C3: Spending Time Together

Back at the Hotel Top One, Sierra and the others were in a serious dilemma.

The girl with auburn hair pointed towards Jake. “You… You’re the cause of it,” she shrieked. “How can I answer to Uncle Fred now?”

Jake looked at Sierra and then at the scantily-dressed girl beside him, unable to utter a word. Sierra continued to address her blame on Jake.

“We came here because Myra wanted to see you! How could you betray her for…” she turned towards the girl beside Jake. “For that witch!”

Yuna hissed at Sierra. “Say that again, and you’ll regret it!”

Unknown to them, Yuna Kim was a renowned Korean actress in China where Jake had been living for the past five years. However, no matter how she tried to get Jake’s attention, she had failed. Jake insisted that their relationship three months ago had been a mistake. He had saved her once from a rich tyrant at a bar when she had been drugged, and she had consoled him when he was having a meltdown. 

Because he was lonely, she had accompanied him, and that was the reason why he had allowed her in his life. But try as he might, he could not forget the first person in his life that he had seen as a woman. Five years ago, he laid a kiss on the tender forehead of a sixteen-year-old. She had looked up at the sky to see if it had been raining, and he played along, feigning ignorance. 

When he departed the country for further studies, he assumed that she had forgotten about him, because she never wrote to him. He began to find solace in different women in China where he pursued his bachelor degree, however, each relationship was short-lived and lasted no more than three months.

“Who is that name you call out every night in your sleep?” Yuna demanded. 

Jake didn’t say a word, but returned to sleep, ignoring the Korean gibberish that followed. Despite having hurled vulgarities at him the night before, Yuna was as sweet as ever the next morning.

It didn’t occur to him that Yuna was two-faced or that she had a hidden agenda. This time, when she appeared in Bali, she had a most shocking surprise for Jake.

As much as Jake could not believe she was carrying his son, he knew it was not impossible. He suffered from infertility for some time, a condition that had been known to him since he was younger. When she embraced him that night at the party, he found it arduous to push her aside. 

He had to take responsibility for his muddled actions.

But now, Myra was gone for two days without any means of contacting her. Her cellphone had been switched off, and even her stepsister-to-be Sierra had no news of where she was.

The way they were arguing irked him more. He shouted to make them stop, but not before the girls started slapping each other. “Stop!” he tapped Sierra on her shoulders, looking alarmed. “Don’t touch Yuna! She’s pregnant!”

With a scorned look on her face, Sierra walked away with her two friends in tow. 

“To think… he’s that type of person,” she grumbled as they ascended the steps heading towards the elevator. “Unless there are no other ways to contact Myra, otherwise, we can’t contact her father.”

“I heard Jake is returning home tomorrow morning,” Lesley, the only boy in their gang, suddenly spoke up. “I hope that he keeps this from Uncle Fred.”

Sierra scratched her chin. “Now, this is hard.”

“Wait,” Sierra said, looking at the cellphone screen with a look of excitement on her face. “Myra’s calling!”

An unfamiliar man’s voice resounded on the other side of the line. “Hello, who is this?”

“Sierra, Myra’s sister. Who are you, and why are you holding her cell?”

“I’m Hart, Myra’s friend in Bali.” The man seemed as if he was hiding something. “Myra is taking a shower. I’ll get her to speak to you later.”

“Wait, when is she coming back?” Sierra shouted frantically. “We have been trying to get hold of her for the last two days!”

“I’ll get her to call you back,” Hart said in a rush, ending the call abruptly. He turned towards the reclining Myra.

“It’s done,” he told her. She nodded. 

“You can’t stay away from your friends for too long,” he said. “They might lodge a police report and as far as I am concerned, they can track your location using the last GPS position on your cellphone.”

Myra nodded again. Then she pulled on Hart’s sleeve.

“Who were the people that came the other day?”

