4

The car came to halt as they arrived at the cabin. "Here we are," Damien sighed.

He got out the car first and walked around to open the door for Ashleigh. "Thanks," she sighed stepping out of the car. She took in a deep breath. "Nothing like the smell of the ocean."

"You can say that again, we have to first drop off our bags then maybe we can for a swim or a little stroll maybe even have a make out session," Damien suggested opening his car's trunk.

"Maybe."

He took out their bags and led her into the cabin. 

"Hm... it's much cleaner than we left it," Ashleigh pointed out.

"Thats cause my butler came and did some cleaning two days ago," Damien stated heading to the master bedroom with the bags.

"And when do I finally meet the man behind the scenes?"

"Soon."

"Where is he usually anyways?" she enquired.

"He lives in my parent's mansion in Hollywood. He has been the butler for..." he returned to the living room where Ashleigh was, "a while? I can't remember exactly how long but for a while."

"Interesting."

"So, ready to go to the beach?" he asked. "Maybe we could catch a wave."

"Damn... when was the last time I surfed?"

"We should do that then."

"We don't have surfboards genius."

"Oh but we do! I'll even go get them." Damien sprung into action and went to get the surfboards. He showed his girlfriend the surfboards with a grin on his face.

"Oh... we do."

"So? How about it?"

Ashleigh sighed in defeat. "Ok." 

Damien decided to take out the surfboards while Ashleigh went to get into swimwear. He was putting on sunblock and struggling to reach the centre of his back when he heard a chuckle from behind him.

"Let me help you with that," Ashleigh offered. 

She took the bottle of sunblock from him and squirt some on her hand. She started rubbing it on his back when he asked, "Would you stay on the beachfront?"

"What? Like forever?"

"Yeah, have a home on the beachfront."

Ashleigh scoffed, "Pfft! No!"

"Why? You love the beach!" Damien exclaimed in surprise.

"Yeah but not as an everyday thing. There's always gonna be sand in the house and I'll have to go from sweeping twice a day to ten! And when I have kids their backyard will be the beach and there's no fence to prevent them from going into the water especially if they can't swim."

"Ok... then what if you move away from the beachfront but still live along the coast?"

"Nope! What if there's a tsunami?"

"There has not been reports of a tsunami here."

"Well I'm not leaving it to chance. Global warming is changing things, you can't trust nature to always be on your side these days," Ashleigh stated as she finished covering her boyfriend's back in sunblock. 

"Thanks," he smiled.

"No problemo," she stated in response.

Damien took a moment to admire his girlfriend in her tropical bikini. She had tied her thick wavy hair tied back. Her deep brown eyes that matched her dark brown hair held a bit of a spark to them. They told him she was happy. Her lips, naturally pink with a hint of purple to them, were curled into a smile. 

He was jealous of how perfectly tanned her body was. Though it was her natural skin tone, he wished he could tan his skin to that same tone without getting sunburn. But he knew if he had to get tanned he wouldn't be able to show off his freckles which he actually liked. One of many traits he inherited from his mother.

He took her hands with a sigh, "Before we go out to sea, I wanted to tell you... sometimes, I look at you... look at us and think of how far we've come and I can't believe it. We've grown so much and each day, I don't get why you'd love a man like me but each day, I'm grateful to have you by my side. I love you Ash."

"And I love you. But if we're being honest... I'm only with you for your money," she smirked. "I'm a gold digger like that."

"Oh, oh, sorry!"

"Yeah, I've been drugging you everyday. You're dying a slow death. By this time next year, you'll be dead!!"

"Damn it! I should've known from the start!"

They shared a good laugh. They laughed at themselves and each other. Their laughter only ceased several seconds later. 

"Ready to catch a wave?" Damien enquired once they stopped laughing.

He grabbed a surfboard as Ashleigh replied, "Oh I'm ready, last time we were here though you kept falling off your board."

"I won't fall today."

"Sure."

"I've been practicing," Damien smiled proudly as the walked towards the shore. 

"You? Practice? I don't believe you!"

"But I have!" 

"Prove it."

They swam out. Ashleigh caught a wave first. Riding it with ease and performing a few tricks just to show off. She felt like she had a superpower. Able to glide upon the waters without it devouring her. 

She remembered herself as a child watching her father shredding the waves with expert turns. She always used to think her father was some sort of water magician. He often used to get tunnelled. She'd watch from the safety of the shore as a wave caved in on him. He'd always make it out just before it swallowed him up.

Then he'd returned to shore and get her to paddle out with him. Before they did, her mother would check five times to ensure her lifejacket was on right and secure while reminding her husband that if he lost their daughter, she'd leave him.

After the multiple safety checks, he'd paddle out with her till they got to the take off zone. There he'd stay and help her stand on the board. The first time he tried this, she screamed and panicked then ended up falling off. 

Unfortunately for him, her mother had seen this and was yelling at him at the top of her lungs from the shore. She was even about to run out at him just to hit him over the head. Then he tried again and again until she stood up with him holding onto her. 

Until one day, she could stand herself no matter how much the water made the board wobble and rock. Then one day she and her dad went to look at how much a surfboard would cost for her. And that was the last she spent time with her dad on the beach.

