Chapter Twelve

"That Lydia, seems like she could be trouble. And you sound jealous."

I had told her all about my day, and now it was gossip time.

"I think I am. I mean, wouldn't you be? You've heard what I told you about him. Wouldn't you find him exciting and seductive? A good-looking guy, who happens to legally be bound to you, to take care of you, takes to wherever we are, and pays for everything. I'm not a gold digger but come on. Even you would be swept off your feet."

Gina laughed, "Yes, yes, it's very tempting and alluring. Be careful, again. Those rich people have a lot of dirty Landry they carry with them. And that Lydia, sound like one basket of dirty laundry."

"I am, wait a second, "I ran to the bathroom. The bathtub was only half full. Good. I ran back to the table, where I had prompted my phone on, "Ok, I haven't flooded the place."

She chuckled.

"Babe, where were you for the past couple of days, I couldn't reach you?"

"Oh, we were somewhere in Africa. No internet, so off the grid."

"Hey, why don't you two come here. Imagine, the fun we'd have. You and your boyfriend, and Zach and I?"

"I'd love too, but he told me we were going somewhere cold, next." That excitement fell through quickly. I missed her, my best friend. She always puts a smile on my face. I needed her, but I wasn't going to burden her with that. She had finally met a guy she liked, who was more than a fling, and she was traveling around the world with him. So, I made a joke. I put a finger on my chin, pretending to think deeply, "Somewhere cold, hm? My deduction skills say…. North pole, Santa's workshop."

Gina chuckled, "Well, knowing him, it's an option. Although, I'm not sure about the workshop."

"It's real, Gina, stop denying it."

"Did you talk to your family?"

"Yeah, I did. They worry, of course. But they see that I'm happy, and that's enough, I think."

"I think your tub is full."

"Oh, yeah, I think it is. Talk to you soon, Love you babe."

"Love you, too."

It's mind-blowing how a couple of flower petals can make the bath time much more interesting. I decided to call it, JESSICA'S REGAL TIME.

I'm hilarious, I know.

I was soaked in hot water, up to my neck. I sprinkled some pink rose petals around me, and I lit some candles, that I found in the cabinet. I mean, they thought of everything. Everything was so relaxing, and everything smelled so pretty. It felt like the water literally caressed my tired and bruised skin and healed it with it's touch. And yes, I did find a couple of marks, where the bruises would probably form tomorrow. It must have been from those couple of times when we hit some small rocks. I replayed the event in my mind, and even though it was, at times scary, those times when we hit the rocks, it was exhilarating. I remember how much I laughed, and how hard I laughed. Screamed and laughed.

After I had spent, about 30 minutes of enjoying JESSICA'S REGAL TIME, I decided to take a walk around the resort. Explore a bit. I put on some sandals, along with a white t-shirt and jeans. My hair was still wet, but since we were in a hot place, I decided to let it dry naturally. I walked into the area, we had dinner last night. Tables were empty, and I could only see a few waiters tidying up for dinner. What I noticed was that almost every waitress had some sort of flower in her hair. I loved that. Some of them, who noticed me, asked me If I wanted anything, but I just politely declined, saying I was just going for a walk before dinner.

The sun was setting, and it was quite a sight. A sight that deserved to be captured, so I took my phone and out, and took a couple of pictures. I also noticed that I had no calls from Michael. I wonder what he was doing. That feeling of restlessness was interrupted, with me spotting one of the swings. Except, this was one big swing. I walked over to it and managed to comfortable sit myself in it. I had to climb in. With my feet barely touching the ground, I couldn't seem to be able to swing myself. One of the waiters noticed my struggle and offered to help.

"Yes, if it's not a bother. Thank you."

He just politely smiled, and gave me a few gentle and short, pushes. Then, he stepped back, and pushed me hard. That was the moment I realized, why this swing was so big, and isolated from others. The fact that, when you swing forward, you realize that the ground disappears before you. Just a few feet from you. There was a huge drop, and you felt like you were flying.

