19 Chapter 18

My mind tries to comprehend what she'd just said. We can't go back?! Nathan looks as shocked as I do but a bit more irritated.

"What do you mean exactly?" He asks, his tone a lot less kinder than before.

Margaret looks at us as if we're aliens. "Do you not know what a Hyena is?"

I sigh and pinch my nose, "We know that. What we mean to ask is, what Hyenas and where?"

She points to a certain pathway behind us, "Theodore saw them there last night. They won't wander into the valley but if you want to be eaten alive, you may go that way."

I nearly rip my hair out in frustration. Behind her, the door opens and Harry steps out in a pair of hiking boots and carrying what looks like a huge wooden bow and arrow. Do they still make those?

He looks at us and smiles, "Hey kids! Did you have a nice night? I heard a lot of noises." He winks suggestively at Nathan.

I immediately become stiff and blush. I, Olivia Harley, actually blush. I thought Nathan would brush it off or something but he does something beyond my imagination.

He puts his arm around my waist and draws me closer. My breath hitches in my throat. Up close, he still manages to smell good even with all this forest fiasco.

"Of course, sir. Thank you for letting us stay," he smiles charmingly.

My eyes widen in uncomfortable surprise. Is he implying what I think he is implying?!

"I'm glad you kids had fun," Harry says with a wink. I try to tell him nothing of the sort happened but don't get the chance. "I'm off with the other men to catch those Hyenas."

"Is there no other way out of here?" Nathan asks as a group of differently aged men walk over to us carrying bows, arrows, swords, mallets and shovels.

Harry shakes his head, "I'm afraid not. To reach the main land, you must cross the forest first. And with those Hyenas on the loose, you can't safely go."

My face drops and Nathan curses under his breath. Seeing us so disappointed, a teenage boy steps ahead from the group. "Is it something important?"

"We had to get back today. Our group fellows must be looking for us," I explain to him, stepping away from Nathan. His arm around me isn't letting me think straight.

"Would a phone call help? I have a phone," the boy offers.

I smile and nod. "Thank you!"

It's not a smartphone but one of those old button phones. I brush it aside as long as it works. My phone is dead because of the water, completely fried and Nathan's has no battery. So this is the only thing that can help us.

"Push yourself higher!" Nathan grunts.

"I'm trying my best!" I yell down to him. Right now, I'm sitting on his shoulders my legs on either side of his shoulders. We're trying to catch a signal so we can contact Kevin, Ian or anyone from the group.

I pause and look down at his head, irritated. "If you could stop moving around so much maybe I could find a signal!" I hissed.

"Why are you so heavy?" He groans.

I look at the phone again. "I think I got a bar!"

I arched my back and glared at the phone, almost willing it to get more bars. Finally, after a few more seconds of Nathan stumbling and me complaining, the call connected to Kevin's phone.

"Hello?" His voice came over the receiver.

"Hello? Hey Kevin! It's me, intern!" I yell into the phone.

"Olivia? Is that you? Oh thank God! Where are you guys?! We're so worried!" He yells too.

"We're okay! We're at a valley in the middle of the forest. I don't know where exactly but we'll be back by tomorrow, hopefully! You don't need to wor- Oh!" I scream.

Nathan crumbles under my weight and I feel myself drop down. We both fall down together, Nathan on top of me. His face is indescribably close to mine and I once again, get the view of his perfect eyes.

He shuffles and gets to his feet, dusting off his clothes. I sit up, my heart pounding. He extends his hand and I take it.

"Why'd you drop us?" I murmur, rubbing my arms which are stinging after I fell on the cool grass.

"You are so heavy I felt like I was carrying a wrestler on my shoulders!" He groans.

I roll my eyes, "So much for gym."

He glares at me but doesn't say anything. We head back in silence. The forest is a really pretty place if you ask me. The bushes are so pretty and so are the trees. The sunlight that shines on us through the leaves is so warm and comfortinhmg as well.

I wonder why we never came here for a family picnic before.

We spend the rest of the day cooped up in that tiny room. Nathan rests by the window while I sulk around. Night had already fallen outside when we hear a huge cheer outside. The door to the room opens and a girl and boy step inside.

"Come on outside! Harry and his group killed the Hyenas! We're having a party!" The boys speaks up enthusiastically.

Before I can answer, more people barge in and they drag us both outside. They take us behind the living huts where they've got this huge bonfire. The elders are all there, singing and dancing. They spot us and immediately smile.

