16. Reminiscing

Third person point of view

The following morning, Rose slowly started to wake up. Her eyes still closed, memories of the previous night flooded into her head, making her smile, and for the first time in her life, Rose found herself extending her hand, trying to reach the person that would be lying next to her, thinking of all the things she would like to do to them.

"Rose? Are you alright?" A voice called out her name. But it wasn't the voice she was expecting, making her frown. "Rose are you still sleeping? Wake up."

Rose felt herself being shaken awake by delicate hands, and she quickly opened her eyes confused, and when she found Alice looking at her with worried eyes, she looked around the room once again.

Still confused, Rose raised the sheets and peeked in only to find herself fully dress as she was the other night. The realization that part of the 'supposed memories' were her imagination and likely 'dream' made her feel disappointed in herself.

"I didn't know you could move like this in your sleep," Alice spoke once again. Rose looked at Alice who was sitting by her bed, dresses in a shirt and shorts.

"Why am I here?" "What do you mean? We are on vacation, remember? Are you confused because the room isn't familiar to you yet?"

"No!" Rose groaned, holding her head in her hands as it stabbed painfully. "All of it can't be a dream. Where is the guy I was with?"

"What guy? You mean Jacob?" "No! Not that jerk," Rose said frustratedly.

"The really good looking guy I was making out with!"

"You made out with someone!" Alice let out an excited gasp. "How much fun did you have last night night? Who was it?"

"I don't know!" Rose cried out in frustration before wincing in pain as her head stabbed again.

Noticing that, Alice stood up and went to the counter coming back 30 seconds later with pills and a glass of water before handing them to Rose who collected it and gulped it down with the pills before setting the glass down on the bedside drawer.

"I can't believe a day like this would come where I would try to remember a guy's name. How did I come back to this place anyway?" Rose asked Alice, who shrugged.

"By the time I came back, you were already deep in sleep. It's 9am right now. Why don't you shower and we can go have some breakfast?" Alice suggested. "Maybe you will meet him again by chance."

Upon hearing that, Rose jumped out of bed, heading straight for the shower, and the whole thing made Alice laugh. Who knew that a day like this would come where Rose would be tripping at the thought of meeting a guy?

*

Zack tossed and turned in bed after waking up. It was now 6am in the morning and he was still unable to sleep properly.

As soon as he closed his eyes, memories of the previous night flooded his brain. The thought of how things led to that.

Not long ago, if anyone told let him he would let go to someone he just met so easily, he would have called out b*llsh*t. Yet he found himself drunk and making out with a girl he had just met on the same night.

Was that what real attraction was? And what would have happened if he hadn't stopped. Would he had gone along with what she suggested?

The realization that if he had, that they would be in bed together at the moment, made Zack blush. But then he did have to stop. Even though she had expressed her interest in him, both of them were drunk and chances are they would regret it the following morning.

But would he? Instead of turning in bed and getting consumed by thoughts, Zack decided to get up and go have some breakfast. It would be sunrise soon and he wanted to enjoy the view, hoping it would clear his head if the thoughts he was having. Getting out of bed, Zack had a cold shower and changed clothes, taking care not to wake Chris who had returned to the room later than him, but just as he was about to open the door and head out, Chris spoke.

"Where are you sneaking out to?" Chris said groggy from sleep.

"To have breakfast," Zack replied briefly. "Isn't it too early for that?" Chris said reaching for his phone and checking the time on it.

"When will you ever get the time to watch the sun rise while on the ship again? I bet we are going to be busy at the company once we get back home. You can join me at the docks if you want," Zack replied, and without waiting for a reply, he opened the door and left, closing the door behind him.

"We? Work in the company? Home?" Chris tasted the words in his mouth before springing out of bed as if he had been pricked by a needle. "What do you mean by that?" Chris asked an empty room.

In a rush, Chris washed up, put on some fresh clothes and went out in search of Zack. Some minutes later, Chris found Zack standing by the docks, his arms rested on the railing as he took sips from his coffee.

Watching Zack from a distance, Chris felt as if he was looking at an entirely different person from yesterday.

How could someone change their minds and move on so quickly? 'Just what happened to Zack after I left him by himself last night?' Chris thought.

Not only was Zack looking bright as he enjoyed himself. He also looked like everything now looks clearer to him and he was now aware of and appreciating his surroundings.

Instead of standing there and contemplating, Chris decided to confront Zack.

"I see that you are enjoying yourself right now," Chris said, standing beside Zack and facing the same direction as him.

"Yup," Zak replied with a smile and Chris looked away, as if the smile would blind him "So, home, huh?"

"Yup," Zack replied in the same manner again, annoying Chris further.

"What was that about getting back to work. Are you going back to the restaurant as soon as we get back?"

"I've decided to quit working at the restaurant. I am going to get back to the company and work for grandma once again," Zack replied, turning for the first time to look at Chris, only to be met with the latter's face fuming with rage.

"The f*ck you are!" Chris laughed. "Finally. When I have finally begun to be appreciated by grandma and my efforts recognized, you decided to crawl your back. All this must seem like a joke to you huh?"

"Chris, I," Zack got lost for what to say, surprised that his cousin would react that way.

"It was you who cursed at everyone and left on your five years back when your life didn't go the way you wanted, leaving me to deal with grandma and all the burden. Now if you think that I'm going to sit back and watch you take away everything I have worked hard from, you might need to think again." Saying that, Chris turned away and left, leaving Zack alone to deal with the consequences of his decision.