Ashleigh came out of her daydream when she saw a large wave tower over her. Next thing she knew, she had been wiped out. 

On the other hand, Damien was struggling to get up on his board. He tried to paddle in several times but when it was time for him to get up, he just lost balance and fell off his board. Eventually he gave up and just sat on his board watching his girlfriend. 

When she finally wiped out he smiled. Not that he was wishing bad luck upon her, he was just getting bored and wanted to talk to her. He liked talking to her. Their conversations were always... interesting, for a lack of words. But he always enjoyed them.

Ashleigh swam up to him and sat on her board beside him.

"That was some wicked surfing," he complemented. 

"And you should stop trying to speak like a surfer. I like my Damien better."

Damien chuckled in response. 

"So, you've been practicing huh?"

"Before you judge me, I can explain."

"Mm hmm, let's hear it."

"When I said practice I didn't mean I actually came down here and you know... caught a wave or anything-" Damien explained.

"So where did you practice?"

"From the comfort of my pool." Ashleigh burst into laughter as Damien asked, "What? I'm being honest! What's wrong with trying to surf in a pool?"

"Are you being serious?" she enquired once her laughter ceased.

"Of course- no actually, that was a bad lie."

"You're a horrible liar."

"Am I?"

"Yes you are." Ashleigh leaned in and smiled, "You're my horrible liar." She gave him a peck on the lips. "Wanna head back to land?"

"Yeah."

They swam back to the shore and left their boards close to the cabin. They then took a stroll along the beach chatting, occasionally they'd chased each other into the water. When the Sun set they headed back to the cabin.

Damien showered first. He got into a maroon shirt and black pants with black shoes. He tied his hair back and put on some jewellery. Just as he finished getting dressed, their dinner had been delivered. 

He placed it on the dining table and turned on some romantic music. He then took out some glasses, plates, eating utensils and candles. He lit the candles and turned down the lights. Afterwards he went to the alcohol cellar and picked out a bottle of wine. 

He was reading the label when he heard Ashleigh say, "We're having a romantic dinner?"

He turned to face her but didn't look at her, "Yeah."

"Well why didnt you tell me, I would've worn something else."

Damien looked up to see her in cow pyjamas. "Nah it's ok. You look cute. Like a little cow. All you have to do is say 'Moo' and I'm taking you down to the farm."

Ashleigh rolled her eyes.

He pulled a chair out for her and she took a seat. "Thanks."

Damien placed the wine bottle on the table and took his seat with a sigh.

"Did you actually have the time to cook all of this?" his girlfriend enquired.

"Nah, I ordered it. I got your favourite, ribs, spicy, and there's some fries. There's... potato salad... lamb stew? I don't know. Umm... what's this? I don't know what this is," Damien explained unwrapping the food.

"I don't care, I see ribs, imma eat ribs."

"Of course you will." Damien was about to start putting food on his plate when he "realised" he hadn't put any serving spoons on the table. . "Uhh, I forgot to bring spoons for serving the food."

"I'll get it," Ashleigh volunteered springing into action. 

As he watched her go, he grabbed the gift box from under his seat and placed it on her's. She returned with the different spoons, "Thanks Ash."

"You're wel-" She looked at him. "So you did that on purpose?" She picked up the gift box and took her seat. "Whats in it?" 

"Find out."

She opened the box and inside was a bracelet with many different charms. "Damien!"

"Like it?"

"Of course! It's beautiful!"

"There's a charm for different things we like doing together. There's a surfboard, drama masks for our pranks, there's a nice dog there for each time you hear barking and much more. Each one has a meaning."

"This was really thoughtful. Thank you."

"How about a toast?"

"What shall we toast to?"

"To the best four years a man could ever wish for and the beginning of many more years to come."

"Cheers."

They had dinner and talked in between about their time in high school. They talked about classmates and teachers. Sportsmen and coaches. They even talked about the principal they had during their five years.

Damien didn't have much of a history with him but Ashleigh, being a the person she was during her first two years, had visited his office on numerous occasions. She was even known by her full name which was something considering that over 1 500 pupils attended the school.

When they finished eating they put their dishes in the dishwasher. 

"There we go," Damien sighed as they headed to living room.

"Thanks for dinner. I really enjoyed it..." Ashleigh stated taking his hands, "well just the whole of today, it's been fun and really romantic... just reminds me why I fell in love with you four years ago."

She looked into his eyes as she went on to say, "You're the sweetest gentleman who just plays my heartstrings in a way no one can and makes me happy. You always find a new way to impress me and make me laugh... not a lot of guys put in that effort. So thank you."

"Dont thank me just yet. I got one more surprise," Damien smirked.

"Geez... haven't I been spoilt enough?" she chuckled as he went to get an envelope. 

"Nope! Imma spoil you until you own everything there is to own," he grinned handing her the envelope. 

"Lets see." Ashleigh opened her envelope and pulled out its contents. She read the information on the on the cardboard and gasped, "You got tickets to Hollywood?!"

"Surprise!"

"Damien..." She squeezed him in a hug. "Thank you!!" 

"I know how much you've always wanted to go."

"It's always been my dream."

"And I want to make your dreams come true."