Say Yes

I woke up in the morning by the sunlight coming through the window of the room. I woke up refreshed, although yesterday we had a long dinner by the fire and shared our life stories and memories of our friends. I put on a short white linen dress and ran my fingers through my shoulder length hair. I opened the patio door and walked out onto the beach: I was greeted by the sound of seagulls and crashing waves. I put headphones in my ears and played some romantic music. I was walking on the beach for a long time when I got a message:

Ele: Are you in Malibu and cut your hair?

Luka: How do you know?

Ele: Some Karl uploaded a photo to his Facebook account and tagged you.

I sat down on a sand dune and quickly downloaded the Facebook app to my phone, as I had deleted it in frustration. Pictures of yesterday's fun flashed on my wall: me in a white bikini, catching water bubbles and having fun splashing them with my hands, sitting on the shore and watching the sun set somewhere on the horizon. The next photo is of Liza and I jumping in the waves, my short hair flowing around my face. One of the most beautiful photos is me sitting by the fire, curled up in a blanket, smiling and blowing an air kiss right into the camera. In that photo, my eyes are laughing, my cheeks are a healthy flush, my hair is naturally wavy, and the wind blows lightly on my face. The campfire dances happily behind me and I look so happy and relaxed. Above the photos, Karl wrote: A fun start to the weekend with charming girls. I thought, sooner or later I had to get back into social life, why not today. I uploaded the picture of me by the fire as my profile picture. If we continue to live, then we live properly, - I said out loud.

The rest of the weekend went very fast and fun. We spent a lot of time at the beach or traveling around Malibu. Liza and Karl walked around holding hands and kept denying that they were a couple, and Steve and I kept teasing them. Saturday night we went out to eat at a seafood restaurant, then went to a bar for drinks and dancing. I put on a knee-length yellow dress with straps, tucked a flower behind my ear in my neatly curled hair, made my eyes brighter, and put on platform sandals. Liza wore a short white dress and high-heeled sandals, her red hair in a messy bun. We both danced like crazy and drank cocktails with umbrellas. Karl kept taking pictures of us, even though I didn't want to today, but he definitely got some better shots. We returned to the table and the waiter brought a bottle of Cristal champagne.

- We didn't order it,- Karl told the waiter.

-That gentleman at the bar is serving you,- said the waiter, pointing to the man standing at the bar. I turned to see who was serving us champagne, and to my surprise, Iden was standing leaning against the bar. With one hand in the pocket of his dark jeans, a glass of drink in the other, he wore a white short-sleeved T-shirt that exposed the tattoos on his neck and forearm, the latter of which had not been in that area before, apparently recently. The hair was slicked back, I'm not going to lie, it looked really hot.

- Oh shit, - I said out loudly and turned my eyes to the companions sitting next to me.

- What happened Lu?- Liza asked, glancing at the bar, then looking at me questioningly again.

- Nothing, everything is fine,- I felt very confused, but I pretended not to care.

- I wonder who that man is and why he's giving us champagne,- Steve reasoned with Karl.

- I know him a little,- I giggled. - Maybe he‘s just sayingus hello, - I finished my cocktail in one gulp and showed the bartender that I wanted another one of the same, double.

I drank half of the new cocktail and Liza got us back to the dance floor. We started moving to Jennifer Lopez's On the floor. I relaxed and had fun on the dance floor. After a few more selfies with Karl's phone, I excused myself from my friends and walked towards the toilet. While waiting in line, I turned on the Facebook app - the pictures of this evening flashed again: I was smiling everywhere and with rosy cheeks... Of course, Karl is a victim of social networks, I thought.

- Good evening, Luka,- I heard a painfully familiar voice, but I didn't move from my place, I didn't turn to him.

Iden moved closer to me and stood behind me. I could smell his perfume, hear his breathing. My body reacted immediately: my skin became wrinkled, my heart began to beat faster, my cheeks changed, my breathing increased. I braced myself with all my might and continued to stand like a statue. Iden was standing right next to me, I could feel the warmth of his body on my back. He snuggled completely against my back and lightly ran his fingertips down my arm from wrist to shoulder. I shook. He slowly leaned close to my ear. I could feel my breathing, I barely kept myself from fainting.

- No matter where you are, no matter where you hide, I will always be a step away from you, Luka,- as he spoke, the air he exhaled gently tickled my ear. -And that night meant a lot more to me than you can imagine,- he practically pressed his lips to my ear, put one hand gently on my left shoulder, and the fingers of the other hand ran up and down my right arm again.

Sole tear fell from my left eye, and with all my strength I pulled myself out of his trap and ran into the bathroom. I kept feeling his touch, his smell. I didn't like the feeling I got from being around him. I felt completely weak. I stood firmly on the edge of the sink and looked at my reflection in the mirror.

- No, you won't fail me a third time, - Mr. Iden Black,- I said and left the bathroom.