“It’s a long story, but they should be sent by my father,” Hart said. “He wants me to go back home, but I want to live independently for now.”

She sighed. “It turns out we have something in common. My father has been controlling me all my life and all I want is to make my own decisions in life. I’ve never seen my mother.”

“I’m an illegitimate child.” He did not know what made him reveal this secret to her, but it felt better getting it off his chest. “You wouldn’t understand how difficult it is being called the other woman’s child. My mother was his one true love, but he was engaged before he met my mother. He never loved my stepmother.”

She felt sympathetic for him but could find no words to console him.

Hart then asked, “Who is the Jake you’ve been cursing in your sleep? Is he someone in your past?”

They had spent two days together, but she was reluctant to reveal the problems she had on her mind. 

“We’re over,” she said, faking a smile.

He leant over to peck her on the cheek. “There is plenty of other fish in the sea. One failed relationship doesn’t mean you are doomed to nunhood.”

She scowled at him. “I don’t need you to tell me that.”

“Will you consider giving me a chance, then?” he grinned, pulling her into his arms.

She pouted. “You think too much, Mr Hart.”

“That’s not what you said in bed last night.”

His words made her blush and turn away. After her failure in love with Jake Yu, she had discovered herself in a tighter situation, this man who was simply a beast in bed. He piqued her inquisitiveness and on the other hand, fulfilled her cravings so well. But in the end, they were no more than two people sleeping with each other, a relationship that her of the past would find shallow.

But here where nobody knew her and her friends and family would never find her, could not judge her for her actions.

Hart wrapped his arms around her, embracing her from behind. “Let me hold you like this, Myra,” he said gently. The voice of his late girlfriend reverberated in his mind.

“Hart, you have to move on. Find the woman who will accompany you throughout life.”

He had dreamed of her last night. That was the last time he would ever see Milla in his dreams.

“Hart?” Myra repeated. Hart snapped out of his trance.

“What did you say, Myra?”

“I’m hungry,” she said.

“Do you want to have a ride on the motorbike?” he suggested, gesturing towards a large object covered by a dark black cloth. “The rations in the hideout has started to run out.” 

Myra’s father had never allowed her to ride a motorbike or be a pillion rider due to his perception of it being dangerous. She shrugged with a sweet smile.

“We could get breakfast and then, some new clothes. Aren’t you sick of wearing the same black dress?” he teased, nudging her on the shoulder. 

“Ah, fine.” Her knees were buckling as she climbed up the motorbike after him. “Will I fall off? Will it be dangerous? Will I-”

“Trust me,” he said, grabbing her hands from behind and placing them on his waist. “Hold tight.” 

“Trust me,” he said once more.

It was arduous to trust once more after being betrayed, but she believed Hart was different. He was a local, and an Indonesian of Chinese descent, which made him stand out from the Chinese back home. Living in a western country often made third-generation Chinese like her forget their roots, and she felt that Hart was more of a Chinese than she was. 

The fact that he was not from a wealthy background and yet treated her with respect made her appreciate him more than ever. But to think that she would be in a relationship with him in the future just didn’t sound right to her. They were no more than one-night-stand turned lovers, and she liked how they partook in each other’s pleasures. She considered their relationship symbiotic, but no more than that.

“Okay, I trust you,” she said, securing her arms around his waist. Somehow, there was something about him that she felt she could entrust herself to him. As they whizzed through the busy streets, she felt the wind sweep up her hair, chilling her back. Nevertheless, his body felt warm and presented her with a sense of security that she had never felt before. Not even in Jake. 

They had just spent two days together and she was already swooning from this man who she barely knew. 

“We’ve reached,” Hart announced, stopping in the city bazaar. “Here, we’ll find some of the best food to eat, and-”

Myra turned around, hearing someone calling her name. Or at least, what that sounded like her name. Hart also faced the source of the voice, flabbergasted by the person calling Myra’s name.

To her surprise, Hart’s face was as pale as a ghost.