Monday
"And?"
"Good evening to you too, Sofia." Sara chuckled. What strange way to say hello of the blonde after they hadn't seen each other since the morning.
"Yeah, good evening, hello Rhys. What did you say, Sara?"
"I think she spent too much time in the sun, what do you think, Rhys? She's talking weird. How can I possible remember all the things I've said today?"
"My guess is she wants to know only one answer." Rhys grinned and gave Sofia a cocktail.
"You know exactly what I want to hear!"
"I'm sure you also have an answer you want to hear. Why don't you answer the question yourself so you won't be disappointed."
"Sara Sidle, if you don't give me my bloody answer right away I'll punch it out of your stubborn head."
"You've got an anger issue."
"I'll have to run away because I killed you soon so an anger issue won't be my biggest problem."
"You don't want to kill your colleague."
"You agreed?"
"Seems like you also have some problems with your ears."
"You said yes!" Sofia hugged Sara and pulled her in her arms. That was the answer she wanted to hear. "I'm happy you stay."
"How could I refuse to live in paradise? Even when I have to see you every day."
"That was a reason why you took the job. You wanted to be with me."
"You're smug."
"I'm right. Rhys, she'll stay." Sofia kept Sara in her arms like she wanted to make sure the other woman won't change her mind. "She'll stay with us."
"I know. She had no other choice, she's a smart woman and smart women make sensible decisions."
"Yes. We need to celebrate that."
"Don't you want to let go of me before you celebrate?"
"No. This way I can make sure you'll stay for sure."
"I promise I won't run away." Sara laughed.
"Good. Rhys, can I have something decent to eat, please?"
"With decent you mean you don't want a salad."
"Exactly."
"I can offer you some pizza."
"Perfect. Sara?"
"I ordered cake."
"We can share. I give you half of my pizza if you give me half of your cake."
"Deal."
"When you agree on things it's much nicer than when you're arguing." Rhys got a pizza out of the fridge and put it in the oven. It was a special oven that made the pizza ready to eat within two minutes.
"Dinner for two." He put the pizza and the cake in front of Sara and Sofia.
"Thanks James." Sofia smiled.
"Even when the pizza isn't fresh you make it like it's fresh, Rhys." Sara picked picket a piece of bacon off her pizza Hawaii. "Open up!" She ordered Sofia and fed her with the bacon.
"Sorry Beauty, I don't have a vegetarian pizza left."
"That's all right, I can feed Sofia with my bacon."
"Will you also feed me with the cake?"
"I thought you'll feed me in return with the cake."
"Deal."
"Hey." Sara pulled her fingers out of Sofia's mouth. "Only the bacon not my finger."
"Sorry, you're delicious too."
"You'll have an upset stomach if you do that again. My fist will make sure of that."
"You wouldn't punch me, Beauty."
"Shut up! Only Rhys is allowed to call me that, I told you that already."
"Apparently I didn't listen."
"Bitch."
"Love you too. Tell me, what did you and the boss talk. How did he get you?"
"He offered me a nice salary and we have ideas about my accommodation."
"Ideas?"
"Yes. I will take a bungalow instead of a room because the idea of sharing a house with many people doesn't make me happy. For everything else I need a serious conversation with you."
"Me?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Not now, later. Now is dinner time."
"We can talk over dinner."
"Okay. Yesterday you told me not to worry about the accommodation we could work something out. What did you mean with that? Or aren't you interested in working something out after I agreed."
"I keep my word. You don't want to share with many people, I can understand that. What about sharing with me?"
"You have only one bedroom, Sofia."
"I know. We can get you a bedroom and a bathroom and expand my bungalow a little bit. Can you live with sharing a kitchen and a living room?"
"You offer me to share your bungalow?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I like the idea of sharing with you. Maybe it will be a little bit bitchy every now and then but I'm sure we won't kill each other. Or is the idea of sharing with me for you even worse than sharing a house with other people?"
"No. But…how do we get these two rooms and everything else we need for them on your island?"
"With a boat."
"Okay."
"Don't worry about that we'll find a way. You'll be my renter so I take care of the bungalow and the rooms."
"Do I have to talk with you about the rent first or can I just say yes?"
"Just say yes."
"Yes."
"Great!" Sofia hugged Sara again. "I'm happy to have you around. We need to get you a boat too. And a boat driver permit."
"Will you be my teacher again?"
"Not this time, sorry."
"In that case I've to settle for the second best teacher."
"Looks like. But you can have the best bungalow mate."
