion hit me with immense force. I had managed to keep my sleep at bay earlier, but I simply needed sleep. I smiled weakly at Akash as he took his seat before fastening my seatbelt and closing my eyes.

Turning to face the window, I spotted the hangar at a distance through half-closed eyes. I smiled despite my exhaustion, remembering Jack's message and drifted off to a slumber.

~~~
A/N:

Aaaaand that's a wrap! How'd you like this chapter? Comment what you think :)