Never recover

14 – Never recover

Waking up in the morning with the sunshine on her face was becoming a routine for her. She started enjoying it, compared to when she first came here. She squinted her eyes, trying to adjust to the light, before stretching like a feline cat, getting her limp muscles to move.

She could already hear someone moving around outside her room. That would be Lindsey, probably cooking her breakfast. No matter what she did, she could not convince her that she could take care of herself. Anyway, she just allowed her to do what she wanted while she did hers. She learned that it was easier that way than to keep on arguing with her.

"Good morning!" She greeted Lindsey when she graced the kitchen with her presence.

"Did you sleep well?" She asked. "Saw that your lights were still on very late last night?"

Now, she wondered if Lindsey was checking up on her. It was not such a farfetched idea, knowing Jessica, she could easily ask Lindsey to do just that. If she was, did Lindsey saw her with Raf? However, if Lindsey did, she would not stop questioning her about it by now. So, she concluded that she might just have noticed the lights on.

"Yeah, about the lights. I dozed off and forget to turn it off until later." She decided to try her luck and hoped that Lindsey knew nothing about what truly happened.

"I also do that sometimes. Gerry usually turned off the lights when I forgot them." She began to serve her breakfast as she packed up her things to leave for the market. "Do you need anything?"

She was about to tell her to buy her something when she heard her phone rang inside her room. She made Lindsey wait as she ran back inside.

Thinking that it was probably Jacob, she immediately answered it without looking at the screen. "Hi, baby, did you miss me?" She teasingly said on the line.

"Oh. Did I make a mistake? I was trying to call Sky." She heard the slight hesitation in his voice, but she did recognize it. It was not Jacob.

"I'm sorry, I thought it was my friend calling." She quickly tried to recover from her blunder.

"Hi! I thought I made a wrong connection. Anyway, I want to check if you're not busy today," he asked.

"I am… No, I'm not…" She started to mumble, making no sense even to herself. "I meant I am available to go out today." She tried to make herself more coherent. "What do you have planned?"

"That's good. Well, I was thinking of a picnic. A small trek on the park, if that will work for you." He sounded hesitant as he waited for her response.

"I would love to." She found herself saying, which she suddenly regret. She had no idea why she just accepted that. She was not used to this kind of activity.

"Great. I'll pick you up in thirty minutes at your house," he declared excitedly.

"Sure." She quickly answered. Then, realizing her mistake, she started to panic. "Oh, I forgot. I promised my aunt that I would do something for her. Why don't I drop by your house as soon as I finish my chore?"

The lies she kept on piling up were tearing her inside. She just hoped that she could soon tell Raf the truth about her.

"Yes, of course. Not really in a hurry. Just come by when you're finished. We'll go from there." He assured her.

"Cool. See you later." She ended the call, releasing a big sigh of relief.

She felt quite excited about her pending date again with Raf. Remembering last night, she sat on the edge of her bed and started to recall her memorable experience. He walked her back to her house. Well, not hers, but Lindsey's front door.

She was glad that all the lights were off, indicating that the couple must be already sleeping by then. They stood by the door, both unsure of what to say.

"Well, I had a great time." He started to say.

"I did too. Thanks for showing me around." She responded, not knowing what else to say, and how she was to end this night.

"You better get in. It is getting late." He said, keeping his eyes on her.

She began to think of what to do. She had no key to this house, so how could she convinced him that she lived here.

"I'm already at my door, so there is no possible harm that could happen to me. I want to make sure that you also get home safely, so I will watch you walk back to your place before I go in." She hoped that he would accept her suggestion. When he appeared that he would say no, she immediately added, "I insist."

"Ok. If you see me near my house, would you go in?" he compromised.

"Deal." She immediately accepted before he changed his mind.

There was a brief silence that enveloped them as they both waited to say something. Raf lowered his head to hers, but only to give her a slight peck on her cheek. "Good night, Sky."

"Good night, Raf," she said back.

She was still hugging her phone, imagining her magical night with Raf when she felt a presence behind her.

"Who was that?" Lindsey asked as she saw her standing by her door. In her haste, she forgot to close it. "It seemed that you are going to someone's house after doing a chore." Her face was a clear indication that she was interested in her explanation.

She looked at Lindsey, quickly formulating a response to her questions that would be reasonable, but nothing was coming to mind. She was not obligated to tell her anything, but she had so much respect for her, telling her another lie felt wrong.

Lindsey was curious about what she was thinking. "Ok. You know you can tell me anything, right?" She always felt that Sky needed a person who would be there for her.

After a few weeks of spending time with her, Lindsey learned that her lack of mother figure made her feel that she was missing something. Then, hearing from the news what happened to her, Lindsey could only sympathize with her. Lindsey could sense how lonely she must be, stuck here on this island with no family and friends.

"Ok, but promise me you will keep an open mind about what I am about to tell you." She stared at her with her pleading eyes. If she informed her of what she had been doing so far, she would need her on her side.

"As long as it's reasonable." Lindsey raised one of her brows, skeptical of what she was about to hear.

"Fair enough, but listen carefully to my reason before you judge it." Sky beseeched her understanding.

"Ok, so what is this all about?" Lindsey walked back to the living room and sat on the sofa, waiting for her to follow.

She did and sat on the opposite chair. "I met someone the other day at the café when we went out." She checked her facial expression, checking her initial reaction.

"Go on." Lindsey encouraged her, curious where this was leading.

"He was a nice guy," she said. She could see Lindsey smiling as if she was happy that she met a man. "He did not recognize me at all, but his dog did." She finished her statement before she lost her nerve to tell her the truth.

"Are we talking about someone I know?" Lindsey asked, but she believed that she already guessed the person in question.

"Yes." She bit her lips, finally confirming the man in question.

"That's good. Rafael is a good man." Lindsey looked like she genuinely approved that she went out with him, but seeing her hesitation, she continued to ask. "What seems to be the problem?"

Rafael had been single for a long time. As far as she knew, he had only dated a few times this last few years. Hearing that he was going out with Sky was good news, in her opinion. She smiled thinking that they were a perfect match.

"There is a slight hitch in this whole situation." She admitted. She started pacing the floor, considering her next words.

Lindsey looked at her confused, "What do you mean?"

She started explaining to her what she did, hoping that she would take her side. She told her how it all started, what happened at the café, and her date last night.

"You meant to say that you were out last night without telling us. What if something happened to you?" Lindsey started acting like a mother hen, nagging her of the stupidity of her actions.

She pleaded her case, telling her that she did not mean it to go that far, but Sky implored that Lindsey tried to understand. She wanted Lindsey to go along with her plan for the meantime until she sorted it out.

"Are you sure you know what you are doing?" Lindsey asked her, finally calmer than from her initial reaction.

"Yeah. Just give me more time, just a few more days, then I will tell Raf everything. The truth." She promised her.

"I am not sure if this is a good idea. The more you extend this charade of yours, the deeper you are burying yourself into." Lindsey said with her motherly wisdom.

She was right. She knew it. Then, why did she felt like she needed more time to build a stronger friendship with Raf before she could tell him the truth. She felt that if she did it now, he would hate her, and she would never recover from it.