Emily’s P. O. V:
“The guest house seems too lavish. Did it cost much?” I asked Jason looking around the excessively luxurious condo further up the hills, way above the village we stopped at earlier.
“No, my aunt is related to the owner so it’s almost free,” he replied as he went outside.
After assigning everyone to their rooms I went outside to look around the place. I saw Jason and Janet fighting over chocolate. I was about to laugh when they hugged which ended my brief happy time.
They are ill-matched and have no similarities but they always stick together. I said to myself a bit angry now. Wait why am I angry?
“Because you are jealous” answered Carrie from behind.
I said that out loud?
“Shut up Carrie” I said and went away. If you’re wondering if I got along with Carrie, well a little bit. We were playing monopoly when we were at the village and I teamed up with Carrie and we won together. I was happy and so was she; I could see it in her eyes. In the distance, I saw Jason looking at us with satisfaction.
The next day, we started climbing the mountain on foot which was easier said than done as the gradient was not so kind to us. However the day flew by with occasional stops for rest, few complaints from Carrie that she was tired and many kicks to her butt from me.
At a rest stop, George called me and Jason and said, “Looks like the rain doesn’t like us,” pointing to the dark clouds hovering towards us. “May be we should just turn back because the summit is a two-hour climb from here whereas the mountaineer rest stop is only an hour’s walk,” I suggested only to be teased by Carrie who mocked me asking, “You’re giving up already? Then why arrange all this?”
You mess with me, you gotta pay.
“We are reaching the summit and that’s final” I announced. The others also didn’t mind getting drenched in case it rained, much to my delight.
We reached the summit in about two hours where we sat down for lunch. After we finished, we decided to sit and rest for a little longer before going further. The girls and boys were chatting and Carrie was too exhausted to even sit up and so there she was snoring away under a tree. A wicked thought came into my mind.
Why not just leave her here?
How could you think like that?! No matter what, she’s your sister
My mental war was interrupted by the sudden appearance of the shadow of a person. I looked up.
“Can I sit beside you?” asked Jason.
What should I do?
Do not allow him to sit.
“Sure, come on” I said instead. The moment he sat down, he held my hand, intertwining his fingers with mine. “Jason, stop it! Not in front of all these people!” I whispered, trying to pull my hand away not wanting to drop any clue that I liked him.
“They won’t mind” he said, ignoring my protests completely. Well, he was so wrong. I was literally glared to death by a furious Janet. “It was a good decision you made to go for the summit instead of going back. The place is breath-taking,” Jason said still holding my hand. Yeah he was right, it was indeed splendid. The cool weather and the slight fog kinda added a romantic feeling too. That was when I realised that I had involuntarily tightened my grip on his hand.
Jason pulled his hand away for which I was grateful but that lasted only for a second as his hand which had just left my hand went for my eyes. He shut my eyes with his fingers and said, “I wanna give you a gift.”
Oh my! He’ll probably kiss me and then tell that it was his gift. But then again, last time I got my hopes high, what was supposed to be a love letter turned out to be a cooking recipe. So I just sat there with my eyes closed. Then I felt something soft in my palm.
Opening my eyes, I saw a five leaf clover which was exceptionally rare like, you only find one among fifteen thousand normal clovers and it was believed to bring luck to the person having it. I was flattered. He closed my palm around it and kissed my fingers softly. I felt so loved, so needed at least until I saw Carrie who had just woken up, looking defeated and Janet looking ready to skin me alive with extreme joy.
Well, their looks didn’t matter to me much; however I still did not want to admit my feelings for him either. In my confused state, I decided to get personal with him.
“So, tell me about your family” I started. His smile left his face.
“Oh them, uh… My father is a successful businessman. My mother entered the heavenly kingdom when I was eight months old, I’m told. So my aunt, dad’s sister came to live with us. She has been taking care of me all these years. I always call her ‘mom’ just so you know.
Dad’s a bit distant if you ask and only aunt and I live in the house most of the time as dad is very busy. I have a brother named Clark who is older than me by five years and is now serving in the army as a volunteering doctor. He’ll be back by the end of this year. Well, that’s all that is important about me and my family so tell me about yours” he said.
It was then my turn to become sober. “I live with my elder sister Kate and obviously Carrie. Kate is married and has a six year old daughter. Her husband is working overseas but comes to visit her often. My parents divorced when I was fifteen because my father had an affair with Carrie’s mom. My mother lived with us till Kate got a job and then she moved away, completely deserting us. We have no contact with her at all. My father used to be a very popular videographer until he left for America. I haven’t seen him or talked to him till date but Kate talks to him often…” I trailed off about to cry.
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