"Look! It's our young couple. Come on, dance with us!" They grab our hands us and pull us nearer to the burning logs.

Nathan looks increasingly discomforted and probably feels like these people are all weird. But not me. He turns to look at me but I'm already dancing with the black haired lady.

"You too?" He asks in shock.

"Well yeah!" I answer, twirling the lady around who is giggling. "Let's have some fun!"

Nathan is an old soul so he sits on the log next to Harry, who slaps his back. "We killed both the Hyenas, sonny. I'll get you and your lovely wife back to the mainland tomorrow, so have some fun."

Nathan mumbles a response but I enjoy my time dancing around the fire. The people are really fun to be with, if you ask me. And they are so kind too! Not only did they allow us to stay but they also took care of us so well.

"Okay, let's give our couple a chance to dance together," the black haired lady announces.

All my functions stop as I realize what's about to happen. The people forcefully pull Nathan up and push him towards me, urging us to dance. We have no choice but to do as they say, seeing as we'd already lied to them.

Nathan turns to me and offers his hand. I accept it, trying to know how he feels by looking into his hazel eyes. But I've never been able to read people that well. I place a shaking hand on his shoulder and he places his on my waist.

I think the warmth of his hand might burn a hole through the thin shirt I'm wearing. We slowly begin to waltz to the strum of a guitar Paul brought over.

I'm so close to him and even though we're surrounded by old people, this still feels like a fairytale. By body begins to relax as Nathan gently leads the dance. Funny I don't trip over my feet. I think the last time I danced was at my high school prom, years ago.

Nathan leans in a bit and my heart races at the speed of a roadrunner. His scent is driving me crazy as well. Nathan takes the ending step by twirling me around and pulling me into his arm, both arms wrapped around my face.

My stomach churns and my breath hitches in my throat. His undeniably handsome face is so close to mine. His eyes are successfully luring me in as they search my face. Suddenly, I hear the people chanting.

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"

I blush. So deep, my whole face becomes as red as a tomato. There is no shift in Nathan's expression though.

I try to pull away but the people are relentless. They keep urging us to do it, clapping and chanting. Finally, when they don't stop, Nathan leans in.

No way. No way is this going to happen.

My eyes widen but it does happen.

He leans in and presses his lips to mine.

I'm all stiff.

I'm not thinking straight.

I'm not moving.

I'm not breathing.

All I can think of is how soft his lips are.

Everybody breaks into cheers around us and I squeeze my eyes shut. It's not exactly a proper kiss, just a peck. We pull away and my face is like a tomato. Hot and red. My lips are tingling from where his touched them.

After all that is over, Paul strums a beautifully romantic song. I am sitting beside Nathan on the log, well the people made me, and I'm so awkward, I can't even look at him. I put all my attention to the song and it's so beautiful. So romantic. So peaceful.

I don't even know when but Nathan crosses my mind, about how much of a gentleman he has been to me. Well, more than half of the time. The way he saved me from those perverts and took me to my Dad's that night, saved me from that thug and took me to work in his car. I find myself looking at him in wonder.

Just what type of a person is he? I remembered him as a slack off, who had no passion in life. But this guy, right next to me, is someone whose eyes look like they're holding secrets. His voice sounds so heavy all the time, as if holding the emotions he's desperate to spill. If I could just get to hold his hand for once and know what he's thinking? Put my arms around him and feel his heartbeat?

The dance was super awkward and I couldn't tell what he'd been thinking because either it is lack of people reading skills or he'd masked his emotions so well. Plus, the way he quickly leaned, did he want to kiss me all this time? My eyes trail to his lips and I wonder if I should've kissed him back?

The song ends and I'm broken out of the trance, quickly looking away from my boss.

Snap out of it Olivia! What type of thoughts are these? You know he did it because of the people. Don't think of it anything more than that.

"I'm thirsty," I announce, quickly getting to my feet. "I'll be right back."

I make my way out of the bonfire, away from everybody in the dark. I make my way to the silent valley and open the door to the bathroom, splashing my face with water.

I look at myself in the mirror. Don't go there Olivia. Don't you dare. My brain presses. I sigh and wipe my face, clearly aware of what my brain's telling me.

I step out and start walking back to where everybody is. But I think I've taken the wrong way because there is no sign of a bonfire this way. Infact, it's all just trees, trees and trees. I climb further up the path, hoping to see them any time soon.