"True. Tell me what time do you have to work tomorrow?"
"Ten."
"Shall we have some drinks at the beach?"
"This one or my island?"
"You can't drive your boat anymore when we had drinks so I'd say you have to make the decision if you want to drink some real cocktails with me or settle for juice."
"Real cocktail please. You can take your things over and stay. Get used to your new home."
"I'll be right back. Try to talk him into giving us some more cake for the night and maybe a cocktail or two…like you know, he mixes everything beside the alcohol." The brunette blinked cocky.
"Understand." Sofia laughed and watch Sara leaving to get her things.
Wasn't that crazy? She had offered Sara to stay with her and the brunette had agreed. Was it a good idea? Or were they about to make a huge mistake? Could it work out with them together in more or less the same house? Or would they try to kill each other after a week? It was too late to change anything, Sofia had agreed, she had to try it.
"Are you shrinking from your own courage, Golden Treasure?"
"No!"
Rhys smirked.
"What?"
"You worry if it works out."
"It's a realistic thought, Sara and me…we temp to fight too often about unimportant things. Only to piss each other off. What if we will do the same when we live together?"
"Don't you have better things on your mind than fighting with her?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean your smile when she's around, the way you look at her, how you hug her, pull her closer. Don't tell me you haven't recognized that yourself."
"You spend too much time with voodoo, Rhys." Sofia got up and walked away.
"Not voodoo Sofia. Magic, yes but another magic than voodoo. I'm sure you'll soon find out what I mean. Allow yourself to see it too." Rhys said quietly.
"Where are our cocktails and the cake?" Sara asked when she climbed on Sofia's boat.
"Cocktail and cake…? Sorry, I forgot…"
"Are you all right?" Sara furrowed her brows. Something was wrong with Sofia. Usually the blonde wouldn't forget to ask about cake.
"Yes, yes, everything is fine…let's get started…" She turned on the engine and they left the beach.
"Okay." Sara was sure something was wrong but it seemed to be the wrong moment to talk about it. She watched the main island getting smaller and only two minutes later their boat touched the sand of Sofia's island.
"Give me a minute and I'll get us two cocktails. Shall I take your things with me?"
"Yes, thanks." Sara made sure the boat was safely tied to the little dock. A few yards away was an ordinary hammock between two palms and offered a nice view over the ocean. Sara sat in it, legs out, swinging a bit. She could watch the sunset this way.
"Got you a cocktail." Sofia came with two cocktails to her.
"Thanks. Come on." Sara petted to the place next to her.
Carefully Sofia sat next to her. "You found us a nice place."
"It was you who put the hammock here you found the nice place."
"Thanks."
It was still there, Sara could feel it. Whatever was wrong with Sofia, it was still in her head. A faked smile couldn't make Sara believe everything was fine.
"What's wrong, Sofia?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"Yes you do."
"Everything is fine, Sara."
"It was fine until I was back with my stuff. If you don't want me here tell me. I can leave, that is not a problem. But don't let me hang in here like a child that did something wrong without knowing what it was. Talk to me. Please. Is it because of the job? Did you change your mind about sharing the island? That's not a problem, really. Just say it. I…"
"It's not, Sara. I'm happy you'll stay, I told you so."
"But?"
"No but."
Sara got up, left her cocktail under the hammock and walked to the water. To know something was wrong without knowing what it was, was something she hated. She hated being in the nimbus. Especially when there was nothing to work with, nothing that could help her out, nothing to give her answers. She couldn't force Sofia to talk to her, she had to wait until the other woman changed her mind and told her what was wrong.
"I'm sorry." Sofia was next to Sara.
"Just tell me what I did wrong this time."
"You didn't do anything wrong Why do you think you did something wrong?"
"Because since I'm back with my stuff for tonight you act strange and usually it's me who fucks things up. I just want to know what it was this so I won't do it again. I try to learn and not to repeat my mistakes, Sofia, I really do. And I want to change and be less of a bitch and make it easier for you and…"
"Sara, shut up. Please." Sofia sighed and buried her face in her hands for a few seconds before she looked at Sara again. Her heart ached when she saw the desperate look in the brunette's eyes. She never wanted to hurt her.
"I'm sorry. You didn't do something wrong. It's not you, it's me."
"Why? What happened in between me leaving to get my things and coming back? Something had happened. Not only because of how you behave but also because of the cake. It's not your style to forget something like that."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. Just tell me what it is, maybe we can work it out together."
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because…it's something I've to work out myself."
"It's no weakness to ask for help. Something I had to learn as well."