My heart dropped from the surprise. I closed my eyes and screamed.

"Are you ok, miss?"

Still, with my eyes closed, I answered the boy, "Yes, I'm fine. Just, caught me by surprise."

I bet this wasn't the first time someone got on a swing and screamed in fear of dying.

"Should I keep swinging, miss?"

"Yes, yes. Just keep swinging."

After a few swings, I got used to it, and began to appreciate the view. The last rays of sun were basking my face, and I felt invincible, as invincible, a girl on a swing, can feel. I opened my eyes, and scanned around. Nature, nature… Zach and Lydia, nature.

What?

I gazed back at the spot where I thought I saw Zach and Lydia. My eyes didn't deceive me. They were sitting in the dinning are and talking. She was wearing a sultry pink dress, a little too revealing even from this angle. He was leaning back, with his legs spread wide open. With one hand she was touching her hair, and with the other, she was caressing his arm. Then, I noticed that her, perfect long leg was moving towards him, but I couldn't see where it went, since the bush kept blocking my view. I was fuming. Where is that foot going?

I told the waiter to stop pushing me, and that I was done. I got off the swing, and almost lost my balance. The guy held onto me, while I regain my balanced. I looked at his name tag, "Thanks, Pedro."

"No problem, miss."

I walked over, to those blocking bushes. I don't know what I was thinking. The only notion that was making me do this, was curiosity. I needed to find out what they were talking about. As I was getting close, I was starting to crunch down a little and I walked slower. It felt like, I was in a spy movie. I moved slowly towards them, and as I was getting closer to the big bushes, I heard her say, "Come on Zachary, you know how good we were…"

Oh, come on, woman, have some dignity.

I moved even closer, trying not to make any sound. Imagine, they caught me creeping in. There is always a possibility of pleading insanity. I do lack a part of my brain. It's plausible.

"Lydia, we are over. You made sure of that."

"I made a mistake Zachary. But I came to my senses."

"Before, or after you slept with him?"

Damn. That must have hurt. Being cheated on. Michael never cheated on me. Cause, if he did, I probably would cut of his manly hood.

"Zachary, "she pleaded once again.

He said something to her, but his words were muffled by the band starting to do their soundcheck.

Are you kidding me? Now you decided to soundcheck.

I moved even closer, but my foot tripped on something, and I fell into the hole next to me. I screamed and fell down.

Crap. They must have heard that.

I was lying down, in a whole filled with mud, and as I was trying to pull my leg out, I saw Zach's face, looking at me, "What are you doing, Jessica?"

"Oh, just, you know, I read online that the… um mood here, is very healthy and they um… use it for healing, so I decided to check it out," I laughed nervously.

Seriously? That was what I came up with?

He shook his head, and extended his hand to help me up, "You ok?"

I tried to clean the mud from my shirt, but i was only smudging it more, and making it worse. I guess, the shower and I are going to be seeing each other sooner than I thought.

I saw Lydia contort face in disgust.

"Lydia," I acknowledged her, and turned away from them, mankind my way to my room.

Zachary told me to meet him in an hour, for dinner, but I really wasn't in the mood, so I told him that I'll stay in my room, and order room service. And I did, I turned on the tv and found some old movie with Odry Hepburn. I was eating a slice of pizza and watching this woman be as beautiful and graceful. Nothing like what I was 30 minutes ago. I looked at the dirty clothes I had washed and were drying off on the tub.

So embarrassing. I mean, nothing new for me, but seriously. Spying on people, was me knew low. Good. Can't wait to tell Gina about that. At least, I'll make someone laugh. Or maybe Zach and Lydia are now laughing at me. They are probably eating together, with candles on the table lighting her beautiful face even more, and they are probably laughing at me. A stupid child.

I need to stop this and concentrate on the movie. I bit of a large piece of a pizza slice, and plastered my eyes to the tv. Everything was much easier back then. Wasn't it? You like someone, and if they like you back, you get married. And everyone lives happily ever after. Right?

Oh, just let me mentally pat myself.