"Harry! Nathan!" I yell but no one shows up. I panic and turn to go back the way I came but can't seem to remember where was that either.

"Oh God. Nathan!" I yell louder.

Still no response.

I scratch my head, wondering what to do. How am I supposed to go back?

Suddenly, I hear a child laugh behind me. I quickly turn around to see who it is but there is no one. I can only see the clearing with its still trees.

"I-Is anyone there?" I ask, my voice shaking slightly.

Another giggle. It sounds like a girl. Another laugh. A boy's.

"Kids?! Is anyone there?" I scream again but the children don't show up.

No children here yet I keep hearing them laugh? How is that possible? The laughter doesn't feel like hearing normal children laughing. No. It's striking my heart. I feel as if it's holding me in place, urging me to come forward, deeper into the woods. I feel a pang of a headache but I'm feeling a lot heavier. My feet feel like they weigh a ton.

I stumble back, my heart racing. "Nathan." I mutter.

A hand claps on my shoulder.

I scream and turn around, only to meet Nathan's confused face. "What are you doing here intern?"

I close my eyes, relieved it's him. "How'd you find me?"

"It'd been a while since you were gone so everybody asked me to go get you. But when I couldn't find you back at the valley, I came around looking for you," he explains. "I heard you yelling so I just followed your voice."

"But didn't you hear the children?" I ask, turning to point at the direction where I'd heard the boy and girl.

"What children?" He asks.

"The two kids, they were right here! Laughing," I mumble, not entirely sure if I'd imagined them.

"We need to get you back, Olivia," he mutters, grabbing my hand and pulling me away.

I follow him, still confused.

The party goes on for a few more hours before they let us call it a night. Once it's over, I collapse on the bed and will myself to sleep, blaming myself for being too tired.

Morning comes by quiet fast. Harry explains Nathan the way back while I bid the ladies goodbye. The black haired lady, whose name I came to know is Maria, hugs me the tightest. I love how she took care of me all this time so I return it with equal force.

Once we pull away, I scan the people for the children I heard laughing last night but see none.

"Um, are there no children here?" I ask.

Maria shakes her head, "No. All the youngsters, except Jacob, Sander and Pauline have left the valley for the city. And no one is below the age of 15 here."

I feel a bit startled since the voices I heard last night were definitely little children and not a couple of teenagers. Nathan walks up to us and I'm distracted once again, chalking it to exhaustion.

Yeah, I was probably really panicked and tired.

We leave after that, walking up the path Harry had told us to take. It goes uphill and then down, leading us to mainland. Both of us are walking side by side, leaves crunching under our shoes. The silence between us, to my surprise, doesn't feel awkward. The sun is a lot warmer now and feels so good on my skin.

It's been a while since we've been walking and I begin to feel myself tire. I sit on a fallen log and let out a breath.

"You can't be tired already, intern," Nathan comments.

"But I am!" I answer, rubbing my lower limbs. I feel slightly irritable by how he's saying that but I did taunt him yesterday so makes sense.

He sighs and looks around. "The forest looks a lot more friendly during the day."

I nod, looking around. The trees still stood tall but they were a lot less scary now. My eyes fall on a sort of spot and it seems so beautiful. It's a corner of some sort. A few rocks are lying around on the ground and a huge bundle of vines is making a curtained wall. A very pretty and fancy curtained wall.

I quickly get up and walk over to it.

"Where are you going?" Nathan asks but I've already reached them.

"Isn't this so pretty?" I ask, turning around to look at him excitedly.

A ghost of a smile appears on his handsome face. "You like this?"

I nod feverishly before turning to look around again. I spot beautiful Blue Salvia blooming in the corner and immediately pluck two from the bunch. I turn to look at Nathan.

"Here," I smile, extending them to him.

"What are these?" He asks, taking them.

"These are Blue Salvias. You know, they always bloom in the Spring and they're so friendly! Aren't they beautiful? So here, I plucked these for you," I replied, smiling cheekily at him.

He didn't scoff or roll his eyes like he usually does. He took them from me, looking kind of impressed.

I watch him admire the flowers and feel my heart beginning to race again. This time, though, I can't chalk it back to the closeness or exhaustion.

Because this time, I find myself getting lost in him. In his hair, in his face, in that subtle smile. That peck of a kiss flashes in my mind again.

Man I'm doomed.

Because I think I like my boss.