"Maybe I'm just crazy."
"You're not crazy. Remember what you said when I told you about my stone? And I told you that you'll think I'm crazy."
"That you're not."
"Neither are you. It can't be worse than a stone that lives."
Sofia sighed. She knew she owned Sara an explanation but how could she give her one without making a fool out of herself? And without really knowing herself what was wrong with her.
"Can we sit down?"
"Sure."
They sat in the sand, only a yard away from the beach.
"It's something Rhys said." Sofia started slowly.
"Rhys?"
"Yes."
"He's your friend."
"I know. And sometimes I want to hate him more than my biggest enemy."
"Why?"
"Because he is always right and points out things you don't want to see. You do everything to ignore them and he just says them right into your face."
"The truth?"
"Yes. That makes it so bad."
"And it has something to do with me." That wasn't a question, it was a statement.
"Yes." Sofia swallowed. Maybe it was better to get over it.
"Did I do anything wrong?"
"No, you didn't do anything wrong."
"But?"
"Remember your stone? That you said it reacts when I'm around?"
"Yes. It still does that. Was quite busy the last days."
Sofia smiled a bit. "Is it busy right now?"
Sara touched her stone. "No."
"When was it warm the last time?"
"What has that…sorry…when we made the decision to come here, when you told me to stay here."
"Your stone likes me."
"Yes."
"If I had a stone it would do the same."
"Like you? Probably."
"No, it would react to you."
"Why?"
"Because…it would like you."
"You never know."
"Yes I do."
"How can you know?"
"Because…damn it." Sofia closed her eyes and let herself fall backwards in the sand.
"Sofia?"
"Remember cases when you thought it's better not to know the truth?"
"It's never better not to know the truth. It can make things easier for a moment but it makes it more difficult over a longer period."
"Maybe."
"Sofia." Sara touched carefully the blonde's hand who flinched under the touch so that Sara pulled her hand away.
"I'll ruin everything."
"What will you ruin?"
"Us. Our friendship."
"I don't think you'll do that. Why would you?"
"Because…I will if I won't stop talking."
"You can't ruin anything with the truth. Especially not our friendship."
"That sounds too good to be truth."
"It's true, Sofia."
"Sara…I…I think I've…feelings for you…not the kind of feelings you are supposed to have for a friend. I…I am happy when you're around, I enjoy the time with you, I miss you when you're not there. This morning when I didn't know if you will stay or leave next week it was like torture. I was so afraid you could be gone within a week, that I'll never see you again. That was like tearing my heart apart.
When you told me you'll stay I was the happiest person in the world. I knew you will be here, we can spend time together and I won't lose you. The downside was that I knew I have to work something out because of my feelings. It gets harder to ignore them and it's impossible to tell myself that they are only… stupid crazy bullshit in my head. Not real."
Sara put her hand back on Sofia's. "Sofia…"
"I'm sorry Sara. I ruined the evening and probably the rest of our friendship and I can understand if you don't want to have anything to do with me anymore…"
"Shut up." Sara laid down and pulled Sofia in her arms. "You didn't ruin anything. Stop torturing yourself, you didn't do anything wrong and you're not to blame for your feelings. Beside I think it's a compliment so no reason to feel sorry."
"But…"
"No but. I'm proud that you told me what's up with you and glad to know that I'm important to you. It's a nice feeling to be important."
"You're not mad?"
A reasonable question. A few weeks ago Sara had been out of control if Sofia told her something like this. Or back in the days when they worked together, Sara probably would have refused to work with the blonde. But things had changed and so had her point of view.
"Not at all."
"And you don't want to leave right away to be as far as possible away from me?"
"No way!" She really didn't.
"Oh…" Sofia was speechless. This wasn't what she expected might happen. This was better, this was good. No fights, no tears and no problems because of what she felt.
"I want to sit with you in the hammock, finish the cocktail have another one and spend some time with you watching the ocean. Does that sound to you like something you can enjoy too?"
"Yes."
"Good. Come on, our cocktails are getting warm." Sara pulled Sofia in her arms and kissed her cheek. "And stop crying, you look at least like thirty when you cry and not like twenty anymore."
Sofia laughed a bit and wiped her tears away with the backside of her hand. It didn't hurt to tell Sara the truth. It wasn't something she enjoyed but it wasn't as bad as expected and she felt much better now that she had told her the truth. Like most times when you told people the truth. Sometimes the thought of it could scare you, make your heart stop beating for a moment but in the end it felt good and you were released you said what you had on your mind.